In the morgue, Ithan admits he cannot safely recruit a Reaper on his own, so Jesiba Roga’s summons brings one quickly through the Under-King’s channels. The male Reaper arrives flaunting a rock-star persona, and Ithan recognizes him as a former low-level lion-shifter from the Aux who died at a vampyr nest. Hypaxia keeps calm despite the Reaper’s crude flirting and predatory attention.

Hypaxia touches the Reaper’s head and reads what she can, then dismisses him before he can linger. After the Reaper leaves with a thinly veiled promise to return, Hypaxia confirms Ithan’s hunch: she senses no parasite in the Reaper at all—nothing living inside him. She decides to compare what she perceived in the Reaper to what she found in Ithan’s blood to isolate where the parasite might be lodged in Ithan.

Ithan is unsettled that Hypaxia describes the Reaper as lonely and terrified beneath the bravado, and Hypaxia explains that half-life is a sad, incomplete existence, even when Reapers enjoy terrorizing others. Ithan praises Hypaxia’s goodness and notes the witches are worse off without her; Hypaxia, visibly sorrowful, asks him to leave so she can focus on her work.

On Avallen, Bryce sorts through trunks of snow gear and weapons Fury gathered for the coming mission to Nena, aware that most conventional weapons are meaningless against the Asteri and that the burden will ultimately fall on her. Juniper and Fury read Bryce’s strain and pull her into a tight embrace. Bryce apologizes to Juniper for past harm, and Juniper confirms they are good, shifting the focus to the larger crisis.

Fury argues she should go into the field, but Bryce insists Fury and Juniper must stay to guard Avallen, deter threats, and help incoming refugees and Baxian. Bryce also warns them to watch for Asteri agents even with Avallen’s protective mists, then admits the possibility she might not return. When Bryce tries to hand off a treasured photo of their old friend group for safekeeping, Fury makes Bryce keep it so she can carry them with her.

Before departure, Bryce finds Ember waiting on the hill above where the Cave of Princes had been; Ember reflects on the Autumn King’s finality and embraces Bryce, telling her she is proud of who Bryce has become. Ember jokes that Bryce looks like “a functioning adult” and reminds Bryce that titles do not change that she is still Ember’s baby. As Randall pilots the helicopter and Hunt signals for them to hurry, Bryce holds her mother one moment longer, grounding herself in what matters most before leaving.