Jesiba Roga escorts Ithan Holstrom through the House of Flame and Shadow headquarters, a subterranean, club-like hall filled with draki, vampyrs, and daemonaki. She brings him to an onyx bar and has him sit beside her, then has the bartender serve “smokeshow” whiskey. Jesiba quickly realizes Ithan’s desperation and asks what he wants.

Ithan insists he needs a necromancer immediately. Jesiba assumes he wants to raise Ithan’s long-dead brother and tells him to make peace instead, then sharply presses Ithan to admit what he has done. When she asks who Ithan needs to raise, Ithan confesses it is “a lost Fendyr heir,” revealing the target of his urgent, guilt-driven plan.

Elsewhere, Bryce Quinlan remains confined in the Autumn King’s villa and confronts him about how long he intends to keep her there. She needles him about his orrery and learns he has been obsessively studying why Fae bloodlines have been weakening for generations, fearing the Fae will lose their favored position with the Asteri. Bryce probes about Avallen’s protective mists and tests him by mentioning “thin places,” confirming he does not know the term but can tell it relates to the Fae home world.

Bryce continues baiting him into explaining his research: he has used a prism-like device to refract and re-form starlight, attempting to strengthen it into a more powerful version, and he previously asked Ruhn for a “seed” of starlight to experiment with. As Bryce connects his light studies to the Asteri’s nature, she concludes he is trying to understand whether Starborn light can be weaponized against them; the Autumn King refuses to be drawn into stating his allegiance outright, implying he can both protect the Fae’s status and keep Bryce hidden.

When the Autumn King asks Bryce to explain her claim that the Asteri are parasites, Bryce decides the secret must spread and tells him everything she learned: the Asteri feed on firstlight and secondlight and siphon power through the Drop. The Autumn King immediately links this theft to the fading bloodlines and realizes it implies Midgard’s water is contaminated, but he warns Bryce her survival depends on his goodwill. Tiring of the confrontation, he dismisses her, keeping her imprisoned while he absorbs the implications of what she revealed.