QUICK LINKS: TL;DR Summary // Chapter Summary 1–3 | 4–14 | 15–21 | 22–30 | 41–45
Chapter 31: The Darn
Saeris, Kingfisher, and Renfis reach a narrow point in the river where vampires are likely to cross. Kingfisher explains they must wait until the enemy steps onto Fae soil before using magic.
When the first vampire reaches halfway, Renfis shatters the ice and Kingfisher strikes, driving most into the water, though some crawl onto the bank.
A battle erupts. Saeris fights beside Renfis, while Kingfisher cuts down enemies with ease.
The tide turns when Lorreth arrives, wielding Avisiéth, his new god sword. A burst of white light incinerates the vampires, and the warriors cheer his name. Their celebration stops when a shrill cry reveals Everlayne across the river, dressed in ruby red and surrounded by vampires.
Chapter 32: Taladaius
Everlayne appears across the river, terrified and surrounded by vampires. Renfis stops Kingfisher from crossing, warning he would be powerless on Sanasrothian soil. They see Taladaius, a powerful vampire, holding a gold collar and chain as he announces Everlayne has been bitten by Malcolm, his father.
Taladaius declares Everlayne is a trap, since Malcolm knows Kingfisher will come for her. Taladaius warns that unless Kingfisher surrenders, Everlayne will be turned into a vampire and condemned to torment.
Finally, Taladaius reveals that Malcolm wants not only Kingfisher but also Saeris.
Chapter 33: Blood in Thanks
The Fae warriors reel after Everlayne’s capture. Renfis looks defeated, Lorreth paces anxiously, and Kingfisher sits in shock. Lorreth suggests searching Cahlish’s library for a way to reverse enthrallment.
Saeris asks what that means. Renfis explains Malcolm’s venom turns victims into mindless thralls, and within three days, Everlayne will either die and become a feeder or drink Malcolm’s blood to become one of his Lords.
The group’s meeting is cut short when Danya storms in, furious at Lorreth for taking her sword. Kingfisher explains that the reforged blade chose Lorreth. When Danya’s attempt to reclaim it leaves her hand disintegrating, Kingfisher promises to take her to Cahlish for healing if she calms down. He then announces they’ll return to search the library.
Before leaving, Kingfisher declares Saeris a newly blooded warrior. Lorreth, Renfis, and Kingfisher kneel, cut their hands, and press bloody marks onto her chest. Finally, Kingfisher speaks her name and gives her his blood in thanks.
Chapter 34: A Secret
Through Kingfisher’s shadow gate, the group returns to Cahlish. Danya bitterly confronts Saeris for sitting in the chair meant for Kingfisher’s wife, but Renfis and Kingfisher defend her. Placing his hands on Saeris’s shoulders, Kingfisher declares that his personal life isn’t up for discussion.
The tension breaks when Carrion strolls in with a potted plant, oblivious to the mood. Danya collapses from her injury, and Kingfisher decides to take her to the healer. He instructs Saeris to work on relics, while Carrion focuses only on being called “pretty.”
Working past midnight in the forge, Saeris struggles to craft a relic from quicksilver. Carrion joins her, and she admits she forgave Kingfisher for compelling her, convinced he acted to protect her. Carrion reveals Kingfisher bribed him to bathe, wanting to scrub Saeris’s scent away.
Suddenly, the quicksilver speaks, demanding a secret in exchange for creating a relic. Saeris confesses her wish to stay in Yyvelia and her reluctance to leave Kingfisher. The quicksilver mutters cryptic words, then engulfs a Fae ring and demands blood. Saeris pricks her finger, completing the relic. When she wears it, the forge plunges into darkness as voices chant “Annorath Mor!” before falling silent.
Then, Te Léna arrives, and Carrion openly flirts with her. Saeris notices runes on Te Léna’s hands, and the healer explains they’re anniversary tattoos, not true mating bonds, since such bonds no longer exist.
Distressed, Saeris asks about God Bindings, but Te Léna dismisses them as tragic myths. Pale and shaken, Saeris asks for Kingfisher and decides to speak with him in his room.
Chapter 35: Oracle
In Kingfisher’s bedroom, Saeris confronts him about his refusal to use her name. She shares what she learned from Te Léna about tattoos and God Bindings. Kingfisher confesses that he hated Saeris at first because she embodied his weakness but claims he’s known for centuries she was coming. He explains that “Oshellith” means “Most Sacred” in Old Fae, and he calls her Osha because she’s sacred to him.
Kingfisher reveals his mother was an oracle who prophesied Saeris’s arrival, but his mother’s book depicted Saeris as Fae. When he found her human and dying in the quicksilver pool, he saved her anyway. Kingfisher admits he treated Saeris cruelly to push her away, but she insists his plan failed.
Despite mating bonds being ancient history, Kingfisher explains he felt a bond snap into place when he found Saeris. But he refuses to bond with her. Struggling with impending madness and a failing protective pendant, he intends to send her back to Zilvaren once her task is complete.
Saeris is furious that Kingfisher keeps making choices for her. He suggests ending his life to avoid being a burden, but she points out this would harm Lorreth as well. Kingfisher says he has accepted his fate, but Saeris rejects his plan, calling him selfish and vowing to save him and Everlayne.
Chapter 36: Iseabail
Unable to sleep because of Carrion’s snoring, Saeris spends the night on the couch. At dawn, she finds Kingfisher watching the mountains in silence. When she tries to leave, he catches her hand, rests his head against her arm, and she comforts him.
Seeing Kingfisher’s exhaustion, Saeris stays a while as he leans against her, then departs only after he signals he’s all right.
Later, the group meets in the library to plan Everlayne’s rescue. They realize that only blood magic from a powerful witch can break Malcolm’s enthrallment. But witches left Yvelia a century ago, and they have less than thirty‑six hours before the deadline.
Kingfisher uncovers a settlement of half‑witches at Faulton’s Gap, reachable through his shadow gate. He and Renfis decide to go immediately, while Danya insists on joining them.
Before the three depart, Te Léna urges Kingfisher to see her both before and after the trip. This confirms Saeris’s suspicion that the healer is treating him for the worsening effects of quicksilver.
Hours of searching yield nothing in the library. Furious and muddy, Renfis returns to report that the witches might have helped but Danya’s hostility ruined everything. Kingfisher had taken her back to the war camp and had gone alone to Faulton’s Gap to try again.
Three hours later, Kingfisher arrives with Iseabail, a fiery‑haired witch and granddaughter of the High Witch. She mocks the group and doubts their ability to save Everlayne.
Kingfisher orders Saeris and Carrion to stay behind. Saeris refuses, and though Kingfisher warns her of the brutal reality of facing Malcolm and his lords, she stands firm. Carrion casually agrees to join as well. Seeing their resolve, Kingfisher relents.
Chapter 37: Much Sharper
Saeris tries to sleep in the living room, but Kingfisher comes for her, saying he wants one peaceful night before they rescue Everlayne. He opens a shadow gate and leads her to his candle‑lit apartment in Ballard.
As they make love, Saeris’s mating marks reappear and new tattoos spread across Kingfisher’s skin. He explains the marks show he has accepted their bond, though she still has a month to choose whether to accept or reject it. He confesses his love but asks her not to answer.
When Saeris drifts to sleep, she remembers he had a reason for bringing her there. Kingfisher says he came “for a little hope.”
Chapter 38: Martyrs for Friends
Alone in the apartment, Saeris wakes to find Kingfisher gone and a shadow gate waiting. She discovers a note explaining his plan: Saeris must return to Cahlish, wait for Everlayne to come through, then sedate Everlayne before she turns into a vampire.
Kingfisher leaves instructions for his friends, releases Saeris from her blood oath, and urges her to craft relics to help his people escape while giving her the choice to return to her own world. Kingfisher ends with a declaration of love, hope, and a promise to wait for Saeris in the afterlife.
In tears, Saeris notices Kingfisher left his sword behind and realizes he went to Malcolm unarmed, determined to keep it from falling into enemy hands.
Through the shadow gate, Saeris storms back to Cahlish and lands in Kingfisher’s room. There she finds Carrion reading a book written by Kingfisher’s mother, filled with prophecies and drawings of a Fae version of Saeris.
Ignoring Carrion, Saeris rushes to the library and gives Kingfisher’s farewell letter to Renfis. Renfis and Lorreth are devastated by Kingfisher’s choice to face Malcolm alone.
When Saeris asks about a quicksilver pool at Gillethrye, Renfis says there’s none, crushing her hope of following Kingfisher. Carrion breaks the silence by asking how long the shadow gate stayed open, and the group realizes they can use it to reach Gillethrye when Everlayne comes through.
Grinning, Carrion declares he’ll go with Saeris to save her “asshole boyfriend” but wants a sword first.
In the forge, Saeris and Carrion imbue a blade with quicksilver. The metal resists until Carrion tells a crude joke, which somehow works, and he names the sword Simon.
Later, in the library, the group waits until a shadow gate opens overhead. Everlayne falls through, shattering the table. Ordering Carrion to be boosted first, Saeris takes Solace and follows.
As Saeris enters next, Everlayne starts to warn her about the water. Instead of a stable path, gravity twists, and Saeris realizes she’s falling.
Chapter 39: Annorath Mor!
Saeris plunges through the shadow gate into a black lake, nearly drowning before Lorreth drags her out. Injured and disoriented, she watches him pull an unconscious Carrion from the water.
To rouse Carrion, Saeris threatens to tell everyone back home he was bad in bed. He jolts awake, coughing up lake water.
Saeris, Carrion, and Lorreth realize that Renfis didn’t make it through. Saeris and Carrion are bruised, but Lorreth, having prepared for the fall, steadies them and offers Widow’s Bane to numb the pain.
As the three climb a cliff of black obsidian, ash falls from the sky and voices roar, “Annorath mor!”
At the top, Saeris, Carrion, and Lorreth find a massive amphitheater filled with chanting spectators. In the pit below, Kingfisher stands on a dais.
Suddenly, Harron ambushes the unwelcome guests. Hideously transformed, his quicksilver eyes gleam, a dagger pressed to Lorreth’s throat. Behind Lorreth, a horde of newly turned feeders waits.
Harron then summons a vortex and drives the three toward it. Saeris reaches out to Kingfisher in her mind, but his warning not to come arrives too late, since she has already stepped inside.
Chapter 40: Introductions
Saeris, Lorreth, and Carrion emerge from Harron’s vortex to find Kingfisher bloodied and tortured at the foot of a dais. Above him sit Malcolm, Belikon, and Madra, who reveal themselves as siblings—the Triumvirate.
Malcolm greets the three coldly, and as the monarchs mock them, Harron subdues Carrion. Belikon admits he knew Madra closed the gates but still blamed Kingfisher’s father, even confessing to feeding his own soldiers to Malcolm’s army.
Belikon then kicks Kingfisher and taunts him about Gillethrye, exposing the oath that kept him silent. Malcolm reveals the spectators are the Fae of Gillethrye, the very people Kingfisher is accused of killing.
Finally, Belikon releases Kingfisher from the oath and demands that he confess to the deal he made years ago.