Parisa sits in the reading room, reading about blood curses, when Dalton approaches her. He confronts her about avoiding him and brings up the secrets Callum exposed during the previous confrontation—her husband, brother Amin, and sister Mehr. Parisa insists the revelations were a tactical choice, not a defeat, and deflects Dalton's concern. When pressed, Dalton finally asks the question that has been plaguing him: what Parisa found inside his mind. She admits she found something very interesting—interesting enough to compel her to stay in the Society despite the requirement of sacrifice.

Parisa persuades Dalton to let her re-enter his mind for five minutes. Inside, she navigates his orderly subconscious—a sterile lobby with a lift containing countless buttons—and deliberately falls through the structure to reach the deeper, hidden layer. She finds the younger, spectral version of Dalton in the tower room again. This Dalton is agitated, speaking of someone "getting closer" and demanding to be let out. When he punches the castle wall, the illusion disintegrates momentarily to reveal cool, finished steel beneath, then repairs itself. The spectral Dalton tells Parisa he built the castle for her before the real Dalton painfully extracts her from his consciousness. Parisa is left unable to fully explain what she witnessed.

Atlas intercepts Parisa as she leaves Dalton, having detected her heavy use of telepathic magic. He walks with her and reveals himself as a fellow telepath of rare ability, confirming he pulled her from Dalton's mind once before. Parisa challenges him on his surveillance and his relationship to Dalton. Atlas warns that whatever she seeks in Dalton will only bring her detriment. When Parisa asks whether the sacrifice ritual has ever been skipped, Atlas states plainly that a sacrifice is always made. Through telepathic exchange, Atlas tells Parisa he would not have spilled blood except for something he believed in unquestionably, which convinces her that whatever the Society's true purpose, it is worth discovering—even if it means giving in to the process.

Atlas instructs Parisa to go to the library. There she finds Tristan, Libby, Nico, and Reina gathered. Parisa announces that someone must die and silently nominates Callum. The group debates the logistics: Parisa volunteers to carry out the killing, but Libby objects—not on moral grounds, but on magical ones. Libby argues that the sacrifice must carry genuine cost to the one who performs it, citing their studies on intent and unluck. A spell cast in vengeance or indifference will corrupt over time; only a truly righteous, painful sacrifice will hold power. This means the person who kills Callum must be someone whose soul will suffer from it. Libby turns to Tristan, declaring it must be him. Reina and Nico agree. Parisa reads Tristan's anguished mind—a tangle of love, fear, and memories of Callum, Libby, and Parisa herself—and recognizes the depth of the sacrifice being asked of him. After a moment of acute suffering, Tristan agrees with a single word: "Fine."