Bryce surprises Hunt by summoning Aidas, the Prince of the Chasm—one of the most powerful demon princes of Hel—into her apartment using obsidian salt circles. Hunt is furious and terrified, but Bryce insists she knows Aidas won't hurt her. The prince appears as a slender, pale, blond male rather than a monstrous demon. He greets Bryce by name, confirming they've met before. Bryce asks him who summoned the kristallos and what demon actually killed Danika.

Aidas deflects many of her questions, claiming the seven greater princes of Hel have no interest in Midgard and did not send the kristallos. He hints that the Northern Rift connects not only to Hel but to other planets and realms, and suggests the Asteri have spun false stories about the demons' motivations. He takes note of Hunt's halo with surprise, calling it a "black crown." When Bryce presses for answers about Danika's killer, Aidas cryptically tells her to "run the tests again" and "find what is in-between." As he fades, he tells Bryce to make the Drop and find him afterward, adding ominously that "the Oracle did not see. But I did."

After Aidas vanishes, Bryce explains to Hunt how she first met Aidas at age thirteen. After her traumatic Oracle visit and fallout with her biological father, a white cat with blue eyes appeared beside her on a bench and comforted her, telling her not to cry and not to give her enemies the satisfaction of her sorrow. She learned later from Jesiba that the demon princes can slip through cracks in the Rift in animal form, confined to those bodies and stripped of power.

Following Aidas's advice to rerun tests, Bryce calls Declan Emmet, who tells her about a superior Fae scent-diagnostic technology called the Mimir that was available two years ago but never used on Danika's case. Ruhn gets on the line and reveals the Autumn King gave a direct order for the Fae to stay out of the investigation, effectively blocking access to the technology that could have provided answers. Bryce is devastated and furious, and she storms out of the apartment, intent on confronting her father.