Dianna asks why Logan left Neverra alone, and Neverra admits that she snuck away. She notes that Samkiel made the castle comfortable for Dianna and expresses guilt over Gabby’s death. Dianna tells her that it was her own fault instead. Neverra gives Dianna a note from Gabby that expresses Gabby’s love and asks Dianna to let her go and live fully. Overcome, Dianna clutches the letter and Gabby’s photo and hides under the blankets, crying.

At a council meeting, members berate Samkiel for concealing Dianna’s survival and her location. Samkiel questions their authority and defends his actions. Neverra enters secretly, and Samkiel notices Dianna’s scent on her. The council argues that his secrecy hinders them, but he replies that Dianna is his concern. Elianna mocks him, and he threatens to remove her. When a calmer member raises concerns about Dianna’s power, Samkiel states that she currently has none. After the meeting, Cameron notes that Samkiel’s use of “mine” to describe Dianna makes attacking her an act of war. Vincent insists that Dianna is a monster, but Samkiel ends the argument and leaves. Roccurem appears and warns that Dianna has not finished grieving and that Samkiel’s love may bring danger.

Three days later, Samkiel visits Dianna and finds her still in bed. He urges her to bathe and eat, but she taunts him. When he prepares food, they flirt until Dianna remembers Gabby’s death and withdraws, feeling guilty and believing that her love for Samkiel caused Gabby’s death.

Samkiel forces Dianna to hike daily. He tells her that her powers are suppressed, not lost, and asks why she buried them so deeply. She admits that she did not intend to. He ensures that she eats, but she resists. Samkiel calls a Loverg stag to them, a creature once sacred to his mother. Dianna teases him for talking to animals, and they share a playful moment until Logan interrupts, summoning Samkiel back to the council. Dianna insists on returning to the castle alone and tells Samkiel not to come back until she asks for him. After he leaves, she remains where she stands, unwilling to face the empty halls.

Roccurem visits Dianna and questions why she refuses Samkiel’s help. He says that she and Samkiel are stronger together. Dianna demands that he leave. Later, regretful, she walks outside, falls several times while climbing a hill, and begins to wonder if anyone would care if she vanished. Cameron finds her injured and scolds her for wandering. He jokes that Samkiel has been speaking with another council member, provoking Dianna’s jealousy, but then admits it was a bet with Xavier. Xavier offers to carry Dianna back, and she reluctantly agrees.

Back at the castle, Dianna tries to dismiss Cameron and Xavier, but they refuse. After her shower, Cameron drags her out to a club in Onuna. Dianna senses a strange voice reminding her that time is running out, but she tries to ignore it. Watching Cameron and Xavier’s banter, she remembers her lost friends and grows emotional.

As the night continues, she drinks, dances, and laughs for the first time since Gabby’s death. The celestials tease her affectionately, calling her part of the family. When Dianna asks why they treat her kindly despite her past, Xavier tells her about his sister’s death, which Cameron criticizes her for forcing Xavier to relive through the Baku’s nightmares. Feeling guilt and unease, Dianna excuses herself to the bathroom as grief overtakes her.

In the bathroom, Dianna encounters Seraphine, Drake’s vampire mate, who accuses Dianna of killing Drake. They fight fiercely, surrounded by several other vampires. When Dianna taunts her about abandoning Drake in life, but Seraphine claims that she only left Drake to save him and calls Dianna the same kind of monster as Kaden. Dianna agrees and accepts her death, but Samkiel appears and kills Seraphine and her vampires before she can strike.

Samkiel portals himself and Dianna back to Rashearim and carries her to her room. Furious, he scolds Cameron and Xavier for taking her out, but Dianna defends them, lying that the outing was her idea. He sends Cameron and Xavier away to erase any evidence of the night. Dianna, injured, asks Samkiel to help remove glass shards from her back.

Cameron and Xavier discuss the night’s chaos. Roccurem appears and asks whether an unspecified plan succeeded. They insist that they never meant for Dianna to be harmed so badly and only did what they did at Roccurem’s insistence. Roccurem claims that her healing is delicate and leaves. Cameron and Xavier admit that they care for Dianna but fear something momentous is approaching. Xavier departs to see his boyfriend, while Cameron visits Elianna; the two have a casual sexual relationship, and as their conversation turns intimate, he forces himself to stop thinking of Xavier.

Samkiel explains that he and Cameron once shared lovers and that jealousy drove some of his anger just now. Dianna reveals that Cameron loves Xavier, which Samkiel already knows. They argue about her recklessness, and she apologizes. Samkiel suspects that Dianna deliberately suppressed her powers and allowed herself to be injured because she believes she deserves punishment. She asks him to stay, and he agrees.

Samkiel leads The Hand to investigate where Dianna and Logan entered Yejedin. He determines that while the realms remain sealed, pocket dimensions can act as gateways. Using his blood, he transports The Hand to Yejedin. The devastation stuns everyone. As they survey the damage, Samkiel and Logan speak privately about Dianna and the strain on their group. Logan admits that he and Neverra wish to retire and start a family once Kaden dies. Samkiel readily agrees.

As they continue, Samkiel discovers runes and cells, realizing that Yejedin is not a pocket realm (a hidden realm where Kaden could hide) but a prison. He sends The Hand back and explores alone before returning with them. He shows them the massive cells and concludes that Unir used Yejedin to contain powerful beings, including Kaden. Someone has since broken in and released those beings, whom they now control.

The Hand leaves Dianna alone for six days, and she grows restless and lonely. Guilt shadows every moment of peace she feels. When Samkiel finally returns, she hurls a pillow at him, furious that he stayed away. He apologizes and promises that it was not intentional. She asks what he has been doing, but he deflects and focuses on restoring her powers. They walk together as he questions her about Yejedin, and she admits that Kaden never shared much about it. Dianna reflects that Kaden was not always cruel and that he was her first lover; however, she now understands that he never saw her as a person. Samkiel relates that he, too, feels used and questions whether The Hand stays with him out of duty rather than loyalty.

Dianna recounts killing Tobias, and Samkiel admits that he once did something similar and regretted it. He takes her to the ocean to face the grief she buried after scattering Gabby’s ashes. The waves trigger her pain, and she lashes out at Samkiel, accusing him of cruelty. Samkiel refuses to leave, explaining that he brought her there so that she would confront her sorrow rather than run from it. He tells her of his father, who destroyed every memory of his wife and grew bitter. Samkiel insists that grief is love in another form and begs Dianna not to erase Gabby by burying her memory. Though devastated, Dianna begins to face her loss. She admits that she cannot handle the pain, but Samkiel promises that she is not alone. They walk together along the beach, where Samkiel offers her the place as her own. They play in the surf, and Dianna notices the scars on his body. She reveals that she believed no one would care if she died fighting Kaden, and Samkiel tells her that he would have. For the first time, his words reach her.