Three months after surviving Under the Mountain, Feyre wakes from another nightmare and rushes to the bathing room to vomit. In the dark, she struggles to separate the safety of Tamlin's manor from memories of Amarantha's dungeons, repeating to herself that she is real and free until the panic eases.

As Feyre regains control, she reflects on how badly the aftermath has damaged her. Her new immortal strength and Fae body still feel unnatural, causing accidents throughout the house, and the emotional wounds are worse. She feels that although she survived and transformed physically, her heart remains shattered by what she endured and did.

Looking at the magical tattoo on her left arm, Feyre thinks about her bargain with Rhysand: one week with him every month in exchange for saving her life. Rhysand has not contacted her in three months, but the tattoo makes the bargain impossible to forget. Feyre also remembers that, despite his reputation as an enemy, their last private conversation after Amarantha's defeat had been unexpectedly intimate, and she has told no one about it.

Feyre returns to bed beside Tamlin and watches him sleeping after they made love earlier. She reminds herself that she sacrificed everything for him and would do it again, yet that knowledge brings no peace. Instead, she feels condemned to live forever with the damage done to her soul.

Beside Tamlin, Feyre notices the distance between them even in shared silence. Tamlin never wakes or speaks when her nightmares make her sick, though Feyre knows he suffers from his own trauma and sometimes wakes into his beast form to guard the room. Their unspoken arrangement is to avoid talking about Amarantha's lingering hold over them, but the chapter ends with Feyre admitting that saving Tamlin and Prythian has left her broken in ways she fears eternity cannot heal.