Violet admits she told Rhiannon, Sawyer, Ridoc, and Quinn about the dagger and the plan to steal journals on ward creation. Xaden, furious but measured, presses the risks: discovery means death and the books must be returned unnoticed. When Violet argues this is their only chance to learn how the First Six built the wards, Xaden commits to help. They share a deliberate, tender kiss, choosing each other before the operation.

To access the royal vault, they need Aaric’s help. When the group assembles, Xaden shoves Aaric into the hall and declares he killed Aaric’s brother, inflaming their animosity. After Bodhi diffuses tension, they finalize roles and contingencies, agreeing secrecy is paramount and failure means death once the Archives door seals.

Disguised as second-year scribes, they move through the tunnel. Nasya sleeps at his post, and Jesinia meets them, insisting only four go inside to avoid suspicion: Violet, Aaric, Imogen, and Xaden (who travels in shadows). Rhiannon, Quinn, Sawyer, and Ridoc remain as nearby support.

Inside, they nearly encounter disaster when a first-year, Samuelson, notices them. Jesinia deflects him with cutting authority while Xaden restrains his shadows, and the team proceeds deeper into the Archives’ maze of halls and rooms.

Jesinia leads them to a classroom with a hidden mechanism. She reveals a rotating stone-and-bookcase entrance to a spiral stair and warns the Archives’ normal wards end there; if trapped after closing, survival is more likely below than above. With forty-five minutes left, Jesinia departs. Violet, Xaden, Imogen, and Aaric descend into the forbidden depths toward the journals, racing the clock.