The spring begins with a series of grisly murders. People are being killed inside their homes while their families are away. The victims include children and parents. The Council decides to bring Athaliah in to investigate since the killing showed a ritualistic aspect. With her, she brings the Ebon Cross.
The crime scenes show attempts at demonic summonings though in each case the ritual was subtly flawed, like someone was sabotaging it. They are not able to learn much about the attackers except they were unskilled combatants, brutal and had carefully planned the attack.
Meanwhile Valkyrie begins to experience strange phenomena. Soup that spells help and beggars who urge her to remember her Awakening. Elsewhere, Colt is busy repairing the sanctum. It is clear their new house was haunted. Strange noises appear in distant parts of the house, the vines at the graveyard ooze ectoplasm, and Atlantean runes are spelled out in silverware. While they debate repairing the Atlantean runes etched into the structure, Colt and Adele make attempts to contact the spirits. Adele continues her daily life, jogging with her high school friend Hope and working at the Animal Clinic. One night, she takes Evelyn up on her offer of dinner with friends. There she meets a quiet woman named Anna. She seems to hint at some deeper knowledge of the dark parts of the world but refuses to say much more.
After being dropped off by Mammon, shortly after seeing the last murder site, Adele learns that her friend Hope was murdered. Distraught she blames herself for not following up on the feeling of being watched that she had while jogging with Hope. She summons up her friend's ghost and tries to find out who did this. When she fails get more clues she runs away to the Promethean and waits for Decima's help. Mammon meanwhile calls Athaliah. Athaliah investigates and with Goes's help came up with descriptions of the attackers to feed the police. In the morning, Decima tries to console and calm Adele. She helps Adele remember what she saw but it was only brief image in her mind. Adele returns home but sneaking out and disobeying her parents ensures a long grounding.
Several days later, Valkyrie again finds something interesting. At a bus station she discovers a map scorched in places. Each burn mark was at one of the murder sites except two: Adele's house and another far to the south. She alerts the others and they decide to investigate. Meanwhile Adele is at work. As the end of the day nears Evelyn comes up behind her and injected her with sedatives. As the young Mage falls unconscious she sees Evelyn crying.
Meanwhile the cabal finds a suspicious warehouse on the south end of the city. As they prepared to enter, Merlin catches up with them and tells them that Adele had been captured and taken inside. They enter, easily bypassing the crude traps, and finally face off against the ill prepared cultists. But the room seals shut and the ceiling begins to descend. After disarming and incapacitating the cultists (including one who began to bleed to death from Colt's deadly aim), they grab power tools and try to hack their way out. Valkyrie instead focuses her will and with a sword sharper than the finest blade, she hacks an opening in the wall.
Meanwhile Adele awakens to find herself tied up in a room with Anna. The deranged woman reveals that a demon had shown her that Adele would bring about the destruction of Chicago. To make up for the murders and save millions, she was going to kill her. Adele frees herself and with Hope's ghost and Merlin, she begins to fend the psycho off. Wielding her magic with reckless abandon, she destroys Anna's weapon and saps her strength. But Anna's manic skill with turning inanimate objects into instruments of pain and death begins to take their toll. Worse a series of explosions rocks the structure and fire begins to consume the building. Adele rips a hole into Twilight and flees, propelled by Paradox induced paranoia, leaving Anna and Merlin to the fires.
The rest of the cabal escapes the burning warehouse along with the wounded. Merlin also finds his way out. As they watched the flames, Adele races away to talk to Father Joseph, convinced the cabal must be working with the murderous cultists.