Henry reflects on Gaven’s growing suspicion about him. Henry knows he will eventually have to kill Gaven to protect his plans but wants to extract information from him first, intending to make the death look like an accident to preserve Harlow’s trust. After briefing Gaven on security for the evening’s hunt, Henry meets with his parents.

Henry reports on the political situation in Lunameade, noting the Rafe’s rising power. He tells his parents that he can guess the magical powers of all the Carrenwells—Harrick has the holy fire—except Liza. He then confronts Philip, revealing that he recognized his father’s handwriting on a letter supposedly from the rebel leader, Rochelli. He wishes Philip would be truthful to him about communicating with the rebels, since Henry has been working with him on their decade-long revenge plan. Henry demands the truth. Evangeline intervenes, agreeing that Henry must be told more. She also correctly intuits that Henry has developed genuine feelings for Harlow, calling his denial a liability. Henry is mortified that his parents have noticed his growing feelings for Harlow. After Henry admits he likes his wife, Evangeline prepares to reveal her family’s secrets.

Reeling from his parents’ revelations, Henry learns from his friend Carter that Gaven has been investigating a restricted recovery room. Seeing this as a final provocation, Henry tells Carter he has permission to eliminate the bodyguard and instructs him to prepare a holding cell. Carter warns that harming Gaven will be a major setback with Harlow, but Henry proceeds with his plan to kill Gaven and frame Stefan.

He finds Harlow in their suite, where she has made him a pillow embroidered with the word “Disembowelment?” as part of the game in which she guesses the different ways that he may have been killed. Henry warns her to stay inside during the night’s hunt, but she provokes him by changing into a white dress, symbolizing prey. Henry then lures Gaven to the holding cells under the pretense of showing him a gift for Harlow. Once inside, Gaven senses the trap and attacks. During the fight, Henry stabs Gaven. When Henry attempts to use healing magic to keep Gaven alive for interrogation, it fails. Gaven reveals his rare immunity to all Divine magic, which is why he was hired.

Knowing he is dying, Gaven reveals a critical secret: Harlow’s father, Harrick, has secretly killed every child in Lunameade born with the blessing of holy fire to eliminate any rivals. He also senses that Henry possesses magic from another Divine and urges him to be honest with Harlow. With his last breath, Gaven explains that the Carrenwells sent Harlow to the fort because their magical well no longer works properly, whispering the word “[m]adness” before he dies.

Returning to her room after dinner, Harlow discovers Cora inside her supposedly private safe room. Cora explains that the room is not spelled for a specific person but is designed to keep out the “Returned”—a local term for what city-dwellers call the “Deathless.” This is how Harlow learns that the reason Henry could not get into the safe room is that he himself is “Deathless.” She realizes that Henry and his friends are blood-drinkers whom his mother brought back from the dead.

Horrified that she is in a house of predators, Harlow decides to escape. Feigning composure before Cora, she leaves her room without a coat to avoid suspicion and heads for an exit in the art wing, using her blood to unlock its door. She hides in the gallery to avoid Henry, but he finds her, claiming he smelled her. Amid rising panic, Harlow realizes that what he smelled was blood on the door’s lock. Trapped, she watches as a magical painting in the gallery shifts to reflect her terror, forming an image of vicious teeth. This confirms to Henry that she knows his secret. He lunges for her, but she stabs him twice with a hidden blade and flees, hearing his body fall to the floor.

Harlow runs into the forest, feeling betrayed by Henry and foolish for trusting him. She then remembers it is a hunt night and she is wearing a white dress, making her ideal prey. A predator stalks and captures her; it is Henry, who survived her attack. He is furious but also aroused, telling her that because he caught her during a hunt, he will “claim” her—a ritual of possession involving biting and sex.

Despite her fear, Harlow is also intrigued. Henry gives her a chance to use her safe word, “stars,” but she remains silent, indicating her consent. He begins the claiming, a brutal and passionate encounter in the woods. He bites her neck and drinks her blood as she orgasms, finalizing the bond. The experience leaves Harlow physically and emotionally spent but also intensely aroused, desiring him more. As shadows of other people watch from the trees, Henry continues to take her with punishing intensity, pushing her to her limits before stopping just short of killing her. He heals her wounds, declares to the onlookers that she belongs to him, and carries her back to the manor.

In the bath, Harlow initiates sex again, her desire amplified because of the aftereffects of the claiming ritual. Henry, struggling against his own desire, gives in. The encounter is a furious battle of wills, which Henry finds more intimate than any previous experience. He moves them to the bed, where their passion escalates. He bites her again, drinking her blood as she climaxes. He realizes that claiming someone is far more satisfying than a normal feeding. Afterward, Harlow falls asleep in his bed. When Henry wakes later, she has returned to her own room, and he understands that while he may possess her body, he has not won her heart.

The next morning, a cool Harlow gives Henry the silent treatment. He explains that the claiming was an impulse, not a premeditated plan, and confesses that he likes her. She reveals that her sister, Aidia, was the one who branded her back with stars, a detail that shocks Henry. Harlow agrees not to expose Henry as a Deathless if he helps her rescue Aidia during the upcoming Dark Star Festival. He agrees.

To gain her trust, Henry reveals what Gaven told him: Her father has been murdering children blessed with holy fire. He also admits his own father is part of the rebel network. On their way to a luncheon, they are taunted by Stefan, who references having watched the claiming. Harlow mentions Stefan’s prior threat against Gaven, unwittingly giving Henry the perfect story to frame him for the bodyguard’s murder. At the luncheon, Carter signals Henry, who then breaks the news to Harlow that Gaven’s body has been found.

Harlow is taken to see Gaven’s body in the woods. Believing Stefan is the killer, she vows revenge. Henry dissuades her by revealing Stefan is also Deathless and cannot be permanently killed. They hold a private funeral pyre for Gaven, lit by Henry’s father’s holy fire. Afterward, Harlow feels numb and fixated on vengeance.

Three days later, a message from Kellan arrives. He has located the magical well’s runoff, which creates the “blood mist” and seems to be driving the Drained into a frenzy. Harlow burns the note before Henry can see it. In the library, she researches poisons, learning about the paralytic Stellarium Blossom. To unsettle Henry, she then requests a meeting with Nicolina, the storyteller who is also Stefan’s aunt.

Days later, Harlow and Henry meet with Nicolina at the Raining Star Bar. After Nicolina swears a vow of secrecy, Harlow explains that their family’s well water is failing to heal and is causing “madness.” Nicolina theorizes that the forced blood tithes from resentful, unblessed citizens are poisoning the well. This magical pollution is affecting both the Drained and the Carrenwell family, who are most exposed to the water.

Alone with Harlow, Nicolina identifies a flower, Polm’s Opus, whose petals can be used to temporarily influence a person’s magic. She warns Harlow to be the “fire and not the one being burned” in her marriage (534). On the way back to Havenwood House, Stefan taunts them again. Later, Henry asks Harlow to trust him and sleep in his bed, but she refuses.

Henry, Harlow, and their retinue arrive in Lunameade for the Dark Star Festival, the festival for mourning the dead. As Harlow prepares for the Agony night ceremony, she tells Henry the favor she is owed: He must publicly accuse Rafe of using manipulation magic to cause the Drained attack that destroyed Mountain Haven. Henry is furious at being asked to lie and exonerate the Carrenwells—the true culprits—thus betraying his sister Holly’s memory.

Harlow fiercely rebukes him, arguing that true commitment to revenge requires sacrificing one’s ego and doing what is necessary. Aroused by her raw conviction, Henry agrees to her terms in exchange for sex. He makes a Divine vow to accuse Rafe. They have a rough, passionate encounter, after which Henry is left to grapple with the knowledge that he is now fully committed to a plan that requires him to betray his own cause.

At the Agony night ceremony, Kellan announces that his parents and Rafe will not be attending due to Drained activity at the city gates. He instructs Harlow to deliver the family’s mourning speech. Dressed in a shimmering, star-like gown, Harlow gives a moving and believable performance, eulogizing her first husband, Marc. She then lights the star-shaped mourning pyre, and the flame is passed through the crowd. After the ceremony, Kellan lightly criticizes the speech, but Henry defends her. Harlow dismisses her own performance, but Henry catches the glint of tears in her eyes as she turns away.

At the afterparty, Henry cultivates a group of gossips from the city’s high houses. He tells a fabricated but compelling story of the fort’s fall, framing it to build sympathy and gain their trust. When Rafe arrives, Henry executes Harlow’s plan. He claims that the blessed at the fort sensed Polm’s influence during the attack and accuses Rafe of having orchestrated the entire event to eliminate the Havenwoods as political rivals. The group, already aware of Rafe’s violent nature, believes him, ensuring the rumor will spread.

Afterward, Kellan confronts Henry, revealing that he saw Henry’s own aura of manipulation magic. He knows Henry is “twice-blessed.” He then takes Henry to the garden to tell him a private “tale” about Harlow. The narrative cuts back from the tale at this point, but the story that Kellan tells Henry is that Harlow’s sister Aidia is dead. Later, Henry rants to his friends, furious that Harlow manipulated him from the start (Henry believes Harlow has been lying about Aidia to engineer an escape for herself). His friends convince him to confront her before the next day’s events, using the information from Kellan as leverage to force her to be honest.