Haunted by the Viper Queen’s clue to look where it hurts, Bryce fails to focus on Maximus Tertian’s emails and, after a tense call from Jesiba, reluctantly asks Hunt for help. Hunt arrives immediately, and despite the risk, Bryce allows him into Jesiba’s forbidden library, warning him to keep it secret.

Downstairs, Hunt meets Lehabah and Syrinx. Bryce explains the library’s contraband and the rumor that Jesiba transforms former lovers and rivals into animals. Discussion of slavery and freedom follows: Hunt reveals he was sold to Micah for eighty-five million marks; Lehabah and Syrinx’s prices surface, and Bryce admits she bought Syrinx’s freedom and is paying it off. Bryce also reveals her apartment came from Danika, and her grief and avoidance of therapy surface.

Shifting to background, Hunt asks about Bryce’s antiquities job and her connection to Fury Axtar; Bryce says Fury helped her get hired and rejects any link between Fury’s enemies and Danika’s murder. Hunt shares his age and wartime past; Bryce tersely admits she has killed before, stirring painful memories.

To start the list, Hunt asks for a happy memory from Danika’s last week. Bryce recalls their matching tattoo, then writes down movements from that week: a wish at the Old Square Gate, pizza and beers at a counter, Danika’s hair-streak touch-up, a grocery-store chips incident with Thorne, and ogling CCU sunball practice. Overwhelmed, she stops. Ruhn then texts, summoning her to Luna’s Temple because it lacks cameras. Bryce decides to bring Hunt without warning, and they set off aligned.