After returning from the Comitium, Hunt sits on the roof of the gallery while Bryce works underground, cross-referencing Danika's location data from Declan with her own list and the murder scenes. She emerges at sundown having found nothing useful. As they walk home, Hunt casually asks if he can watch a sunball game, and Bryce teases him about the domesticity of the request contrasting with his fearsome reputation as the Shadow of Death. The light moment reveals a growing comfort between them.

A block from Bryce's apartment, Hunt receives a call from Micah. The Archangel orders Hunt to carry out an assassination, framing it as "legion business." Micah also warns Hunt never to repeat what happened in the Comitium lobby—referring to Hunt's defiant behavior before Sandriel. Micah reminds Hunt that his offer of freedom still stands but could be reconsidered. Hunt recognizes that Micah's punishment is comparatively mild: a warning and a killing assignment to remind Hunt of his place, whereas Sandriel would have tortured him for weeks.

Hunt drops Bryce at her building, and she sees through his vague explanation but doesn't press. He calls fellow angel Justinian to stand guard at Bryce's apartment, then flies off to execute Micah's target—a cougar shifter who, according to the file, had committed terrible crimes. The scene is rendered in fragmented, dissociative detail: the man begs for his life, but Hunt pulls the trigger, retreating mentally into the hollow identity of the Umbra Mortis, feeling like nothing and no one.

Afterward, Hunt returns to the barracks and sits under a scalding shower for a long time, trying to scrub away both the blood and the emotional toll. He eventually pieces himself together, relieves Justinian, and arrives at Bryce's apartment at eleven. Bryce hears him come in and opens her bedroom door, but Hunt can barely speak. She tells him quietly that she recorded the sunball game for him. The small kindness hits Hunt hard, but he retreats into his room without looking at her, shutting the door behind him.