Taken as captive by Lord Thoma after the fall of the Lore District, Rachel bides her time in a beautiful illusion scape of a mythic era Japan half convinced she deserves what fate has in store after taking the life of the man she loved. As the days pass, she sinks deeper and deeper into heartache, too afraid to summon the dead, to take hold of her freedom, and risks breaking the promise she made with Shigeru.
Atsuhiko Abe wakes in the underworld, his connection to Rachel severed. Memories of the mortal world in which he once lived clouded. As the last remnants of Thoma's spell fades away he is confronted with the gravity of his death, the newly awakened beast in his soul, and Rachel's betrayal. Swept up in bitterness he is a shadow of his former self and wanders the underworld confronted by the magnitude of his past sins, devouring each one in kind but his appetite does not go unnoticed.
Auntie Chen, along with a surprising group of new allies, searches for Rachel as Chen refuses to abandon the girl to Thoma's depravity, or worse. But time is not on her side, as the shopkeeper balances a renewed sense of duty to the Lore District left ravaged by Thoma's influence and before long she will have to make the ultimate decision now faced with the pressure of rule, to take her place as Ancient, or let Rachel go.
A proposal of marriage changes everything as Rachel is brought face to face with Thoma's true intentions, and his will to claim her arcane abilities through the spell-craft of matrimony, for his own selfish gain. But Atsuhiko's mark lingers holding the Fox Lord at bay – and he is determined to claim his prize. A dangerous tug of war begins as Rachel braves back into the world of spirits, drawn to a mirror image of Atsuhiko's soul, while skirting Thoma's clever seductions in the night, a game she's not certain she can win.