Paedyn does not stop running until she reaches the woods beside the road home. Exhausted and unsteady, she stumbles over roots and rocks while heavy rain keeps striking her open wounds.

As she presses her fingers to the gash from her jaw to her neck, Paedyn becomes sharply aware of how badly she has been marked. She then touches the shredded skin above her heart and feels the carved O there, recognizing it as a permanent brand of her identity as an Ordinary and as a fresh source of emotional pain.

Deeper in the woods, Paedyn notices a bundle of blue forget-me-nots. The flowers immediately remind her of Kai placing one in her hair and of the intimacy and trust they once shared, which makes the contrast with his current promise of vengeance even more devastating.

Paedyn tries to hold both truths at once: Kai mattered deeply to her, but he is also the man who killed her father. Thinking of Kai, his stolen silver dagger, and the damage done to her heart, Paedyn breaks down sobbing. As blood runs down over the brand on her chest, she tries to tell herself it is only honey.