Timeless

Check out our episode here! (and an interview with the author here!)

Timeless by Gail Carriger

Two years have passed since we were last with Alexia, Conall, Lord Akeldama and tiny baby Prudence. Prudence, now a toddler, is proving to be both a delight and a challenge to all in the combined Maccon Akeldama household. Tonight, she is a challenge for it is bath night and apparently she has avoided Boots and the drones attempting to bathe her and come into contact with Lord Akeldama, the dandy vampire himself, and now she sports his fangs, speed and immortality. The only person who can return the toddler to her human, non-immortal self is her mother, her favorite person in the world. Alexia’s touch turns Prudence mortal and returns the vampire’s powers. He promises to stay out of reach so Prudence can have her bath and Lord and Lady Maccon can go to the theater to see Ivy’s new play.

The performance is quite ridiculous and features Ivy as a vampire queen and her husband Tunstell as her werewolf lover. It is a tragic, dramatic play, but Conall finds it hilarious, especially the dream sequence scene where Tunstell appears to be a dancing bee and Ivy some sort of bear. At intermission, they are greeted by Madame Lefoux who has a request for Alexia to visit Countess Nadasdy after the performance. Alexia and Madame Lefoux’s relationship is somewhat strained after the lady scientist destroyed most of London in a rip roaring rampaging robot octopus and was made to be a drone to the now Woolsey vampire hive as punishment. The two friends, for they are still friends despite the rampaging, exchange pleasantries about their children. 

Alexia and Conall stop off at home before heading out to the Woolsey Hive, but before they can leave, Lyall arrives with Lady Kingair in tow, she has some sort of business and needs to speak to her great great great grandfather about it. Unfortunately, Prudence hears her parents talking and charges out to greet them and their new guest. She hugs Sidheag’s leg, immediately shifting into a wolf and taking off through the still open doorway. Conall chases after her and they all find it very interesting that once Prudence gets some distance away, she suddenly loses her wolf form. It seems her abilities work on some sort of tether. Conall, still a wolf, picks up his daughter, instantly swapping their forms and the tiny wolf takes off again. This time, Alexia retrieves her daughter, preternatural snuffing out the metanatural abilities.

Prudence retrieved and napping, Sidheag reveals why she came to visit. She sent her Beta, Dubh, to Egypt to investigate the mummy that troubled them several books ago. Alexia reveals her discoveries that the broken ankh symbol, the only note Sidheag received from either her Beta or someone else, means preternatural. Conall and Sidheag leave for BUR to begin investigating while Alexia and the only person available to accompany her to Woolsey, Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings, leave to see the Countess. Only a man in a turban, Egyptian most decidedly, is interested in them on their train ride.

Biffy meanwhile wraps things up at Chapeau de Poupe. He's doing remarkably well with the shop, even though he just had some very distasteful shoppers, the Loontwills. Felicity is of course ghastly as always, but he deals with her to the best of his abilities and then heads down into the new werewolf dungeons that used to be Madame Lefoux's laboratory. He goes about tidying things up, wondering how he could better decorate the space and planning to go out for the rest of the evening. He heads to the pack's new townhouse to change but smells and hears something strange. Someone sandy and two men speaking Arabic. One leaves without Biffy seeing. The other is … Floote.

Alexia’s meeting with the Countess is about a summons the countess has received, but not for herself, for Alexia and Prudence. The Egyptian Hive Queen, Matakara, rumored to be over 3000 years old, has requested to meet Prudence. Alexia is miffed that she must drop everything to attend the Egyptian Queen, but then she sees there is more to the summons. A message that says her husband is missing a wolf and she is missing her father. Well, she must go then, mustn't she? Before she and Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings can depart, however, a drone with a head wound is rushed in to see the Countess. Showing off her maker fangs and her feeder fangs, she tries to metamorphose the girl but fails, the girl dying in a spill of blood from her eyes. Countess Nadasdy then feeds from Mabel Dair and Madame Lefoux to regain her strength. At this point, Alexia and Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings take their leave.

On their way back, they encounter Dubh at the train station who looks a might disheveled for a werewolf. He has a horrible sunburn, long scraggly hair and a beard. It's clear that he's been in Egypt under the influence of the Godbreaker Plague. He rushes to Alexia to tell her that her house is not in order and maybe something about her father, but then he is shot by an unknown assailant. Alexia and Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings rush him back to the pack house, leaving him with Floote while they fetch a surgeon and Conall and Sidheag. Unfortunately, Dubh dies.

A lot of things happen simultaneously next. Sidheag and all the wolves plan to investigate Dubh’s death, Lord Akeldama wants to go on a walk in the park with his daughter and her mother and a drone and the nursemaid and they all must match, and Alexia tells Conall about the failed metamorphosis and the summons to Egypt to see Queen Matakara. Alexia cannot go to the park, but everything else basically begins to take shape. Conall readily agrees to go to Egypt with his wife despite the Godbreaker Plague so he can investigate what Dubh was doing there and he leaves the murder investigation up to Lyall, Biffy and Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings. Alexia is certain that the vampires won't mind her taking her own daughter to Egypt for a month or two considering she was summoned by one of their own. Now, she just needs to contact Ivy.

Ivy only needs some convincing to take her most recent show on the road to Egypt. While Alexia hopes they'll be able to condense the show down to Ivy and Tunstell, that's just not possible. Ivy will need to take many hat boxes, her baby twins, Primrose and Percival, Tunstell of course, the nursemaid and ten or so other people. Upon leaving, Alexia alerts the Countess that Queen Matakara will need to request to see The Death Rains of Swansea, Ivy’s play, in person at her home and that if she does, Alexia and Conall will be there with their darling daughter. 

Meanwhile, Biffy and Lyall begin investigating Dubh’s death. They discuss Dubh a little, but Lyall doesn't really know much about him. Talk turns to Alphas and what happens when they start to go mad, about 300 or 400 years in. Lyall suspects that Conall already has a plan in place for when that time comes for him. The two werewolves go to a bar that Previously Dandy Biffy used to frequent near the train station and ask the barmaid there for juicy gossip that has happened since Biffy last visited. Lyall is impressed with Biffy's skills but the only thing they learn about Dubh's shooting is that it was done by a gentleman who left in a dirigible. At least they have something to start with. 

Alexia chats with Lord Akeldama to try to learn about Queen Matakara, but she doesn't learn much about what to expect from her visit, except that she shouldn't go to Egypt because it is dirty and smelly and not at all fashionable what with all the robes. She does learn that Queen Matakara is the one that started it all for Lord Akeldama, meaning she is the one who gave him the bite, and that for a short time after they are bitten, vampires have the ability to travel great distances, which is evident since Lord Akeldama is obviously not living in Egypt.

Upon packing for her trip, Alexia learns that Countess Nadasdy is sending one of her drones along on the trip as well, presumably to keep an eye on things for the vampire queen, or to get rid of her for a little while. Alexia doesn't know how she feels about Madame Lefoux traveling with her, but Floote assures her that she misses her friend. Alexia isn't sure about how she feels about Floote right now either. He has been with her so long, but is he loyal to her or still to her father? He informs Alexia that her father would not like her going to Egypt, but you know what? He would not like many of the choices she's made and he's not here anymore so she can do what she pleases. Alexia, struggling with who she can trust right now, knows there is one person she definitely can trust: Biffy. She inducts him into the Parasol Protectorate, without her special parasol, unfortunately, and he chooses the codename Wingtip Spectator. Alexia instructs him to keep her up to date on everything happening while she is away in Egypt. He happily agrees.

There is quite a kerfuffle when it is time to board the train involving toppling hats, Prudence properly meeting and shaking tiny baby hands with Madame Lefoux, or Foo! as she is called, and sharing baby gossip with her father, and then some rousing bawdy songs and early morning ale, but they set off. Alexia mentions missing her parasol to her wayward friend who says she would have made her a replacement of course, but Alexia isn't so sure she can trust Madame Lefoux what with her rampaging across London in a robotic octopus. Conall assures his wife that he has seen to acquiring another parasol for her, this one commissioned by their other inventor friend, Trouvé, and Alexia is pleased to learn that it will be arriving imminently, even while they are on their trip. Speaking of, the boarding of the ship to Egypt is worse than the boarding of the train, but again they manage, minus one of Ivy's hats that fell into the sea.

Biffy is shocked to see someone waiting at the hat shop when he arrives to open it for the evening. This person has a long thin package for Alexia and introduces himself as Trouvé and Biffy introduces himself as Sandalio de Rabiffano, but everyone calls him Biffy. The two gentlemen chat for a moment and when Trouvé learns that everyone has left on a trip to Egypt, he inquires about Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings who he met on Alexia's trip to Italy. Biffy directs Trouvé to the pack house and then inspects the parasol. It is perfectly ghastly and looks like an umbrella! It's olive and drab and has visible stitching and a brass handle. Before Biffy sends it on to Alexia, he gets out all sorts of ribbons and lace to attempt to make it more fetching.

Alexia and Prudence join Madame Lefoux for tea and the old friends flirt a little and talk about Madame Lefoux’s life as a drone and how Quesnel seems to be getting a great education. Alexia questions who Madame Lefoux is reporting to on their journey, the Woolsey Hive? the Order of the Brass Octopus? but it's entirely possible she's only reporting to herself. Madame Lefoux leaves and is soon replaced by nearly everyone else from their traveling party. They enjoy a delicious dinner and then Alexia and Conall enjoy some time to themselves.

The voyage goes well, mostly, except for the time that, whilst playing with her ride-on ladybug, made specifically for her by Trouvé, Prudence fell into her father thus turning her into a tiny werewolf wearing a fluffy pink dress. Biffy and Lyall, meanwhile, are dealing with a lot of rove vampires acting inappropriately. It could be because there is not a London vampire queen anymore or it could be because Lord and Lady Maccon are away or it could be a combination or something else entirely. Biffy is very astute and picks up on a lot of details, leading Lyall to say that he'll make a great replacement. Replacement? For what? Lyall does not say.

Alexia’s new parasol arrives whilst they're trying to catch Prudence. After successfully wrangling the child, Alexia is able to test her new treasure. It is quite lovely with Biffy's modifications, now a striking black and white instead of hideously drab olive. It has all the same accouterments as her other one, slightly different as it has a new new maker, but it has one addition. When Alexia tests the, what seems to be a grappling hook, unfortunately she falls overboard with the kickback. Conall dives in after in wolf form to rescue his wife and they discover something. Conall remains in wolf form even though he is touching his barehanded wife. It must be the water! 

Biffy meanwhile returns home from investigating men who have dirigibles with still no real knowledge of who attacked Dubh. Unfortunately, Felicity is at the pack house when he arrives and she is talking to Sidheag. Sidheag starts yelling for Lyall but Biffy arrives instead and she backhands him across the room, shifts into her wolf form and leaves, presumably in search of Lyall. Sidheag seems to have found out that he was the one responsible for the plot to kill the Queen all those years ago that disrupted her pack and made her great great great grandfather, Conall, abandon them. Biffy asks what Felicity said to Sidheag, but I'm sure we all know.

Alexia and Conall talk about their water discovery and that they'll have to test it further in the bath and then they realize why Prudence hates bath time so much. It must dull her senses. Many tests, some sexy, some not, will have to be done between the preternatural and the werewolf and the water.

Thank goodness Biffy knows where Lyall is and heads straight to him after thoroughly verbally bashing Felicity and telling her his plans to explain her wretched attitude and what she's done to her sister (trying to ruin her life just now with revealing to Sidheag that Alexia knew about Lyall's betrayal and kept it a secret from her husband) to Lord Akeldama who will ensure her social standing will no longer exist. Biffy finds Lyall in a fight with Sidheag at BUR and immediately jumps in the fray to support his Beta. They take turns fighting Sidheag all night long, for she is a powerful and determined Alpha.

When the sun comes up, Sidheag insists Lyall replace Dubh as her Beta since he caused so much trouble long long ago. Lyall explains why he did what he did, which really was only to set everything in motion and that others were allowed to make their own decisions, and though it's not mentioned specifically, it is obvious that many sexually violent assaults occurred. Even so, Sidheag insists that Lyall become her Beta. Biffy will assume Lyall's role after Lyall realized he kept his wits about him during the fight, which is very difficult for any wolf to do, much less one that is only a few years’ changed. After a night of protecting one another as wolves, the two men go to bed together, at first only for comfort, but then, as something more.

The journey to Egypt finally ends, though there are lots of ridiculous things that happen with the practicing and performing of plays, most important of which is Prudence wearing a mustache and Madame Lefoux approving wholeheartedly. They make it through customs with the help of a vampire, Chancellor Neshi, sent by Queen Matakara, and ride donkeys to their hotel, which is also quite silly and includes Tunstell splitting his tight, tight pants. 

Shortly after arriving and having relations, Conall goes for a jaunt as a werewolf but returns not long after with something to show his wife and daughter. He takes them to where the Godbreaker Plague is in effect and Prudence, with her few words, declares Mama! which they decide means that to their daughter, the feeling in the air is what Alexia feels like to Prudence. Alexia was worried she would be repulsed by the feeling of the plague as she was with the mummy, but it is quite the opposite. They wonder if their discovery that water has an effect on her abilities might have something to do with how she feels now, which is a possibility. The place where they are standing used to be full of water but is now a dried up lake bed, after all.

After this discovery, it is time for the acting troupe and Alexia, Conall and Prudence to visit Queen Matakara. They travel to her home in a steam engine and are welcomed by six vampires, the entirety of the Alexandria Hive, and several drones. The vampires and drones love the performance, especially Tunstell's bumblebee dance, and after the show ends, the actors are shown out to enjoy coffee, leaving Alexia, Conall and Prudence to meet the Queen.

Queen Matakara is seated behind a tented curtain, though it seems she is fastened into her throne rather than sitting atop it. There are tubes and fluids constantly pumping into the Queen and her eyes seem to be full of anguish. Chancellor Neshi, speaking for the Queen, demands that they bow greater and more deeply than their curtsies and then demands to see Prudence's abilities and questions them rudely about what she can do. Another vampire swoops in and grabs the toddler only to drop her when she immediately steals his form and becomes a vampire. Alexia retrieves her daughter, returning her to her human form, and one of the other vampires makes to strike her, or perhaps Prudence, but Conall, in wolf form, steps in front to protect his family. Chancellor Neshi guides them out of the room, though outside, Prudence, in not so many words, seems to want to help the Queen, worried that she is trapped.

Biffy and Lyall meanwhile, mostly Biffy, discover that the Godbreaker Plague expanded 50 years ago. Meant to be researching why Dubh was shot, he discovered this instead. They must tell Alexia immediately, and also let her know about Sidheag and Lyall. The next day, in Egypt, Alexia, Prudence, Ivy, Primrose and Percival go out for a donkey ride to take in the sights during the daylight hours. Alexia needs to visit an aethographic transmitter to see if there is any information from Biffy, but along the way, looking at various shops and wares, a very handsome man descends from a balloon and tells Alexia, by name, what she is looking for is farther away. No one seems to have seen this interaction, which Alexia finds quite odd. They go to the transmitter office and receive a message.

Biffy is jostled awake by his claviger who was made to rouse him with time enough to get to the pack's aethographic transmitter before his scheduled time to message Alexia. He tells her about the moving Godbreaker Plague and that it began 50 years ago and that Lady Kingair knows about Lyall and has written to Conall about it. Just then, Alexia remembers a missive that Conall received that she assumed was about BUR but it was not. She must get back to the hotel before Conall reads it! 

Unfortunately, on the way back to the hotel, Alexia, Ivy, Prudence, Primrose, Percival and the nursemaid are attacked by a random group of men dressed in white. Luckily the handsome balloon man comes to their rescue and leads them back to their hotel. Again unfortunately, Conall greets them, angry, with the crumpled missive in hand. He is so hurt by Alexia keeping this secret, even more so than Lyall keeping it first, and he storms away from the hotel. Alexia, quite unlike herself, bursts into tears. Luckily Ivy is there to help her inside and the nursemaid can tend to the children. While Alexia is crying, Madame Lefoux arrives and also tends to her friend.

Alexia comes back to herself and asks Madame Lefoux if, in addition to her keeping watch over Alexia and Prudence and the goings-on with Queen Matakara for Countess Nadasdy, if she is also in Egypt to investigate the Godbreaker Plague on behalf of the Order of the Brass Octopus. She reveals that she is and that the expansion of the plague began some 40 years ago, not 50 like Biffy suggested, and that it of course had something to do with Alessandro Tarabotti. He was working for the OBO at the time and ended up abandoning them and taking half the other operatives with him, but no one knows why.

That is not necessarily true. After some more investigation but being stopped by something called the Clandestine Act, and speaking with Lord Akeldama who knows just about everything, Biffy and Lyall determine that the one person who knows everything that happened 40-50 years ago in Egypt with Alessandro Tarabotti is his butler Floote. Lyall and Biffy question him and learn that the first time Alessandro went to Egypt, nothing of consequence happened, the second time he met Leticia Phinkerlington, Alexia’s mother, but the third time, something of import happened, though he is also bound by this Clandestine Act, which prohibits any supernatural creature from knowing what happened in Egypt for some unknown reason. Biffy believes that whatever it is that happened will not paint Alessandro in a very good light, which wouldn't be so bad if Alessandro wasn't Lyall’s former lover.

After a rousing performance of Ivy and Tunstell’s play, it is discovered that Primrose and Prudence have been kidnapped. Everyone goes into hysterics but then Prudence crawls out from underneath the bed. She, being only two, is unable to articulate who kidnapped her baby friend, but instead cries out for Dama and Home. Alexia takes charge of the situation and gets everyone calmed down enough to help. Tunstell is sent to the authorities and Ivy is sent to bed with laudanum. Alexia seeks Madame Lefoux who might be able to help her, but learns that she has left. Luckily Conall arrives then and, though he is still mad at his wife, he begins immediately to help her investigate. He tracks Madame Lefoux's scent to the river.

Biffy goes to transmit to Alexia another bit of information he has found, that the Godbreaker Plague is centered at Luxor, at Hatshepsut’s tomb, and learns from Alexia that someone has kidnapped Primrose and that Conall is angry about Lyall and Alexia’s secret. He decides to question Floote again and realizes that he really is the key to everything and that he is the one who killed Dubh. He retrieves Floote’s gun and checks its bullet, exactly the same old fashioned sundowner bullet that killed the Beta, but why? Biffy questions Floote only to find out that he is following his master's last orders, one, to protect Alexia and two, protect the Mandate of the Broken Ankh. Knowing he'll get no more information from him, Biffy knocks the elderly butler out and secures him in the wine cellar. 

Alexia tells Conall, who is still angry, about the missive from Biffy about Luxor and that that is probably where Madame Lefoux is also headed, as she was seen at the docks with a great deal of money and a small bundle. Alexia, Conall and Prudence set off to follow her. Unfortunately there is no steam engine available to take them so they have to go by riverboat, which is very slow. Luckily, not too long after their float begins, the same handsome man approaches Alexia and asks if she is ready to “right the wrong of the father.” She agrees and they head toward Luxor in his balloon.

Conall is not a good floater. Werewolves get exceptionally air sick, so while they are gliding along peacefully with this drifter and his family, Prudence helping in what ways a two year old can, Alexia taking everything in scientifically, Conall is vomiting. When he finally feels better, it either means they have reached the aether and werewolves are not impacted by it or they have reached the area of Godbreaker Plague, but it's hard to tell which as the Plague feels similar to the aether to Alexia.

Biffy comes to BUR to tell Lyall about Floote likely killing Dubh because of something Alessandro set him to do dealing with the Godbreaker Plague, but Sidheag overhears and rushes off to find and kill the butler. The wolves chase her to the townhouse and leave her to start her search at the servants' quarters while they know he is locked in the wine cellar. Or at least he was. It appears Floote has escaped. Sidheag is furious, mainly at Biffy, for Floote's escape and goes to attack. Lyall prepares to defend and Biffy, torn between the desire to keep himself safe while also not enduring the shift again, turns only his head into wolf form. Sidheag stops in her tracks and Lyall looks on in awe. Biffy has Anubis form, something only Alphas generally have. 

They decide to chase after Floote, assuming he's going to Egypt. The “something” that Floote has been set to do with the Plague might be to let it expand, which will eventually stop all metamorphosing, something that the Templars were very interested in, and let's not forget that Alessandro was once a part of that group. Of course, he's had his hand in just about everything, quite literally. They all know that Floote will have traveled to Egypt by air, it being the fastest, so Sidheag sets off to the airfield and the public dirigibles. Lyall and Biffy, stuck in Anubis form, go next door to Lord Akeldama's to see if Floote took his dirigible, appropriately named Dandelion Fluff Upon a Spoon. 

Floote did indeed take the vampire’s dirigible. Lord Akeldama seems to be most pleased that Biffy is an Alpha now and insinuates that Lyall must be too, given that he is now going to have to be Sidheag's Beta, and that maybe he even knew about it before it happened, but he did not know. That's not important right now anyway. What is important is that Floote is a killer and is on his way to Alexia and no one wants her to find out that her dear butler and longtime caregiver is a murderer. Lord Akeldama sends his drones to alert the authorities while Biffy and Lyall watch the sunrise, Biffy finally getting his head back. His first words are that he does not want to be an Alpha, to which Lyall replies that the best ones never do. 

As they continue to float for a week more, Prudence makes a friend, Anitra, and the drifters gather with others in a sort of floating balloon city. Alexia sees below them what looks like an octopus in the sands and is told that they are called ghost roads, perhaps made before the Godbreaker Plague spread. She sees the eye of the octopus as a sort of temple and learns that it is Hatshepsut's temple. They land and Alexia feels overwhelmed at the immense pressure of the Plague, like she felt in direct contact with the preternatural mummy in Scotland. The only thing that makes her feel better is to be dunked in the Nile, which is where she awakens after having fainted. 

It was Madame Lefoux's idea to throw Alexia in the river and now that they are together again, maybe they can all work together to figure out what's going on. At least we know now that Madame Lefoux did not kidnap Primrose and had no idea she was even taken. She came here on behalf of the OBO to search Hatshepsut's tomb to learn the source of the plague and now it seems they have found it. The Ghost Road is made of corpses. Preternatural corpses. A lot of them. 

Conall laughs at the idea of this place being Hatshepsut's tomb being that she is still alive, if bolted to a chair, and Alexia is shocked to know that Matakara is Hatshepsut. Why would she have done this? Conall knows that, too. To keep werewolves and other supernaturals out of Egypt. They surmise that it was Alexander the Great’s idea because when the Greeks took over Egypt, they were very antisupernatural, so it's possible Matakara created a deal with Alexander that she would be the only supernatural there. Anyway,  now, do they stop it? Before they can decide, the men in white robes that attacked Alexia earlier are back and this time, they are traveling on a methane gas powered snail. A Gastropod.

Conall goes to fight the men even though he is currently a mortal. He tells Alexia and Prudence and Madame Lefoux to get to the balloon, but of course, Alexia refuses to abandon him. Alexia follows Conall, making Madame Lefoux take Prudence to the balloon. In the fight, Conall gets shot, but, realizing they are out gunned, they retreat to the balloon. Unfortunately, as they are climbing the ladder, Conall gets shot again, this time with a massive elephant gun, and falls.

Biffy meanwhile, just to interrupt the literal horrors that just occurred, waits for messages from Alexia but gets none. Before leaving for Luxor, Alexia asked Ivy to message Biffy if she was feeling up to it, but it seems she hasn't, which is understandable. Upon learning of Biffy's new abilities because of course Lyall had to alert the pack, Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings does not believe Biffy is an Alpha and is a dick about it, even challenging him when he is unable to summon his Anubis form. Lyall shuts him down though and we all applaud.

Alexia wants to go back for Conall but Madame Lefoux won't let her. He is dead. He was shot by an elephant gun and fell from a great height. He is dead. A week or so passes and Alexia floats along, barely cognizant of anything. Ivy comes out of her own depression to help her friend but lets her know that she was unable to retrieve the messages sent by Biffy. Alexia gets them and is crushed again by what she learns. Floote is a murderer and has been keeping secrets about the Godbreaker Plague. 

When Alexia returns from retrieving her aethographic transmissions, she tells Ivy and Madame Lefoux about what she learned. Ivy says that Floote was just there looking for her, hopefully to tell her the truth, but she sent him away to find her. Then Prudence comes rushing in with a note. The bad men in white came back again and this time they want Alexia. Alexia, not really seeing much point in her life at this point, decides to go, but Madame Lefoux and Ivy manage to hold her back for a short moment, trying to convince her to at least think of a plan before she leaves. Just then, a group of men, presumably OBO, summon Madame Lefoux out in the lobby of the hotel. While she is speaking with them, Alexia walks out, unnoticed.

Alexia travels by donkey to the meeting place left on the note and is met by Chancellor Neshi. He demands to know why the baby he stole isn't working and, well, it's because he napped the wrong kid. He had plans to secretly and quietly help Queen Matakara finally die without the rest of the hive noticing, by letting Prudence steal her vampire form so she'll be mortal and able to die peacefully. Now, instead of letting Alexia take Primrose back to her mother and come back with Prudence, Chancellor Neshi demands Alexia turn Matakara mortal right now, which will cause the rest of the hive to go mad and probably kill Alexia and everyone else and then die themselves since they will be without a queen. 

Before this can happen, Madame Lefoux arrives, having figured out what is going on and what the Chancellor had planned, and she brought help! Prudence! Okay, bringing a baby to a vampire fight was probably not the best idea, but she also brought Ivy and Tunstell and the rest of the acting troupe. A huge fight begins and Prudence steals a vampire form and bites people and all the other vampires are also biting people, namely Ivy, and the actors are brandishing stage weapons, and everything is a huge mess. 

Prudence is captured by her mother, changing her back into herself, and is placed in Matakara's lap. Very clearly knowing what she is doing and that it is helping, Prudence carefully places her hands on the Queen's face, turning Matakara mortal. Things get really bad when the vampires realize what is happening, that they are about to be without a Queen, and begin to fight harder. Just then, a butler riding a giant wolf arrives! 

Conall is alive!! Alexia, realizing her husband is not dead but her best friend almost is, manages to speak to the Chancellor and convince him to let her remove Prudence and give Matakara her form back temporarily to attempt to change her dying best friend into a Vampire Queen, which will save them all in the end. Tunstell, devastated with his bleeding wife in his hands, agrees to let them try. 

The metamorphosis looks similar to when Countess Nadasdy tried earlier. After the bite, Ivy’s eyes turn red with blood and she begins to scream. Alexia worries that her friend might not have enough excess soul to become a vampire but, no wait! Ivy’s eyes change back to her normal brown and her scream reveals two sets of bloody fangs, one feeder set and one maker set. Ivy has become a Queen! Lisping around her new fangs, Ivy tries to figure out what has happened as her new hive swarms around her. As Ivy becomes Queen, Alexia touches Matakara and she dies peacefully then and there. Chancellor Neshi then touches Prudence, giving her his powers, and jumps out the window. His life was long like Matakara's and he too was ready for it to end.

Having learned earlier from Lord Akeldama that new vampires can move long distances shortly after being turned, Alexia alerts Ivy, who has just been fretting about having to stay in Egypt, and now that she knows she can move her hive back to London, she chooses to do so. The vampires don't put up much fuss, and rather quickly, they clear out of their hive house, heading back to the hotel to gather the rest of their new Queen’s family and their belongings, and are ready to move to London. 

Alexia, Conall, Prudence, and Madame Lefoux are alone in the empty hive house. Giving the recently reunited family time together, Madame Lefoux goes to examine the ancient vampire corpse. Alexia questions how Conall is alive and he explains that Floote found him and rescued him from his men, his men?!, who were holding Conall hostage and got him out of the Godbreaker zone so he could heal. Obviously Floote will have told Conall everything about killing Dubh and that Alessandro tasked him with keeping the plague going, so while they were all fighting and Ivy was becoming a vampire, he disappeared. Even though it's sad that Floote has left them, at least he won't have to stand trial for murder or be turned over to Sidheag for an even worse fate.

When they all arrive back in London, Lord Akeldama is in a bit of a tizzy because Ivy is a new Queen and has brought many vampires and drones back with her. That's not really what bothers him though. It's her hats, Alexia! Her hats! Despite that, he is happy to have his adopted daughter back home and Prudence is happy to have her Dama again, though they've discovered she's not very happy about her name.

Biffy gives Conall a letter from Lyall. In it, he apologizes without apologizing for not telling his Alpha about his plans all those years ago. He also explains that Biffy will be taking his place as Beta, but as Conall can definitely tell, Biffy will be replacing him as Alpha whenever he is ready. This coincides quite nicely with the plans that Conall has, to retire to Egypt when Prudence has come of age. This worries Alexia because if they live in the Godbreaker zone, Conall will grow old and die. Yes, Conall assures his wife, he will, but they will do it together, which is quite romantic.