Just to catch us all up: when Claire gave several floors of the Wynn Casino to the V1s (poor people, basically), David Whele burned it down while being haunted by the ghost of his son William. Meanwhile, Gabriel wants to attack Vega and take Alex's skin, but once he learned that Alex and Noma are hiding in New Delphi, he changed course. And the Archangel Michael is still kicking around that spooky town in Alabama. So, here we go.
To start things off, a woman named Zoe, who used to be one of the Vega guards, attacks Claire. Claire immediately suspects David Whele is behind the attack and confronts him, where he behaves even more hideously than usual and she agrees with Arika that it's time to do something drastic. And by drastic, we mean that Claire and Arika are going to train an 8-Ball named Rose to act more normal than usual -and do something to David. Nobody's sure what yet, but it's coming.
Meanwhile, Noma and Alex and Pete (the ex-8-Ball) have been captured by 8-Ball's who are highly civilized, led by a guy named Julian, the leader of New Delphi. Alex is able to convince Julian to offer them protection because they have a common enemy: Gabriel, who is due any minute.
Back in Alabama, Laurel explains that the town of Mallory was built to protect from 8-Balls with a giant fire. Michael feels like Laurel is onto the fact that he's an Archangel, but everyone in town is more concerned about the return of Harper, who faints when she sees Michael. (She saw him washing up in the ocean, if you'll recall, so she knows who he is). But, as soon as Harper wakes up from her fainting spell, Michael shows up and tells her not to tell ANYONE about his being an angel, because he's been sent by God to test everyone. Here's the problem with that: the town of Mallory has a standing rule to rid itself of sinners every five years, ostensibly so they can stay protected from the 8-Balls. So now, Harper has to confess or be banished, but Michael just told her his power supersedes Laurel's authority. What's a girl to do?
When Gabriel's minion 8-Balls storm New Delphi, Pete is taken away to a new prisoner location, Noma defends herself, and Alex tries to find his way out of prison but is attacked by two angel warriors, until Julian and Gabriel square off. What Gabriel wants is simple: all of Alex's skin. He doesn't get it though, because when Alex killed his favorite bodyguard Neero, Gabriel issues a villainy: "I'll deal with you later" and flies off.
Meanwhile, back in Vega, Rose the 8-ball gets all gussied up and goes after David Whele; not to kill him, but to seduce him. It turns out the whole thing is captured on camera so that Claire can blackmail David into leaving his post. Claire heads down to the prison to chat with Zoe, the girl who tried to kill her earlier, and tells her that it's time they made the city a better place to live. Zoe doesn't seem to believe Claire.
Back in Alabama, Harper can't bring herself to make a confession (and thus out Michael) so she is shot by a mean henchman who really believes in this whole-purging-confessions-to-keep-the-town-safe thing, all while Arika kills Rose after she outlived her necessity. And, to make matters worse, Alex and Noma are given a choice by Julian: Either they go into a spooky complex full of some dangerous creatures to retrieve a key he needs, - or he'll hand them over to Gabriel.