M: All right, everybody, welcome back to our dive of House of Earth and Blood. We are going into chapters eighty two through eighty nine today, so let's go ahead and buckle up. Somewhere between Bryce getting pulled deeper into the mystery, the danger around her escalating, and the thoughts of wait, can we trust anyone feeling? Finally I officially stopped reading this book like a normal person and started treating it like a stress scroll. The anxiety? Immaculate. The anticipation? Cruel. Every chapter had me thinking, surely we're about to get answers, and Instead, I got more questions, more theories, and that awful feeling of something that was about to go horribly, horribly wrong. And let's just say Bryce's situation with Hunt had me feeling things I did not have time to process while reading this set of chapters. Okay. Books and emotional support beverages at the ready? Good. Let's go ahead and tackle eighty-two through eighty-nine because apparently peace was never an option with Sarah. Let's jump in.

C: We ended last episode with craziness is what it c what what it boiled down to. Bryce took on Micah and came out alive, covered in blood, but alive. And she ended it by setting him on fire and then vacuuming up the ashes. All while being watched by everybody left at the summit. So all All of the number one people there, all of their seconds and some of their thirds got to watch everything that Bryce just went through for her ordeal and how she clinched it by vacuuming up an archangel. The ox has finally arrived on the scene. She has slammed the door shut, told them that it is a gas explosion, internally that she'll deal with it. They don't need any external assistance. and that she didn't mention to any of them that she had vacuumed up an archangel and dumped his ashes in a bin out back. she finally looks at her phone. Jesiba has called her multiple times, finally sent her a text message saying, Tell me that you're alright. So this is the first actual kind of like Sympathy that Jesiba has shown Bryce through this whole book. Finally some sympathy from her. Bryce responds with, I'm fine, did you see what happened? Bryce or Jessba says yes, the entire thing everyone at the summit did. And Bryce's only response back is good. Then she put her phone on silent, tucking it back into her pocket, and then ventured down into the watery ruin of the archives. There was no trace of Lahaba, obviously because the library was submerged in water, still is. The Nox corpse is laying sprawled on the mezzanine. Thankfully there was enough spells on the library itself that the books and the small tanks and terrariums they are all shielded. They're all shielded from the wave. But again silence roars all around her and inside her head because the Haba is gone. She mentions tucking away the truth about what Micah had said, the horn in her back, now that it was healed and functional, and because she felt no different, wouldn't have known if it was awake, were it not for the horrific blast the Archangel had unleashed. At least a portal hadn't opened, at least that's what she thought. However, she is grossly wrong. She knew that the world would be coming, it would arrive at her doorstep soon, but the doorbell does not ring. She knows that she's killed an archangel and that she needs she's gonna be punished for it, most likely killed. but no one comes. And that's when she realizes she starts hearing screaming outside. She grabs Syrinx and starts running out into the world and realizes that no one had r arrived because they had far bigger issues, far bigger problems to deal with. So chaos has completely reigned at the summit. The Astyrian guard has flown off, presumably to get instructions from their masters. Sandriel had just gaped at the feed that had shown Bryce casually vacuuming up the ashes of the governor as if she'd spilled some chips on the carpet. Sandril is distracted enough that Hunt is able to move. He finds an empty seat beside Ruhn and Flynn. and they start talking about how this is just went from bad to worse. Ruhn saying that they're going to kill her for this, the Asterie, for murdering a governor, for proving that a sprite and a half human woman could take on a governor and win. It was absurd. as likely as a minnow slaying a shark. And Hunt wonders if Sandriel was moments away from being crowned Archangel of Valbara, that Pollux was grinning, probably in confirmation of that possibility. And that they need to figure out a plan. something to shield Bryce from the fallout of all of this. And then Queen Hypaxia takes a seat at Hunt's other side, giving him a warning look as she held up a key. She fits it into Hunt's manacles, and they kind of thump onto the table, and she tells them, I believe that we have bigger issues. And that's when they actually look up to the screens and realize that Micah's experiment with the horn hadn't failed at all. So Bryce takes one look at the heartgate in the old square and sprints home, Searinks in her arms. Micah had indeal indeed wielded the horn successfully and had opened a portal right through the mouth of the heartgate, drawing upon the magic in its quartz walls. Bryce had taken one look at what sailed out of the void suspended in the heartgate, and knew Micah had not opened a portal to an unknown world as he'd intended, but this one went straight to hell. And based on the demons coming out of it, this is the pit itself. So the seventh level of hell. She leaves Sealinx in the apartment under, you know, a pile of blankets, gives him a massive bowl of water, pretty much just opens his food his food bin so he can eat whatever he wants. And then she raised to the roof, grabs Danica's leather jacket. the Fender's sword she straps across her back. Then she tucks some of Hunt's handguns into the waist of her jeans, shoulders his rifle, and then slid as many packs of ammo as she could carry into her pockets, and she surveyed the city, and her blood turned to ice. It was worse, so much worse than she'd imagined. He'd opened every gate in the city. So all seven quartz arches were now a doorway to Hel And the city and they were The void was unleashing its demons across a defenseless city. So she can see she speaks she calls Juniper. Juniper is fine that she is already in one of the safe houses, but that the safe one of the safe shelters. but she is They had everybody else who was there was trying to pull the door shut because they're afraid and they don't want to let any demons in. they don't want to wait for others to come to be able to protect themselves. So Bryce is thinking she hopes that the the moonwood gate is now surrounded by the wolves, and that the den was in lockdown. Same with Fyro, that the fae had their shields up as well. and then we switch. We switch from Bryce's perspective to Declan's. this is our first Declan perspective. So we switched to Declan. He is kind of switching back and forth between multiple different screens because he can see that there are demons coming out of all at least of the six gates. They can't see the gate in the bone quarter because there aren't any cameras there. So they don't know if there are demons coming out of that one or not. Hunt realizes that the city is now a land of nightmares, that each new image was more awful than the last, and that most of the demons he recognizes. Demons that have been an effort for him to kill. Beast of the pits. And Hunt tries to snarl at Sabine to get her people to get the packs that she still has there out to be able to protect those who can't protect themselves. But Sabine's response is these are the protocols for the packs to stay within Moonwood and to kind of lock it down to save themselves. Isaiah does make a phone call to Naomi that the he's trying to get the thirty third to the old square. He doesn't care what they need to do, but the the C B D is also under siege. Naomi isn't able to get to the old square either. the only person Sabine really has to call is Ithan Holstrom. He is the second of Amelie Ravenscroft and Amelie is actually at the summit with Sabine. So she does call Ithan and he tells them that they are everywhere, that they're trying to do what they can, and Sabine's response is to hold their hold his position. Hunt wants to know how long it'll take the 32nd. So another piece of Micah's army, how long will it take for them to get there? And Isaiah says it's going to be an hour, and that most of the city was probably going to be too it would be too late. Most of the people in the city were going to be dead at that point. So they need a different, a different option. they Hunt realizes that with the bloodshed that's Hunt is kind of trying to think through all of the options based on the bloodshed he's seen before from the demons and what he's already starting to see in the city, realizing that they would need an army to surround all seven gates that open to hell and then find some way to close those portals. Hypaxia has risen from her seat. She studied the screens with determination, and then she tells her people to suit up and move out. We're heading in. They try and tell other people try and tell her that it's it's too late for the city, that they'll be slaughtered. and Hypaxia's response is I would rather die like her than watch Innocence die while I'm sitting in here. And she points to a screen and without even looking, the hair on Hunt's neck rose because he knows what he's going to see, and it is Bryce racing through the streets, Danica's leather jacket, sword in one hand, gun in the other. running not away from the danger but into it because Bryce is the same way. She is going to protect those who can't protect themselves. So he says duckslash shoot. She moved like she'd trained with the ox her entire life. She's yelling at people to get inside, get in to get to the the safe houses, the shelters. Fury wants to know where she's going, but Bryce keeps running, keeps firing and she did not miss. Hunt's kind of looking around, taking in all of her surrounding, and realized that she was going to the most defenseless place in Crescent City, full of humans with no magic, no preternatural gifts or strength. And Hunt says she is going to the meadows. And she keeps going, keeps running through, sprinting through, breath a sharp knife in her chest as she continues to duck, slash, and shoot. Then we go back to hunt. And Hypaxia is talking in her phone again because all of their brooms have been destroyed. They find out that essentially when Micah left the summit, he disabled all forms of tr of transportation for them because he didn't want anyone coming from the summit to back to Crescent City to stop him from using Bryce. So all of their vehicles, all of the armory, everything has been destroyed, the helicopters, the cars, the tanks, all of it. But thankfully Fury kept a helicopter her helicopter off site. So they do have one. And Ruhn says, Okay, then we need to move. And it's at that moment that the prime of the wolves stirred at last and pointed at an ancient pointed to the screen to the feeds and he said, One wolf remains in the old square. And he's talking about Bryce who raised through the carnage, sword glinting with each with each swipe. And Sabine tries to tell her father that's Danica's sword that you're sensing and the Prime just says, No, a wolf, a true wolf and he taps his heart that she is a wolf at heart. So Hunt then calls the Viper Queen and tells her she is the only one out of the seven heads of Crescent City who did not come to the summit. She actually stayed back at the city. So he calls her and tells her that she owes him a favor. And so he is going to have some of her personal guard go and try and help Bryce. Jesiba's phone rings and it is Bryce. Jesiba orders Declan to put it up on the screens and so that everyone is able to hear. Bryce says, tell her I was at the summit that I need backup in the meadows. I'm heading for the shelter near the Mortal Gate. Ruhn's trying to tell her it's a massacre, get inside that shelter before they all shut. And Sabine tells her that there's no backup for the meadows, that every pack is stationed. And then Bryce cuts her off, says, There are children here, there are babies, and the whole room fell silent. Deep sort of horror spread through Hunt. And then a male voice panted over the speakers. I'm coming. And this is Ithan, because he was still on the phone with Sabine at this point. And so he could hear Bryce on Jessica's call since it came through the speakers. he is telling Bryce, I'm coming, just hang on, we're all coming. And then he brings himself and some of the wolves to meet her. Ithan cut off her call and every wolf under his command ended their conversation too. And then we get a real quick couple of paragraphs from Ethan's perspective that the wolves could be in the meadows in three minutes. Three minutes that they'd have to essentially get through hell, slaughtering. Three minutes at a flat out run sprint to save those who were defenseless. And he mentions that it wasn't just the werewolves and the shifters from Moodwood that came with him, but it was other animals, the jackals, the coyotes, the wild dogs, and the common dogs, the hyenas, the foxes, all of them who were coming to actually protect those who can't protect themselves. Defenders of the small and the young. And I love the last little sentence. Ithan sprinted toward Aspedell Meadows with the weight of that history behind him, burning in his heart. And then we switched to price and she's like, I knew it was stupid luck that kept me alive and pure adrenaline that made me focus and aim so clearly and remain calm through all of this. But she goes through the motions, slashing, swiping with the sword, shooting bullets, ducking out of the way. and it's as she is trying to get other people into the shelter near the mortal gate that some of The Viper Queens, Fey bodyguards, come to help. They come to help and kind of hold the line from the demons getting into the shelter so that some of the humans can actually make it race to the shelters. and that they and then the wolves come running in and again they form a barrier barrier of fur and teeth and claws between the oncoming horde and the shelter behind them. and she remembers, she mentions because Ithan comes up in his wolf form, engines that she'd forgotten how enormous he was in this form. All shifters were at least three times the size of normal animals, but Ithan had always been larger, just like Connor had been. and that their stares held for a minute, all the words that they needed to say kind of hung there between them. She saw it in his eyes just like he saw them in hers, but they agreed that they would talk after all of this if they survived. then we switch back to the s the summit with Declan. He's saying that the shelters are going to close in four minutes. Ruhn wants to know why Fury's helicopter hasn't arrived yet. It's on its way to them. Sandriel had left with her triari, but she comes back at this point without her Triari. and she comes down the stairs, no one speaks to her. Hunt is kind of surprised that she doesn't reprimand Hunt because his manacles are off. but she merely returns to her seat and watches on the screens. Her response is there's nothing we can do for the city with the gates open to hell. We are under orders to remain here. The Asteria are sending help, which they're not really sending help, they're just sending bombers to come in and try and kill everything so that no other demons can get through. they're then watching both Ithan and Bryce run for. the last shelter in Asphodel Meadows, that it's two minutes before closing, that they were fighting side by side, and then they both turned to run at the last 30 seconds. Again, they're just kind of all urging Bryce on, urging for them to run as fast as possible, to not look back. Fury saying it's too far, they won't make it. Hunt saying they'll make it. Even though Ithan is terribly hurt, he's not running very well. the door was already halfway closed. There is another werewolf there inside who is trying to hold the door open for them to actually get in. they're down to f fifteen seconds. And Bryce's stare shot to Ethan's. Sorrow filled her eyes and determination. And Hunt, who can pretty much read her mind, realizes what she's about to do. And he breathes no. Knowing exactly what she was going to do, Bryce dropped behind just a step, just enough to draw upon her face strength to shove Ithan forward to save Bryce. Connor, Holstrom's brother. Ithan twists towards Bryce, eyes flaring with rage and despair and grief, hand outstretched, but too late. The metal door shuts with a boom seem to echo across the city. That was echoed across the city as every shelter door shut at last. And then Hunt can read her face, realizing that for the first time Bryce has no idea what to do now. So the Viper Queen's warriors are still fighting around her. And then she has an idea flare. She weighed it, considering it. She could try, at the very least, she had to try. So she doesn't look back at the shelter behind her as she began to ring to run. Blind memory of the city grid sinking in because she has run almost every day for the last two years. in different patterns because she tells Hunt that that she always runs in a different pattern. So it's essentially muscle memory now as to that's directing her where she where she needs to go from here. And the shifters, there are dead shifters, the viper queen viper queen soldiers finally are all killed because they're overwhelmed by the demons. So she is running in a different direction back to the old square old square. And she is realizing that she is all alone out here. the city was starting to go quiet, not the calm of salvation. The voids and the gates remained open. The sunset gave way to purpose blue skies. When the true night fell, he could imagine what the light or what sort of horrors hell would send through. The kind that did not like the light. So there's essentially a a break. Like this is the first wave of demons that have come through. And now there's a little bit of a break. And they're waiting for the sun to officially set and for night to fall before the worst demons come through. The demons that actually can't stand the light. So that's why there's a silence or a little bit of a quietness that's gone over the city is because there are still demons there, still killing people, but they're not coming through in hordes. They're waiting for the sun to go down. And Hunt's watching her, realizing that she wasn't running for safety, but she seemed to be running towards the heart gate, where the flow of demons had halted as if hell were indeed waiting for true night to begin before its second round. And then a faint Bryce kinda goes and hides off into one little corner for a second, pulls out her phone and starts to call someone. They're not sure who she's trying to call, and then they realize that there is a pocket in Sandril's jacket that is ringing, and this is Hunt's phone that Sandril has been holding on to. and she does end up giving the phone to Hunt. And Bryce was shocked. She's absolutely shocked that Hunt answer answers. He she assumes that he would just receive the message. I'm not sure why she's calling him if he's supposedly in Sandriel's like sh he's a prisoner, but whatever. She calls Hunt. He tries to tell her help is coming soon, and her response is no, it's gonna be too late. so then she tries to tell him you need to call my mom, you need to tell her that I love her, and that everything I am is because of her, her strength, her courage, her love, and I'm so sorry for all of the BS that I put her through. Tell my dad, tell Randall that I am proud I got to call him my father, and that he is the only one that ever mattered. And at that point, Tunt can come. He could have sworn that something like shame flittered across the Autumn King's face. he then tries to tell Bryce, get to somewhere safer until help can come. Then she says, Tell Fury, I'm sorry I lied, that I would have told her the truth eventually. Tell Juniper, thank you for that night on the roof. Tell her that I know now why she stopped me from jumping. It was so I could get here to help today. And that's when Hunt realizes his heart. Crocs entirely because he realizes that he had almost lost Bryce before he even knew her. And he realizes that Ruhn didn't know that she got that close to hurting herself. because he can see the pure devastate devastation on his face as well. And then she says, Tell Ruhn I forgive him. And of course, tears are streaming down face rune's face. And She says I forgave him a long time ago. I just didn't know how to tell him, tell him I'm sorry, I hid the truth, and that I only did it because I love him and I didn't want him didn't want to take away anything from him. He'll always be the better one of us. And this is where Ruhn's face turns from agony to confusion because she's confessing to keeping a secret from everybody, but no one knows what that secret is yet. We're gonna find out in a minute. and then she tells him I was waiting for you. I was waiting for you in here and she puts a hand over her heart and his response is I was waiting for you too. And then she hangs up the phone. Well, she tells them, I forgive you for all of the stuff with the synth synth, all of it, none of it matters, not anymore. And then she hangs up the phone and goes running for the gate. Hunt at this point can't hear anything because that he felt nothing, heard nothing, it all had all crumbled inside him the moment she'd hung up because he thinks she's going to die. And she is kind of she's leapt over the fence to the gate, run up to the gate and halted before the archway, and a faint white radiance began to glow around her. Fury wants to know what that is, because Fury didn't know either. It flickered, growing bla brighter in the night, enough to illuminate her slender hands, cupping a sparkling, pulsing light before her chest. The light was coming from her chest, had been pulled from inside it. Her hair drifted above her head, bits of debris floated up around her too, as if gravity had ceased to exist. The light she held was so stark it cast the rest of the world into grays and blacks. Slowly her eyes opened, amber blazing like the first pure rays of dawn. A soft secret smile graced her mouth, and with the gate looming above her, the light between her hands grew stronger, and then Ruhn falls to his knees, and she says I am Bryce Quinlan, heir to the starborn fee. The ground slid out from under Hunt as the light between her hands. The star she drawn from her shattered heart flared as bright as the sun. And then we get a little backtrack. Just a little bit. We learn what happened with Danica and Bryce when they were in college, and they both almost died. That Danica had been steering the motorcycle, an arm looped through Bryce's legs to hold her steady as Bryce shot at the males who were chasing after them. As the Bryce and Danica are on the motorcycle at this point. and they actually the bad guys hit the tires of the motorcycle and they go flying. Danica is able to react faster with the wolf's speed and does wrap her body around Bryce. and took the brunt of the impact and saved Bryce. Her skin shredded, she fractures her pelvis, all of that. and but she's telling Bryce that she loves her and that she's sorry. Bryce says I don't regret it. and This is the first time, as we mentioned before, that Danica says, I love you. Bryce mentions it again, that it is the first time in four years that Danica has said it. And Bryce tells her to close her eyes because only for this, only for Danica would she do this, would she risk this? and the bad guys have found the bullets in the truck and are walking back over to shoot Danica and Bryce. And Dan or Bryce tells Danica, close your eyes now. She does, and then Bryce exploded. she erupts, explodes into white blinding light ruptured from her, unleashed from that secret place in her heart, the light going straight into the eyes of the shifters around them. bright, blazing bright as the sun. And then Bryce moves. The shifter with the gun is blinded and drops it right into her waiting palm. And then she shoots multiple times. ends up killing the last of the ones remaining. And then she kind of spools the light back into herself, smothered it, and the secret she and her parents had kept for so long from her sire, from the Asteri, from Midgard, and from Ruhn, the pure light of a star from another world from long, long ago, the gift of the ancient Fei reborn again, light, but nothing more than that. So she's saying this is that she has the power of light. But not like the burn of the fire of the fire, the stars power. Not as an insteri has it, who possessed brute power of the stars, just the light of it. But that the starborn gifts, the title, they had always meant something to Ruhn. And that first time she'd met him, she'd intended to share her secret with him. But he'd been kind, joyful at finding a new sister, and she'd instantly known she could trust him with this secret. But then she saw how their father only put What is it? only had pride in her brother because of his starborn gifts, the blessed and chosen one. And so because of that, she sees how her father or knows how her father would treat Ruhn if he wasn't the chosen one. So she decides to hold it to keep her secret away from Ruhn as well. And then we switch back to Bryce, holding the star she'd hidden in her heart, let the light builds, flow out of her chest, pure and untethered. There had been so many times these weeks that she'd she was sure Ruhn would realize what she had, especially when he laid the star sword on the table in the library and it had hummed and started shimmering, and she had to physically pull back from it. To avoid the instinct to touch it, to answer its silent, lovely song, 'cause it was her sword and runes, and with that light in her veins, with the star that slumbered inside her heart, the starborn had recognized her not as a royal, worthy fe, but as kin, kin to those who had forged it so long ago. Like called to like. So the sword was calling to her, because they're alike. Even the Crystallos' venom in her leg had not been able to stifle the essence of what she was. and it's interesting because we don't know about this at all during the two years that she had the venom in its in her leg. But she left it there not just as a reminder. That was her excuse to anyone who asked, but she left it there because it helped smother and it helped stop her to block her. From that light, from that essence, and that the moment when the venom had come out of her leg, when Hunt's lips had met hers for the first time, she'd felt it awaken again. She couldn't do much past blinding people as she'd done to her father's men when they came to get her when she was young, when her and her when her mother and Randall were trying to save them. it's the same thing that happened to the Oracle, when the seer peered into her future and beheld only her blazing light, as she'd done to those asp smugglers as well. so she is essentially removing the entire star from herself, which she's never done before. She'd only glowed and blinded, never summoned its burning core. But she was starborn and the horn lay within her, repaired and now filled with her light, the starborn gift. So she is putting it into the gate, using the cork gate as a conduit, a prism. Which what does the Autumn King have in his workshop that he has h Ruhn put his light into a prism. We don't know what he's researching or looking into, but it sounds awfully similar. So she uses the gate as a conduit, able to take light and power and refract them. She closes her eyes, remembering the rainbows the gate had been adorned with that last day of Danica's life, when they'd come here together and made their wishes. And so she whispers one final wish for it to close, and then she thrusts her starlight into the gate's clear stone. White light then we switched to Hunt's perspective. White light blazed from the gate's clear stone. It filled the square, shooting outward for blocks. Demons caught in its past, screamed as they were blinded, then fled, like they remembered who it had once belonged to, how the starborn prince had battled their hordes with it. The starborn line had bred true twice. Ruhn's face is drained of color, he remained kneeling, and beheld his sister. the blazing gate, what she'd declared to the world, what she'd revealed herself to be, his rival, and a threat to all he stood to inherit. But that she possessed the light of a star, such as hadn't been witnessed since the first wars. Jesiba looked like she'd seen a ghost. Fury gaped at the screen. When the flare dimmed Hunt's breath caught in his throat, the void within the heart gate was gone. She'd channeled her light through the horn somehow and sealed the portal. So Now she is panting, leaning against the gate against one side of the gate before sliding to the tiles. she has officially closed this gate, but the rest of the gates have remained open. And then they can hear a phone ring in the summit area. And it is the Autumn King calling Bryce's mother. And he starts the conversation with, You've known she was starborn fae all these years and lied to me about it. And Ember's like, I've been waiting for this call for more than twenty years now. And she says, Why do you think who do you think ended your goons all those years ago? Not me, not Randall. They had her in their grasp by the neck and they had us at gunpoint. She realized what they were going to do to me, to Randall, and she blinded them. And that's when Hunt reminds remembers what Aidas had said, what blinds in Oracle? Light, the way the starborn had possessed it. And that's when Ruhn says to no one in particular, the books claim that there were multiple starborn in the first horse. I told her and she already knew. Hunt's response was she lied because she loves you, so you could keep your title. Ruhn doesn't care. He doesn't care about the title. It's not about that. and but Hund is thinking compared to Bryce, that Bryce is the real deal compared to Ruhn. The Autumn King asks Ember who knew. She says only herself and Randall and then Danica because she and Bryce got into some trouble in college, which we just saw the rest of that. And the Autumn King says, Well, her r her tests showed no power. Ember says they're correct. It is a gift of starlight, light and nothing more. It never meant anything to us, but to your people. When Bryce was thirteen, she agreed to visit you, to meet you, to see if you could be trusted to know what she possessed and not be threatened by it. No envy and Han is looking at Ruhn, realizing that there's no envy or doubt or on his face, only sorrow at realizing that she hadn't trusted him enough to tell him. And Ember says, but then she met your son, and she told me that when she saw his pride in his being in his chosen one status, she realized she couldn't take it away from him. Not when she also saw that that was the only value you, as in the Autumn King, placed on him. Even if it meant she would be denied everything she was due, even if revealing herself would have meant she could lord it over you, she wouldn't do that to Ruhn. Because she loved him that much more than she hated you. And Ruin's face just crumbles at this point because he's finally realizing the true depth of his sister's love for him and how much she has given up for the last twenty years just to make sh well, the last ten years, just to make sure that he could maintain his value and his place with the fae. And then a soft female hand lands atop hunts, and it is Queen Hypaxia. Her dark brown eyes glowed when he looked over in surprise. Her power was a song of warmth through him. It was a hammer to every wall and obstacle placed on him, and he felt that power focus on the halo spell upon his brow. She'd asked him weeks ago what he'd do if she removed it, whom he'd kill. His first target was in this room with them. His eyes darted towards Sandriel and Hypaxia's chin dipped as if in confirmation. So Bryce still sat against the gate, as if trying to rally herself, wondering if she has enough power to make, you know, to do this six more times and close the other six gates. that the demons in the adjacent streets had seen the starlight glowing from the old gate and kind of paused, wondering or remembering the starborn, and maybe they knew their the myths, and that's why they paused. But Aidas had known, had watched her all these years, waiting for her to reveal herself. And then Hypaxia's power flowed silently, unnoticed into hunt. And then Sandril slides her phone into her pocket. And Ruhn wants to know what she did. What did she just put into place? Because obviously she's seen what Bryce has done as well. She is Bryce is a threat, hands down to the Asteri at this point. She then says, Sandril says I took care of a problem. Hunt's power growled within him. She'd have Told the Asteria all she'd seen, not only what glowed in Bryce's veins, but about the horn too, and they were likely already moving on the information quickly before anyone else could ponder Bryce's gifts, what it might mean to the people of this world if they knew a half human female, heir to the starborn line, now bore the horn in her body able to be used only by her. And then the truth. clicked into place for Hunt. It was why Danica had inked it on Bryce, only the starborn line could use the horn. And that it was only working that it had only worked for Micah because it was in Bryce's body and she was the heir to the starboard line. Sandril Arun says that they can't kill her. She's the only one who can shut the gates. Sandriel's response is she hasn't made the drop yet, so they most definitely can kill her, and it looks like she's woolly drained anyway. I doubt she'll be able to close the second gate, let alone six more. And then Hypaxia meets Hunt's stare again and smiles slightly, an invitation and a challenge. Her magic shimmered through him over his forehead. Sandril had informed the Asteri, so they'd killed Bryce, or they were going to kill Bryce. He rose to his feet as Hypaxia's magic dissolved the halo from his brow. And then the conference room shook. Again, this is like the fourth time in the last couple of chapters. This darn conference room was shook. Ruhn had kept Sandriel distracted, kept her talking while Queen Hypaxia had freed Hunt from the Halo script. He'd sensed the ripple of power, the ripple of her power down the table, then seen Hunt's Halo begin to glow, and had understood understood what the witch her hand on Hunt's was doing. And there was nothing but cold death in Hunt's eyes as the halo tattoo flaked from flaked away from his brow the true face of the Umbra Mortis. Sandriel whirled, realizing too late who now stood at her back. Something like pure terror crossed the archangel's face as Hunt bared his teeth. Lightning gathered around his hands, the walls cracked, debris rained from the ceiling, but Sandril was too slow. Ruhn knew Sandrill had signed her own death warrant when she didn't bring her Triari back with her and stamped the official seal on it the moment she'd revealed that she put Hunt or put Bryce in the line of fire of the Asteri. even her Archangel's might couldn't protect her from Athelar and what he felt for Bryce. And so his lightning skitters over the floors. Sandril barely had time to lift her arms and summon a gale force of wind before Hunt was upon her. Lightning erupted, the entire room crackled with it. Ruhn threw himself under the table, grabbing Hypaxia with her or with him. ether coated his tongue, and then time shifted and slowed. sliding by and we have another dead archangel. The world tipping over again slowly and dragging. Flynn is swearing in the background, which just cracks me up because he's the only one really saying anything at this point. and then Ruhn crawls at back from underneath the table, knowing what he's going to see. that Fury Axtar had a gun pointed where the Archangel and Hunt had stood, debris whitening her dark hair. Blood splattered Hunt's face and his feathers as they fluttered on a phantom wind. And from his hand gripped by the hair, dangled Sandril's severed head. Her mouth was still open in a scream, smoke rippling from her lips, the skin on her neck so damaged, Ruhn knew Hunt had torn it off with his bare hands. So he talked about how the males in love had. handle killing beings with their bare hands because they want to feel it. We talked about it in ACOTAR when Rhys does it, when Helion does it. Now we have again Hunt doing that as well. And then all of the angels in the room all knelt on one knee, bowed, even Isaiah, because no one on the planet had that sort of power. No one had seen it fully unleashed in centuries. So we got two governors who are dead, all in one day, slain by his sister and his sister's whatever hunt was to her. From the awe and fear on his father's face, Ruhn knew the Autumn King was wondering about it, wondering if Hunt would kill him next, for how he'd treated Bryce. And Hunt doesn't kill him but does throw him a feral grin as if to say, Not now, but maybe someday.

M: Yeah.

C: And then we are back to Hunt's perspective. He is giving lots of orders. Every decision, every order flowed from him because he has been a commander before. He knows how to be a commander. Yes, it's been like 200 years since he was one, but he has easily slipped back into that place. Now that all of his power is sizzling through his veins, he is the most powerful. Maybe not compared to the Autumn King, but he is. One of the most powerful beings in this room now. Fury even shook slightly as if even she had forgotten what he could do. and then finally says the helicopter is landing on the roof now. So they all move out. Hunt didn't care that all of the angels bowed to him. Whatever that meant, he wasn't sure, but he didn't care. Tharian goes with them. Amelie Ravenscroft says she's going with them too. Sabine tries to stop her, but she wants to go. She wants to kind of redeem herself, realizes that Sabine maybe isn't the best role model. So Hunt, Flynn, Ruhn. Therian all join Fury and Hunt. Declan says he's gonna stay because he's gonna be their eyes in the field. The Autumn King and the Prime of the Wolves, they were the only city heads present. They remained in the pit, along with Sabine, Jessica, and Hypaxia would all also remain there, having to keep them honest. It is a military-grade helicopter, so it's complete with two gunners on either door, and it's very wide assortment of guns and weapons and duffels strapped to the floor. and Hunt thinks Fury Axtar had not come to this meeting, expecting it to be friendly. That she actually grabs the headset from the departing pilot because she is the one who pilots them. And so it is only their group that are going to go into the helicopter. Isaiah and the angels are going to fly there. But because Hunt's wings have only just come back, he hasn't and he's been in a cell, he hasn't had a chance to actually test them out, see how their strength is. So he is actually gonna ride in the helicopter with them because his wings won't handle the flight. But it also means that they're gonna get there a little bit faster because it's an hour flying, an angel flying versus a half hour in a helicopter. Hunt tells the departing angels to establish a perimeter around the city, that they need a scout team to investigate the portals, send survivors to triage at least five miles beyond the city walls. And then he jumps in to the helicopter. Fury does look back to him because he is kind of thinking through when she mentioned on the phone to thank Juniper for not letting her jump. He is thinking through that, realizing how much it got him to know that he almost lost her before he actually got to know her. And Fury can kind of see that on his face and says Bryce was a ghost for a long while. She pretended she wasn't, but she was. You brought her back to life. And that's the end of that section. we will stop there for this kind of shorter than usual episode. We're going to sadly end on a huge cliffhanger, not knowing what is gonna happen with the other six portals. And is Bryce does Bryce have enough power or energy to close them? What other kind of crazy things is she gonna get into in the last hundred and fifty pages of this book? Join us next time.

K: Okay. And that's where we leave Crescent City in this episode, because apparently solving a murder wasn't enough. Now the entire city is under attack, demons are pouring through the gates, and Bryce has gone from murder suspect to the only person standing between Lunathian and complete destruction. Meanwhile, Hunt is finally free, Sandrilla is dead, and the people who control the city have just realized something they should have figured out a long time ago. Bryce Quinlan is not someone you want to underestimate. The immediate threat may be over, but nothing about this case feels finished. Too many questions remain, too many secrets are still buried, and Bryce has officially became a problem the wrong people can no longer ignore. And if Bryce has learned anything, it's that the most dangerous enemies aren't always the ones waiting in the dark. And with that, we're only one episode away from closing the case on Crescent City. Join us next time for our final episode where we'll uncover the last secrets, connect the final clues, and see how this whole twisted investigation comes to an end.

M: Yay.

C: Woo