In the weeks before the Purge Trial, Meryn struggles to maintain pack unity, finding it exhausting and headache-inducing. She spends her nights with Killian, growing comfortable with the path to his quarters. She notes that she never encountered the strange carving again and tries to ignore the possibility she hallucinated it.

The night before the Purge Trial, tension saturates the common lounge. No one drinks, afraid a hangover could cost them their life. Meryn sits with Venna and Izabel, all attempting to read. Izabel asks about Meryn's plans for the day off after the Trial—visiting family in the Bonded City—followed by the Forging Ball that evening. Meryn surveys the room, mentally assessing her fellow Rawbonds: Nevah sits alone sharpening her blade, Perielle and Jonah huddle together subdued, and Roddert accidentally drops his cards, causing several Rawbonds to reflexively reach for weapons. The pervasive question hangs in the air: who will be dead by tomorrow?

The realization that she could die without telling Killian she loves him again spurs Meryn to leave her friends and go to his quarters. She partitions her mental bond with Anassa for privacy, leaving it porous enough for emergencies. When she arrives, she straddles Killian's lap and tells him plainly that she loves him. He responds in kind, saying he would have kept loving her even if she never came back. Killian tells her the king already knows he's seeing a Rawbond seriously and has no objections, and he asks permission to claim her publicly. Meryn doesn't answer yes or no but instead asks him to find and protect Saela if she dies tomorrow. He swears it.

Overcome by desperation and desire, they share an intense, passionate encounter—first on his desk, then in his bed. Killian is commanding and tender by turns, and Meryn surrenders to the experience, letting it obliterate her fear of the coming Trial. Afterward, she falls into a dreamless sleep in his arms.

Meryn is jolted awake by a scream echoing through the halls. She shakes Killian awake, but he heard nothing. A second scream tears through her, and again Killian shows no reaction—his concern is only for her distress. The horrifying realization dawns on Meryn: the screams aren't real. Like the blood she saw during training and the voices her mother hears, these are hallucinations. She tells Killian she thought she heard something and lets him believe it was fear of being discovered. As she lies back down beside him, she confronts a terrible truth: even if she survives the Purge Trial, she may still be following her mother into madness.