Mistborn 5
Brandon Sanderson
Wax spends some time in the Roughs building up his reputation. He goes into a saloon in Weathering and asks the bartender where he can find Granite Joe. He says he may be able to find someone that knows if he can pay. Wax sits at a table and is joined by Lessie. She tells him asking the bartender was a bad idea because everyone in the bar works for Granite Joe. She asks why he is wearing a suit and he answers it is his “thing” to be a gentleman lawman. He recognizes her from when she was undercover as a showgirl. The thugs in the bar open fire on them. Wax gets them upstairs by pushing people’s guns so they miss them. Wax whistles for his horse, Destroyer, but she doesn’t come. There is a sharpshooter in the building across from them. Wax Takes Lessie to the ground with him. He realizes Granite Joe is in the building, most likely in the basement. He increases his weight and pushes on the nails in the floor to drop down two stories with Lessie on top of him. They land on the table where his target is eating. There are two body guards behind him. Wax is able to shoot one guard (who has a crossbow and no metal) while Joe fires at him with his crossbow. He pushes his own gun to hit the second guard. Lessie pulls out a crossbow and reveals she works for Joe, but ends up shooting her boss. She says she hasn’t killed a man who didn’t deserve it and couldn’t kill Wax and his ideals. The rest of the gang comes down, sees the damage, and leaves. Wax grabs Lessie and launches them out of the basement with a steel push.
Winsting, the governor’s brother, hosts an auction for one of his paintings. He tells his guests (all criminals and corrupt politicians) to start the bidding. Dowser comes up to tell him the painting isn’t good. Winsting implies the buyer is really paying for his vote (and possibly his brother’s) in the Senate for the next year. The woman with Dowser asks if he is worried about getting caught accepting bribes and WInsting realizes she is a spy. When he is away from the couple, he tells his body guard, Flog, to kill her when she is alone. Winsting is disappointed Edward Landrian didn’t come. A gun suddenly goes off and Flog rushes Winsting to his safe room. No one is sure what happened. Flog goes out to check. When he comes back, he says everyone is dead. Someone slits Winsting’s throat from behind.
Steris has collected a list of Wax’s enemies so she can anticipate what crazy event will interrupt their wedding. Wayne comes in the house, dodges the butler, and comes to tell Wax that the Marksman is robbing a bank. They leave in a car that Marasi is driving to the scene. Wax is able to anticipate the thieves moves because he can tell he is trying to build his reputation, which Wax understands from his own experiences. He launches himself out of the car with a steel push to chase the Marksman. They end up in a building facing off. Marks thinks he is a hero of the people. Wax points out he lost the people’s favor when he killed a child, even though it was not his intention. Wax is able to shoot, but only wounds Marks and his back of money. Marks takes off and Wax follows. Wax sees Bloody Tan in the crowd and falls from the air. He looks and asks around, but is unable to find him. Marasi and Wayne pick him up to follow Marks’ trail.
While Wax and Marasi go to question people, Wayne goes to collect a new accent and blend in with the locals around the slums. He listens to a man talk and trades his flask of whiskey for his hat. Wayne is able to fit in with a group and waits for them to disperse. He follows one man who leads him to a room of men extorting Marks to keep his secret. Wayne is able to create a speed bubble around just him and Marks through the wall. He smashes his way in, knocks out Marks, grabs him, and they leave. The bubble collapses when he leaves it, but it is enough for him to get away and get back to Wax and Marasi. Marasi wants to know how Wayne did it, but he says his ways wouldn’t work for her. They start to take Marks to the constabulary, but a sniper shoots him in the head with a crossbow bolt. Wax takes off to find the man while Wayne pulls Marasi to safety. Wayne goes to help wax. Marasi checks to make sure Marks is dead. A man finds her and she goes to run. He grabs her and puts a knife to her throat as Wax lands in front of them. Marasi pulls a pistol from her bag, puts it under the man’s chin, and pulls the trigger.
Marasi has trouble hearing because of the gunshot. She cleans herself up and wonders why people keep using her as a hostage. The constables show up and Wax explains what happened. They tell him the constable-general, Aradel, already had them looking for him because of another case. Constable Reddi tries to insist on sending Marais home, but she wants to give her report to Aradel. They all make their way to Winsting’s location and observe the bloodbath. After seeing the host in his safe room with his throat slit, Wax determines a steelrunner (Feruchemy that stores speed in steel) is most likely involved. He immediately thinks his Uncle Edwarn is involved. Wax warns Aradel he will have trouble keeping the event quiet because the mastermind meant for a big story.
Wayne wakes up in his room at Wax’s mansion. He goes to Wax’s study, trading a pocket watch for a doily on the way. Wax is fussing over his sketches of the murders and points out the four people killed by the same gun were all shot from different directions. Wayne suggests it was to make it look like another guest did it. Wayne trades the doily for Wax’s rum before leaving to do what he does the first of every month. Marasi has been collecting afternoon broadsheets to compare to the morning editions. As the city becomes more modern with cars and electricity, more men are finding themselves without jobs. Marasi worries the governor, Replar Innate, will now be seen as corrupt because of his brother’s dealings. Wax has his carriage drop him off just outside the Village (home of the Terris people). He enters through the wild trees and three Brutes (Feruchemists that store strength) try to stop him. They try to send him away, but Elder Vwafendal appears. She says Wax has a right to be there because he is Terris and her grandson. Wayne sneaks and bribes his way through the university to see Allriandre, the daughter of the man Wayne killed. She shows him a picture of her father, makes Wayne say what he did, and tells him he will never be forgiven. She accepts his blood money and sends him away. The smell inside Grandmother V’s tent bombards Wax with memories. She wanted him to grow up Terris, but his father and uncle wanted him to be a lord. She doesn’t approve of him killing people, even if it is to protect others. He knows she keeps track of all the Feruchemists in Elendel and asks who the steelrunner is. She tells him her name is Idashwy, but she is not a murderer. Wax remembers the name. Grandmother V reminds him of an event where he was with the girl. She is surprised Wax is ashamed of what he did. Wax leaves, launching himself on a coin as soon as he is outside. Marasi’s mother is not happy she turned down the prestige and wealth of being a lawyer to become a constable. Marasi gives Aradel the broadsheets. After reading them, he says it would have been better for them to blame the constables rather than Elendel’s leader. Marasi has been following Governor Innate’s decisions and thinks he is corrupt. Aradel tells her not to say thinks like that, especially outside their precinct. They pass Reddi’s office and he scowls at Marasi. Aradel explains she took his job because he wanted someone with promise rather than taking an experienced detective off the street. He sends her to listen to Governor Innate address to the city and report back to him.
Wax pushes himself over the city thinking about the people. He does what he can to help the thousands of people that depend on his house. He stops on the street and rioting strikers immediately break away. The constable’s captain thanks him before he takes off. Wax finds Wayne at the docks wondering why he got a second chance. Wax promises he would have killed him if he had been caught committing a crime rather than hiding from his guilt and willing to be arrested. Marasi leads the reinforcements to the Octant’s captain overseeing the Governor’s address. He sends the constables over by a crowd of strikers. Marasi tells the captain she is reporting on the speech for Aradel. He recognizes her as Harms’ illegitimate daughter and points out a spot where she will be able to hear well. As Wax and Wayne make their way through the crowd heading to the Governor’s address, Wax thinks he sees Bloody tan again. Wayne tells him he has the address of the steelrunner and they go to her fancy house first. The place is mostly empty except for a few belongings. They find the woman dead in the kitchen. Marasi hopes Governor Innate will know how to calm the people. She looses that hope when he starts going on about his brother’s unjustified murder. Marasi tries to get a better view of Innate, but a shuffling guard keeps blocking her. She gages the crowds reaction and then turns back to see the guard pull out a gun and aim it at the Governor. Marasi screams. Wayne searches the dead Terris woman’s apartment. He finds a lot of alcohol and dresses that get less and less reserved. He tells Wax his theory that she was just breaking out of the boredom of being Terris. Wax hands Wayne the book Death (Marsh) gave him. Marasi puts up a speed bubble that encompasses the shooter, a few guards, and herself. the bubble deflects the bullet over the crowd. The guards grab the man while the governor is removed to safety. Wax sees from the way the woman was killed that someone took her power with Hemalurgy. Wayne finds a note to wax from Bloody Tan in her pocket. It says exactly what he said before Wax killed Lessie.
Wax and Wayne arrive at Landrian mansion. Ranette has delivered new equipment, but Wax is distracted. Steris is there to see if they are still attending Lady ZoBell’s party because the Governor is supposed to be there despite the assassination attempt. Wayne brings him the broadsheet confirming the attempt. Wax tells Steris she can still go to the party and he will try to make it later. On the carriage ride, Wayne sits with the driver so Wax can be alone. Wax puts in his earring to think and Harmony immediately starts talking to him. He tells Wax a Third Generation kandra calling herself Bleeding is only using one Hemalurgy spike (blessing) at a time to evade his control. This makes her crazy and spurs her killing people. Harmony has trouble finding her because she only uses one spike at a time. When she switches them out, she has to remove the one and fall onto another to digest. Harmony says he can’t interfere because he understands both sides - Ruin and Preservation. However, his personality hates the murders and is sending Wax help. He also asks Wax is nicer to Marasi because she is also helping Harmony. Marasi is with Aradel, Reddi, and Caberel watching the man that tried to assassinate the governor. They are discussing how to interrogate him and Marasi points out the legal flows in their methods. Aradel backs her up because he doesn’t want the guy released. He asks Marasi to interrogate him, but she tells him to wait. Just then, Wax enters the room. He tells them the bracers the man was waring are not metalminds or he’d have more trouble pushing on them. He asks Marasi to go with him to talk to the man, Rian. ON the way, he tells her about his conversation with Harmony and the actual killer, Bleeding. When they enter the room, Rian says he has something for Wax in his arm. Wax cuts out a coin, but Rian has no other information. Wax tells Marasi they need to go to the party that night because Bleeder will be there.
When Wax was twelve, his Uncle Edwarn showed him a coin with flaws that was worth more because collectors wanted it. He says creating something of value where there once was none is how to become wealthy. He has Wax listen in on two bank meetings - a poor man wanting to move his family out of the slums and a rich man wanting to buy another boat. Wax starts thinking banking could be a way to help people until his uncle explains they will give the poor man the loan and ensure he pays by deducting his wages and possibly his sons’ wages as well. When Edwarn gives Wax the flawed coin, Wax runs through the bank to give it to the poor man and explains to him the value will prevent him from needing the loan. Steris asks what happened after that. Wax tells her the man refused the coin and took the loan. He killed himself eight years later and his sons are still paying off the debt. Wax admits he wanted to give the man the coin to make Edwarn angry. Steris points out it is his actions that matter, not the motivation behind them. She mentions the traffic they are stuck in trying to get into the party. She has already planned for Wax to get them in on time using Allomancy. While holding Steris, Wax shoots a bullet and pushes off it. He uses Ranette’s rope with a metal hook as an anchor to keep him near the building. He has some notes for her by the time they reach the top of the tower and enter the party. Steris can tell he is working because he seems wide awake.
Wayne and Marasi are left waiting in line to get into the party with their forged invitation. When they get to the door, they are told they are not accepting invitations without names unless used by the people they were sent to. Wayne puts up a speed bubble and looks at the list of names. He sees they are on a list of people not to let in. Wayne finds the name of a reclusive mathematician to impersonate, despite Marasi trying to talk him out of it. Steris tells Wax she wants to let him do his job. He puts up his steel bubble and has her take off her metal bracelet. He gets them drinks (water for him that he uses powder to tint brown to look like brandy) and they make their way toward the governor. Steris helps him avoid unwanted conversation and has a few lines she practiced to entertain him. A tall woman, Milan, approaches Wax and ignores Steris. He brushes her off. After she walks away, he wonders if she is Bleeder. Wayne has used his disguise (all things he had in the carriage) to get into the party and now finds server’s timings to get food from each of them. He is approached once by a man who has been writing to Dr. Hanlanaze. Wayne has to put up a speed bubble to get a proper response from Marasi. Afterwards, Marasi points out they may have just upset the man’s entire work field. Steris makes small talk with the Governor. Wax asks to meet with Innate to explain what they are dealing with. Bleeder starts talking inside Wax’s head. She has learned how to communicated with people with Hemalurgy spikes (Wax still has his earring in).
Remmingtel Tarcsel’s fifteen year old daughter comes up to Wayne. She is upset because Hanlanaze allegedly stole her late father’s invention. Wayne starts relating the story to his own tale of woah. He goes to find Wax. Meanwhile, Wax excuses himself from the conversation with the governor. Bleeder continues to communicate with him. Wax tries asking questions in his head, but Bleeder can’t seem to hear his thoughts because she doesn’t have Preservation’s power, only Ruin’s. Wax speaks to her out loud and she answers in his head. She says she will kill the governor, but no that night. She has a plan to cleanse humanity. Wax watches who is following him as he makes his way around the room. When he comes face to face with the waiter he suspects, the waiter runs and Wax pulls out Vindication. Wayne is able to tackle the waiter, but guards separate them. Bleeder says she was sad about Lessie’s necessary death. Wax shoots at her, but hits the window. She smashes it the rest of the way to make her escape. Wax goes to follow and tells Wayne to stay incase it is a distraction.
Wax chases after Bleeder. She says she hasn’t yet killed his father, so she can’t let him kill her. He lands on top of a motorized cab car and the driver says she jumped out a few blocks back. Wax (not positive the cab driver isn’t Bleeder) goes back. The Set (Edwarn’s men) are waiting to ambush him. MeLaan arrives (second suspect from the party) to help him. She asks him not to tell TenSoon she is killing people because it is against her contract and he doesn’t like it. Wax uses his guns on the Set until they are empty. He then uses Ranette’s rope with the hook to fight off the rest of the men. Once he is sure he can handle them, he sends MeLaan to a place to meet. He uses a body with metal in the pocket to determine there are still sharp shooters looking for him. Wax plunges himself into the canal. He uses the metal on the walls to push himself a few blocks away before getting out and making his way to his soon to be father-in-law’s mansion.
Wayne interviews people to ask about the waiter. He doesn’t think it is Bleeder based on how people said he acted (new, clumsy). He goes to tell Drim what he has learned, but a guard tells him he left with the governor a while ago. When the guard jokes that Wayne did a great job of watching him, Wayne punches him. Wax uses Steel to push himself through the air to Lord Jackstorm Harms’ study. Harms pulls out a gun from his desk, ready to help. Wax is relieved he is on time, but wonders where he can hid his future father-in-law. He now she cannot outthink someone who has studied human behavior for centuries. Steris waits outside ZoBell Tower.. She tries to find out why Wayne seems to hate her. He says he doesn’t, he is repulsed by her. He says she should let Wax marry someone he likes and count her family’s investments as a loan to him. He walks away to join the guards he was previously fighting. Marasi arrives with other Constables. She says she is taking Steris somewhere safe and then she and Wayne have work to do. Wax easily spots the governor’s two decoy carriages and then jumps on the side of the one Innate is actually in. Drim lets Wax in, but is not happy about it. Wax tells them what is going on. They don’t believe him at first, but as he gives more information, they start to listen. Innate agrees to let Wax go over his security detail. Wax offers for them to meet MeLaan, but says they must give each other pass codes to prove they are not the kandra. When they reach Innate’s mansion, a servant comes to tell them the priest, Father Bin, was murdered. Marasi is a the church of the Survivor where the priest is hung on the wall with two metal spikes through his eyes. Aradel sends her to talk to a few of the churches’ people. They say a Pathian, Larskpur, came up to the pulpit and then revealed the body to the thousand or so members in attendance after preaching that Kelsier wanted chaos and fame rather than a better world. Marasi goes back to Aradel and tells him she thinks all of the events (strikes, flood from dam damage, murders) are Bleeder’s plan to overthrow the city. Wax arrives and brushes off the constable general. Aradel admits Wax is effective, but they are the ones that have to clean up after him. Wax sends Wayne on an errand. He points out to Marasi that the spikes are not Hemalurgic. they check out Bleeder’s probable escape route, but only find silver paint scratched off on the wall. Wax invites her to join him in meeting MeLaan.
Wayne makes his way to what he considers his church: a bar. Everyone inside is complaining about long hours and the nobility getting richer off of their work. Wayne goes around the bar and mixes everyone’s drinks after paying the bartender in aluminum bullets. They all calm down and Wayne finds himself sitting with MeLaan. Wax and Marasi arrive while Wayne and MeLaan are having a belching contest. Once they are through, MeLaan explains she is a younger generation of kandra. She didn’t really work in the Lord Ruler’s time, but was mostly in the Homeland. Paalm (Bleeder) is much older and was the Lord Ruler’s personal kandra. They suspect she would have to impersonate Steel Inquisitors and therefore have a knowledge of Allomancy and Feruchemy. The kandra think she took one of her own spikes out, but they don’t know why. She seems devoted to Harmony. MeLaan gives two syringes that when injected into a kandra will reveal their nature. However, they would kill a human. MeLaan explains the best way to stop Bleeder is to remove her other spike and let the kandra deal with her. There population is so small they don’t want to kill her, but MeLaan still tells him acid would work. Throughout the conversation, the three of them have been stacking coasters. Wax points out Wayne cheated by securing his with gum; Wayne always cheats. Wax recognizes MeLaan as the kandra that brought him his earring. He thanks her before they all go their separate ways with plans to meet up at Innate’s mansion.
As Wax makes his way through Elendel, he sees a man going to make trouble at the Pathian Sanctuary for the missionary that runs it. He stops him and tells the missionary to grab her colleagues and get to the Village. His next stop is at a carriage and coach run by a man named Cett. He looks at the carriages to see if any are scratched up. When Cett comes to talk with him, he tells him he needs a list of the carriages and drivers that are still out. He finds one that matches Bleeders requirements. A coinshot girl comes in to tell cett they need more drivers out. Wax realizes Cett uses Allomancy to help his business. He asks about a Rioter and the Coinshot confirms they use one. The Driver is at a Soothing parlor. Wax ins’t interested in this violation, but assures the constable general will be coming to talk to Cett soon. Marasi takes MeLaan with her into the constabulary where Aradel has lined the counters with guns. Marasi leads the kandra back into the records room to get a file on the broken dam. The men give her a hard time, but Marasi does her best to ignore their comments. MeLaan asks why she puts up with their attitudes and offers to set them straight. Marasi points out her association with Wax gives them someone to pass their anger at him onto. They are also not happy she skipped being ranked at the bottom. Marais reads through the file and finds the farmer that sabotaged the dam had erratic behavior, was hung, and had his grave desecrated two nights later. MeLaan points out if it was Bleeder, it was rushed because she would have studied the man enough to remember family member’s names, unlike the man in the trial that forgot.
Wax is lead through a Soothing parlor after showing his metal plate to prove he is a constable. He regrets not wearing his aluminum lined hat. He finds the carriage driver, Chapaou, in a private room. He says he is trying to forget what he saw: himself. The proprietor tells Wax to take him. Marasi tells Aradel what she learned about the dam. He still wants proof so she introduces MeLaan. The kandra takes on a formal air while she talks to him and shows him her clear skin and True Body bones. Aradel asks Marasi to give reports on what Wax is doing. Once the two women are back outside, MeLaan reverts to her previous personality. Chapaou tells Wax he picked a man up and was told not to look inside during the ride. He looked through a slot and the man made his face look almost like Chapaou’s. He drove thinking Ironeyes took his soul. Wax explains it was just a trick and he is hunting the creature. Wax finds a glowing substance inside the carriage and takes a sample in a vial. He tries to reassure Chapaou that Bleeding is not specifically after him and tells the driver to go somewhere he feels safe to sleep.
Wax arrives at Innate’s mansion and Bleeder is waiting for him. She tells him about the body’s defenses attacking invaders and how she wants to free everyone. She goads him by saying Harmony let Lessie die to get Wax back to the city. Bleeder uses Feruchemy to move quickly through the house. Wax follows. She takes out several guards and makes her way to the safe room. As she is about to open the door with a key she shouldn’t have, Wayne puts Wax in a speed bubble so he moves as fast as her. He shoots all his bullets out of the bubble. Several hit, but she keeps going. Wax throws the syringe at her, but it is deflected when it leaves the bubble. Bleeder gets into the safe room and Wax leaves the speed bubble to chase her. When Wax reaches the safe room, he finds Drim dying in Innate’s arms. Innate explains Drim jumps in front of Bleeder’s bullets to save Innate and used an escape tunnel to get away. As Drim dies, Wax tries to convince Innate to leave the city. The governor starts listing off things he can do to help the people. Wax is his last hope at stopping Bleeder. Wax checks out the tunnel and finds Bleeder left a crude drawing int he wood with a few words in blood about being free.
Wayne uses the bathroom and trades a few mints for a towel with Innate’s name on it. wax sends a messenger to Ranette and tells him to make sure she reads it right away. MeLaan uses the woman’s bathroom to change into the body of one of the guards that died. She explains the difficult process of memorizing muscles and placing hair in pores. She tells them some kandra can change in about ten minutes, faster if they have used the body previously. Wax shows her the glowing substance, and she tells him it is a rare fungus that only grows in the kandra Homeland. The kandra are no longer trapped there like in the Lord Ruler’s time, but mostly live among people and only visit the Homeland when they feel the need. She tells him which entrance to use to get in. A coach arrives for Wax. He is going to talk to the Set. Edwarn is waiting inside the coach. Wax tries to talk him into helping him stop Bleeding. Edwarn admits he wants power, wealth, and influence. He compares the Set to Kelsier’s crew. Wax tells him there won’t be a city left to rule once Bleeding is through. Edwarn points out the Set is radical and against Wax. Edwarn is one of their more conservative members. While he is not working with Bleeding, he intends to use her chaos to rise in power and eliminate some of his rivals. wax is furious, but Edwarn warns him that if he dies, so will Wax’s sister. Wax leaves the coach.
Marasi listens in as the city’s officials talk about what needs to be done. Innate kicks them out of the room to let him think. He asks Marasi to stay behind and gives her a sealed writ to give Aradel martial law as well as making him lord-high constable over all other octants’ constable-generals. Marasi goes to get a carriage (her car needs refueling) and is told there is a wait. She wanders into Innate’s safe room and finds three books on the shelf that seem more worn than the others. She opens one to find a key inside. She finds a safe in the floor under a run and opens it. There are letters and a ledger showing Innate taking bribes from most of the city’s noble families. She puts them in her purse and goes to check on her carriage. Wax tries to get to a secluded area to think, but the city is too filled with life. He knows he is falling into Bleeder’s game by contemplating whether or not Harmony could have warned him about Lessie. He misses the simplicity of the Roughs. He takes off into the night.
Innate insists on being left alone. Wayne sends two guards to keep watch outside the window. He and MeLaan sit outside his door and he helps her with accents. He hears Ranette when she arrives and goes to see her. The butler is rude to her and she pulls a gun on him. Wayne stops her from shooting him. She gives him a pouch with a bullet(half powder and won’t shatter) that Wax requested. He knows the city is in bad shape when Ranette doesn’t threaten him in anyway. He tells her to go home and lock the doors and she listens. The constables are surprised by Aradel’s promotion. He sends messengers to get all the constable-generals to the governor’s mansion. H tells Reddi he will go ahead with Marasi. They take horses instead of a carriage. On the way, Marais shows him the letters showing Innate's corruption. He is surprised by the extend of if, but Marasi points out they still have to protect him until found guilty in court. wax goes to the Fields of Rebirth. Two guards are in front of the museum. When a caretaker scolds him, he sends her outside to talk to the guards. He finds a room with a hole in the floor and drops down. He goes past all of the historic relics until he comes to a room with the symbol for atium. He finds a lever behind a wood panel and it opens a door. He closes it behind him and finds someone waiting for him.
Wax pulls out his gun and starts firing. TenSoon tells him to light the lantern so he can see. Sure he does not want to kill him, Wax does as the kandra asks. TenSoon (in his wolfhound body) starts leading Wax through the tunnels. Wax is surprised to see a piece of Kredik Shaw moved by Harmony when he reformed the world. They come to a fire pit and Wax starts going through pages of a volume of the Words of Founding. Bleeder has written all over them in blood. Wax starts sorting through the pages to read what she wrote. He realizes the freedom she wants everyone to have is from Harmony. Wax has TenSoon ask if Harmony tried to control her. He replies that he tried to push her to do something she didn’t want to do. Wax wonders what she is going to do next. He realizes she lead him there to distract him. He thinks she is going after the kandra TenSoon sent out to preach about peace. Wayne works his way into the crowd and closer to the governor’s gate. A man stands above the others by a statue of Kelsier. He get them riled up about their poor conditions while the nobles live lavishly. A priest appears to calm the crowd. He reminds them their lives are not as bad as those in the World of Ash and Kelsier would have wanted them to keep smiling. The first speaker sneaks up behind the priest and injects him with something from a needle. The priest is revealed as a kandra. The first man points out Wayne and says it is a trick of the conners and nobles.
TenSoon lends Wax through the tunnels as fast as he can. The kandra is about to leave Wax behind when they hear a howl. TenSoon tries to get them out and leads them to a room with baskets of bones. He tells Wax they will have to fight and takes a new body with a lot of muscle. The creatures (some form of used-to-be humans) arrive and attack. Wax ends up using his shotgun against them because their thickened skulls make the pistols ineffective. When they are all dead, Wax and TenSoon hear more coming. TenSoon changes back into the dog bones after Wax says they don’t have time to fight more. He points out the kandra are Harmony’s ears around the world. Wayne changes hats and ends up leading the charge against himself to get away from the angry crowd. He is out of bendalloy. He starts making his way back to the mansion when he hears a voice with a slightly off accent. He knows who Bleeder is impersonating. TenSoon takes Wax to a crack in a cavern wall. Wax increases his weight and rams his shoulder against it to make it bigger. Once they are through, TenSoon puts his bones into a sack-like stomach and crawl up the walls. Wax follows carefully behind. Once they are a ways up, Wax accidentally drops his lantern. The fungus on the walls glows. TenSoon explains Harmony didn’t want anyone trapped in that darkness again. Wax realizes he is in the Pits of Hathsin. TenSoon asks what Bleeder is trying to distract him from. Wax thinks she is going to make the governor’s murder very public.
Wax arrives at the mansion. He tells Marasi to check on her sister and father. He then barges into the governor’s study. innate is relieved to see it is Wax and then gets back to work on his speech. Wax realizes Bleeder is impersonating Innate. Earlier, she had the governor’s clothes under her coat. When Wax wounded her, she needed an excuse for the blood and killed Drim. Wax calls for help, but the guards aim at him. Bleeder shoots them down. Wax signals MeLaan to grab her while he tries to inject her with the syringe. Bleeder is too fast and MeLaan is stuck instead. Bleeder runs out of stored speed and still gets away. Wax rescues Wayne from the closet. Wax leaves him to answer the constables’ questions and takes off after Bleeder.
Searching outside the mansion, Wax follows Bleeder’s trail. He finds her in an alley changing bones. She says Harmony has been cultivating him a long time. She becomes a coinshot and pushes away. He follows her. Wayne is relieved the governor was killed before their duty started. Marasi has MeLaan start working on remains to look like the governor while she herself starts to write a speech.
Bleeder wears a mask as she pushes her way through the city towards the outskirts. Wax keeps up and reduces his weight to give him an advantage. He is about to grab her when he sees she is wearing Lessie’s face. With MeLaan in place and starting her speech, Marasi starts to calm down. She realizes the Set has soothers there and will probably use Rioters to create chaos after the speech. Aradel and Wayne are too close to get to. She tells Reddi what is going on. He doesn’t believe her until she points out that he should be feeling anger and jealousy towards her. They go to start looking at places around the crowd, but not in it.
Wax is stunned to see Bleeder as Lessie. She is acting exactly like his lover used to. He can’t shoot her again. He calls to Harmony, but he doesn’t have his earring in. Reddi leads a small team with aluminum lined helmets. He tells Marasi to stay in the back and she agrees. They round the carriage and the two groups see each other. They both want to keep it quiet to keep the crowd unaware. They start fighting. Bleeder says she doesn’t want to kill Wax because she couldn’t stop loving him. He shoves her back and aims Vindication at her. She pushes it out of his hand and it falls from the tower. He charges her and she pulls him off the tower with her. She shoots him in the leg. He hurts it more when he lands roughly. He looks around for the gun with the special bullet from Ranette. Marasi watches the constables fight the Set’s men. She crawls through them to get to the carriage. She confuses the two guards using her Allomancy and they run off to warn the others. Marasi gets into the carriage and pulls a gun on the man and woman inside. She says she doesn’t want to use violence, just the threat of it. Wax gets Vindication while Bleeder is crying. He fires the special bullet made from his earring into her forehead. The Hemalurgy in it allows Harmony to take control of her.
Marasi and Reddi try to get the Soother to calm the crowd. MeLaan is getting frustrated. They refuse to listen and goes off script. Aradel pulls his gun on MeLaan and tells the people he is arresting the governor for his crimes. He asks the crowd to help him arrest the other noble house leaders that are also corrupt. He warns them he will not put up with riots destroying the city. Marasi frees the Soother and tells her Suit might want to take a vacation. Wax holds Bleeder as she dies. She has decided to end her life rather than be back under Harmony’s control. She talks about the day they met and Wax realizes Lessie was always a kandra. TenSoon finds him. He admits he didn’t know until a few days before. Wax is devastated he killed her again.
Aradel is appointed interim governor and there are parties to celebrate the first non-noble governor. Wax sits in a chair ignoring everyone. Wayne stops by on crutches (can’t heal without his metalmind and can’t store health while he is healing). He is confident Wax will get over it. He walks away with the inventor’s daughter he insulted at the earlier party. marasi comes to show Wax Bleeder’s spike, but he doesn’t care. She goes to the constabulary to talk to Aradel, who is catching up on paperwork. She recommends Reddi to replace him. MeLaan asks them how to tie a belt to hang herself. When Marasi objects, MeLaan explains kandra can’t falsify evidence for them. She points out that Harmony has bigger issues. The spike Bleeder was using is an unknown metal to Harmony. they are guessing that means there is another God. Wax thinks he is alone when Steris stokes the fire. She tires to comfort him and he puts his head on her shoulder and cries.