Spring comes to Velaris, but the calm feels temporary. Briallyn and Beron have made no visible move, Azriel cannot safely spy on Briallyn because of the Crown, and Feyre’s deadly pregnancy remains unresolved. Nesta throws her fear and frustration into training the priestesses with Cassian and Azriel, while the coming Blood Rite makes her think about what real battle will cost them.

A summons from Eris pulls Nesta and Cassian to a clearing near the sacred mountain Under the Mountain. Eris warns that Beron recently visited the continent and that some larger fallout may be coming, then accidentally learns that the Night Court has already found the Harp. That revelation sharpens his suspicion that Rhysand’s court intends to gather and possibly use the Trove, but Cassian coolly deflects him, even hinting that Nesta’s Made weapons can shield against the Crown. When Eris presses both the alliance and his old marriage offer to Nesta, Nesta dismisses him, and Cassian leaves the meeting having clearly unsettled Eris.

On the flight home, Nesta and Cassian enjoy a brief stretch of peace, then walk through Velaris together. Their intimacy in public leads Nesta to admit that being openly tied to Cassian feels different from Feyre and Rhysand because Feyre and Rhysand are mates. Cassian finally says what he has long known: Nesta and Cassian are mates. Nesta recoils, not because she rejects Cassian, but because the word makes her feel that the last piece of her human identity is gone and that she never chose this new life.

The argument worsens when Cassian, angry and hurt, says he did not choose to be “shackled” to Nesta. Though Cassian immediately regrets it, the word wounds Nesta deeply. Rather than lash out cruelly, Nesta uses the favor Cassian owes her to command him to leave and not speak to her for a week or until she comes to him first. The order forces Cassian away through their bargain, and Nesta realizes the tattoo marking that bargain has vanished.

Mor takes Nesta to Emerie’s home, where Nesta breaks down and recounts what happened. Gwyn, despite her terror of leaving the library, comes to support her, and the three friends spend the evening quietly caring for one another. Comforted, Nesta decides she will explain herself and apologize to Cassian the next day. But that hope is shattered in the night when an unknown male enters, Gwyn screams down the hall, and Nesta is overpowered by a drugged cloth and taken unconscious.