To investigate Gareth’s death, Elise needs to find his Killblaze dealer. After failing to get information from the standoffish “Black Card” group, she makes a deal with the school’s traders, the Kipling Brothers. In exchange for a list of dealers, she agrees to create a diversion during their late-night delivery. During the day, she has hostile encounters with both Ryder, who sends her a violent telepathic warning, and Gabriel, who drops from the sky on Devil’s Hill, knocks her down with earth magic, and encases her hands in ice. Laini helps her recover, making Elise realize they have become genuine friends. That night, Dante insists on joining Elise for the diversion. Together, they start a large fire on a hill, drawing the attention of Mars and leading to a chase. They hide in a basement, where the adrenaline leads to a charged moment in which Dante allows Elise to feed on his blood. Elise returns to her room and discovers that the Kipling Brothers left the list of dealers left on her pillow while she was out, giving her a solid lead.

In Potions class, Leon decides to ask Elise to the upcoming Spring Formal. He drags his chair over to join Elise and Ryder, leaving his lab partner to handle their potion. Leon taunts Ryder about a previous kiss with Elise before giving her a chocolate bar and formally inviting her to the dance. His invitation is immediately challenged when Gabriel interrupts, acting possessively, followed by Dante, who also asks Elise to go with him. Ryder makes his own crude counter-offer of a night in his room instead of the party, placing a razor blade in front of Elise as a mock grand gesture mirroring Leon’s chocolate and Dante’s gold ring. Overwhelmed by the competing offers from the four men, Elise accepts Leon’s invitation, reasoning that he asked her first. Gabriel and Dante depart angrily, while Ryder tells Elise his offer remains open. Triumphant, Leon returns to his seat where his lab partner has completed his potion for him. The professor gives Leon rank points for demonstrating power.

The narrative flashes back to Gareth’s point of view. Gareth attends a Lunar Brotherhood party with Leon. His primary goal is to ask Ryder for work to pay off a debt. While waiting for an opportunity to speak with the Brotherhood’s leader, Gareth spends time with Cindy Lou. The two connect easily and share a passionate kiss before she leaves to check on friends who may be using Killblaze. Gareth then approaches Ryder, who intimidates him with a violent vision using his Basilisk hypnosis before granting him one minute to speak. Gareth offers to perform “under the radar” jobs for cash, but Ryder dismissively refuses him. After witnessing Ryder’s extreme violence firsthand when another student accidentally spills a drink on him, Gareth retreats. His plan having failed, Gareth resolves to approach the rival Oscura Clan for work instead.

The narrative returns to the present. While studying Gareth’s journal on Devil’s Hill, she is confronted by Gabriel. His behavior alternates between gentle and cruel. He explains that, four months ago, he got a tattoo reading, “We fall together” (251), after an unprompted vision of a future love, and he notes this complements her tattoo, which reads, “[E]ven angels fall” (248). He then publicly humiliates her by giving her a can of soda that explodes and warns her again to stay away. The scent of the soda triggers a painful memory of her brother, causing Elise to flee to her dorm in tears. She runs into Ryder, who senses her intense pain and takes her to his private room. He uses his power to help her confront and embrace her grief, telling her to use the pain as a source of strength. He reveals that their hearts beat in sync before asking her to be his, which she refuses. Later, in a meeting with Professor Titan, Elise learns the previous Vampire Liaison teacher left a few months ago after inappropriate relations. Titan advises her to find a permanent blood Source, and she immediately thinks of Ryder and Dante, though she knows they are too powerful to control.

Dante’s Oscura Clan faces off against Ryder’s Lunar Brotherhood for an arranged fight. Although he is a Dragon, Dante is the Alpha to his Clan’s Werewolf pack. He notices Elise watching from a distance before leading the charge. He and Ryder immediately engage in a brutal, personal battle. Ryder wounds Dante with razor blades and a psychic vision, but Dante heals himself. The fight intensifies when Ryder threatens to kill Dante’s cousin, Helios. Ryder immobilizes Dante with vines and forces a hypnotic vision in which a raven-haired woman named Mariella appears in his place and carves into Dante’s chest. Dante forces Ryder out of his mind and discovers Ryder has carved the letter “R” into his chest. The pain and rage trigger Dante’s transformation into his Dragon form.

As Dante prepares to strike from the sky, a stray fireball from the battle injures Elise. Dante immediately abandons the fight, scoops Elise up in his talons, and flies her to his dorm. After shifting back, he uses his magic to heal her injuries. When she wakes, she heals the “R” on his chest and kisses the spot. Dante says the feud between him and Ryder runs deeper than the gangs, but honor prevents him from revealing Ryder’s family secrets. He tells her his Clan’s motto is, “A morte e ritorno,” which means “to death and back” (277). The chapter ends with Elise resting in Dante’s arms in his bunk.

Elise wakes in Dante’s arms. He tries to initiate sex, but she stops their escalating intimacy, unwilling to choose his side while he is still a suspect in her brother’s death. With his permission, she drinks his blood to replenish her power. Gabriel discovers them and angrily assumes they slept together before storming out. 

Later, Cindy Lou confronts Elise, claims that Dante is hers, and attacks her with fire magic. Elise is injured but decides to ignore Cindy Lou to focus on her investigation into Gareth’s death. She sees a suspicious group of students and follows them down a hallway only for them to vanish at a dead end. She recognizes a hidden symbol on a wall from Gareth’s journal, and his notes tell her to “pay for the passage in blood” (247). When she cuts her finger and puts her blood on the symbol, a secret stairway opens. Below, she discovers the Black Card performing a dark magic ritual to initiate a new member. Realizing Gareth was involved with this cult, her determination to find those responsible for his death and exact revenge intensifies.

The narrative flashes back to Gareth’s point of view. After a confidence-boosting text exchange with his sister, Gareth works up the courage to approach Dante. He proposes that he could perform discreet jobs for Dante’s gang that a known Oscura member could not. Intrigued, Dante uses his Tarot deck to guide his decision. Gareth turns over the Wheel of Fortune and The Fool cards, which Dante’s Beta, Tabitha, interprets as signs of good fortune and a new beginning. After taking notice of Cindy Lou, who is romantically interested in Gareth, Dante agrees to the arrangement and says he will be in touch with an assignment. Gareth leaves feeling successful, having secured the work he needs to help his family.