Hell Bent

Alex and Dawes discuss the new Praetor, relieved that he seems unaware of recent Lethe events. Dawes shares her Halloween plan to complete the Gauntlet, with Alex confident they will find the needed four participants, though Turner has not agreed. They also need someone to protect their bodies during the ritual. Mercy offers to help. Though Dawes is initially concerned about an outsider’s involvement, and Alex is worried about Mercy’s safety, they eventually agree. Mercy then reveals a hidden door behind the Librarian’s desk, completing the number of doors needed for the Gauntlet. With the plan falling into place, they prepare to move forward with their mission.

While preparing for a Halloween party with Mercy, Alex gets a message from Eitan with an unfamiliar address in Old Greenwich—she knows this means she is to collect a debt to Eitan from whoever lives there. She pretends the text is from her mother and drives to the address in Darlington’s Mercedes, which they have kept at the Lethe, despite the risk involved in such an affair. She hopes her cut of the money from this job will help fund her studies at Yale.

The address is an estate belonging to a man named Linus Reiter. Alex climbs over the wall and approaches the mansion, only for Reiter to surprise her from behind. Alex tells him she is there to collect Eitan’s debt. Reiter’s strange and polite demeanor unnerves her. When she pushes a vase off the mantel, Reiter catches it mid-air with unnatural agility. Realizing he is not what he seems, Alex readies for a fight.

Reiter attacks Alex, biting her neck, and she realizes he is a vampire. She calls upon a Gray for help and gains the strength to injure him, but he quickly recovers. Realizing she is outmatched, Alex creates a distraction by setting a fire in the mansion. This momentary distraction allows her to escape through a window.

Miles away at a gas station, Alex releases the Gray, a deceased schoolteacher, who shares that Reiter buries his victims in his garden. Alex contacts Turner, fearing to call Dawes due to leaving the Mercedes behind. Turner agrees to pick her up. She also calls Eitan and learns there is no real debt, just competition with Reiter for territory.

Turner picks her up, they discuss the murder investigations, and he eventually agrees to participate in the Gauntlet ritual. Their conversation turns somber as Turner questions Alex about deaths in Los Angeles.

Alex returns to Il Bastone, relieved that Dawes is not there and tends to her wounds after her encounter with Reiter. She searches for information in the Lethe library, finding books about the Reiter family. She also discovers a debate within Kittscher’s Daemonologie that suggests that demons feed on human emotions, including joy and fear, and that vampires are also demons. Finally, she finds information about Lionel Reiter in 1933. He was one of the original Lethe and opened the first portal to hell, linking Linus to the Gauntlet.

Before Alex goes to bed, Dawes returns and asks Alex about the Mercedes. They fight. Alex later dreams she is back on Reiter’s lawn. She encounters Darlington, who appears in a white suit with glowing horns. He inquires if she has come to be devoured. The setting shifts and the house transforms into Black Elm. In the ballroom, Alex encounters the human version of Darlington. Outside, she sees his demon version waiting. They discuss his duality and the struggles he faced with his parents after inheriting Black Elm. She asks if the encounter is real and questions him if the Milky Way reference at the Book and Snake ceremony was him. As the protective circle fades, Darlington says he has been trying to reach her from the beginning.

Alex arranges a meeting with Lethe board member Anselm, expecting he will redirect her to the new Praetor, but he agrees to meet at a waterfront oyster bar. She reflects on her argument with Dawes about the missing Mercedes during her bike ride to the restaurant.

At the oyster bar, Anselm declines food but encourages Alex to order. They discuss Lethe, Anselm’s return to Connecticut, and his changed demeanor, which reminds Alex of Darlington. They talk about the biblical quote at the murder scenes and its connection to local history. The conversation shifts to Alex’s mother, and Anselm asks if she embarrasses her. Alex admits her desire to help her mother and asks for money in exchange for her ability to communicate with the dead. Anselm agrees if she promises to stop trying to reach Darlington. She swears, and he agrees to provide the money she needs. They part with a handshake, and Alex realizes Anselm is different from Darlington.