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As they leave the Grove, Cas tells Kieran he doesn’t plan to kill the Maiden like his parents do—or would if they got their hands on her. Kieran just takes it in.

When Casteel returns to the room at the Red Pearl, he finds that Poppy didn’t wait for him. He trails her through the Grove and finds an Ascended stalking her. He tears the vampry’s heart out and leaves him hanging over the branch of a tree. Either he’ll be discovered, and it will cause talk, or the sun will take care of him when it rises.

Either way, win-win.

He takes a bath and gets turned on by thoughts of the Maiden, which both confuses him and makes him a little angry. He’s conflicted. He pleasures himself to thoughts of her but then thinks about his time in captivity—the assault, his trauma, his healing. Steeling his resolve, he reestablishes his goal in his mind.

Hawke wonders what’s going on when Poppy doesn’t visit the garden like she usually does. He catches sight of Lord Mazeen with the Duchess and finds out they’re looking for a Descenter. He overhears talk about puncture wounds on a body, and then Mazeen mentions Lord Preston—the vampry Hawke strung up for stalking the Maiden.

Good. Then he served as the message intended.

When the Lord walks by, Hawke realizes he smells of jasmine and…something else. When he realizes it’s the Maiden’s scent, it bothers him more than it probably should.

Britta comes to say hello, and Hawke asks her what happened, indicating what’s going on in the castle. She tells him that Malessa Axton, a Lady in Wait, was killed and left in the castle. After some prompting about the Lord, Hawke learns that Mazeen is, indeed, a bit too friendly.

His people make things happen to advance their plot and take out Poppy’s guard Rylan Keal, thus opening a Royal Guard position at Poppy’s side. However, when Jansen comes to Hawke on the Rise to tell him the guard had been taken care of, Hawke finds out Jericho tried to take the Maiden, and she fought back. Even cut him. In retaliation, the wolven hit her.

Hawke heads to the Three Jackals, but Kieran catches up with him before he makes it and says he can’t kill Jericho. Hawke says he’s not going to. He’s going to murder him. Kieran tells him that they’re the same, and Cas explains the difference—which is ridiculous.

Hawke and Kieran enter a room at the pub to find Jericho playing cards with some other wolven and Descenters. He tries to calm Hawke, explaining what happened.

Hawke pours him a glass of whiskey as a distraction and then cuts off his left hand. He warns him to do as he’s told next time—no more, no less—then leaves, telling Kieran to send Jericho to New Haven.

The day of Rylan’s funeral, Hawke watches over the Maiden as Vikter goes to light the pyre.

Sometime later, Kieran and Hawke meet up with Descenter Lev Barron in the warehouse district and find a dead couple and a baby who’s turned Craven. It’s pure disregard for life and disgusts Hawke. He takes the baby’s life and vows to make them all pay.

Summoned to the Duke’s office, Hawke goes and meets with the Ascended. The Duke tells Hawke that a guard must not fear death. Hawke disagrees and tells him that if one doesn’t fear death, then they don’t fear failure. He tells the Duke how he would have handled the situation in the garden and other times watching the Maiden. When the Duke insinuates some things, Hawke says he has no interest in seducing the Maiden or becoming her friend. The Duke warns that her innocence is charming and warns that Hawke will be flayed alive if anything happens to the Maiden.

The Duke and Duchesses address the people about current happenings, and Hawke observes the Maiden. She isn’t like others, and it both charms and frustrates him. The Tulis family is outed as Descenters, and Lev is taken prisoner after throwing a Craven hand at the Royals. Hawke orders his people to remove the Tulises so they don’t have to give up their only remaining child.

Called back to the Duke’s office for the official assignment, Hawke is introduced to Poppy and Tawny and given a rundown of the rules and what’s required of him. With each word out of the Duke’s mouth, he hates him more and more. When the Maiden is unveiled, he’s stunned speechless. She’s stunning, and he can see the strength and resilience in her.

Escorting Tawny and the Maiden back to her chambers, Hawke remains outside and eavesdrops on their conversation. Every time Tawny talks him up or tries to convince her friend of something, Hawke thinks how the Lady in Wait has become his favorite person.

Eventually, Vikter brings Hawke his white mantle and warns Hawke to watch himself.

After discussing the Maiden’s schedule, Vikter warns Hawke about Penellaphe’s nightmares and tells him about her Craven attack when she was six. When Hawke inquires whether he’ll know if it’s only a nightmare or if it’s an attack, Vikter tells him that she will never scream if she’s in distress.

After everything is shared, Hawke realizes what an abysmal existence Penellaphe has had. It bothers him more than it probably should, and he can’t stop thinking about it.

During his off hours, Cas finds a note from Kieran and goes to the meat packing district. He enters the slaughterhouse building overseen by a Descenter named Mac, then goes downstairs to where Kieran is with Lord Hale Devries. The Ascended is tied up and unconscious.

Kieran wakes him by dumping a bucket of cold water over his head, and Cas asks the Lord where Malik is being kept. The vampry replies that he knows of no kept Prince—which is true, since Malik was no longer kept at this point.

Easily sliding into all the things required of him as the Maiden’s personal guard, Hawke somehow finds himself torn between his duty and plans, and what he starts feeling for the Maiden.

While guarding her, he starts to wonder why he hasn’t seen her in several days after he escorted her to the Duke’s office. While thinking about the fires the Descenters set to create chaos, he hears a scream coming from the Maiden’s room. He goes in and hides in the shadows, thinking he should probably think of her by name. He looks at the sparseness of her room and once again thinks about the horrible life she’s had—not at all like what he and others imagined. He checks on her and catches the scent of arnica.

The mist comes again, and Hawke goes beyond the Rise, seeing Vikter there, as well. He realizes that means nobody is watching the Maiden and goes to check on her. Instead, he finds someone on the parapet firing arrows. He’s very intrigued when he discovers it’s Penellaphe.

Hawke talks to Vikter, and Vikter asks why he hasn’t told anyone about Penellaphe being on the Rise. He tries to explain, thinking his respect for her is a complicated mess, then tells Vikter he knows he’s the one who trained her.

As time goes on, Hawke and Penellaphe share personal information and get to know each other, stealing intimate moments where they can—which only makes Hawke want things to become more intimate.

He realizes how intense things are getting when Britta visits him in his room and basically throws herself at him, and he denies her.

Surly over that knowledge, Cas goes to the Red Pearl and walks in on Kieran and Circe having sex. The couple invites him to join—which wouldn’t be a big deal, he’s done it before—but he’s not in the mood. He sulks, seethes about how he’s imagining having sex with Penellaphe, and drinks until they finish.