“He just got thrown into a wall,” I pointed out. “He needs a hospital, not a pep talk. Or whatever this is.”

But Tink was too worked up to listen to me. She was pushing him again. “We’ve got Harrowers loose all over the city. The Guardians are completely scattered, and you’re supposed to be leading them. So get—up!”

Somehow, all of that screaming and shoving actually worked. Mr. Alvarez shifted onto his stomach, pushed himself upward with his hands, and then, groping at the wall, slowly stood. There was a streak of blood trailing from his hair down the side of his face, his lip was split, and one cheek was already starting to bruise. Leon helped him toward a stack of boxes that was piled against the side of the building.

“Am I at least allowed to sit down?” he said sourly, not waiting for an answer. He took long breaths, resting his head in his hands.

“Do you know what’s going on?” I asked Tink, who had come to stand beside me. She was injured, too—there were cuts on her left arm, still oozing slightly, and more across her right shoulder, though the blood there had dried. Her face was pale, her eyes huge.

“Besides Armageddon?” she replied, clutching her elbows.

“It started some time this morning,” Mr. Alvarez said. His breath wheezed out. “I think.”

“Have you seen my mom?”

He shook his head. “I just arrived. I was heading to Harlow Tower when I ran across the Guardians here.”

“So were we,” Leon said.

“She was with the rest of us there,” Tink answered.

Leon flicked a glance in my direction, then asked, “You guys had a plan?”

“Sort of.” Tink turned to me. “Your mom was working with the leaders of the Kin at other Circles to figure out some way of stopping this. I’m not sure if they came up with anything, and then when the Harrowers started showing up, the Guardians left to fight them. But we’re spread out all over now. I’m not sure where your mom went. She could still be there.”

I bit my lip. “She didn’t say they’d found a solution?”

“Not to me. What are you going to do? Why are you here? I thought your mom sent you away from the Circle.”

“We have to go after Gideon,” I said, and felt Leon’s hand grip mine.

Tink’s wide eyes got even wider. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“Me neither,” I said. I stared down the other end of the alley, where Gideon had vanished. “But it’s the only idea we’ve got.”

“How are you going to find him?” Tink asked.

“I know where he’ll go,” I said, realizing the moment I spoke it that I did. I could feel it, in that quiet almost-sense that connected me to the Circle. As I looked down the alley, I could see the faintest rim of light shining in the gloom, a thread trailing off into the distance. He was going to Harlow Tower. To the center of the Circle, where it had all begun. The place where Verrick had died, and Gideon had been born.

While Tink and Mr. Alvarez returned to the other Guardians to regroup and begin a sweep of the streets, Leon and I walked back to his motorcycle. My feet were still bare, one heel bleeding from where a sharp piece of gravel had dug into it, but I ignored the pain and the cold of the asphalt—at least until Leon located my sandals. Tink chased after us, grabbing my elbow before I could hop onto the motorcycle.

“I’d better see you again,” she said, giving me a wobbly smile.

I did my best to smile back. “Ditto.”

“If you find Gideon…” She paused. It took her a moment to form the words. I could see her struggle with them, the way she swallowed thickly, then lifted one trembling hand and held it over her mouth; I could see the shine of tears gathering in her eyes. She turned away from me, letting her arms fall back to her sides. “Just tell him thanks,” she whispered.

The roads we passed through were deserted, though as we drove I thought I saw the blur of Harrowers creeping out along some of the streets: the slide of silver on gray, and here and there the hint of crimson. There were more dead birds on the pavement, the brown of sparrows and the blue-black of crows turning white with frost. The Beneath was steadily tightening its grip on the city. On Nicollet Mall, the trees were gnarled and twisted, almost skeletal. Their branches bent toward the earth, twigs curling like claws, and their leaves were mottled with decay. Debris was scattered everywhere. Rust crept across parked cars, and up and down several buildings, bricks were bleached the color of bone. The hiss of the Beneath followed us down every road.

There was more fighting the block before Harlow Tower. Leon brought us to a sudden halt, parking up on the sidewalk close to one of the buildings. He got off the motorcycle, then stood for a moment looking out into the street ahead of us. In the sky above, the gold glittering letters of HARLOW TOWER dimmed into gray. The stench of rot was much stronger here, suffocating almost, and everywhere shadows lay like pools of blood that spread, oozing, underfoot. I moved up beside Leon, and my heart missed a beat when I recognized my mother among the Guardians.

They were clustered in the middle of the road, where the stoplights had gone dark, the poles tilting as though they’d begun to melt, and all the bus stops and benches were flaking into ash. There were only five or six Guardians, and the demons seemed innumerable—there had to be dozens at least. The demons came sliding out from between buildings and along the red shadows. Some appeared to climb straight up from the earth itself, their talons clicking against the street as they ran.

Shots rang out, and I realized that a figure crouched near the entrance to a building wasn’t a Guardian or a Harrower, but Mickey. He had his sidearm out, keeping distance between himself and the center of combat as he carefully chose his shots. He didn’t fire at the Harrowers fighting the Guardians, just those on the outskirts, creeping in. Guns had limited effectiveness against demons—but the Guardians needed all the help they could get. Mickey managed to slow down the advance of one or two, and a Guardian I recognized as Camille hurried to finish the demons off.

Close to her, Elspeth and Iris were fighting side by side, taking on a demon together. Soft lights flared at Elspeth’s fingertips, her short hair flying out around her as she moved. Iris appeared to be amplifying, holding back just slightly and then rushing in for the kill. The demon fell before them, and they turned to face each other. The other Guardians were giving them a wide berth, which told me they might have accepted Iris’s presence for the time being, but only as a matter of necessity.

Mom was fighting Shane.

Even with her powers diminished, she was a force unparalleled. Other Harrowers raced toward her, but she killed them quickly, barely even slowing her advance. A quick catch of the throat, a flick of the wrist, and they slid downward, gurgling as they dissolved into the Beneath. Her target was Shane, who had begun to shed his human disguise. Scales showed through the skin of his neck and face, and the familiar green of his eyes was now nothing but blank white.

Both of Mom’s arms flashed toward him, but he jerked free, rasping with laughter. He retreated, but not for long. While the Guardians were steadily weakening, the Beneath was growing stronger. Mom struck at Shane again and again. The third time, he didn’t evade her blow. He grabbed her arm instead, then lifted her into the air and hurled her at Mickey, sending them both crashing to the ground.

As Mom and Mickey began to untangle themselves, Shane turned and stalked toward Iris and Elspeth.

“I see you, interloper,” he said, his voice low and icy. “Traveler between two worlds. Traitor to both. Wanted by neither.”

Iris froze, facing him. I saw her hands clench. Elspeth was still busy fighting the Harrower beside them, but Iris stood staring as Shane inched closer.