Nesta plucks the Harp’s twenty-sixth string and stops Time itself just as Feyre takes her last breath. In the frozen room, with Rhys, the baby, and everyone else suspended, Nesta walks to Feyre and hears the same soft female voice that has guided her before. When the voice asks what she wants, Nesta realizes she no longer wants numbness; she wants to feel everything, even pain, because life with the people she loves is worth it.

Kneeling beside Feyre, Nesta tells her sister that Feyre loved and fought for her when no one else did, and Nesta finally says aloud that she loves her. As the Harp’s hold begins to weaken, Nesta admits she does not know how to use her deathly power precisely enough to save Feyre on her own. She turns inward and bargains with the Mother and the Cauldron, offering back everything she stole if they will show her how to save Feyre, Rhys, and the baby.

When Time resumes, Cassian and the others hear Nesta repeating that she gives it all back. Iridescent light pours from Nesta into Feyre, then reaches Rhys and the baby as the room watches in stunned silence. The Mask and Crown fall away, the light surges and then withdraws, and a dark bargain-mark appears across Nesta’s back, though Cassian senses that some gentle force prevents all of the power from leaving her.

Feyre wakes healed and answers Nesta’s declaration of love. Mor brings over the baby, now no longer still and underdeveloped but a healthy full-term winged boy, and Feyre begins feeding him while Madja notes that Feyre seems to have developed Illyrian anatomy. Rhys, overwhelmed by what Nesta has done for his mate and son, drops to his knees to thank her, and Nesta embraces him, sealing a profound change in their bond.