Chapter 16 (Anna): Summary, Themes, and Character Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Anna alone in her room at night, still carrying the scent of bonfire smoke from the earlier garden conversation. She's been practicing drawing a mechanical pocket dragon in Colin's journal for days, hoping to contribute something useful to his training since her psychometry powers haven't proven helpful with Kaden. Drawing is one skill she knows she's good at, and she wants to repay Colin for listening to her in the garden.

But the moment her pencil touches the paper, the journal leaps into the air, shudders, and snaps shut. When she tries to open it, it won't budge. Forcing it produces a shock against her skin. The journal is magically locked, and Anna panics. She can't return it to Colin in this state, and she can't ask anyone for help—Nora doesn't need another reason to keep her on the sidelines, and she doesn't want to interrupt Colin's training so close to Samhain. She convinces herself it will be fine by morning and hides it under her pillow, but her stomach twists with worry.

It is not fine in the morning. The journal remains locked, so Anna returns it to Colin while rushing him to get ready, hoping he won't try to open it. He doesn't—since he can now materialize, he no longer needs to carry the journal with him. He tosses it onto the bed and joins her in the hall.

The plan for the day: Nora has agreed to let Rose drive Anna, Colin, and Max to a costume shop to pick out outfits for the Samhain party. Colin is warded, so wraiths can't track him, and Max serves as extra protection. Rose drives with the windows down despite the cold drizzle, and the group arrives at a hole-in-the-wall shop with the words THE FINAL MASQUERADE scrawled across the window in flaking crimson paint.

Anna explains that the party started as a masquerade—on Samhain, hiding your face wards off evil spirits—but the family opened it up to costumes when tourists started coming. Colin hopes he can just get a mask, but Anna teases him, noting she has to go as a black cat, the most cliché costume possible. Max uses his adorable blinking eyes to get Colin out of trouble, and Anna relents.

Inside the cluttered shop, Colin initially refuses to look at anything. Anna offers to pick his costume for him, and he grudgingly tries on a mortician costume (which Anna points out is basically what he already wears) and then a headless horseman outfit that's at least two sizes too small, with his trinity knot tattoo poking out. Anna's laughter fills the shop, and Colin retreats to the dressing room, where a distinct tear is heard. When he reappears, Anna holds up a black and gold masquerade mask, revealing she never meant to force him into a full costume. He snatches it gratefully.

Anna then spots a black ceramic cat mask—handmade, realistic, with delicate silver designs and two long hornlike prongs on the forehead, clearly inspired by a Jabberwocky. She puts it on and turns to Colin. Everything shifts. She sees a man with dark hair and green eyes, holding two black and gold knives, wearing molded leather, speaking Irish. A shield covers half his body, painted with a three-legged spiral—the Triskelion—encased in thorny vines. His eyes turn completely black.

Rose appears in the vision wearing an angel costume with giant white wings, then slips the mask off Anna's face. Rose is worried, and Colin is troubled. Rose says someone followed them. Max presses low to the ground, his fur flickering between solidity and translucence—a sign he's sensing bad magic. Rose reveals that Seamus, the shop owner, was found unconscious in his office.

Before they can escape, a grim reaper costume unhooks itself from the wall and lands on its feet. It moves stiffly, bone fingers curling around a scythe. It slashes at Anna, and the blade slices along her forearm. Blood wells from the cut. The costume is no longer a costume—it's flesh and blood, with a gleaming metal scythe, and it does not look happy.

Key Events

Anna's attempt to draw in Colin's journal triggers a magical lock that seals the book shut.
Anna hides the locked journal and returns it to Colin without revealing the problem.
Rose drives the group to a costume shop for the Samhain party.
Colin tries on a mortician costume and a too-small headless horseman outfit before accepting a black and gold masquerade mask.
Anna finds a black ceramic cat mask with hornlike prongs.
Wearing the mask, Anna has a vision of a dark-haired man with green eyes, black and gold knives, a Triskelion shield, and eyes turning black.
Rose removes the mask, senses someone followed them, and reveals Seamus was found unconscious.
A grim reaper costume comes to life and slashes Anna's arm with a real scythe.

Character Development

Anna shows her desire to be useful beyond her psychometry powers. She's been practicing drawing for days to help Colin, and her panic over the locked journal reveals her fear of being seen as a liability. She'd rather hide the problem than risk being sidelined by Nora or interrupting Colin's training. Her vision—seeing the same man Colin saw, with the same black eyes from her dream—deepens her connection to the mystery at the heart of the story.

Colin continues to grow more comfortable in his new life. He carries Max on his shoulders as if the cat has always been there, and his grudging participation in costume shopping shows a lighter, more playful side. His acceptance of the mask—and his relief at not having to wear a full costume—shows he's adapting to the family's traditions.

Rose emerges as a more active protector. Her uncharacteristically worried expression when she removes the mask, her ability to sense the follower, and her discovery of Seamus all position her as someone with deeper knowledge and abilities than she's shown before.

Max continues to serve as a magical early-warning system, his fur flickering between solidity and translucence when he senses bad magic.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Masks and hidden identity: The chapter's central symbol. On Samhain, masks ward off evil spirits, but Anna's mask does the opposite—it reveals a vision, exposing hidden truths rather than concealing them. The mask becomes a conduit for prophecy.

The Triskelion: The three-legged spiral on the vision-man's shield connects directly to Colin's trinity knot tattoo, suggesting a link between the man in the vision and Colin's own heritage or destiny.

Magical objects with minds of their own: The journal's sudden lock and the mask's vision-inducing power both demonstrate that objects in this world are not passive tools—they have agency and can act on their own.

The cost of secrecy: Anna's decision to hide the journal's condition from Colin sets up a potential problem. Her fear of being sidelined leads her to conceal something important, a pattern that could have consequences.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter escalates the threat level significantly. The attack at the costume shop—a grim reaper costume coming to life with a real scythe—is the first direct physical assault on Anna, and it confirms that the danger is not just theoretical. The vision Anna experiences ties directly to Colin's earlier vision and her own dream, strengthening the connection between the Triskelion, the dark-haired man, and the coming Samhain confrontation. The locked journal adds a new mystery that will likely need resolution. The chapter also deepens the world-building around Samhain traditions and the family's protective measures, while raising the stakes for the party that's fast approaching.

Study Questions

1. Why does Anna hide the locked journal from Colin instead of telling him about it?

Anna is afraid of being seen as a liability. She believes Nora doesn't need another reason to keep her on the sidelines, and she doesn't want to interrupt Colin's training so close to Samhain. Her decision to hide the problem reflects her insecurity about her place in the family and her desire to be useful rather than a burden.

2. What does Anna's vision reveal, and how does it connect to Colin's own experiences?

Anna sees a dark-haired man with green eyes holding black and gold knives, a shield bearing the Triskelion, and eyes that turn black. This mirrors Colin's earlier vision and Anna's own dream, where Colin's eyes turned black. The Triskelion on the shield connects to Colin's trinity knot tattoo, suggesting the man in the vision is linked to Colin's heritage or the threat they face.

3. How does the costume shop scene use masks to develop the theme of hidden identity?

The chapter establishes that masks are traditionally worn on Samhain to hide faces from evil spirits. But Anna's mask does the opposite—it reveals a vision rather than concealing her identity. The contrast between the mask's intended purpose (protection through concealment) and its actual effect (exposure of hidden truths) underscores the chapter's exploration of what is hidden and what is revealed.