Rowin and Genevieve leave the library’s hidden room via the trapdoor to the kitchen, eat in tense silence, and are interrupted when Wellington Silver staggers in, bleeding and injured. Rowin forces Genevieve into a dumbwaiter just as Grave bursts into the kitchen. From their hiding place, Genevieve watches Wellington smash a bowl on Grave’s face to little effect. Sounds of a deadly fight follow, and Genevieve realizes Wellington is being killed while Rowin silently endures the trauma.

They are hoisted upward in the dumbwaiter before they can escape and arrive back in the library, where Grave opens the door, bloodied and emotionless. Rowin refuses to surrender Genevieve; Grave immediately stabs Rowin between the ribs and knocks him unconscious. Grave turns on Genevieve, stating he has killed Rowin many times and that killing Genevieve could help him win Favored.

Genevieve knows she cannot beat Grave without magic and checks the clock, calculating she needs to survive six minutes. She dodges and distracts him by hurling books, drawing more blood but not slowing him. Grave pins her by the throat against a shelf. Genevieve theatrically yields to buy time, asking to send a message to her family; she names her sister Ophelia, mentions burning diaries, and requests burial with her childhood stuffed bear, Mr. Daisy, to keep him talking.

When Grave strikes, Genevieve jerks at the last instant and is impaled beneath her right clavicle, pinned to the bookshelf as Grave’s dagger lodges in the wood. After he frees the blade and prepares a final blow, the six minutes elapse and Genevieve’s magic returns, turning her incorporeal; Grave’s strike passes through her and the Hunting Blade vanishes with her shift. She steps past him, solidifies, and collapses into Rowin’s arms, who has rapidly healed.

Genevieve slips into unconsciousness, haunted by a memory of Farrow condemning her as a creature from Hell who deserves to burn. She later wakes in bed to the scent of mint and finds Rowin bare-chested nearby with Umbra. Rowin, angry she almost died, says he bribed Ellin to heal her. He explains Ellin stripped and cleaned her while he provided a shirt after her bloodied dress was removed.

As Genevieve’s hunger asserts itself, Rowin urges her to get dressed because they are missing dinner. Genevieve insists on going, determined to make everyone who bet against her see that she survived the first round.