After the chaos at Goedmedbridge, Wylan travels with Kaz, Inej, Nina, and Rotty through Ketterdam’s canals while stadwatch patrols tighten around the city. Kaz refuses to search for the Grisha or risk further exposure, and Nina’s silence shows how dire their situation has become. When blockades cut off the canals, the group abandons the boat and continues through alleys and hidden passages toward Kaz’s fallback location.

As Wylan fears capture and wonders whether Jesper survived, Wylan remembers his first days in the Barrel after Jan Van Eck tried to have Wylan killed. Wylan discovered that the supposed music-school papers Van Eck gave him were blank, proving the betrayal was deliberate. Hungry and desperate, Wylan found work in a tannery, where Wylan’s chemistry knowledge drew Kaz’s attention through Jesper, leading Wylan to make explosives for the Dregs after more letters from Van Eck terrified him.

The group reaches the Geldrenner hotel, where Colm Fahey is sheltering Jesper, Matthias, and Kuwei in the luxurious Ketterdam Suite. The crew reunites with relief, treats Inej’s wounds, eats, and exchanges what happened during their separated escapes. They discuss Nina’s altered power: parem seems to have changed Nina from a Heartrender into someone able to manipulate remains, possibly even corpses, which leaves Nina unsettled despite Matthias’s attempt to see it as survival rather than corruption.

Specht arrives with news, prompting Kaz to lead everyone to the hotel clock tower. From above, the crew sees smoke at Black Veil, stadwatch surrounding Van Eck’s house, and the harbors locked down. A procession of Barrel gangs marches through the city wearing purple armbands: Van Eck and Pekka Rollins have had the gangs deputized, giving them legal authority to hunt Kaz’s crew. Even the Dregs have joined the hunt, proving Kaz has lost his gang and that the group is trapped in Ketterdam.

Kuwei offers to surrender, but the crew rejects the idea because Van Eck and Pekka will still want the others silenced. Kaz proposes giving himself up and claiming Wylan is dead, but Inej, Jesper, and the others argue that Van Eck would ensure Kaz never survives to testify. Kaz and Jesper’s disagreement turns personal when Kaz attacks Jesper’s failures and gambling, accidentally calls Jesper “Jordie,” and provokes a fistfight. Colm interrupts and scolds Jesper, breaking the tension.

After the fight, Kaz’s attention shifts into planning. Kaz announces that the crew has been reacting to Van Eck’s moves for too long and must act openly instead. Kaz’s new plan is to stage an auction with Kuwei as the prize, using the demand for Kuwei to get the crew out, rescue the Grisha, recover their money, defeat Van Eck, and strike back at Pekka Rollins.