Elide Lochan waits in a dusty city south of Doranelle with Gavriel and Lorcan while Rowan pursues another lead. The group has been moving relentlessly through cities, forests, mountains, and plains, driven by Rowan’s desperate need to find Aelin. Elide is exhausted, hungry, and still wearing worn witch leathers, but Gavriel quietly looks after her, offering food and having helped her survive the journey with practical kindness.

Elide avoids looking at Lorcan because she cannot forgive his betrayal on the beach in Eyllwe. Lorcan’s choice to call Maeve led to Aelin’s capture, and Elide remembers him crawling after Maeve even after the blood oath was severed. Elide’s guilt and gratitude toward Aelin keep her pushing forward, because Aelin surrendered herself so Elide would not be taken.

The search has grown desperate. After Rowan briefly felt the mating bond tug him toward Aelin, the trail vanished once the group crossed the ocean. With no sign of Maeve’s armada or ship, Rowan, Elide, Gavriel, and Lorcan have followed rumors from kingdom to kingdom. During Samhuinn celebrations, Elide reflects bitterly on the gods, who are revealed to be otherworldly beings using mortals to return home, and on Aelin’s expected sacrifice if the final Wyrdkey is recovered.

Rowan eventually realizes they may not be able to track Maeve directly, but they can find Maeve’s commanders stationed in mortal kingdoms. After one previous commander provides no useful information and is killed, the group now waits while Rowan confronts another. The interrogation bursts into the alley when Rowan and the bloodied Fae commander crash through a window and land among crates, Rowan using wind to keep the fall from killing the prisoner.

Rowan threatens to cripple the commander and warns that Lorcan will do worse. Gavriel advises the commander to answer, while Lorcan approaches with dark power gathering in his hands. When the commander sneers that Maeve will kill them all, Rowan seals the alley with wind, and Anneith’s voice tells Elide to see and listen. Elide forces herself to watch Rowan and Lorcan torture the commander, uncertain whether Anneith is guiding her toward Aelin or reminding her what the gods might do if defied.