Chapter 15

Feyre is attacked by four naga in the woods while attempting to free a captured Suriel. After a desperate fight, Tamlin arrives and brutally slaughters the creatures, revealing his true nature as the High Lord of the Spring Court. Feyre learns that the Suriel's advice was to stay with Tamlin, though she still lacks the specific information she needs to warn her family about the impending danger.

Feyre encounters four naga in a forest clearing where a Suriel is trapped in a snare. She frees the Suriel by shooting the tether and screams to distract the creatures, allowing it to escape. The naga pursue her through the woods with relentless speed. As Feyre fights back with her bow and knife, killing at least one naga herself, she becomes surrounded and is brutally beaten—her bow is snapped, her body slammed to the ground, her arms torn by talons. Just as a naga pins her down and threatens to slowly bleed her to death, Tamlin arrives with a terrifying roar. In his transformed High Lord state, complete with elongated fangs and deadly claws, he tears the four naga apart with savage efficiency, disemboweling the last one. After the violence, Tamlin uses his magic to heal Feyre's injuries and provides her his tunic to cover her torn clothing. He reveals he was tracking the naga pack when he heard her scream. Feyre realizes Tamlin is the High Lord of the Spring Court and that she should have guessed earlier. Walking back to the manor in silence, both covered in blood, Feyre reflects on what the Suriel told her—to stay with the High Lord—but acknowledges she still lacks the specific historical details needed to properly warn her family about the approaching threat. She notes Tamlin shows no triumph, only deep shame and defeat.