After Saeris accidentally unleashes her rune magic and damages the palace library, the Blood Court falls into chaos. Algat is furious because Guru, her shadow-cat, has escaped through the hole in the tower wall, and she blames Saeris despite Saeris insisting the destruction was unintentional.

Saeris has also subdued the vampire who attacked her, tying him to a chair with the silver chain Kingfisher gave her. Saeris's hands are badly burned and bleeding from the magical discharge, but she refuses Algat's suggestion that the attacker should already be dead, explaining that she wants to question him first and learn who sent him.

Once Algat removes her own velvet gloves from the vampire's mouth, the prisoner mocks Algat and threatens Saeris. He demands to know what Saeris did to Kingfisher, recognizing Kingfisher's dagger and assuming Saeris either killed him or received the blade from someone who did.

Saeris counters by revealing that Kingfisher gave her his blood freely as her mate, and then she exposes the black runic marks covering her hands and forearms. The vampire is stunned, while Algat reacts with horror and calls the marks sacrilegious. Saeris then asks how the vampire could attack her despite her royal edict forbidding members of the Blood Court from harming her or her friends.

Lorreth arrives breathless and explains that the vampire is not bound by Saeris's edict because he never swore fealty to the Blood Court. Lorreth recognizes the prisoner as Foley, greets him as a long-lost brother, and they exchange a phrase suggesting a shared past and loyalty outside the vampire court.