Convinced that the hidden Wildling vault may help her find the bondbreaker, Isla visits Juniper’s bar to ask about the ancient Wildling palace. As payment for information, Isla reveals that Moonling nobles tried to assassinate her. Juniper admits he knows nothing about a hidden vault, but he does know that the Place of Mirrors suppresses every power except Wildling ability, making Isla more certain that something important lies behind the sealed door.

When Isla leaves the bar, Grim is waiting outside. Grim says he was there for his own reasons and sensed Isla nearby through the color of her emotions. Grim offers to make Juniper forget their conversation or threaten Juniper into silence, but Isla remains wary of Grim’s motives and frustrated that she still has no key to the vault.

A sudden storm traps Isla and Grim in the rain, and Grim leads Isla into a nearby abbey. Inside, their tension intensifies as Grim carefully untangles Isla’s crown from her wet hair and repairs the dent Oro left in it. Remembering Celeste’s warning that Grim is a distraction, Isla tries to gain information from him and asks where he was on the night the curses began.

Grim says he was in bed, then explains that when he left his chambers, everything was burning and the rulers were dead. Grim reveals that he became a ruler unexpectedly, having trained only to be a warrior. Isla recognizes the burden of unwanted responsibility and asks Grim to show her the full extent of his powers.

Outside in the storm, Grim releases a violent line of darkness that destroys the grass and trees it touches, reducing life to ash. Isla is frightened by the destructiveness of Grim’s ability but not fully afraid of Grim himself. When Isla asks for more, Grim takes Isla to the beach below and describes powers capable of swallowing the beach, killing the sea, destroying the castle, or carrying Isla away to Nightshade lands.

Grim admits that he might do those things if he did not think Isla would hate him. Isla is shaken by Grim’s power, attraction, and the danger of being distracted from saving her people. Grim reads Isla’s fear, confusion, desire, and shame, then ends the moment by deciding they should return to the castle.