Still shaken from her fight with Mor, Feyre returns with Amren, who warns her not to push Morrigan too hard because there are truths Mor has not faced herself. Inside Feyre's tent, Rhysand and Azriel settle an injured but stubborn Cassian into a chair, and Amren places the Book on the desk. Feyre explains that the Suriel said the second and penultimate pages contain the key to nullifying the Cauldron, and Nesta arrives after Rhysand summons her.

Amren gives Nesta a bag of three stones and four bones and tells her to use them to find the Cauldron by following the bond between them. Nesta resists, frightened by what contact with the Cauldron might awaken, but Cassian rises despite his wounds, stands beside her, and reassures her that nothing can hurt her there. As Nesta reaches deeper, her fear grows, and Feyre realizes her sister has gone too far and enters Nesta's mind to pull her back.

Inside Nesta's open, fortress-like mental defenses, Feyre sees what Nesta has found: the King of Hybern in a war tent with Jurian and commanders, the Cauldron nearby, and an enormous army stretching toward the horizon. Feyre and Nesta also sense the Cauldron noticing them, as if it might strike back through the bond, so Feyre orders Nesta to open her hand and retreat. Back in the tent, Nesta scatters the stones and bones across the map, where they form a perfect circle around one location.

The marked point reveals that while Hybern has been engaging them in the north, he has secretly gathered a massive force along the western edge of the human lands, alarmingly close to Feyre's family estate. Rhysand summons Tarquin and Helion, and Feyre shares the vision. Together they realize Hybern has manipulated the battlefield, drawing their armies into a position where they are badly outnumbered and may be pushed toward the deadly Middle. They cannot safely rely on Jurian, and they lack enough soldiers unless Kallias, Thesan, or other allies arrive in time. Feyre privately thinks of the Bone Carver but does not raise the possibility yet.

Exhausted and without a workable answer, Tarquin and Helion agree to rest and meet again at dawn before making a decision. Feyre cannot help noticing Helion's strong resemblance to Lucien, but the war crisis leaves no room to pursue it. Then Varian enters, goes straight to Amren, drops to his knees, and kisses her in front of everyone, ending the grim council with a startlingly public declaration.