In the novel’s violent world, unresolved grief and trauma are common, yet those who have been victimized often go on to victimize others, committing heinous acts in the name of justice. Shiket kills Mische for killing a god but ignores that she did so to stop a massacre of the vampire race and the murder of her lover. Similarly, Nyaxia’s unresolved grief over Atroxus’s death leads her to wage war against the gods, with countless humans as collateral damage. The novel thus highlights how the conviction of being “in the right” can become dangerous when taken to extremes. Characters who cling too tightly to their own sense of justice or morality often justify cruelty or destruction in the name of virtue. In these moments, righteousness blurs with self-interest, revenge, or even pride, revealing how easily noble intentions can translate into harmful actions.

Broadbent’s depiction of the Sentinels who carry out divine justice on Shiket’s behalf encapsulates this idea. Formerly humans who pledged their fealty to Shiket in exchange for immortality, Sentinels are covered head to toe in gold armor. Their hair is covered in hoods and their faces “by masks of polished gold, free of features, decoration, or imperfection” (33)—a detail that hints at how the erasure of “imperfection” also results in the erasure of anything discernibly human, including unique personality. Their “flawless” appearance mirrors the unmerciful, uncompromising way they carry out justice. Conversely, their polished masks show distorted reflections of the people they’re judging, suggesting the Sentinels’ inability to see the good in them. When Asar looks at one such reflection, he sees his face “distorted by the curve of metal” (35), with hollow eyes, wan skin, and brutally stark scars. Meanwhile, Mische sees a “twisted version of [her]self in the warrior’s mask […] as if [she] were seeing every ugly mark upon [her] soul, burning [her] skin like the sun” (77). The way the masks emphasize every “flaw” highlights the uncompromising nature of the “justice” Shiket and her Sentinels deal out to countless individuals.

Mische’s recollection of Shiket’s temples illustrates the end results of this moral rigidity. She describes them as “[feeling] like monuments to violence, every wall painted with depiction of glorified battles and lined with stone visages of Sentinels, staring down in eternal judgement from beneath those smooth masks” (80). Her interpretation of the art depicts Shiket not as someone punishing the deserving but rather as someone acting on brutal impulse, delighting in violence and refusing to forgive. The bloodthirstiness implied by the “glorified battles” is particularly notable in a novel about vampires—beings whom Shiket herself categorically classifies as evil. This irony underscores that the pursuit of justice, when unmoderated by mercy or acceptance of moral ambiguities, can be as destructive as the wrongs it seeks to correct.