Cormac arrives uninvited at Bryce’s apartment just after Aidas exposes him as Agent Silverbow, and the group immediately turns the confrontation into an interrogation. Hunt blocks Cormac’s aggression, Tharion needles him, and Bryce notices the star on her chest reacting to the tension. Once Cormac calms down and sits, he explains that Aidas’s cat form helped him bypass the apartment wards and admits he came because he believes everyone there is searching for Emile Renast.

Cormac then reveals his connection to Sofie. He says he helped Sofie free Emile from Kavalla, cared for her deeply, and promised to protect her brother after the escape. According to Cormac, Emile fled because he feared Pippa Spetsos, a fanatic Ophion operative whose Lightfall unit commits atrocities and wants to turn the thunderbird boy into a living weapon. Cormac tracked Emile to Lunathion and followed Tharion in hopes of finding him before Pippa or Ophion could reclaim him.

The conversation shifts from Emile to Sofie’s fate. Cormac explains that the Hind targeted Sofie not only because she freed Emile, but because Sofie had obtained major intelligence on the Asteri that could change the war. Tharion reveals Sofie’s body was not found in the sea and that her shackles had been unlocked, which raises the possibility that she survived. This gives Cormac hope and intensifies the stakes, because if Sofie is alive, the Asteri’s secret may still be recoverable.

Cormac next connects Danika to the mystery. He says Danika and Sofie knew each other, that Danika suspected something important about the Asteri, and that she sent Sofie to confirm it. He also admits he agreed to the engagement with Bryce as a pretext to gain access to Bryce and Ruhn, partly to find Emile and partly because Ruhn’s rare mind-speaking gift could be valuable to Ophion. Hunt warns that any involvement with Ophion could get them all arrested or killed, and Ruhn firmly refuses recruitment.

Realizing Cormac may still be useful, Bryce changes the balance of power by proposing a deal. She offers to help Cormac and Tharion search for Emile and investigate Danika’s missing link to Sofie, but in return Cormac must keep the engagement in place only until Bryce decides to end it and must teach her about Starborn powers. Cormac agrees in principle, though distrust remains high, and he demands secrecy before leaving. The chapter ends with the group unsettled by his revelations, divided over the risk, and newly aware that Emile, Sofie, Danika’s secrets, Bryce’s powers, and Ruhn’s hidden gift may all be part of the same dangerous struggle against the Asteri.