From Darius’s perspective, he bursts into the house and finds it filled with Order Suppressant gas. He discovers his father, Lionel Acrux, torturing Tory, who is pinned to a dining table by air magic. Her skin is covered in blood and has his name, Acrux, burned into it countless times. Enraged, Darius attacks Lionel, and the two engage in a brutal magical duel. Lionel temporarily gains the upper hand by using Dark Coercion to command Darius to stay down. However, the Phoenix flame that Tory previously gifted Darius activates, burning away Lionel’s dark magic and freeing Darius. He immediately resumes his assault, overpowering his father and feeling certain that he will finally kill him.

Now a puppet for Clara, Darcy attacks the Heirs with powerful shadow magic. Max avoids a direct hit by creating an illusion of himself, then tackles Darcy and binds her hands in ice. Clara suddenly appears, slashes Max’s back with a knife, and vanishes. As Seth and Max try to regroup, the ice around Darcy’s hands shatters. The shadows force her to attack again, choking both Heirs with tendrils of darkness. Clara reappears just long enough to place a dagger in Darcy’s hand, gleefully ordering her to attack her friends as Darcy begs them to stop her.

While the others defend against Darcy, Caleb focuses on hunting down Clara. He pursues her through the trees, but she uses the ongoing fight as a shield to keep him from getting close. Caleb manages to trap her with earth magic and vines, but she retaliates with shadow magic that floods his mind with his worst memories. Using his fire magic and Vampire strength, Caleb overpowers her and breaks her jaw. Realizing that Clara’s control over Darcy is absolute, he resolves that the only way to save everyone is to kill her and continues his relentless attack.

After Max restrains Darcy, she uses shadows to suffocate him, forcing his release. He then immobilizes her by freezing her legs to the ground. Their fight is interrupted when a Nymph emerges from the woods. Seth shifts into his Werewolf form and leaps for the Nymph’s throat, while Max prepares to use his Siren magic. Darcy’s shadows break the ice around her and bind Max, holding him captive for the creature. Just as the Nymph is about to strike, a second Nymph charges out of the trees and attacks the first, unexpectedly saving Max. During the chaotic brawl between the two Nymphs, the first Nymph knocks Seth into a tree. Freed from her restraints, Darcy is forced to her feet as Max flees from her.

From Tory’s perspective on the dining table, she watches Darius brutally beat Lionel. When Lionel attempts to use shadow magic again, the dark power within Tory is drawn to it. Though tempted by the promise of power, Tory resists and forces her own shadows back down. In doing so, she also steals and locks down the shadows Lionel was commanding, removing them from the room and leaving him without that power. Darius seizes the advantage and continues his savage attack. Watching him, Tory fully accepts the dark, violent parts of his nature, realizing they are a perfect match for her own, and finds herself wanting to see him kill his father.

In wolf form, Seth and Max work together to kill one of the Nymphs. Clara attacks Seth, but he manages to fight her off. He briefly shifts back to his human form to heal his injuries. Rejoining the fight, Seth and Caleb coordinate to trap Clara with a vine. However, a Nymph ambushes Seth from behind, holding him hostage with its sharp probes against his heart. Caleb is forced to stand down. Clara cries “Finish them!” and flees. As the Nymph attacks, Caleb launches himself at the creature and kills it by ripping its throat out with his fangs. They then hear Max cry for help and rush to his aid.

Under Clara’s control, Darcy corners Max and prepares to stab him with a dagger. Seth intervenes at the last second, and the blade slices across his throat instead. The shock and horror of mortally wounding her friend causes Darcy’s Phoenix power to erupt, violently burning the shadows out of her body and breaking Clara’s control. Darcy tries to heal Seth but fails. Max and Caleb rush to help, while Darcy fights Clara, creating a protective ring of fire around the Heirs. A Nymph attacks Clara, who retaliates by taking control of the creature and stabbing it repeatedly. Summoned by Lionel, Clara flees toward the house. The dying Nymph is revealed to be Diego, who dies in Darcy’s arms after telling her he was not her enemy and urging her to take his hat. At the same time, Max and Caleb succeed in healing Seth, and the newly united group prepares to end the fight.

Just as Darius is about to finally kill Lionel, Clara arrives and knocks him away. She then paralyzes Darius by taking control of the shadows within him. While Darius is helpless, Lionel heals himself. He then approaches Tory, heals her wounds, and performs an ancient, binding spell. Darius, recognizing the same magic used against Lance Orion, begs Lionel not to do it. Against her will, Lionel forges a magical Guardian bond with Tory, forcing her to become his loyal protector. An Aries brand appears on Tory’s arm, while a new Gemini brand appears on Lionel’s arm beside the Cancer symbol he already held for Clara.

Now magically bound to protect Lionel, Tory instinctively stops Darius from attacking him. Darcy and the other Heirs then burst in. When Darcy launches a fire attack at Lionel, Tory is compelled to shield him, taking the full force of the blast herself. As an army of Nymphs surrounds the house, Tory realizes they cannot win. She makes a deal with Lionel: She will give herself to her shadow magic and submit to whatever he wants if he allows Darcy and the others to escape. After sharing a final, heartbreaking kiss with Darius, Tory lets the shadows consume her, finding relief and pleasure as her pain and fear are replaced by a hunger for power.

Lionel transforms into a massive green dragon, tearing down the ceiling and grabbing Tory and Clara in his claws as he flies away. The Heirs manage to shield Darcy and themselves from the collapsing rubble. They escape to the surface, but Lionel is already gone. Surrounded by the advancing Nymph army, the group uses stardust to teleport back to the Zodiac Academy campus. Darcy collapses in grief but quickly pulls herself together. She proposes they all make a vow, and the five of them—Darcy, Darius, Caleb, Seth, and Max—join hands and make a magically binding oath to find the Imperial Star before Lionel does.

At Acrux Manor, Tory is completely under the influence of her shadow magic and the Guardian bond. She feels an overwhelming desire to please Lionel. He leads her and Clara to a torture chamber in the manor’s dungeon and straps Tory into a chair. He asks her who she loves. When she recalls her love for Darcy and Darius, Lionel tortures her with a powerful electric shock. The shadows in Tory’s mind twist the agony into pleasure. When Lionel asks the question again, she looks at him, fully broken by the magic and torture, and says, “You. Only you.”

This chapter provides a glimpse into the Acrux family life when the tyrannical patriarch, Lionel, is away. Lionel’s wife, Catalina, must pretend to be under his Dark Coercion whenever he is present, but acts freely in his absence, and the family has been meeting like this whenever he leaves. She, Darius, and Xavier share a rare, happy family evening, eating pizza and laughing together. Due to his emerging Pegasus Order, Xavier has an insatiable craving for carrots. He eats too many and experiences a “carrot high,” a magical side effect that causes him to hallucinate. In his altered state, he runs through the manor and into his father’s private office, making a mess and covering the room in glitter. Once the high wears off, Darius and Catalina help him meticulously clean the office to remove any evidence of their presence, and the family ends the night enjoying their brief freedom by playing tag.