A break in the case may have come too late as things heat up for Black Cloaks Essex and Pax, forcing Essex to face her past and confront it head-on…quite literally. Mermaids mourn. Black Cloaks dig. And worlds threaten to collide, which maybe isn’t the worst thing?

Sashenka takes Pax and Phaedra to the Maids’ underwater realm. The Maids’ speech has hallucinogenic effects and the detectives start seeing things. They explain that they are there to get justice for the dead Maid but have a hard time persuading them that they have good will considering that they Maids are treated so poorly by the rest of the society.

Eventually they provide a mental image of who dumped the poisoned Dace into the lagoon, leading to Yanha the Maid being poisoned herself. However, they can’t use this as proof in court. They begin to return to headquarters and try to figure out the rest of what happened but some pieces are still missing. However, they hear that there is now a warrant out for their capture. The queen has obviously been putting pressure on the Black Cloaks now that they’re getting closer.

They split up. Phaedra goes home and sleeps with Nida, telling her about her suspenseful day. Phaedra tells her the story of how she was exiled. She was getting fitted for her wedding dress when she realized she couldn’t wear a backless dress because of her small wings, which would tip anyone off about her partial Dracona ancestry. Her mother hears; she didn’t realize Phaedra’s wings had appeared. Her mother tells the story of her father for the first time; they were in love but it didn’t last. Phaedra realizes she has to break off the engagement because it would dishonor Freyal’s family to marry a half-breed. She tells him they have to break up without explaining why, then does the same to the queen, who says she must be exiled, which Phaedra knew would be the case. She lost everything, but gained a new live and love.

She meets up with Pax again. They discuss more questions about the poison and go to see someone Phaedra says can help…her father, Phinneas II of Thane, one of the most powerful Dracona in the city.