The Club of Spades was real.

Rhyd held the proof in his hand. One simple coin, a spade crossed with swords embossed upon it.

It was more than proof of the Club. The battered piece of metal was proof that the Core, too, was real. It was proof that, within that rumored Core, Skelter had survived. Skelter was alive.

Now, as Hebanthe Falls struggles to regain balance beneath the competing weights of the newness of Outside and the brako eating at her from within, it was up to the Scarecrow to set aside his war with the brako to find the Core, find a way to set Skelter free.

Before the thirty-day pact with the death ran its course.

Before the brako brought the city to its knees.