From the shadows, Matthias watches Kaz escape suspicion after running into Cornelis Smeet outside the lawyer's office. Kaz disguises his manner so completely that Smeet fails to recognize him, and Kaz even returns Smeet's whistle without Matthias seeing the trick. Kaz, Wylan, and Matthias then leave by rowboat, preserving secrecy because their chance to recover Inej depends on surprise.

The group returns to Black Veil Island, an abandoned cemetery Kaz has turned into a hideout. Matthias reflects on his hatred of the place and his difficulty navigating Ketterdam, then feels relief when Nina and Jesper appear after their own part of the job. Nina is exhausted, Jesper mourns the loss of his revolvers to Smeet's safe, and Kuwei is ordered back inside the tomb for his own protection.

Inside, the crew compares information. Nina and Jesper report Shu warships in the harbor, while Kaz says foreign diplomats and soldiers, including Fjerdan drüskelle, have arrived because rumors of jurda parem and Kuwei are spreading. Kaz says this confusion can distract Van Eck, announces that he has a likely location for Inej, and sets the rescue for the next night at midnight.

Kaz also shifts the conversation to the larger plan: Wylan and Kuwei must complete a chemical weevil meant to destroy Van Eck's accounts and reputation. Kaz insists the money matters because it represents freedom, security, and retribution, though the others recognize that saving Inej is not just a financial move. Kaz explains they will use the market against Van Eck rather than rob the city directly.

Kuwei reveals that he wants to go to Ravka because Grisha there might help him use his father's work to find an antidote to parem. Nina supports the idea, Matthias resists putting such knowledge in Ravkan hands, and Kaz bluntly argues that Ravka is too dangerous because Van Eck will expect that route. Kaz coerces Kuwei into accepting the Southern Colonies as the safer immediate destination.

Rotty and Specht arrive with fresh intelligence: Shu forces are at the embassy, Per Haskell is agitated, rumors of Kaz's return are spreading, and an unexplained harbor attack has shaken the city. They also reveal that Matthias is believed dead because Muzzen, the Dreg who took his place in Hellgate, was murdered in the infirmary. Matthias realizes the killing may have been meant for him and feels the weight of a blood debt, and the chapter ends with another shock: a man claiming to be Jesper's father has come looking for him.