Dinner begins under strained silence as Dianna, Liam, Drake, and Ethan sit together in the vampire castle. Drake teases Dianna about the gown Liam made for her, and the exchange heightens the already tense dynamic between Liam and Ethan. Dianna deflects Drake’s questions about Gabby by asking after Ethan’s wife, Naomi, who is away for undisclosed reasons.

Liam and Ethan clash over vampires, war, and Liam’s violent history with creatures like Ethan and Dianna. Ethan calls Dianna a beast to test Liam’s view of her, but Liam answers that Dianna is not evil, despite her flaws and danger. Ethan then bluntly asks whether Liam is in love with Dianna; Liam says Dianna is only his friend, which unsettles Dianna even as Liam’s defense of her deeply affects her.

Ethan reveals that Kaden has tracked Dianna nearly to the eastern border, killed contacts who helped her, slaughtered those who failed to return her, and continued trying to create more beings like Dianna. Ethan explains that Kaden is afraid to come for Dianna directly while Liam is on this plane, so Kaden is instead obsessed with finding the Book of Azrael. Liam insists the book cannot be real because Azrael died on Rashearim, but Ethan says Camilla in El Donuma claims to have found something connected to it and is selling the information to the highest bidder.

The group discusses arranging a meeting with Camilla, though Ethan warns Camilla will not allow Dianna into El Donuma because Camilla hates her. Disturbed by the news that Kaden may be building an army, Dianna leaves dinner and considers going after Camilla herself, but Liam follows and stops her. Dianna denies Liam’s accurate suspicion that she planned to feed, fly to El Donuma, and force answers from Camilla.

Dianna and Liam leave the castle for a walk through Drake’s garden, where their tension softens into honesty. Liam explains that gods can “calcify” after trauma, losing emotion and turning cold, and admits he fears this is happening to him. Dianna promises not to let him turn to stone, and the two share personal histories: Liam speaks of his mother’s illness after his birth, while Dianna describes losing her healer parents to plague and stealing to keep Gabby alive.

At the fountain, Liam explains that the name Liam comes from his mother’s favorite flower on Rashearim, a symbol of strength and protection, and gives Dianna a yellow lily. Dianna is moved because no man has given her flowers before. Their conversation shifts between death, family, the supposed book, and teasing banter; Dianna admits she fears Gabby dying more than her own death, and Liam recognizes again that Dianna is not what he expected from an Ig’Morruthen.