As the cabal makes its way through the metallic halls of the Aeonic Citadel, they suddenly realize that Colt has been oddly quiet and that he is becoming translucent before their eyes. Scrutinizing him, Valkyrie realizes he is an illusion, one whose resonance invokes not Supernal magic but Heavenly power. Adele realizes he must have vanished while they were at the edge of the Abyss. She quickly scries for him but he is not in the Astral, nor the real world, nor Shadow or Twilight. Mammon contacts Arachne psychically and learns that Colt’s body simply vanished. He calms the young mage. They decide to press on without him, hoping he finds his own way back.
They encounter more scenes from their past, including the demise of Justine Laskey and a teenage Valkyrie drunkenly wandering off with a strange man at a party. Mammon makes a light hearted comment about it but Valkyrie, upset, quickly ends the conversation. They reach a set of giant bronze doors that are slightly cracked open. They squeeze through the crack into a fire lit throne room.
At the far end they see the mighty Aeon Dahhuk sitting upon his throne. His human head hangs drunkenly to the side but his dragon heads address the cabal. He seems to know all about their current troubles and quests. Dahhuk apparently is conspiring with the Devil in Gold in some larger plan. Talk quickly turns to Mammon’s wish for mastery. For the Aeon’s blessing, he demands Mammon offer a sacrifice.
While Mammon ponders his choice, Colt finds himself suddenly on a Chicago street. A man in a white suit with white hair walks up to him, offering a hot dog. Despite the fact it has nothing he likes on it, Colt accepts the gift. He looks around, seeing a perfectly ordinary street. The man in white engages Colt is a cryptic conversation. He mentions something about going to the “wending of the circle” to deal with something is not yet dead that must be destroyed. The man also says things need to be aligned with an earlier version of reality. At times it is not clear if he talking about the situation with Algol or merely the relationship between Virtue and Vice. He ends by telling Colt that the light needs darkness and that the bridge of worlds cannot last. He then touches Colt’s forehead, unlocking Mastery of the Arcanum of Prime, before returning him to his “instance” of Chicago.
Mammon decides to offer his prophetic dreams. Dahhuk laughs and suddenly Mammon suffers a painful headache as if a part of his brain was being burned away. With Mastery of the Arcanum of Mind achieved, Mammon asks about Colt and learns he has already been returned to Chicago by the Empyrean. They also learn from the Aeon that they have powerful enemies among the Archmasters due to their plans involving Algol. An archmage named Noctus sent the spell that freed their vices while the mages they encountered along the way serve the Exarch known as the General. Another threat is an archmage known as Seraph who seems focused on Adele. He seeks to avoid a future threat. Dahhuk sees these plans as minor issues. He has greater schemes in the works with the Devil in Gold. This era is one where the powers of Pandemonium (and thus Dahhuk) will be ascendant.
Back in the Fallen World, Colt finds himself on the same street but it is early morning. He checks his phone, finding a message from a Marine buddy who needs a place to crash and from the Heirarch, who says he is looking into the matter about Detective Green after “their conversation.” Realizing his Vice might be behind this he calls Ezekiel back. No one picks up but he leaves a message urging him to hold off any actions until they can talk. Colt then calls his friend and arranges to meet him for lunch. Then he calls Arachne.
As the others wake from their meditation, Archne answers the phone and tells him they are awakening. She relays that Colt is on his way back to the others. Mammon checks his phones, finding a message from Vincent telling him that Tom Whitfield is dead and from Mr. Johnson who says that they “have a deal.” He quickly calls Vincent who lets him know he has dealt with the situation. Mammon puts him on the task of tracking Mr. Johnson’s call. He also talks to Athaliah, learning that she caught Valkyrie and Colt’s vice. She couldn’t find Adele’s and Mammon’s has retreated back into his mind. She also hints that Colt’s vice came to her and was easily handled afterwards.
Meanwhile Valkyrie also has two calls. One from Evan who is worried about “her” behavior and another from White Ash, whose speech is slurred and is calling for help. She calls him back but gets no answer.
Colt arrives as Valkyrie and Mammon head out to find out what happened to White Ash. Meanwhile Adele still can’t find her vice. Thinking it might be in the Underworld, she and Colt head to the local cemetery.
A half hour later, Valkyrie arrives at White Ash’s apartment. Finding the door unlocked, they enter. They find White Ash on the floor unresponsive, slowly dying of an overdose. Mammon advises taking him to a hospital to recover slowly and ideally think about the path his life has taken. The Mastigos then probes his mind searching for what happened. He sees Valkyrie’s vice giving him heroin while she pumps him for information on Red Thunder’s past. Valkyrie, feeling guilty, decides she needs to get him healed quickly. Mammon offers to remove the drugged mage’s addiction temporarily but Valkyrie argues he needs to be able to choose. They call Colt.
In the meantime, Adele opens a gateway into the Underworld. As she descends the earthen steps into the land of the dead, there is the buzzing in Adele’s pocket. She pulls out an old dusty phone. Barely charged, the phone is filled with text messages dating from the date of her birth to yesterday. All but one reads: “It waits.” The last adds “for you.” Recognizing the words she heard from the flute and recent encounters with ghosts, she texts back. She quickly gets a reply back from her vice. Scrying it, she find her vice deep in the Underworld in a massive cavern. Something lurks in the shadows. Her vice looks pale and weak, almost fading away.
Adele shares the scry with Colt. The Thyrsus looks into the darkness and reads the resonance of Death. He sees rot and decay and the eternal absence of life. Sickened he drops the connection. Adele meanwhile determines her vice conjured five powerful spirits or ghosts and directed them against “her enemies.” Noting the resonances for later, she watches her vice dissipate. Then the horror in the shadows emerges. It is a massive rotting sack of meat without form or features. It stretches a pseudopod to the fallen phone her vice had. It texts “I wait.” Adele drops the phone hastily and the two mages flee the Underworld.
Colt gets Valkyrie’s call and the cabal regroups. While Colt heals White Ash, Valkyrie with her cabalmate’s backing pressures him into working to rehabilitate. Valkyrie also resolves to watch the old mage like a hawk, knowing he might backslide otherwise. She also talks to Athaliah away from the others and learns that her vice had a one night stand with Miguel. She decides to deal with that later.
Mammon then retreats to the Demense to meditate. He soon arrives at his dream vestibule. Pushing past the grim parishioners, he enters the church. He looks for the till box and spots scrapes on the floor leading to two doors. Taking the fancy shiny door he steps into Discarded Image, a former vampire hangout owned by Justine Laskey. He spots her rotten corpse in the arms of her minion Tina Bortz. He ignores their accusations of murder and presses on to a series of three doors.
Taking the outhouse door, he enters a park where he is playing catch with his father as a child. As he runs to catch the ball, he isn’t fast enough and the ball is grabbed by Carbon Zero. The older mage is pale with large bloody bullet holes in his head. He hands Mammon the ball and stares at him. As this is occurring he sees his sister in a Halloween costume. He runs over to join her. She gives him his bag of candy, a bag much smaller than hers. She defiantly says she took some his candy because she had to carry it. She then suggests they steal some candy from another child. Mammon agrees and steals the candy from a child.
He sees that the next street is better decorated and heads there to explore his vice realm in the hopes of catching his inner demon. The street after that has people giving out money instead of candy. Further on the streets are lit by amazing pumpkin lights. Even further on the treats have become jewels. Spotting the dark alley he saw last time, he changes his course and heads into the darkness. He passes the homeless version of himself which seems happy about his Mastery of Mind. It directs him to push past the darkness to where his vice is waiting. He finds a final door and opens it.
Mammon enters a white room. Three chairs sit in the center of the room. In one sits a smug version of himself. In a second is the featureless form of the Devil in Gold. Also in the room is a blackened wood door. The Devil greets Mammon and says he looks forward to the tournament of champions but that he must leave. Informing the mage that there is one in every soul, he opens the black door, revealing a glimpse of Hell. Mammon is filled with guilt for his sins. Then the door closes.
Regaining his composure, Mammon confronts his greed. His vice quickly capitulates, telling him how it was cleaning up his messes and arranging for his ascension to power. It killed Tom Whitfield and claimed the money he had embezzled. It also moved the body of Justine Laskey, just in case. It also uncovered secrets about the Iron Hand, such as their Seer mole, Red Thunder, and that Nehjarra is still alive.
Meanwhile in the Fallen World, Valkyrie talks to Evan and explains how the woman he saw was her inner vice. Colt sleeps. Finally Adele begins to scry to determine what damage her vice has done.