Nesta and Emerie continue south through the Blood Rite after Emerie explains that the same males Nesta saw at the river attacked her and drove her into the water. As they move through a landscape of dead warriors, scattered fights, and worsening cold, they search for any sign of Gwyn while trying not to admit that their enchanted bracelets might lead them to her corpse. They survive another freezing night in a cave, then press on through heavy snow until Emerie smells smoke and Nesta confirms with her bracelet that they are moving in the right direction.

The two women approach the fire carefully and find Gwyn’s nightgown hanging near a camp, which makes them fear the worst. Nesta climbs high enough to scout the ridge and sees ten armed males around the fire, but no Gwyn. Before Nesta can report back, Emerie is seized by two hidden warriors, and both women are dragged into the camp.

At the camp, the leader is revealed to be Bellius, Emerie’s cruel cousin. Bellius mocks Emerie, calls her a disgrace, and claims someone else may have raped and killed Gwyn; he also implies that a woman approved the illegal weapons in the Rite. Nesta realizes Bellius’s glassy eyes resemble those of Eris’s enthralled soldiers and suspects Briallyn used the Crown to influence him and tamper with the Rite. Bellius announces that he will take Nesta first, leaving Nesta and Emerie trapped, disarmed, and badly outnumbered.

A nightmare creature suddenly attacks the camp, killing one of Bellius’s men and throwing the warriors into chaos. Nesta uses the distraction to recover her weapons and run with Emerie, then hears Gwyn calling from the far side of the ridge. The three women escape together into the forest until they are safely beyond the sounds of battle.

Once they stop, Gwyn explains that she woke early, found a cache of weapons, changed into clothes taken from a corpse, and used the glowing bracelet charm to track Nesta and Emerie. After seeing Bellius display her nightgown as bait, Gwyn deliberately lured one of the sleeping beasts into his camp in hopes of stopping him. Elsewhere, Cassian and Azriel continue watching Briallyn’s silent, warded castle for Eris, but they still cannot act. Back in the Rite, the reunion strengthens the bond among Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn, who affirm that they came for one another because that is what sisters do.