Evander and Bastien, stand on a cliff overlooking a village they are about to destroy. Bastien confronts Evander about rumors that he has “gone soft,” mentioning Alexios’s concerns and a past incident in Keksa. Evander is dismissive, but internally reflects on his strained relationship with his brother. They attack the village, with Evander killing precisely while Bastien destroys with brutal force. Evander is momentarily shaken when he sees a woman who reminds him of Bryony, and his hesitation is noticed by Bastien, who forces him to make the kill.

Alexios arrives and also confronts Evander, first for his hesitation and then for his failure to kill Bryony in Hellevig. Alexios reveals that because her body was never found, riots have broken out and Bryony’s sister, Theodora, is complaining. He orders Bastien to find Bryony’s corpse. Once Bastien departs, Alexios warns Evander to eliminate his feelings for Bryony, or Alexios will do it for him.

Evander watches Bryony practice with her daggers, feeling a growing obsession with her. He pulls Amara, aside to ask about the name “Rhosyn” and the initials “BC,” which he found while investigating the fleshtraders in Hellevig. Amara is disturbed by the mention of the Bloody Court (BC), where she was once held captive, but does not recognize the name. She reveals she is close to ascending to become an Eternal, and Evander promises to help her through it in secret. Amara notices Evander’s feelings for Bryony and warns him that their game could end in casualties.

Evander takes over Bryony’s training, and the lesson becomes charged with sexual tension. Bryony, having overheard some of the conversation between Evander and Amara, confronts him, insisting she won’t give him her heart. After Bryony makes a successful throw, Evander is filled with admiration and lust for her and caresses her. However, she steps back from the charged moment. Evander tells Bryony that he will not be attending her practice for a few days as he must leave for “Aethertide,” a celestial event that induces a mating rut in unattached Scillarian males. Since demigods and Eternals are so few in number, the Aethertide is meant to induce them to mate and reproduce. 

Bryony then recalls seeing the name “Rhosyn” in Hellevig but cannot place the memory due to trauma. Believing the site of her near-death experience on the Duehavn will help rejig her memories, she asks Evander to take her there, and he agrees.

Evander flies Bryony to the Duehavn. The location triggers her trauma, and Evander comforts her, wrapping his wings around them both. He speaks of the self-destructive nature of revenge, which prompts Bryony to break down. She confesses her despair over her death—how she was stripped of agency and discarded by her own family. While calming her from a panic attack, Evander calls her “Bryony” for the first time.

Overwhelmed, she kisses him. She asks him to kiss her as if she were his lover, and their exchange becomes passionate. He confesses to having listened to her pleasure herself at night, and the conversation grows intensely erotic. The moment shatters when he pulls back to confirm they are “just playing pretend.” Hurt, Bryony agrees it’s just a game. The intimacy is broken, and Evander flies her back to the tower in cold silence.

As they land, Evander senses company and tells Bryony to hide inside. She disobeys and watches from a terrace as he meets a silver-winged demigoddess named Arcadia. Arcadia asks Evander if he still wants her company for the upcoming Aethertide rut, revealing that they have spent every past cycle together as sexual partners. Bryony is consumed with jealousy at their familiar rapport.

She retreats to her bath, then wanders into the library to distract herself. In a gallery upstairs, she discovers a captivating painting titled “The Lovers,” which depicts two warring Celestials in an embrace. Evander finds Bryony and explains that the tower and its overgrown roses belonged to his mother, for whom it was a sanctuary. Bryony feels a pang of guilt for her previous mockery of the garden. He tells her the story of the lovers in the painting, which was his mother’s favorite. The lovers were godly heirs to warring thrones, repeatedly drawn to each other despite their families trying to keep them apart. Sensing the parallels between their own forbidden relationship, Bryony asks Evander to show her how they met in secret and touched each other. Evander’s words and touch become seductive, and he guides her hand to pleasure herself while he narrates an erotic fantasy. After she climaxes, he pulls away, reminding her that the lovers in the story were ultimately killed. When she asks if he will be with Arcadia during Aethertide, he tells her he will be alone.

While training, Amara teases Bryony about her obvious feelings for Evander. Amara mentions she is attending the Aethertide Festival in a city called Caelestis. The name jogs Bryony’s memory, as she recalls reading about Caelestis in connection with the name “Rhosyn.” Believing the visit will restore her memory, she convinces a reluctant Amara to take her.

Amara disguises Bryony in a revealing gown, covers her skin in metallic ritual symbols, and gives her a veil. They fly to Caelestis, a city of floating islands, and immerse themselves in the massive, debaucherous festival. As Aethertide begins, stars rain from the sky. Bryony overhears demis gossiping that the “Princess of the Blood fell out of favor” (272) in Hellevig. Panicked for her sister Theo’s safety, she asks Amara to investigate. While waiting, Bryony gets separated in the crowd. She discovers an ancient tree near cobblestones marked with the word “Rhosyn.” As she steps closer, she collides with a male demi who immediately identifies her as human by her scent.

In the throes of rut-fever, Evander tracks Bryony’s scent to Caelestis. He arrives to find her cornered by a demigod. Evander watches as Bryony defends herself with a dagger but intervenes when the demi reaches for her veil. Pinning the man to a wall, Evander declares Bryony “mine” before incinerating him from the inside out.

Evander’s rage turns to lust when he sees her revealing dress, which is covered in painted fertility symbols that act as a public sexual invitation. He furiously explains their explicit meanings to a horrified Bryony, who was told they were merely meant to disguise her human form. Overwhelmed by lust, Evander bites Bryony’s neck before regaining enough control to lead her away. They meet Amara, whom Evander berates for endangering Bryony. He possessively refuses Amara’s offer to shelter Bryony, and Bryony agrees to stay with him. At Bryony’s chamber door, she and Evander kiss her fiercely, but he ultimately lets go of her, telling her to lock herself inside, warning that he is not in his right mind.

After being confined to her room for a day or two, a hungry Bryony ventures to the kitchen. There, she finds Evander, naked and aroused. He confronts her for disobeying him, describing the torment of her scent during his rut. Realizing she holds power over him in his heightened state, Bryony deliberately provokes him by sensually licking honey from her fingers. He warns her to stop or he will “ruin” her, giving her one last chance to return to her room.

Instead, she turns and runs. Aroused by the chase, Evander pursues her through the tower and catches her. Before going further, he establishes the safe word “Ishkah.” Evander proposes a game: Bryony will run, and he will hunt. The longer she evades him, the more passionately he will make love to her when he finds her. Bryony granting her consent, Evander gives her a five-minute head start.

Bryony runs naked into the woods, thrilled by the chase. After a period of evasion, Evander corners her at a rocky outcropping. They kiss violently, and she fights back, biting his lip and neck until he bleeds. He pins her against a rock wall and they make love. Evander realizes that this is Bryony’s first time having sex and tries to hold back, but Bryony urges him to be passionate. They have primal, unrestrained sex, Evander’s power flaring and scorching the grass. After they climax, he carries her back to his chamber, refusing to answer her question about the sealed door she is forbidden to enter. He gently bathes her, healing her injuries, and gives her a contraceptive potion. She agrees to be his lover for the remainder of Aethertide. They return to his bed, where he tells her that for these few days, he is “Evander” and not “Wolf,” as she calls him. She replies that for these few days she is “Bryony,” not “Nemesis” or “Devaliant,” as he usually calls her.

Evander wakes to Bryony’s absence. He goes out and spots her in the garden. Bryony tells him she came out to get some fresh air and think, as she is worried about her sister. Evander says he understands her anxiety, as he too worries about his brother, Bastien.

The conversation turns to the previous night. When Evander confronts her for not revealing she was a virgin, Bryony explains it was an act of agency—the first time she chose what happened to her own body. This revelation makes Evander fiercely possessive, and their argument escalates into a passionate sexual encounter. Evander teases Bryony about Arcadia, and she grows wildly jealous. He asks her to utilize the jealousy and hold a dagger to his throat as they make love, aroused by the potential of danger. Bryony accidentally cuts Evander as they both climax, but he heals immediately because of his divine powers.

Afterward, Evander carries Bryony back to his room. She asks about the mysterious sealed door again, but he refuses to tell her what is behind it, believing the secret would destroy what they have. In bed, Evander admits his desire for Bryony transcends the Aethertide fever and confesses that he would crave her in any lifetime. He privately resigns himself to the fact that he will eventually have to kill her as part of their bargain, making her not his favorite memory but his cruelest one.

Alexios is suffering immensely from the Aethertide, the realm appearing to scream at him to reproduce. Although Alexios has had sex with courtiers, it’s always mechanical; he knows he does not want a child with any of them. In his heightened state, Alexios can also hear the psychic screams of his subjects and feel even more the strain of magically holding the Shroud. 

Just then, Bastien comes in to report that Bryony’s corpse remains missing. Also afflicted by the rut, Bastien bargains for permission to unleash his destructive power to aid his search. Alexios grants him 15 hours, reminding him of a past punishment—being buried alive—to ensure he remains in control. The spymaster Zephyr then arrives with news that demigods are disappearing not just in Alexios’s realm but also in the Dark Court of Nyholm. Alexios sees this as potential leverage against the Dark Court’s king, Severus or Wraith. 

Alexios is reminded of Severus’s brother, the Eternal, Calder, whom he killed 300 years ago after Zephyr suffered an unspeakable trauma in Calder’s court. Alexios wonders if mentioning the truth about Calder’s monstrosity will force Nyholm to bow to Asteria, but Zephyr forbids from bringing up her trauma. Meanwhile, Alexios notes Zephyr has been distant since the incident at Calder’s court. Her aloofness hurts him; he has always been in love with Zephyr. The rut heightens Alexios’s desire for her, but she rejects his advances, defining their relationship as one of friendship and duty. He concedes and sends her to gather intelligence while he asks for another courtier to help him survive Aethertide.

Evander wakes up to the smell of blood and his brother Bastien in his tower. He immediately goes out of his chambers so Bastien doesn’t come in and discover Bryony. He finds Bastien covered in blood and in a state of madness in their mother’s garden. Bastien reveals that he has been searching for Bryony Devaliant’s corpse but cannot find it, though he now scents her on Evander. He psionically attacks Evander’s mind, demanding to know the truth. Evander fights back with his own power and is forced to admit that Bryony is alive and hidden in his tower.

To protect Bryony, Evander lies about his motivations, claiming he is merely toying with her to break her spirit before he kills her. He denies having Claimed or soulbonded with her. Though suspicious, Bastien accepts the explanation but punches Evander and delivers an ultimatum: Evander has five days to kill Bryony. If he discovers Evander has lied or bonded with her, then Bastien will personally kill Evander by crushing his heart.

Bryony reflects on a past assault where a nobleman charmed her before slashing her throat, giving her the scar Evander asked about. This memory echoes her current predicament of being betrayed: She overheard Evander telling Bastien he means to kill her. Bryony resolves to steel herself against Evander, concealing her knowledge of his true plan.

When Evander’s rut-fever breaks a few days later, he shows her a rare bioluminescent tide, but she knows it is part of his manipulation. She challenges him to a question game with the prize of “complete surrender.” During the game, Evander reveals that before becoming Enforcers, he and Bastien were princes of Turpori, an ancient magical kingdom for which the famous daggers are named. Ruled by Asteria, Turpori was known as the Court of Radiance; after the death of Evander’s mother, it was divided between Asteria and Nyholm.

Though Evander reveals some information about himself, he refuses to explain his hatred for Bryony’s family or the circumstances of his mother’s death, thereby forfeiting. Bryony berates Evander for being secretive while expecting transparency from her. She confronts him with the cruel words she overheard, then has him take her back to his tower. As the winner of the game, Bryony wants her prize: him. She leads him to his room and sexually dominates him until he begs her to make love to him. Afterward, despite a brief moment of tenderness, Bryony re-establishes her distance, stating she is done being his toy.

Still reeling from her night with Evander and the knowledge that he has only five days to kill her, Bryony meets Amara in the garden. Amara reports that Idris is holding Theodora captive in the palace; she is bruised but alive. A rescue attempt failed because Alexios has Claimed Theo’s guards, preventing Amara’s interference.

Bryony resolves to rescue Theo herself using secret tunnels beneath the palace. Amara suggests that Evander could save Bryony from her fated death by Claiming her, as the Claim of an Eternal is an absolute protection. Bryony rejects this, convinced Evander is only using her for entertainment and would never truly bind himself to her, especially not after Bastien’s threat. Before leaving for the rescue mission, Bryony decides on a final act of defiance against Evander. She goes to his forbidden, sealed door, breaks the obsidian seal, and enters the room.

Evander discovers Bryony in his forbidden chamber, a memorial containing a griefwood tree that is a living headstone over the mass grave of his people. Enraged by her trespass, he reveals the full, brutal history behind his hatred for her family. What Bryony knows as “Godkiller Crusades” are known as the “Devouring” by the Eternals. Bryony’s ancestors, the Devaliants, led the Devouring in which they killed gods to consumed their immortal flesh and steal magic. Evander reveals that the Devaliants’ unique appearance is not a blessing but a “taint” from this consumption that has polluted their bloodline. It was the Devaliants who mutilated Bastien’s wings, the one body part a god cannot grow back. Years later, Evander forged Bastien writhing shadows for wings. 

Despite his threats and declaration that he will kill her as prophetic vengeance, Bryony again responds with compassion. This disarms Evander, leading to a passionate but fraught embrace. Bryony announces that she must leave, but she reveals that Rhonys could be an anagram for “Onrhys,” a symbol of House Devaliant that means “serpent” in her language. She also explains the meaning of the scars on her arm: She marked herself so she would remember a five-step ritual to ground herself after each resurrection: breathe, feel, name, place, and realize the present moment is real. 

Accepting her fate, Bryony tells Evander to kill her to atone for her ancestors’ crimes. After a final, emotional farewell, Evander lets her go, giving her a three-day head start before he will hunt her in Vartena.