Saeris wakes in Kingfisher’s mother’s bed to find him gone and a shadow gate left open in the living room. Panicking, she searches the apartment and discovers a note in which Kingfisher orders her back to Cahlish to wait with the others, sedate Everlayne the moment she returns, and stop Everlayne from trying to go back to Malcolm. He also releases Saeris from her blood oath and leaves personal messages for Lorreth and Renfis, implying he expects to die.

Saeris breaks down when she finds Nimerelle left behind. She realizes Kingfisher intentionally went to Gillethrye alone and unarmed so Malcolm cannot seize a god sword and still quicksilver, which would doom everyone’s escape. Saeris storms through the gate to Cahlish, where she finds Carrion in Kingfisher’s old bedroom, smugly reading a prophecy book featuring drawings of her.

In the library, Saeris throws Kingfisher’s letter down for Ren and Lorreth to read, and the group reels at his sacrifice. Saeris asks if Gillethrye has a quicksilver pool and learns it does not, crushing their hope of making more relics and following. Then Carrion realizes the crucial detail: shadow gates linger briefly and are not one-way—if Everlayne can come through, they can go through after her.

Saeris rushes to the forge and binds quicksilver into a spare double-handed sword for Carrion, since there is no time to craft a new blade. The quicksilver demands a joke as payment; Carrion supplies increasingly obscene humor, the weapon accepts his blood, speaks, and claims him as its “friend.” Carrion names the sword “Simon,” and they hurry back to join the others.

Ren explains Te Léna and Iseabail are preparing to freeze and treat Everlayne, though the outcome is uncertain because vampire transition and Malcolm’s venom may kill her before healing can work. Tensions flare when Lorreth insults Iseabail, but Ren forces a truce. Suddenly a horizontal shadow gate tears open high above the table and Everlayne is hurled through, smashing down amid flying books and splintered wood; she is alive and calls to Saeris. With the gate open, Ren and Lorreth lift Carrion through first, then shove Saeris up after him as Everlayne desperately warns, “the water”—but Saeris is already pulled through and begins to fall.