Violet spends the evening in her bedroom at Aretia studying a book sent by Tecarus, maintaining hope that an answer to curing Xaden's venin corruption exists. She reflects on her struggles with a delayed-activation rune that the rest of her squad—including Cat, Imogen, Dain, Bodhi, Rhi, Ridoc, and even Aaric—have mastered, but she cannot. She also works on imbuing conduits for Felix, who has been training her intensively against the venin threat, treating her as Aretia's primary offensive weapon while Xaden handles province matters in Lewellen.

A knock at her door reveals Xaden, soaked from flying nine hours through a storm in the wrong direction—from Lewellen to Aretia instead of Tirvainne. He tells Violet he nearly lost control while beyond the wards in Lewellen after a confrontation with the two men who raised him, but he clawed back to himself without reaching for any power, knowing it could reset his progress to "day zero." He explains that he set a personal benchmark of seventy-six days without draining—twice Jack Barlowe's longest stretch after his first significant channeling—as proof he can stall venin progression. He is currently on day seventy-three and came early because keeping control beyond the wards convinced him he could keep control with Violet.

Xaden and Violet share an emotionally charged reunion. He confesses that even when he's not entirely himself, whatever he becomes still craves only her. They negotiate the terms of their intimacy: Xaden asks Violet to surrender control to him, using his shadow-wielding to restrain her wrists against the wall. He positions alloy daggers within her reach and insists she not use a conduit so she remains at full power—ensuring she can defend herself if he ever slips. Violet refuses the daggers, declaring herself the weapon, and accepts the arrangement without hesitation.

Violet affirms her choice unequivocally, telling Xaden she sees every part of him—the good, the bad, the unforgivable—and chooses him and the risk that comes with loving him. Xaden, moved and resolved, declares no more waiting. The chapter ends as they commit to each other physically and emotionally, with Xaden on day seventy-three and three days from his self-imposed milestone.