Addie finds herself in a dark stand of trees and panics that Luc has broken the rules by dragging her far from New York. When her eyes adjust, she recognizes the skyline beyond the branches and realizes she is still in Central Park. Luc appears from shadow in the shape he wore when she first summoned him, and instead of gloating, he looks strangely subdued.

Luc says he will give Addie what she wants if she will do one thing first: dance with him. Addie agrees, and though there is no literal music, she hears a shifting montage of sounds from their long history—woods and wind, Paris by the Seine, seaside murmur, a Munich symphony, rain in Villon, and jazz in American cities. When the dance ends, Addie cries that Luc could have simply set her free, but Luc insists he cannot because she is “his.” Addie rejects that claim, and Luc admits he lied before: he says Addie loved him and he loved Addie.

Addie throws back that Luc only pursued her again after she found someone else, but Luc undermines her sense of chance by revealing he orchestrated the relationship. Luc says Addie and Henry did not “find” each other; Luc put Henry in Addie’s path as a deliberate “gift” to prove that human love is not worth what Addie withholds from him. Addie calls it cruel and realizes Luc never intended to let Henry live beyond the bargain. Luc argues that extending Henry’s time would only increase Addie’s suffering, and he insists Addie no longer belongs among humans after centuries; Addie “belongs” with Luc.

Luc admits what drives him is not childish want but need, claiming Addie needs him too, and he calls it love. Addie chooses the sharpest possible denial and tells Luc she does not love him at all. Luc turns cold and threatening, telling Addie to go spend her time with Henry, bury him, and mourn him, because Luc will still be there afterward and Addie will still be bound to eternity. Luc disappears, leaving Addie shaken and alone until dawn.

Addie returns to Brooklyn in a fog and stops for breakfast as a small apology for being gone all night, only to see the date on the newspaper: August 6, 2014. Luc has stolen an entire week from her and from Henry. Addie races to the apartment, discovers her key is gone, and pounds on the door in terror that everything has been rewritten, until Henry opens it—exhausted and disheveled, clearly having come to believe she was not returning. Addie clings to Henry and apologizes repeatedly, not only for the missing week but for the curse and the bargain that endangers him; Henry, instead of raging, only pleads for her to stop fighting fate and stay with him. Addie cannot bear surrender, but seeing Henry break, she finally agrees to stay.