

Meanwhile, Sydney and the others investigate Ha Ha Tonka, the place from which the brick was stolen. They try to locate Nina's sister, Olive, but fail. When Adrian returns home after having some trouble sleeping, he is pulled into a spirit dream by Nina. After many excuses from Adrian, Rose takes him to a Dhampir training area where a group of Moroi warriors put on a display that they aim to show to the Moroi council to convince them of a Moroi warrior program in schools. Rose visits Adrian and Sydney, unaware that Syndey is no longer there. After they deal with the Fotianas, Sydney finds a brick, a map, and a lock of Jill's hair in a manila envelope. When they come back and break into the museum and enter the exhibit, they are attacked by Fotianas (mutant fireflies). They soon discover the display that was featured on the flyer is enchanted and decide to come back later, when the museum is closed. Terwilliger, and Eddie visit the Museum of Robotics. Once he and Neil visit Nina and see what state she really is in, Adrian says he will help, but only if Nina accepts a sedative from Sonya. Sonya visits Adrian and wants Adrian's help with Nina, whom Sonya suspects is using a lot of Spirit. Bogangles the cat, and the real cat stays with Daniella and Adrian. As part of the spell, Sydney transforms into Mr. Terwilliger and Sydney create a spell to help them escape the protected community. She decides that Eddie will go with her, and Ms. Sydney decides that she must go find Jill and eventually convinces Adrain that he must stay at Court as cover. She also finds a photograph of Jill in a magazine taken by a designer in Palm Springs.

Sydney unlocks the box with a simple spell, and inside she finds a flyer for a robot museum in Pittsburgh, with writing on one of the pictures saying: COME PLAY, SYDNEY. She tells Sydney that the box was sent to her address, but she has tried every unlocking spell with no success, and therefore, after visiting Inez, she deduced that the box must have been sent for Sydney.

Terwilliger enters with a cat carrier and a small box. Eddie and Neil, who were on their way to Sydney and Adrian's house, helped Adrian get away from the fight. Adrian says he needs to go outside, where he is attacked by Wesley Drozdov and others. Adrian and Sydney have an argument over him using Spirit. Sydney, Adrian, and Daniella are living together in a house at Court. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world and change their lives forever. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series.
