Chapter 6: Baz

Before dawn, Baz makes coffee and enters Kai’s untouched room to pack his belongings. He finds multiple copies of Song of the Drowned Gods and recalls the guardian story, noticing the spiral mark illustrated there—the same symbol Baz glimpsed on Quince Travers’s wrist. He suspects a link among the symbol, Travers’s death, Romie’s note, and Dovermere.

Resolving to seek answers, Baz plans to pressure Emory to tell the dean. When Emory arrives late—with Keiran just departing—Baz warns her about being seen and refuses to help her train. Their argument turns raw as Baz, grieving Romie, accuses Emory of indifference and insists the dean is the only safe option. Emory, hurt and defiant, refuses and walks away.

Baz visits Professor Selandyn, considering revealing Emory’s secret but holding back when he sees Selandyn’s grief and remembers Kai. He recalls Kai’s disdain for the Unhallowed Seal and their debate over Collapsing versus being sealed, underscoring Baz’s conflicted feelings and guilt.

Instead, Baz asks Selandyn about her Tides-and-Shadow research and the parallels to Clover’s book. She recounts an interpretation of the myth in which Phoebus, the Shadow, perverted the Tides’ gifts until the sisters imprisoned him in the Deep, echoing Clover’s themes. She cautions Baz against seeking meaning in Dovermere and suggests acceptance of Romie’s death. Selandyn mentions Jae Ahn has arrived in town.

Kai’s parents arrive to collect his things, and their grief crushes Baz. He flees, realizing Kai as he knew him is gone, replaced by whatever the Institute’s seal leaves behind. Later, on the beach at Dovermere, Baz listens for any calling but feels only its lethal thrum. He resolves that the cave holds no answers and that he may need to accept Romie’s death as senseless.