Wrath announces that he must sign the blood oath and promises to discuss everything with Emilia once they’re home. Emilia examines the dagger he gave her, noting its pink gemstones and vine decorations. Wrath confirms that he designed the House Dagger for her. She realizes that she’s an ageless being whom he has known for a very long time.

Emilia asks if the decree against Vittoria applies to her now that they’ve consummated their marriage. Wrath explains that she won’t be an official member of his House until she swears a blood oath and suggests that they swear together. Emilia deduces that Vittoria is the goddess of death, which Wrath confirms. She processes that she unknowingly prayed to herself and her twin while seeking vengeance for Vittoria’s death. She suspects that Vittoria deliberately left the incantation she used to summon Wrath for her to find and theorizes that their mortal lives were glamoured, possibly by La Prima Strega, with Nonna Maria complicit.

Their conversation turns to Vesta. Emilia theorizes that the recent skirmishes involving werewolf blood were Vesta practicing faking her murder using werewolf blood to overwhelm demon senses. She notes the suspicious timing with Vittoria’s alliance and the lack of forced entry to Vesta’s chamber, suggesting that Vesta knew her killer. Wrath agrees to question Greed but notes that Vittoria may prove more cooperative.

Wrath leaves to sign the decree and complete his deception. Then, the couple leaves House Greed in a carriage pulled by demon horses. Upon approaching the bridge between Pride and Wrath’s territories, Wrath goes on alert. He draws his dagger, feeds it blood, and instructs Emilia to activate her cloak and flee if attacked. She refuses to abandon him, declaring herself his wife, not his soldier. He relents, warning her to stay close and strike first.

Werewolf howls fill the air. Nearly 100 wolves block the bridge, with spirit walkers floating overhead. Vittoria appears and demands that Emilia accompany her to the Shifting Isles. Wrath refuses. Vittoria chants a spell, transforming her hand into a demonic claw. She summons Domenico and rips his still-beating heart from his chest. Emilia realizes that Vittoria murdered the witches on their island. Vittoria resurrects Domenico and then declares that she and Emilia are hell gods called the Feared. Vittoria urges her sister to reclaim what is theirs. When Emilia refuses, Vittoria draws a glowing dagger and threatens to ignite war. Wrath unleashes his power, and the wolves attack.

Wrath moves with brutal grace, cutting through werewolves without mercy. He kills a dozen within seconds and freezes another dozen solid. His demon horses break free and charge into battle. Emilia fights alongside him, guided by body memory, though she feels the curse limiting her power. Four massive, three-headed hellhounds arrive from House Wrath and join the assault. The wolves falter under the coordinated attack.

Vittoria shouts Emilia’s name, creating a distraction. A wolf knocks Emilia down and claws her chest. Wrath kills it, but the moment allows Vittoria to stab him in the back, and he collapses. Vittoria yanks the dagger free, claiming that it’s the legendary Blade of Ruination. Domenico drags the wounded Emilia away from her husband while Vittoria tortures the weakened Wrath to awaken Emilia’s magic.

When she threatens to cut his throat, Emilia’s ancient power detonates in a pillar of rose-gold flame. Her fury creates a protective ring around them while everything else burns. Wolves yelp and flee or catch fire. The snow melts, the river boils beneath them, and the bridge stones begin liquefying. Sleet suddenly pelts Emilia, snapping her from the trance. Wrath squeezes her hand once before going limp. Vittoria tosses the blade aside and explains that she resorted to poison when she couldn’t find the actual Blade of Ruination. Before Emilia can react, Vittoria casts a sleeping spell, and Emilia falls unconscious as Wrath shouts her name.

Emilia awakens in a dark underground cell with roots covering the ceiling and a painful, festering wound on her chest. The cell bars are enchanted to absorb her fire magic. Another prisoner reveals himself to be Envy. He explains that Vittoria ripped out his heart, which regenerated, and imprisoned him after he refused her alliance. He calls Emilia a Shadow Witch, clarifying that witches are descendants of goddesses with diluted power. He suggests that consummating her marriage bond with Wrath weakened the curse.

Vittoria appears outside the cell. She notices that the tattoo on Emilia’s forearm matches the one on Wrath’s and remarks that the couple’s bond allows Wrath to sense Emilia’s location but not vice versa. Using a truth spell fueled by her growing power, Emilia forces Vittoria to confess that she didn’t personally murder Greed’s commander, though Vittoria evades whether she hired someone to kill Vesta. When Vittoria again urges Emilia to reclaim what they’ve lost, the name of their House surfaces in Emilia’s memory: House Vengeance.

Vittoria reveals that Emilia must surrender her mortal heart to reclaim her full power. The heart is a spell-lock, placed via human sacrifice by their coven to tame them. Devastated, Emilia realizes that Nonna Maria was responsible. Envy warns that Emilia might not survive the transformation and that Vittoria cannot remove the heart unless Emilia willingly consents. Vittoria warns that Wrath is dying from poison and that Emilia’s wound will soon kill her. Also, if Emilia dies naturally, Vittoria will resurrect her without the mortal heart anyway.

After Vittoria leaves, Envy reveals that they’re trapped where the Triple Moon Mirror once stood. The place requires hell-god blood to access, meaning that Wrath cannot reach them. He proposes seducing Vittoria as a distraction. A cough reveals another prisoner, Antonio, Emilia’s childhood friend. He confesses that Vittoria coerced him into pretending he killed the witches in Palermo by promising to resurrect his dead mother. He warns that Domenico and other wolves, including a dangerous new female, guard the corridor.

Vittoria reappears holding Antonio’s heart, having murdered him. She mocks Emilia’s grief and stores the heart in a jar. Emilia begs her to resurrect Antonio, vowing never to help her otherwise. Vittoria offers a trade: Antonio’s heart for Emilia’s. Envy intervenes, taunting Vittoria about their mother favoring Emilia. As they argue, Celestia the Crone appears behind Vittoria, binds her with magical roots, and greets her as daughter.

Vittoria struggles against the magical roots. Celestia releases the spell on Emilia’s cell, freeing her. Emilia rushes to Antonio’s cell and sees his lifeless body. She begs Celestia to help, but Celestia explains that because Antonio is mortal and his heart no longer beats, he is beyond their reach. Overwhelmed by grief, betrayal, and the crumbling of everything she knew, Emilia sobs. Envy extends his hand and encourages her to rise, reminding her of who she is. She regains her composure and takes his hand. Celestia tells them that the wolves are trapped in the Shadow Realm for an hour and reminds Emilia that she owes her a book of spells.

Emilia and Envy emerge in the room where the Triple Moon Mirror once stood. Her dagger hovers over the pedestal, and she retrieves it, feeling renewed determination. Envy confirms that he knows the location of Vittoria’s temple on the Shifting Isles. They travel to the gates of Hell at the Sin Corridor’s entrance. The gates are sealed by powerful magic that Envy cannot break. He identifies it as the Star Witch magic of Nonna Maria’s coven. Emilia realizes that her grandmother locked her in Hell. She unleashes her fury on the gates, but the spell holds. Envy explains that from the witches’ perspective, Emilia is the prophesied evil they must contain.

They discuss Vesta’s death, and Envy suggests that using werewolf blood would incite war with the shifters. Regardless of who killed Vesta, Vittoria is “the catalyst” of conflict, having gathered a wolf army, attempted alliances with multiple demonic princes, and stirred discord across courts. Envy reveals a secret portal to the Shifting Isles within House Pride’s circle. They reach the House using a form of transportation magic called transvenio and are confronted by Umbra demons blocking their path. Envy encourages Emilia to fight. She unleashes magic, killing the demons with flaming roses and thorn-covered vines. One demon declares that Wrath will soon die before she decapitates it. She takes the head as a trophy, unnerving Envy.

They enter House Pride and are announced to the throne room. Pride lounges on an ornate lion throne in impeccable, fashionable clothes and insults Emilia’s blood-stained appearance. She drops the severed demon head at his feet and demands access to the portal. Pride refuses, suggesting that Wrath is better off wherever he is. Emilia makes a blood vow to return with House Wrath’s army and destroy his circle if denied passage.

The weather outside turns violent. The throne room doors burst open, and Wrath strides in, seemingly unharmed despite the poison. Pride’s courtiers flee. Wrath’s fury intensifies upon seeing Emilia’s wound. Pride reveals that he and Envy had planned to stage an Umbra demon attack on Wrath as he and Emilia left House Greed to test her loyalty, but Vittoria’s actual ambush and kidnapping derailed their scheme.

Wrath is furious that Pride gambled with Emilia’s safety and the realm’s peace. Pride argues that the test was necessary given Emilia’s past schemes and forces Wrath to admit that he harbored doubt about her loyalty. Emilia cannot fault him, as she once doubted him, too.

When Pride mentions that he knows Vesta was unhappy, Emilia asks how he gained this information. He reveals that Vesta told him during a sexual encounter at his court approximately a week prior. Vesta attended one of his gatherings at an official request from House Greed. She inquired about the portal to the Shifting Isles and its security. Before Emilia can press further, her wound flares painfully. Wrath decides that it’s time to leave, and they transvenio away with new suspicions that Vesta may have been planning something before her supposed death.