Jovie is in her bedroom in the Maile palace when Acker appears through their Bond, bypassing the mangi stones she wears. She realizes that he can withstand the stones’ power, which means that he has been spying on her dreams for some time. She feels humiliated and resentful, and she orders him to leave Maile in the morning. Acker taunts her, suggesting that she secretly hoped he had come for her, and he claims that he can sense her desire through their Bond. He offers to outbid Roison for an alliance, but she refuses.

Their confrontation is interrupted by a knock. It’s Fredrich, who tells her that he came instead of Drake, whom Jovie had originally sent for. He knew that if Acker found out about it, he would kill Drake. Desperate to end her emotional pain and move on, Jovie propositions Fredrich. He agrees to perform oral sex on her, but Acker reappears, enraged. Acker hurls Fredrich’s own discarded sword through the air at them; Fredrich’s shield causes the sword to snap. The encounter culminates in Jovie climaxing from Fredrich’s actions while Acker kisses her and holds her. Afterward, Acker warns her never to let another man touch her again.

The next morning, Jovie decides that Acker must know the full truth about King Edmond. She uses the Bond to bring Acker to her and then leads him to the cottage of an old woman he knows as Grenadine, who Jovie knows from life on Alaha. Jovie reveals that the woman is actually Cadence, Acker’s mother, whom he believed to be dead. Acker remains invisible, and Jovie tries not to give away his presence.

Cadence reveals that Edmond used a rare “slatstone” to siphon her magic from her for years. She volunteered for the brutal experiments to protect a young Acker, whom Edmond intended to use to forcibly awaken his magic. Cadence, whose gift was for manipulating metal (like Acker), was nearly drained of her magic when Greta helped her escape.

Cadence then reveals that she knows Acker is present, having learned to detect Bond presence from being married to Edmond, who was Bonded to Greta. She tells Acker that Jovie’s alliance with Roison was made in exchange for sparing his life. In a rage, Cadence pulls a knife on Jovie, but Acker intervenes, taking the weapon. Heartbroken, Cadence begs for his forgiveness, and Acker orders Jovie to leave them alone.

Jovie returns to the palace, where Sam reports that King Chryse of Roison wants a blood oath to ensure her loyalty. Privately, Beau shows Jovie pages she found in Acker’s room that describe a loophole in blood oaths: If an oath is tied to a declaration of truth, it’s only binding as long as the declaration remains true. Jovie realizes that Acker knew that his oath to protect her was tied to his love for her. Beau also reveals that she knows about Fredrich’s visit to Jovie’s room the previous night.

Later, Acker appears on Jovie’s terrace through the Bond. She confronts him about the oath loophole, which he admits was his plan. He then reveals that the fact that she negotiated for his life proves that she still loves him. As he kisses her, he disappears, and Fredrich enters the room. Jovie notices a V-shaped scar on Fredrich’s chest just before he shoves a cloth with a sedative over her face, causing her to lose consciousness.

Acker is at the Maile wharf getting ready to leave. Wells arrives, determined to help Acker kill King Edmond. Acker’s ship sets sail for Kenta, but once they’re out of sight of the shore, he orders the anchor dropped. A small boat arrives, and Fredrich hauls a bound and gagged Jovie onto the deck.

Wells is furious that Acker has kidnapped Maile’s queen, but Acker insists that he has stolen his Match to protect her, thereby fulfilling his oath. Fredrich taunts Acker about his experience with Jovie, and Acker punches him. Fredrich, protected by his shield, allows the blow. He then scolds Acker for crushing Jovie’s hope that he was coming for her by arriving in Maile with Irina. Wells looks on with disapproval, calling Acker a “rightful mess.”

The sea voyage to Kenta is tense. Jovie remains chained and furious in her cabin, while Acker fights the urge to go to her. They arrive at a small port town filled with soldiers and a prison cart of collared Heirs. Acker gathers intelligence from a market vendor named Phoebe, who tells him that soldiers have been rounding up Heirs for minor crimes and that a nearby uncollared town was completely emptied. He knows that King Edmond is collecting Heirs to fuel his own magic.

After sending a message by pigeon, Acker finds Fredrich in the ship’s hold. They agree that Fredrich’s shield will be essential in defeating Edmond, as it also shields those under its protection from the magic of influence. They argue again about the incident with Jovie, and Acker reluctantly thanks Fredrich for protecting her for years in Maile. Acker then asserts that although Fredrich was with her physically, it was Acker to whom she was emotionally submitting.

Acker enters the cabin where Jovie is chained to a bed. He tells her that they’re disembarking and that she must act like an “honest prisoner.” She laughs at the absurdity of the demand. He warns her about his father’s cruelty and reveals that they’re not going to the palace but to a safe location. She confronts him for not looking at her, and he admits that seeing her in chains is difficult and that he doesn’t want to test the limits of their oath.

Jovie warns Acker that Evelyn will kill him for the kidnapping, explaining that her mother killed her own Match—Jovie’s father, Osiris—for hiding her. When Evelyn’s army is mentioned, Acker says that they will need the men, and Jovie accuses him of planning to use Captain Wren’s power of influence on her soldiers, which offends him. He retorts that she doesn’t like the taste of her own medicine before leaving.

Jovie and the group ride inland from the port. That night, they make camp in a single tent. Freezing, Jovie is unable to sleep. To share body heat, Fredrich pulls her close. She falls into a disturbed sleep and has a nightmare that blends a memory of kissing her childhood friend Kai with a horrifying vision. In the dream, Kai transforms into Acker, and the water around them turns into a sea of blood filled with dead soldiers. As she drowns, she sees Acker’s terrified face as he tries to reach her. She awakens screaming, and Acker, visibly shaken, refuses to look at her.

The next day, the group arrives at a deserted town, realizing that it’s the one whose residents—all Heirs—were taken by King Edmond’s soldiers. They take shelter in the abandoned tavern. While Acker and Fredrich search for supplies, Irina tells Jovie that Acker was her own first love and first heartbreak, asserting that the two women have that in common. Later, Fredrich escorts Jovie to an upstairs room and, on Acker’s orders, chains her to the bed’s headboard.

Determined to escape, Jovie spends hours gnawing through the rope binding her fingers. Once her hands are free, she summons her dagger and uses it to pry open the chain securing her shackles to the bed, fracturing the dagger’s hilt in the process. Saddened by the damage to the weapon that her father made for her, she finally breaks free, intent on getting revenge.

Acker awakens to find Jovie holding a blade to his throat, his hands tied to a chair. She asks him how it feels to be so vulnerable. He easily cuts his ropes, grabbing her wrist and forcing her blade deeper into his neck. He tells her that if she doesn’t kill him now, he will never let her go, and he uses his magic to break her shackles.

They argue about her past betrayal and his current actions. He explains that he took her because Greta had a vision that his father would win the war. Jovie is defeated by this news, believing that fate is inevitable. Refusing to accept this, Acker kisses her and allows her to feel all his emotions through their Bond—his “love,” “obsession,” and “suffering” (242). Overwhelmed, she pulls back. He begs her to help him fight, but she says she can’t.

The next afternoon, Jovie finds the group in the tavern kitchen. Acker reveals that he has known all along that the man they thought was Wells is actually Messer, Jovie’s shifter friend, in disguise. Messer transforms back into his true form and explains that he grew suspicious when Jovie missed their training and when he learned of her late-night rendezvous with Fredrich. He followed Acker’s party, waiting for a chance to intervene.

Acker shares that King Edmond believes he’s bringing Beau back to Kenta so that he can use her aura magic. Edmond currently wields three stolen gifts: fire, kinesis, and influence. The conversation reveals Jovie’s sexual encounter with both Fredrich and Acker, much to Messer’s amusement. Acker then reveals his plan: to replace all current monarchs with himself, Jovie, and Irina—each holding legitimate claims—among the new rulers. Fredrich frames it plainly: They will be the ones to choose who wears a crown.

On the tavern roof, Jovie and Messer discuss Acker’s plan. Jovie reveals a complication: Chryse is her uncle—his brother Osiris, the previous Roison king, was her father—and she’s reluctant to betray family, even a relative she has never met. To get more information, Messer decides to fly to find Kai and gauge his willingness to join their new alliance. Messer also tells Jovie that he believes Acker is deeply in love with her and has never had sex with Irina.

Jovie returns downstairs to present a new condition to Acker’s group: Kai must be given the Alaha throne, with Roison’s territory as compensation. Acker uses a dagger to carve a map on the tabletop to show Messer where Kai’s forces are located. Jovie announces that she will search the town’s dovecote for a pigeon to send a message to her mother, and Acker insists on accompanying her. Messer transforms into his massive eyun form and flies off to find Kai.