Outside Maddie’s room, Apollo confronts Meeta and learns that Maddie’s maid is not a witch but has the sight. Meeta explains that her visions are uncontrollable but always true, says she has often seen Maddie and the white-haired woman surrounded by protective green, and warns that hostile powers want to extinguish the extraordinary loves binding Maddie and three other women to difficult men. She also tells Apollo that his love for Maddie does not betray the love he once had for Ilsa. Apollo orders Meeta to report future visions, promises she may remain in Maddie’s service, and sends her to stay with Loretta for the night.

Apollo then finds Maddie shaken and staring out the window. He decides to take her immediately back to the inn where his children are staying, explaining that the Keer parcel has been destroyed and that they will travel with guards and a witch. Maddie is so frightened at the castle steps that Apollo carries her to his horse. Once they reach the inn, Apollo checks on the sleeping children, leaves a guard at Maddie’s door, and returns to find Maddie still numb and staring out the window.

Seeing that Maddie is emotionally detached, Apollo draws her close and asks her to undress. He initiates sex not casually but as a deliberate act of reassurance, repeatedly telling Maddie that they are alive, together, and each other’s. The intimacy steadies him as much as Maddie, because Apollo is trying to erase the terror of nearly losing her. Afterward, he cleans and undresses her fully, carries her to bed, and keeps her wrapped tightly against him.

In bed, Apollo asks Maddie to listen while he speaks about Ilsa. He recounts how Ilsa seemed merely slow to recover after giving birth to Elan, then rapidly wasted away, and how he kept young Christophe from seeing her during her final months because he wanted his son to remember his mother as vital rather than broken. Apollo admits he still suffers over that decision and tells Maddie that when the black mist took her, all the agony of Ilsa’s death returned in a single instant. From that realization, he concludes that they must "hold tight to happiness" because every day and moment together is a gift. Maddie comforts him, says she cherishes him too, and finally falls asleep in his arms while Apollo stays awake, vowing that no one will ever harm her again.

Before dawn, Frey’s man Ruben arrives with grim news: the dragons failed at Specter Isle. Apollo immediately turns from private fear to strategy, deciding to hunt down the false informant, imprison the witch tied to the Keer parcel, hide Kristian and his family, use Franka as bait against the enemy, and force Valentine Rousseau to help earn the fee she took. Before leaving to act, Apollo wakes Maddie with tenderness and pleasure, wanting to begin her day with happiness, then departs to continue his campaign for vengeance and her safety.