Selena wakes up pressed against Draven, his hand over her heart. Curious about his wings, she touches one and is surprised to find its membrane soft like velvet. The contact causes Draven to moan with pleasure, and he warns her that a dragon shifter’s wings are only touched to inflict pain or for sex. After he unlocks the handcuffs, they explore the strange forest. They discover a river that Draven identifies as the River Andunir, which he knows will lead them out. As they walk, Draven confronts Selena about why she always holds back her power and prioritizes others’ needs over her own. When Selena grows weak from hunger, Draven finds edible fruits, testing them for poison himself before giving them to her. Just as they resume their conversation, an arrow shoots past Draven’s face.

Selena and Draven are ambushed by a volley of arrows from unseen archers. To divide their attackers’ attention, Selena suggests they split up and meet later at the river. As Selena flees, she realizes she is being herded into a trap. Soon, she is surrounded by dryads with drawn bows. The dryad leader questions Selena, who explains she is a fae contestant in the Atonement Trials. The dryads express deep hatred for the Icehearts and dragon shifters. After confirming that Selena also despises the Icehearts, the leader lets her go. Selena immediately realizes the dryads’ animosity toward dragon shifters places Draven in grave danger and races back to find him.

While searching for Draven, Selena grapples with her developing feelings for him. She tries to locate him by searching for several emotions, including anger and frustration, but she finds nothing. She tries worry on a whim and locks onto an overwhelming feeling of it projecting from him. When she finds him, he denies being worried about her and returns her knife. Deciding it is too dangerous to reveal the dryads’ presence to the shifters, Selena keeps them a secret. To fill the silence, she asks Draven about himself. He reveals he is 286 years old, which is young for someone of his power and rank. He explains that he inherited his clan’s magic unusually young at 37 and that his immense power also resulted from being trained by a powerful, ancient steel-gray dragon who was visiting his clan’s islands on vacation. This story gives Selena an idea for how to steal the ring back from him.

Sensing they are near the forest exit, Selena enacts her plan. Having previously noticed a tree with a thin vine-like trunk topped by an upside-down bell shape, she deliberately seeks another one, then slashes through its trunk, tipping it over to cover both her and Draven in thick green slime. She uses the need to wash in the river as a pretext to get them both to undress. While Draven is pulling his shirt over his head, temporarily obscuring his vision, Selena steals the ring from his belt pouch and hides it in her boot. Aroused by her nudity, Draven advances on her and backs her against a rock wall. He warns her to look away within ten seconds, or he will have sex with her. Holding his gaze, Selena accepts the ultimatum.

The chapter opens with Selena and Draven already lying on the grass after sex. Selena and Draven agree that what happened between them “never happened.” Selena then makes an excuse to slip into the woods, retrieves the ring from her boot, and prepares to sprint for the finish line.

Selena sprints toward the finish line while Draven’s armor remains slime-covered back by the river. Just before she can exit the forest, she is ambushed by Kevlin. He uses light magic to blind her, but she counters by punching him in the groin and then amplifying his pain with her magic. Kevlin retaliates by stomping on her hand and ankle, shattering the bones. To make him stop, Selena offers the ring, then severs his hamstrings with her knife as he takes it. The ring falls, and another contestant, Lavendera, arrives. Seeing the scene, Lavendera says, “Because it can’t be me,” (295) and walks away. Selena grabs the ring and hobbles toward the finish line as the sound of beating wings approaches.

Draven lands nearby, his expression furious, but the presence of Empress Jessina and Emperor Bane forces him to stand down. Severely injured, Selena crawls across the grass and presents the ring to the monarchs. Jessina declares the trial over and names the three victors: Selena, Isera Shaw, and Alistair Geller. Fenriel and Trevor, who dropped out due to injuries, are also present. Fenriel asks about contestants still in the forest, and Emperor Bane dismisses the concern callously. Rin Tanaka, the Orange Dragon Clan leader, is ordered to heal only the three winners. After the announcement, the Icehearts and Draven shift into their dragon forms. Draven gives Selena one last unreadable look before flying away with his rulers toward the Ice Palace.

After Rin Tanaka heals her, Selena returns to the city, feeling like a stranger. At a tavern, she uses the code phrase “The mask is white” (304) to pass a letter to a member of the fae resistance, informing them of her victory and suggesting they recruit Fenriel. She then visits her parents, who react to her victory with hostility. Her mother screams that Selena’s uncontrolled magic during her childhood “ruined our marriage.” Heartbroken but resolved, Selena leaves, realizing her parents will never care for her. She prepares for her new life but worries that Draven might still find a way to prevent her from claiming her prize.

Selena, Isera, and Alistair gather on the Dragon Field an hour before sunrise. While waiting, Alistair reveals he dislikes hurting animals and was secretly glad Fenriel’s hawk attacked him during their fight. Soon, three silver dragons arrive. They grab the winners in their claws and fly them out of the Seelie Court. Selena is awestruck by the sight of the outside world, seeing cities and mountains for the first time. They arrive at the magnificent Ice Palace, a sprawling castle on a mountain slope. After being dropped in a courtyard, a guide informs them that the formal winners’ ceremony will begin in one hour.

In the Ice Palace throne room, Selena, Isera, and Alistair are presented to the dragon shifter court. Draven stands beside the thrones, his face an unreadable mask. The monarchs announce that the winners will receive iron collars to symbolize their new status. To the winners’ horror, Draven, Bane, and Jessina snap the collars around their necks, instantly severing their connection to their magic. Draven leans close to Selena and, in the same breath, whispers that he was trying to save her from this fate—not sabotage her—as he inhales sharply and drains the magic from her body, leaving her unable to stand. The collar had already blocked her from using her magic, but the drain pulls what remains from her entirely. Empress Jessina reveals that the Atonement Trials are a lie. The competition’s true purpose is to identify the most powerful fae, who then become “life slaves” to high-ranking dragon shifters. The shifters feed on the fae’s magic and energy to achieve immortality, a process that kills the fae after about 150 years. Bane cruelly informs Isera that her mother, a previous winner, was his life slave. Selena realizes she is now Draven’s property. Kneeling before him, powerless, she vows to kill him.