How It All Goes Down
- Elsewhere, Perenelle has been taken to a more secure prison.
- Since she's locked up, she'll have to rely on her senses to suss out where she is. She smells salt on the air and hears a ship's horn.
- Goodness. She's at the Rock. By which we mean Perenelle is being imprisoned on Alcatraz, one of the most famous prisons ever, located on a tiny island in the San Francisco Bay. (Be sure to check out our section on "Setting" for more on San Francisco landmarks in the novel.)
- At first, Perenelle is surprised that no magic warding spells have been painted on the walls to contain her, and for a moment she thinks she can just walk out.
- As if.
- Filling the corridor is a giant creature—a huge Sphinx with the wings of the eagle and the head of the gorgeous woman.
- The Sphinx reminds Perenelle that sphinxes absorb auric energy. In other words, Perenelle has no magical powers around the creature.
- Perenelle shivers as she realizes that no one has ever escaped the Rock alive.