Emma is having a dream. A very lovely dream: she’s on the roof, in George’s arms, kissing him before he climbs onto the back of Condor. Instead of flying away again, however, instead of winging away from Emma once more, blood starts coming out of his eyes.

And he starts laughing. Hard, loud laughter, both he and Condor laughing, before they melt into a dark shadow with green eyes. “Julie Williams,” it says. “8pm, Tuesday.” Then she wakes up, at 8am on a Tuesday morning.

Manny is having a dream. It’s a very lovely dream: he’s in a classy restaurant, a mix between a 50s diner and a smoking lounge, and he’s gorging himself on an incredible array of steak. It’s almost easy for him to ignore the laughter in the background, the shadows moving in strange ways, and the fact that the steak has become human flesh, familiar, tattooed human flesh.

It’s 8am on a Tuesday. Julie Williams is missing. A young girl named Emma has “gone on vacation.”

Odyn’s final plan has begun. He’s called in the last of his favors, and a horrible ritual is in progress. Unless the kids find a way to stop him, it will claim the lives of Julie and little Emma, and one other, someone very close to Emma Vaerbond’s heart.

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