In the aftermath of the village’s outrage, Père Louis denounced Gabriel as damned. Frère Greyhand confronted the crowd, producing an imperial commission authorizing him to recruit anyone to the Silver Order of San Michon. When the alderman objected, Greyhand identified their enemy and revealed a chained, starved vampire captured three days west, terrifying the villagers.

Gabriel, remembering Amélie and Julieta’s return as vampires, stood his ground, driven by fear and hatred. Greyhand subdued the vampire with swift, brutal blows, then named their foe as the Dead. He studied Gabriel, confirmed his name, and told him he now belonged to the Order, implying he knew Gabriel had already faced vampirism in his family.

Gabriel realized Auriél de León had summoned the Silversaints as the help he had begged her for. Celene tried to defend her brother, but Gabriel calmed her, accepting the moment as divine will and recognizing he could not stay after biting Ilsa. He believed the Order might hold answers about his nature and the hunger inside him.

Given a final moment with his family, Gabriel warned Raphael Castia to protect Celene, embraced his mother and sister, and heard Auriél warn him again about the beast and its hungers. The junior Silver bound the vampire anew, mounted Gabriel behind him, and Greyhand warned the villagers to keep fires lit and invite no strangers, repeating the Order’s credo, “We are silver.”

Gabriel left Lorson in the snow, promising Celene he would return, while Auriél watched the sky in tears. In the frame narrative, Jean-François noted Gabriel was only fifteen when taken, and Gabriel affirmed that he still considered vampires monsters.