Misery wakes groggy and half-paralyzed from the drugs Mick used on her and realizes she has been brought to Serena. Serena is alive, confined in a windowless attic room lined with books, and has kept track of her captivity with tally marks: three months, two weeks, and four days. Their reunion is awkward, emotional, and immediate, because Misery has spent months fearing Serena was dead.

As Misery recovers enough to talk, Serena explains that she was abducted while walking to Misery's apartment and has been kept isolated ever since. Serena says her captors have not tortured her, but they have never let her leave the room or see them clearly. Misery, using what she has learned during her time with the Weres, tells Serena that she already knows Serena had been investigating Thomas Jalakas and Liliana Moreland's hybrid identity. Misery also reveals that she married Were Alpha Lowe Moreland while trying to find Serena, and she argues that Emery likely targeted Serena because Serena's investigation threatened plans involving Ana, another hybrid child who could symbolize peace between species.

The conversation turns personal when Serena admits she feared Misery might not look for her after their fight. Misery makes clear that abandoning Serena was never a possibility, and although neither of them says anything overtly sentimental, they silently repair the breach between them. Once they set that aside, they focus on escape. Because the guards only use the food slot and will not enter the room, Serena proposes luring one close enough for Misery to thrall.

When a guard Serena calls Bob arrives with blood for Misery, Serena pretends Misery is having a dangerous reaction to the drugs. Misery gets Bob to look closely through the slot and tries to thrall him, but the attempt is too weak without direct contact. Bob realizes what Misery is doing and lunges for her throat through the opening. That attack gives Serena an opening: Serena grabs Bob's arm, painfully bends his wrist, and breaks fingers and his thumb until Bob unlocks the door. Misery and Serena switch places with him and trap him inside the room.

The two run down the hall and through another door, expecting a larger prison, but instead discover that Serena's attic cell is hidden inside the Nest, the Vampyre stronghold where Misery grew up. The revelation changes the stakes, because Serena had Were guards and Mick delivered Misery there, yet the prison is concealed in Vampyre territory, implying cooperation or betrayal across both sides. Misery and Serena head for the stairs hand in hand, but before they can escape, Vania appears behind them and orders Misery to come with her one last time.