Apollo rides through the snowy forest toward the dragons' fire and finds Maddie alive with Meeta, Loretta, Finnie, Frey, the wolves, and the dragons. Overwhelmed with relief, Apollo kisses Maddie, then forces himself back to command. Frey identifies the attackers as Minerva's hewcrows and explains that allies from the other world are trying to bring powerful magic to their side. Apollo sends wounded Loretta back to Brunskar, learns the wolves lost twenty-seven of their own, and carries Maddie away with vengeance on his mind.

Later, in Brunskar's dungeons, Apollo finds Maddie arguing with Frey because she wants to enter the interrogation room where Finnie already stands. Apollo warns Maddie that Laures and Oleg use brutal methods to extract information, but he allows her inside after she insists she has already seen violence. Inside, Calder accuses his father Eirik of allowing the house protections around Melba, the baby, and the home to be broken. The discussion shifts when Frey notices Valeria's expensive ice diamond, exposing lies about the Drakkar finances, and Franka is brought in and coldly reveals Valeria's long affair with a wealthy merchant.

Apollo loses patience with the family bickering because Maddie was attacked that same night. When Franka insults Maddie as an interloper using a dead wife's place, Apollo slams Franka against the wall, nearly choking her, and warns her never to speak of Maddie that way again. He then reveals that a Keer parcel was found hidden in Kristian's room after Maddie was taken. Kristian denies knowledge of it, but Franka's panic when Oleg turns toward Kristian exposes that her brother is involved. Apollo and Frey remove Maddie and Finnie before torture begins because their presence has become a distraction.

Before Oleg can start on Kristian, Franka breaks. She confesses that Helda approached her after kidnapping her lover Antoine and taking him to Specter Isle, where he is tortured every hour. To save him, Franka agreed to help the enemy gain access to Finnie and Maddie, though Helda never explained why those women were the targets. Because a Keer parcel would glow when hostile magic tried to pierce protections, Franka needed it hidden inside the house; after Calder refused to host her, she persuaded softhearted Kristian to help place it in his room. Franka also admits she sent the informant who lured Apollo to the Drakkar gale, hoping Maddie would be there.

With the basic truth exposed, Frey orders Franka, Kristian, and anyone potentially connected isolated until more is known. He decides to send his dragons to Specter Isle even though Franka warns Antoine may die in the attack. Outside the dungeon, Apollo and Frey conclude the conspiracy intends to assassinate Maddie and Finnie, and they agree they will need Lavinia and Valentine if the dragons cannot break the island's protections. Apollo also tells Frey that Maddie is easing grief he has long carried for Ilsa, though she vexes him. He plans to take Maddie and his children to safer Karsvall the next day, while Frey goes to command the dragons and worries that Apollo's scouts may already be on the island.