Prologue

Two twins are trapped in a cave with only red light as their company. They are scared as a bucket with bread descends into the cave. They eat it and the boy demands to know why they're there and someone above chuckles evilly.

Part One: Justice

Chapter 1

Monday.

On April 1st, Victoria Grace "Tory" Brennan is speaking at the trial for Anthony Goodwin/"The Gamemaster". Felix DeMerit is the judge, Nell Harris is the prosecutor, and Lazarus Parrish is Anthony's lawyer. Tory explains how she and her friends escaped the grate, without revealing their powers, and Anthony charges at Tory before bailiffs pin him down. Christopher "Kit" Howard,  Hiram "Hi" Stolowitski, and Shelton Devers escort Tory out of the room, leaving Benjamin "Ben" Blue behind.

Chapter 2

The band regroups at their bunker in an underground cave and talk about the trial before Tory "flares", since she needed to find out why she gets "flare" impulses at odd times of the day.

Chapter 3

Tory, Shelton, and Hi go inside their houses. Tory and Cooper the wolfdog go inside their house and find Whitney Rose Dubois, Kit's girlfriend, at the kitchen table. Dinner is "chicken-fried steak, okra, mashed potatoes, and butter beans, everything slathered in thick, beef gravy." They talk about Tory's next step in cotillions after her debute ball, which upsets Tory and they also talk about how Kit's employees need a break sometime.

Chapter 4

Tuesday.

Shelton, Hi, and Tory walk to their school, Bolton Prepatory Academy (since Ben was kicked out, he's been going to "Wando High", near where is mother, Myra Blue, lives). Ever since the trial, no one bullies the three anymore, except for the Tripod of Skank: Ashley Bodford, Courtney Holt, and Madison Dunkle. Madison is the nervous one since she saw Tory and her friends "flare" at a beach. Tory avoid them and goes to AP Calculus, where she sits next to Ella Francis, one of her new friends. They notice that the Gable Twins, Lucy and Peter, aren't there and wonder what happened to them as Headmaster Declan Paugh enters the room and asks for Tory, Shelton, and Hi.

Chapter 5

Declan tells the three they need to go to the DA's office quickly. He tells if they miss lunch, they will be counted as truant. Tory, Shelton, and Hi go to the DA's office and spot Ben Blue there. Nell Harris tells the four that the trial is over and that "Deputy Mayor Richard Skeen, Police Commissioner Antony Riggins, and Detective Fergus Hawfield of the Major Crimes Division" have the lead on the Gable twins case. 

Chapter 6

Shelton and Hi run down a sidewalk and wait for Tory and Ben to show up. Since Ben is no longer at Bolton, he can wear what he wants. Hi shows his friends a copy of the card and Tory yells at them and figures out that Ben wears shades is because he "flares" all the time. As Ben leaves, Tory, Shelton, and Hi encounter Chance Claybourne at the front gate. Tory feels like Chance is threatening her.

Chapter 7

Chance is in his father, Hollis Claybourne's, study as he looks over the evidence for Parvovirus XPB-19. Chance decides he needs to do something about the virus.

Chapter 8

Tory, Shelton, and Hi are about to board Hugo, Tom Blue's ferry to Morris and Loggerhead Islands, at "MegaDock" in "Pier Group Z" in the Charleston Marina. When they see a news report about the case in a bar, they run inside and watch it. They decide to let Ben drive Sewee, his boat, to the Gable's house to find more evidence.

Chapter 9

Tory, Shelton, Hi, Ben, and Cooper get off Sewee and into the Gable house on Daniel Island. Cooper guards, Hi and Tory look upstairs, and Ben and Shelton look downstairs. They find nothing and suddenly Cooper bolts into the house and runs into the basement.

Chapter 10

The band follows Cooper and Tory suspects the wolfdog smelled blood. Tory finds a circular spot that's actually bleach and thinks the killer cleaned the blood up. Outside the house, an unknown man sees Tory and her friends in the basement ans sets off the alarm. Tory and her friends escape.

Part 2: Jinxed

Chapter 11

Wednesday.

Tory thinks about what happened the previous night and "flares" unexpectedly.

As Tory, Shelton, and Hi meet up for school they talk about the unexpected "flare" and Ben using his "flare" powers at his own convenience. 

Chapter 12

At lunch, Ella joins Tory, Shelton, and Hi for lunch. Ella unexpectedly leaves since her mom brought her "shin guards", which she forgot. Tory, Shelton, and Hi decide the tarot card Lucy Gable has.

Chapter 13

Tory, Shelton, and Hi enter "Fairy Dust Bookstore and Gifts." The place is on Folly Beach and is filled with books on "moon phases, dream studies, botany and horticulture, Druidism, the Sacred Wheel. Some designations, like Gaelic Polytheistic Tribalism, I couldn't even follow." There are also "Candles. Oils. Incense. Spiritual washes and cleansing waters. Even bags of feathers. .... An assortment of small cauldrons. Mortar-and-pestle sets. Hundreds of different crystals. Dried herbs. Crushed minerals. Tarot cards. Ouija boards. Rune stones. Hundreds of other things I couldn't peg." Clara Gordon then appears and asks the three what they want and Tory asks about the tarot card and the fee is $40. Clara says the figure on the card is Opiuchus (also known as"Hebitsukai-Za" in Japan, The Serpent Bearer, and Serpentarius), who was the original 13th star sign, but was rejected. Hi is a Pisces, not an Aries. Shelton is an Opiuchus, not an Sagittarius. Tory is a Capricorn. The band leaves as Ben appears in his car and tells them that he can get Karsten's files off the flashdrive.

Chapter 14

Clara goes to the back of her store and gets tarot card for a reading. She shuffles them and the cards that show up are "Disaster. Deceit. Change." She fears it involves danger and quickly locks up her shop and leaves.

Chapter 15

Ben takes the three to Eddie Chang, a computer hacker who works in a rundown place. Ronnie, Ben friend at Wando High, told Ben about Eddie. The price for the this misson? $5,000.

Shelton returns from the bank with $5,000 dollars and gives it to Eddie. Eddie then gives the files on the disc to the four.

Chapter 16

Dinner that night is "pork chops with country ham gravy, green beans, and Gouda mac and cheese." As they eat, a report about the Gable twins' disappearance appears on the TV and shows the two locked in a cave, disheveled and starving. Tory is determined to get the Virals to band up to save Lucy and Peter Gable.

Chapter 17

Tory, Ben, Hi, and Shelton sneak into the Charleston Police Department and steal the clip on TV sucessfully, with some help from their powers. They need to examine it.

Chapter 18

At the bunker, the four examine the clip and they point out the recorder (in the form of a walking shadow in the video) is the kidnapper. The four then go back to their homes and Whitney sees that Tory has seen sneaking out and Tory blurts that she was seeing Jason Taylor. Whitney says she will not tell Kit anything about it.

Chapter 19

Thursday.

Whitney wakes a sleep-deprived Tory up for school.

On Hugo, Tory thinks about "flaring" to help her sleep-deprivedness and it works. Shelton and Hi then chastise her doing that and tell her that Ben "flares" every morning to feel good.

Tory goes to Wando High and sees Ben in the parking lot with two unknown boys. Tory approaches Ben and tells him to stop "flaring". Ben thinks it's about what he did with the Gamemaster and walks away. Then, Tory spots a black BMW across the street staring at her before it drives away.

Chapter 20

Tory doesn't eat her lunch and tells the boys about her visit to Wando High. The three then plan to break into LIRI to examine the video clip. Fourth period for Tory is AP Language Arts. Ella sits behind her and the Tripod sit in the back.

Chapter 21

Tory, Shelton, and Hi break into LIRI and get past security guards Carl Szuberla, Sam Scheider, and David Hudson. They use a computer program in one of the rooms and scan the video before Kit and David find them in the room.

Kit chastises the three and sends them home.

Chapter 22

Whitney plans on taking Kit and Tory to the Gibbes Musuem of Art for an art show. Tory takes Ella with her.

Tory is almost ready with Kit tells her that they'll talk about the break-in later and Tory realizes her life is now getting more complicated

The art show features weird sculptures by Jean-Paul Delacourt. Tory and Ella look at the sculptures in the hall and they come across Headmaster Declan Paugh, out of the role of headmaster. Tory and Ella keep walking until they find Lazarus Parrish and Nell Harris there. Tory and Ella continue until Ella leaves since Chance Claybourne is there. Chance and Tory talk before Ella finds her again and Ella tells Tory that one of the men, Rex Gable, is Lucy and Peter Gable's stepfather, since their real father leave them when they were little. Ella and Tory find Kit and Whitney Tory realizes she's being followed when she sees that same black BMW in the parking lot.

Chapter 23

At home, Tory calls an online meeting with the others that they talk about Rex Gable, the files that Chang gave them (via Ben), and the black BMW.

Chapter 24

Friday.

Tory wakes up, gets ready for school, and sees that Kit already left for work. She then gets on Hugo with Shelton and Hi and they decide to break into the aquarium.

Tory, Hi, Shelton, and Ben go to the aquarium and plan to hack into Karsten's files, but find that Chance and Mike Iglehart are working there. As they try to hack the files, they are arrested. 

Chapter 25

 As Tory and her friends are led to jail, she throws the flash drive into the giant fish tank. They are then interrogated by Chance, whom Tory refuses to give answers to.  

Chapter 26

At lunch, Tory is called to Headmaster Declan's office.

Declan chastises Tory for skipping school four times unexpectedly and Tory says that the trial needed to be wrapped up and Declan says that Ella missed presenting a huge project for psychology. She leaves.

Tory texts Ella in the restroom and wondered about Karsten's files.

Chapter 27

Headmaster Declan Paugh watches Tory leave and makes some phone calls.  

Chapter 28

Tory worries about Ella and as the three plan to stop be Ella's house to check on her, the police are there. Mr. and Mrs. Francis sob over the kidnapping of their child and Tory runs into the house to find a card with "A serpentine fish, painted gold, bristling with claws, teeth, and scales." Tory freaks out as she is arrested.

Part 3: Jigsaw

Chapter 29

Later that night, Tory thinks about the card and calls Clara Gordon about it. She tells her that the on the card is Cetus, who is also missing from the zodiac. The other Virals then join in a video group chat and Hi says that the police said that Ella was last seen on break at work, the Flying Tomato, and never came back. The four plan to investigate the place.

Chapter 30

Saturday.

The next day, Tory, Shelton, Hi, and Ben investogate the Flying Tomato and notice their powers are getting wilder. 

In the back of the restaurant, Chance appears. He accuses Tory of hacking into Karsten's files and Ben starts fighting him. Tory breaks up the fight and Chance drives away in a black BMW.

Chapter 31

Hi accuses Chance of being the kidnapper and  Tory finds an orange stone with Ella's hair and blood on it. Shelton decides to ask someone at Charleston University about the stone.

Chapter 32

The four ask geology expert Professor Wiley Marzec about the stone. He says the stone is "A phosphate nodule." He also says that they are common in the "Copper. Wando. Edisto." rivers and are extremely common in the Ashley River. As they leave, the teens decide to look at the rivers where the stone was possibly found.

At home, Kit demands to know where Tory is and Tory says she has evidence for the police.

Chapter 33

Tory, Kit, Ruth Stolowitski, Nelson Devers, Shelton, Hi, and Ben go to the police and give Captain Carmine Concoran and Fergus the evidence. Both men accuse Ben of being the kidnapper.

Outside the building, Tory talks to Ben about the case. Tory, greif-stricken that Ella is gone, snuggles up to Ben. ("The sobs broke free. I burrowed into Ben's chest, letting everything go. I cried and cried and cried, unthinking, releasing a week's worth of pent-up emotion in a few hot seconds. Ben held me, silent, softly rubbing my back. A thought floated from somewhere far away. This isn't so bad.") Kit finds Tory and Ben outside and asks Ben if he wants to come to a cookout on Morris Island. He agrees.

Chapter 34

The weather is perfect outside and Whitney gets BBQ catering for the cookout. The food is so good, Tory has already had two plates. The four are lounging on a blanket on a Morris Island beach.

During clean-up, Tory and Ben sit on a beach and talk about their lives at their different schools. Jason then texts Tory about a party and Tory rushes home.

Chapter 35

Tory looks at pictures of zodiac signs online and tries to figure out the connection between them and Lucy and Peter's disappearance in her room. Shelton then texts Tory to come to the bunker for the meeting. Tory takes Cooper with her.

Shelton finds that the ransom clip was sent to Rex Gable by Rex Gable. They plan to give it to the police and Ben says no. The boys then decide to go rest while Tory and Cooper stay behind and look through Rex's emails.

Chapter 36

Tory, frustrated that she hasn't found anything useful, leaves the bunker with Cooper. Outside, it is night and the moon is almost fulls. Tory throws a stick for Cooper to fetch and in the cattails beyond, he "flares". Tory also "flares" for a second before someone attacks her and Cooper defends her. One of Cooper's paws was injured in the fight. As Tory begins to take Cooper back to her house, she sees three molten red eyes glowering at her.

Tory and Kit help fix Cooper's paw and Tory takes the wolfdog upstairs to her room. Tory figures the kidnapper is after her now.

Chapter 37

Sunday.

The next morning is Hi's 16th birthday and the four figure out that the twins are held at Drayton Hall based on the phosphate nodule and the grates in the ransom video.

Chapter 38

Drayton Hall is closed, but the four look around for the twins. Cooper is not with them. Shelton and Ben check the mine and cemetery and Hi and Tory check the barn and the garden house. Tory checks the barn.

Chapter 39

The twins are in there and Tory smashes the window open and Lucy and Peter are awestruck to see Tory. Tory then blacks out.

Chapter 40

When Tory wakes up, she sees that the Gable twins are furious that their plans are ruined. Their plan was to look abducted and stay away from Rex Gable until they got "five million dollars in ransom" from him. Lucy and Peter confess they made a fake blood stain in the basement, the phone calls on Rex's phone, and the video. The twins think Tory is lying until Detective Fergus Hawthorne appears.

Chapter 41

Lucy and Peter have allianced themselves with Fegus for money, but the plan has already failed. Fergus admitted that he abducted Ella Francis because she knew too much and plans on killing her and Tory to shut them up. Fergus hits Lucy and Peter and is about to shoot them when Tory "flares".

Chapter 42

Tory slams into Fergus, the gun flying into Peter's hands. Peter shoots Fergus, only to realize the safety is still on. Fergus attacks the twins and Tory fights him as the twins escape. Ben, Shelton, and Hi realize Tory is in trouble (via the "flare") and Tory stops "flaring" as hears a cop car drive away.

Part 4: Jeopardy

Chapter 43

Shelton and Ben hear Hi screaming across the plantation and Hi is nearly submerged in the Ashley River. Ben rescues him as the three hear a car drive away. They find out Tory is missing.

Shelton, Hi, and Ben tell Officer Shinn about what happened and he thinks it's false until Hi says he knows Carmine. Officer Shinn lets the three see Carmine.

Carmine complains about the boys' story and Ben demands that the police do something about it. Carmine refuses and the three plan to break Cooper out of Tory's house.

Chapter 44

Tory wakes up in the cell in the ransom video and sees Ella is there. Tory tells Ella about the twins' and Fergus' plans. Ella says that when she saw Rex Gable and his friends in the Flying Tomato, she called Fergus and she was kidnapped because of it. Fergus then appears and tells the girls his plan. It was to pin the whole kidnappings on Rex Gable, and to alert any witches in Charleston about the four, and blackmail the police to not trust them. He also says he told Headmaster Declan Paugh of Bolton Prep that the four were " 'persons of interest' on the Gable case." Fergus says he'll now plant a zodiac card in Tory's bedroom on Morris Island before he leaves.

Chapter 45

Ben drives to Morris Island really fast and the three see that Kit's garage is open. As Ben opens the door to the house, Cooper runs to find Tory. The three chase him until the wolfdog understands that the group needs to save Tory.

Chapter 46

Tory figures the prison is in a well and she "flares" to save herself and find a way out for Ella. As Tory reaches the entrance, Fergus starts shooting at her.

Chapter 47

Hi, Shelton, and Ben are back at Drayton Hall and Cooper lets himself loose from his leash into the woods to find Tory.

Hi, Shelton, and Ben are tracking down Cooper in the woods when they hear the wolfdog's barks. They run towards the sound and find Cooper pinning down Tory.

Chapter 48

Tory realizes the boys and Cooper have come to rescue her and they "flare" before hunting down Fergus.

Fergus hunts down Tory and the others before being attacked by Cooper and the Virals.

Chapter 49

Tory orders the three to strip Fergus of his weapons and search for evidence. They do and Tory goes back into the cave and frees Ella. As they escape, Fergus tries to run and Cooper attack him. Fergus smashes his hand into Cooper's paw wound, reopening it again. He runs and the wood beneath him creaks and Fergus falls into the cave to his death.

As the six go back to the Drayton Hall parking lot, cops appear. Tory and Ben talk in private and Tory kisses Ben before Ben runs off to drive away in his car. Carmine appears and confronts the five. Tory tells him everything and says she and the other don't want to be mentioned when Carmine reports the incident.

Chapter 50

At a meeting, Carmine tells the news reporters that he figured out the case by himself and does not mention the Virals at all. Lucy and Peter are mentioned to have run off "to London, then on to Prague." Kit arrives and picks up the teens from the meeting.

Epilogue

Monday.

Tory, Shelton, Hi, and Ben skip school to talk to Chance since Shelton cracked the files.

The four go inside Candela Pharmaceuticals and talk to Chance on the 27th floor about the supervirus. When Chance reveals that he replicated the virus through an experiment called "Brimstone", Tory is horrified. Unexpectedly, Chance then "flares" like a Viral; except his eyes are gold.... they're molten-red.