Let the spoilers break free, like the light of the Radiant Maiden. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
Important note: today’s chapter may be delayed due to the holidays, but I’m putting it up now so we can speculate on what will happen. I’m hoping lunch is dramatic…
“Aberrants are more frequent” → Aberrant alert right away x’)
Two Damien chapters in a row!! I bow before the might of the resurgent fanclub.
We are rapidly approaching the end of this book, so I hope you guys are excited to tumble all the way to the bottom of the rabbit hole. Well, one of the rabbit holes. This story has an awful lot of them.
Azalea, this is cruelty to readers. You can’t just drop ominous pronouncements like that and just duck out. How am I meant to sleep after that?? 
Good to see Betty out and about and helping out stalking victims. Meanwhile, I wonder how much Ana heard…or how much she suspects. That girl is sharp and plays things close to her chest. We never get to hear what she’s thinking.
On a more prosaic note - how the hell is Sebastien going to turn Damien into a full member without revealing criminal connections or the Raven Queen link? Is she just going to just go “surprise! But it’s still a good cause, right?” Or is she planning on creating like a separate HQ for Damien to report to and have some of her “inner circle” staff it and just pile on more deception?
I’m not opposed to extra deception. After all, if she comes clean with him it puts the burden on Damien to either come clean to his brother and break his friendship with Sebastien or start working with criminals behind his brother’s back and going against everything his family stands for. I’d rather not put him in that position if I were her, but I’m certain it will be interesting regardless of what happens.
Thank you for the chapter and I hope you had/have a wonderful holiday season.
I also like that Damien doesn’t even question that, if Sebastien doesn’t remember an area clearly, then the only logical reason is that Red Guard magic is actively interfering with her ability to remember those areas.
Like, imagine the faith it requires to take for granted that if your bestie forgets something then the most logical explanation is that there is a clandestine organization with an ongoing work of magic to keep anyone from ever remembering that thing in detail.
The Undreaming Order isn’t exactly unlawful, otherwise the coppers could crack down on it. But that the Raven Queen is the head of the order … well, that could give Damien an extestial crisis if he found out that its an organzizarion headed by the Raven Queen.
S. would never willingly reveal that to Damien. But, it feels like this would be the next great climax; Damien figures something out.
Well, is the Raven Queen really the head of the order?
Id rather say that the order is dedicated to her without her actually being a member at all.
True, but if he ever has to explain to Titus that “I’m working for a secret society that involves members of the cult that worships the Raven Queen but has absolutely nothing to do with her and I’ve never met her, nor cursed anyone nor committed arson, nor blackmail…” it sounds a bit sus xD
Both Damien and Titus know that the cult is involved in some illegal shenanigans, they were discussing it just last chapter!
true, but S explicitly told Damien that not everything the organization does is legal before adding him to it so its really not S’ fault 
I think Undreaming Order members might be recruited as masked stand-ins for a sort of full member induction ceremony for Damien to pretend that the organization is larger than it is, but I feel like beyond that she probably is going to minimize contact with them.
I feel like the more dramatic part of the next step is him as a full member getting a new handler and liaison to the supposed higher-ups… But Siobhan doesn’t necessarily have anyone she can trust with that role, so she is going to have to craft another disguise/identity in her base body.
This then makes room for a dramatic turn when Damien eventually figures out that his new handler is actually the Raven Queen herself in disguise.
This then makes room for a dramatic turn when Damien eventually figures out that his new handler is actually the Raven Queen herself in disguise.
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. The Raven Queen and Sebastien have one piece of kit in common at all times: their boots. If Damien notices the similarity, he’ll be halfway there.
He’s never met the Raven Queen. What happens if she shows him the coaster to get his trust in a dangerous situtation? Whet happens if he sees her from a distance; will he try to caputure her? He doesn’t really know the goals of the order he’s joined - he’s thought Sebatstien was hoping to capture the Raven Queen, not protect her. How much of his world will be upended? Does Lacer inform him that the Raven Queen is useful, and therefore tell him to leave her alone? Does he catch the Raven Queen at the Lacer’s cottage? In the library?
He has so much curiosity, it feels like just a short distance before he finds out something he won’t like.