After the explosion at the Promontory, Bruce drags a dazed Roman away while smoke, screams, and gunfire fill the air. Roman tries to get back to Iris, but Bruce strikes him unconscious. Roman wakes in a speeding car, injured and sick, and realizes Bruce is taking him through the hidden route near the Kitt Estate.

On the path to the estate, Roman presses Bruce for answers. Bruce implies he is connected to the Graveyard and confirms the bombing was meant to kill Dacre, not everyone in the courtyard. Roman warns that a bomb alone cannot kill a god. Bruce also accidentally reveals he previously met Iris on Mr. Kitt’s behalf and had offered her money to annul her marriage, which enrages Roman.

When Roman reaches the mansion, he notices suspicious crates under the pavilion and soldiers openly patrolling the grounds. In Mr. Kitt’s study, Roman confronts his father and confirms that Mr. Kitt helped plan the bombing. Before they can say more, Dacre returns alive. Realizing Dacre survived and suspecting danger from Shane’s confession letter, Roman burns the incriminating note before stepping into the hall.

Dacre assembles his officers and soldiers and begins hunting for a traitor by threatening to break a private’s arm. Roman intervenes and offers himself for questioning. When Dacre tests him, Roman stays calm and argues that no one who truly knew Dacre’s power would have tried to kill him with a bomb. Roman’s reasoning persuades Dacre to stop the immediate purge and send everyone back to their duties.

Alone in his room afterward, Roman finally breaks down from fear, grief, and uncertainty about Iris. He then returns to the parlor, where Dacre orders him to type an important letter. Roman notices Captain Landis’s bloodstained threshold key on the table, implying Landis died in the blast. The chapter ends with Roman hearing Dacre dictate the letter’s address: Iris E. Winnow, revealing that Iris has become Dacre’s next target.