Chapter Sixty-Three

Cassian arrives at Windhaven to reconcile with Nesta but discovers that she, along with Gwyn and Emerie, have been abducted from Emerie's shop. Signs of struggle and sleeping ointment indicate they were taken during the start of the Blood Rite at midnight—a deliberate message targeting the females for their warrior ambitions and challenging Illyrian traditions.

Cassian waits for the night imposed by his bargain with Nesta to pass, then asks Rhys to winnow him to Windhaven at dawn. Mor had revealed that Nesta was brought there the day before. Cassian mentally prepares his apology and declaration of the mating bond, which Nesta had hesitated to accept on Solstice. At Emerie's back door, he and Rhys smell both Nesta and Gwyn, but Rhys immediately senses something wrong—they are not actually present. Breaking into Emerie's shop, Cassian finds the back room bears traces of male scents as if from winnowing, which should be impossible for Illyrians except on one ancient night of the year. He charges upstairs to find each female's room ransacked: beds overturned, nightstands broken, male blood on the floor, and traces of a powerful sleeping ointment lingering in the air. The rooms show signs of struggle but no bodies. The scent of the females' fear permeates the space. Rhys arrives pale with dread and confirms from Devlon that the Blood Rite began at midnight. Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie have been forcibly taken to participate in the deadly trial—a message to the females for defying Illyrian hierarchy and to Cassian for training them as warriors.