Bryce returns home and chats with Juniper, who admits pressure at the ballet and offers Bryce a saved spot in a public dance class. Bryce refuses, deflects with humor, and learns Juniper can’t hang out. After Fury ignores a call, Bryce confronts the silence with TV and grazing, watches grim news, and the loneliness tightens until she decides to step out, locking Syrinx in his crate despite her promise to Hunt.

At a bar with the triarii for the first time, Hunt gets Naomi’s alert that Bryce has left and is heading toward Five Roses. He immediately pays and departs, flying into incoming storm clouds. Naomi tracks Bryce to a night garden and points Hunt down the path.

Hunt joins Bryce on the glowing, jasmine-scented walk. Bryce admits the quiet unsettles her and that she didn’t want to crash a triarii night. They trade barbs about Naomi and the triarii, and Bryce notes she effectively has one friend left, who is too busy. Hunt presses her about breaking her promise; attraction builds as their banter shifts from irritation to flirtation.

As lightning rumbles and they draw closer, the moment is shattered. A kristallos erupts from the bushes, slamming into Hunt and sinking its teeth into his shoulder, confirming the lethal threat is still hunting them.