At the riverside park, Hunt and Bryce try to unwind with ice cream after the fight at the Comitium. When Bryce asks about Hunt's skill with machines, Hunt admits that Sandriel used his lightning-born understanding of mechanics to force him to sabotage Ophion's mech-suits before they were returned to rebel pilots, causing many deaths. Bryce comforts Hunt, then shifts the conversation to Pollux and Baxian. Hunt suspects the Asteri may have sent Pollux to provoke him into giving them a public excuse to arrest or kill him and Bryce, and Bryce begs Hunt not to lose control again because she cannot bear to see him tortured.

Their quiet moment is interrupted first by a Reaper arriving by black boat from the Bone Quarter, its passage freezing the park into unnatural stillness, and then by Tharion, who urgently tracks them down. Back at Bryce's apartment, Tharion finds Ithan still staying there and asks whether Danika ever mentioned someone named Sofie. Bryce summons Ruhn before saying more, and Tharion finally explains that Sofie Renast and her younger brother Emile are thunderbirds who passed as human. Sofie broke Emile out of the Kavalla death camp, was captured by the Hind, but may have survived, while Emile escaped and is now being hunted.

Pressed by Bryce and Hunt, Tharion reveals that the River Queen wants both Sofie and Emile, and that he found emails between Sofie and Danika discussing a safe place in Lunathion where Sofie could hide. He also mentions the names Dusk's Truth and Project Thurr, which mean nothing to Bryce or Ithan, further proving that Danika had secrets. Tharion believes Ophion is already near the city because he found signs of violence connected to them, and he warns that the Hind may come as well. Before leaving, he gives Bryce copies of some of the emails and tells them not to put anything in writing.

After Tharion leaves, the apartment divides over what to do. Hunt and Ruhn insist that helping Emile would directly violate Rigelus's order to lie low and could get Bryce, Hunt, and their families executed for rebel involvement. Ithan, however, points out that Emile is only a child who may have nothing to do with Ophion, and Bryce agrees. Alone in her room, Bryce reads the attached messages, especially tender exchanges between Sofie and Emile, and decides that whatever Danika's secrets were, Emile deserves protection rather than exploitation. Bryce resolves to ask Fury about Danika's connection to Sofie and privately commits to finding Emile.

Hunt retreats to the shower, where Tharion's news triggers memories of his own time in rebellion, Shahar's war, and the torture that followed his defeat. He becomes determined not to let Bryce be dragged into the same ruin, even though he knows her compassion is part of why he loves her. Later, Bryce orders pizza for Hunt, Ithan, and Ruhn, and the mood eases slightly. Ruhn silently offers to take Ithan in if needed, Flynn and Declan drop by, and the group slips into joking conversation about Ruhn's Ordeal in Avallen and the Starsword. The chapter ends on lighter banter, but the argument over Emile and Danika's secrets remains unresolved beneath the surface.