Iris wakes in Bitteryne to bright, silent flashes and noises moving through the dark house. With the electricity out and Roman's warning still in her mind, Iris fears an intruder or even one of Dacre's creatures coming up from the ground. Attie joins her in the hallway, and the two girls go toward the dining room, ready for a confrontation.

The stranger proves to be Tobias Bexley, who has returned at three in the morning after driving through the storm. He is soaked, muddy, and exhausted, but unharmed, and he has brought letters for both women. Iris receives one from Forest and learns from Tobias that Forest helped service the roadster and hopes to take Iris to a race after the war, which briefly comforts her and deepens her homesickness.

Attie offers Tobias tea and a towel, trying to sound practical instead of concerned. As Iris withdraws to her room, she sees Attie wiping mud from Tobias's face and hears Tobias tease her about worrying over him. He jokes about having "nine lives," linking the chapter title to both his recklessness and Attie's barely concealed attachment.

Later, Roman quietly goes downstairs in Dacre's house and finds the war table unattended. While studying the map of Cambria, he touches it and sees hidden lines of dark and pale blue light branching beneath the surface, connecting towns such as Merrow, Hawk Shire, and Oath. When he lifts the map, he discovers an underworld chart below it, revealing roads, passages, and doorways that most people never see.

Dacre catches Roman at the table, but Roman hides his alarm and questions him carefully. Dacre explains that the glowing routes are his ley lines and the roads of his underground domain, which fell into ruin while he slept and are now being repaired by his people. Roman learns that Val, one of Dacre's favored advisors, uses those passages to carry Roman's articles to the Oath Gazette, and Roman realizes there is at least one active path into Oath.

Roman presses further about Hawk Shire, and Dacre confirms he intends to use the restored under-realm to gain a military advantage and move closer to victory. Dacre dismisses the idea of waking Alva, saying her powers would not help him, then orders Roman to meet him in the parlor at dawn with his typewriter so Roman can prove his heart is steady. Roman leaves shaken but newly aware of how Dacre's hidden roads are shaping the war.