Three hundred years after the Accord, Princess Bryony Devaliant is on a morning walk in the palace woods when she is accosted by a man with an “oathbreaker” brand on his wrist. He begs her to hide him, but she is interrupted by the arrival of a god with golden wings and armor. Bryony recognizes him from temple murals as the Wolf, the personal assassin of the god-king Alexios.

The Wolf gives Bryony five seconds to close her eyes so she does not have to witness the execution. She complies, but he kills the man in under four seconds, splashing her face with blood. He mocks her for opening her eyes too soon and smears the blood on her cheek. Unafraid, Bryony declares that after a lifetime of ritual sacrifice on an altar, he is “just another kind of knife” (8). The Wolf notes her royal cuff, marking her as one of Alexios’s “Claimed,” which is the only thing protecting her. He warns her never to give him a reason to come for her, stating he would be eager to kill another Devaliant.

Bryony seizes the opportunity to negotiate the terms of her own potential execution, should Alexios ever send him for her. She demands a clean death with no mutilation. Intrigued and amused, the Wolf agrees on two conditions: She must not make him chase her, and she must maintain eye contact as she dies. After they strike the deal, he flies away, leaving her with the corpse.

Two years later, Princess Bryony and her sister Theodora travel through the capital city of Hellevig for Bryony’s bi-weekly ritual sacrifice. A little girl rushes up to Bryony, asking the princess to bless her. Knowing that Alexios despises the worship of mortals, Bryony gives the girl a neutral blessing. As Bryony moves toward the temple, the crowd’s reaction is divided, with some revering her and others shouting that she will bring ruin to the city because of her growing popularity. 

Theodora jokes that soon people will be collecting Bryony’s hair as relics. Bryony asks her sister to hush. At the temple, in a shock development the Oracles inform Bryony that the god Alexios has rejected her tithe and her sacrifice is no longer required, stripping away her lifelong purpose as a divine Anchor. Confused and angry, Bryony is told to look at the “Claim” cuff on her wrist. Upon removing it, she discovers the god’s branded sigil on her skin has been slashed through. This signifies that Alexios has revoked his claim on her, leaving her marked for death.

Bryony demands to know the reason for Alexios’s directive. The Head Oracle informs her this is punishment because the populace has begun to revere her, a shift in worship Alexios will not tolerate. Refusing to accept her fate, Bryony decides to defy Alexios. In the temple courtyard, she borrows a knife from her guard, Silas, and performs a final blood tithe by fatally stabbing herself, hoping the loophole of sacrificing on holy ground outside the altar might force the god’s hand. After she dies, Theodora coerces the Oracles into performing the resurrection rite. Bryony is pulled back from the Void but is coldly dismissed from the temple, confirming her status as an outcast. While returning to the palace, she is told to maintain appearances, but she is convinced Alexios will still send his enforcer, the Wolf, to execute her.

Evander hunts a man to a clandestine apothecary shop that traffics in god parts. Remaining invisible, he watches a transaction involving four feathers from his own brother, Bastien. Evander learns that humans are consuming these parts to steal Eternal magic after the buyer snorts a sample and briefly wields Bastien’s power over shadows. After the sale is complete, Evander intervenes. He interrogates the apothecary, learning the feathers came from a market in Hellevig. 

Contacting his superior, Alexios, telepathically, Evander is ordered to make the deaths painful, and Alexios remotely burns the traffickers’ protective Claims. Evander then brutally tortures and dismembers the apothecary. Next, he interrogates the buyer about shipments to the local docks before incinerating him from the inside out. After collecting Bastien’s feathers, Evander uses his power to destroy the shop, leaving only ash, and is immediately summoned by Alexios for another killing.

Back in the godly realm of Asteria, Evander goes to Alexios’s palace where the various Eternals and demigods are engaged in an orgy per usual. As he heads to see the king, he can hear the gods whisper about his blood-splattered appearance and his penchant for violence. Evander slaughters entire villages on the command of Alexios, often dismembering his victims before killing them. As Evander spots Alexios in the throne room, he reflects that Alexios is the bigger predator. A god has to be ruthless in Scillari, because godhood is earned rather than inherited. There are no dynasties in Scillari, the sentient realm itself chooses the most powerful to be Eternals—ascended beings raised from demigods. Evander had to undergo a brutal trial to be ascended to an Eternal after 500 years of his existence.

Evander now reports to Alexios that he has uncovered a professional flesh-trading network in the human city of Hellevig. This news enrages the king. Alexios then leads Evander to a private vault and uses a magical pool to show him that Hellevig has stopped making its essential tithe, an act which is causing the magical Shroud that protects their realm to fail. Evander offers to destroy Hellevig as retribution, but Alexios asks him to wait. What Alexios wants instead is for Evander to kill Bryony, so the masses can be beaten into submission. 

Evander argues that he cannot just kill an Anchor as he pleases. Alexios reveals he has engineered an excuse to justify the killing: Forbidden from making the blood offering, Bryony is now an oathbreaker. Recalling the promise he made to Bryony, Evander reluctantly accepts the mission.

While observing preparations for her dreaded wedding to Markus von Reding, Bryony is haunted by the memory of the Wolf. Meanwhile, a group of children surround her, asking her if they will be punished for breaking the divine Accords. Bryony reassures the children that they are safe because they will not break any godly rules and because she herself bears the protective mark of Alexios’s Claim, privately knowing that Alexios has revoked her protection. Her sister, Theodora, joins her just before they are confronted by Emperor Idris who has heard about Bryony’s fall from grace.

As Idris blames Bryony for the revocation of Alexios’s Claim, an argument breaks out between the Devaliants. Theodora blames Idris’s political negligence for angering Alexios and causing him to scapegoat Bryony. Dismissing their concerns, Idris declares the wedding will proceed as planned. He believes he has time to negotiate with Alexios, arguing the god cannot afford to kill one of the last three living Devaliants who serve as Anchors. Idris then orders a despairing Bryony to get ready for her groom.

As maids prepare Bryony for her wedding to Markus, she tells Theodora, that Idris plans to marry Theodora off by the year’s end. A distraught Theodora confides that she can’t marry, revealing she suffers from severe psychological trauma after each resurrection, leaving her feeling detached from reality and haunted by their cousin’s death. Theodora refers to a terrible incident two years ago, in which her and Bryony’s father and Idris’s daughter died by suicide. Devaliants, forced to undergo ritual deaths and resurrections every 14 days all their lives, often suffer deep psychological trauma. Hardly any live beyond 50, their bodies breaking down under the mental strain.

Believing she is already marked for death and has nothing to lose, Bryony decides to sabotage her own wedding to delay Theodora’s fate. During the ceremony, Bryony interrupts her vows and reveals a brand on her wrist, exposing herself as an oathbreaker, or someone who has broken the Divine Accords and is marked for divine punishment by death. The guests erupt in panic and her fiancé recoils in disgust from Bryony. A furious Idris drags Bryony to her room, locks her in, and declares he will take her to the temple the next day to decide what to do with her.

Bryony is awakened by the Wolf, the god she made a deal with two years ago to give her a memorable death. The Wolf tells Bryony that he is here to kill her on order of Alexios. Annoyed that another attacker has previously scarred Bryony, the Wolf declares she has not earned this death and offers her a chance. He gives her a special Turpori dagger, the only kind that can harm an Eternal, and invites her to attack him. Bryony unleashes her repressed rage from a lifetime as a royal sacrifice, repeatedly stabbing and cutting the Wolf. Her catharsis is short-lived as the Wolf’s body instantly heals, leaving her feeling powerless. As he finally prepares to kill her, Bryony reveals she did offer a ritual tithe on temple grounds, thus technically fulfilling the Accords. Amused by Bryony’s use of a “loophole” to evade Alexios’s plan, the Wolf declares her no longer an oathbreaker. Since she is not an oathbreaker and he is in the mood to defy his king, the Wolf spares Bryony’s life, magically compelling her to forget the encounter as a dream.

The next morning, Theodora awakens Bryony and tells her she can no longer be left safely with Idris. Theo tries to take Bryony to the temple to negotiate a reprieve with Alexios. She has seen an Enforcer come to collect lives and cannot let Bryony suffer the same fate. Theo is referring to Bastien, Evander’s brother, known as the Blade, and with a reputation as fearful as the Wolf. Theo once witnessed the Blade who, unlike the other gods, has shadows instead of wings, massacre an entire village. Bryony and Theo’s plan to go to the temple is interrupted by an enraged Idris, who forces Bryony into a carriage. On the way to the temple, Idris berates Bryony for revealing her cursed state and jeopardizing their family’s invincible reputation. Bryony has no idea about the Idris himself has told to conceal the Devaliant family’s decline, such as covering up the death by suicide of his own daughter. Bryony is shocked at Idris’s admission. At the temple, the Head Oracle confirms Alexios’s judgment is irreversible and suggests the god would be pleased if Bryony were killed as a sacrifice.

Deciding to act on the Oracle’s words, Idris drives Bryony to the remote Duehavn Ridge. When Bryony realizes his intent, she tries to escape but is overpowered. Idris pins her down and brutally stabs her multiple times with his dagger. He cuts a piece of her blood-soaked gown as proof of death, telling her he will claim the Wolf was her killer. He abandons her to bleed out alone in the dirt. As she dies, Bryony reflects on her life of sacrifice and her cruel, isolated end.

Evander meets Alexios, who is angry that Evander failed to kill Princess Bryony. Evander explains that she technically did not break her oath, but Alexios tells him this does not matter. As Bryony was Unclaimed—a mortal without the protection of a god—Evander should have killed her anyway. However, Alexios reveals, the point of Bryony’s death is now moot, as someone else has already murdered the princess. He orders Evander to find her remains for a public pyre. 

Evander is affected by the news of Bryony’s death, but tells himself the response is to being robbed of a death he was meant to deliver. He agrees to find Brony’s body. Before Evander departs, Alexios tortures and kills a traitorous demigod, discussing the growing threat from mortals and the decay of the magical Shroud, which he temporarily patches with Bryony’s last blood offering. Evander, who usually never second-guesses violence against humans, wonders if killing the demigod was necessary. Alexios reminds him of how humans wiped out nearly all the Eternals just a few centuries ago, leaving only the Gods of Asteria and Nyholm. Evander is immediately reminded of the slaughter of the immortals and grows composed. Alexios also shows Evander a fraying spot in the Shroud, weakened because people have begun to worship Bryony (the integrity of the Shroud depends on strictly enforced roles; humans being worshipped as gods would disturb the hierarchy). 

To punish Evander for his earlier insubordination, Alexios violently kisses him before using his power to incapacitate him. He then cuts out Evander’s tongue with a dagger, forces Evander to swallow it, and warns Evander that he will take his wings at the next instance of disobedience.

Bryony awakens, surprised to learn she is still alive. As she breathes and opens her eyes, she sees a winged demigoddess standing next to her. The demigoddess is Amara, who tells Bryony that she spotted her as she was minutes away from dying and brought her back to life. Bryony tells Amara that she was attacked by her uncle, Emperor Idris, rather than an Enforcer. Amara decides to take Bryony to the godly realm to determine her fate. Flying Bryony through the Shroud into the forbidden land of Scillari, Amara abandons her at a sprawling tower covered in red roses.

Panicking that her presence in the godly realm violates the Accords, Bryony stumbles around, till she hears the voice of the Wolf. Bryony reveals that she was dumped at his palace by Amara, the Wolf chuckling that the demigoddess probably intended Bryony as a “gift” for him. He restores her memories of their prior violent and intimate encounter, embarrassing her. The Wolf reveals Alexios wants her corpse but is angered that someone else nearly killed her first. Asserting that he accepted her execution terms and therefore has the sole right to take her life, he postpones her death. He directs the badly injured Bryony to a guest chamber to rest while he decides her fate.

Evander anxiously awaits Amara, grappling with his conflicting feelings about Bryony’s presence in his home. He is torn between his duty to kill her for Alexios, his family’s history with the Devaliants, and relief that she is alive. When Amara arrives, he angrily confronts her for bringing Bryony directly to him, risking the wrath of Alexios, who has already punished him once over the girl. Amara claims it was a “gift,” giving Evander the chance to take his revenge in private. She reveals Bryony had died from stab wounds before being resurrected, a critical detail that means Alexios’s magical connection to her is now broken. Instead of killing her, Evander decides to heal her first. He tells a skeptical Amara his plan is to make Bryony his “toy” and prolong her suffering, and he asks Amara to bring clothes for her. Amara reluctantly agrees.

After collapsing from her injuries in the Wolf’s chambers, Bryony is found by him. He carries her to his bed and offers a choice: allow him to heal her so they can resume their “negotiations,” or he will let her bleed to death. Goaded by his taunts that she is giving up on the worthy death she demanded, Bryony agrees to be healed. The Wolf assesses her many wounds and reveals a surprising healing ability, which he begins to use on her. He admits this power has been dormant since the mortal-god war centuries ago and that the healing will require multiple sessions.

Bryony has a panic attack, and the Wolf calms her before carrying her to a bath. As he gently washes her, she asks for his real name. He reveals it is Evander. He tells her that monsters are made, not born, and promises not to hurt her that night as she finally drifts off to sleep.

Bryony awakens in Evander’s tower, her thoughts consumed by the trauma of her first ritual death at age five, a memory now linked to her recent stabbing. A fine silk gown left for her reminds her of a ritual garment triggers a panic attack, and she flees into a magical garden. Overwhelmed, she tears at thorny rose bushes with her bare hands until the Wolf confronts her, annoyed that she is damaging both his garden and the body he saved. He asks her for the name of the person who killed her, but she says the person is hers alone to kill. She demands he take her to Vartena, the human realm, so she can pursue revenge, but he refuses, stating she is his prisoner and an investment he must protect. Although Evander refuses, he is impressed by Bryony’s defiance impresses. Privately, Bryony has a revelation: Her near-death experience has forged a new, violent purpose within her, and she recognizes the Wolf is the perfect god to train her into becoming an instrument of vengeance.

Bryony finds Evander in his study. He commands her to sit on his lap so he can use his powers to heal her remaining injuries from the rose garden. While he works, his magic inadvertently causes her pleasure, revealing a mutual and unwanted sexual attraction between them. Evander notices a severe scar on Bryony throat and learns it was a killing attempt by a nobleman she refused; Evander offers to desecrate the man’s corpse for her as a gift. 

Realizing that as an Unclaimed Devaliant she is now a vulnerable target with no fighting skills, Evander abruptly changes their arrangement. He refuses to return her to Vartena, instead offering to train her so she can seek her own revenge. His stated motive is to relieve his boredom, asserting that she is his to break and no one else’s. She negotiates, demanding a three-day head start when he eventually returns her home and a promise that he will never Claim her. Evander agrees but insists he can call her whatever he wants. She reluctantly accepts, becoming his “toy.”