C: welcome back to the podcast. Today we're diving into chapters twenty-eight through thirty-five of House of Earth and Blood, where Sarah J. Maas continues to casually introduce new information, like we're all supposed to know what's going on. The mystery is getting murkier. The danger level is steadily climbing, and our theory board is officially held together with caffeine and wishful thinking. Bryce is doing her best. Hunt is trying very hard not to catch feelings. Good luck with that. And we're over here highlighting every other sentence. Convinced that it's going to matter 300 pages later. So grab your favorite drink, prepare to question everyone's motives, and join us as we overanalyze every clue, every suspicious conversation, and every piece of world building that Sarah definitely included for a reason. Let's head back to Crescent City. Okay. So chapters 28 through 35. We ended the last set of chapters with Bryce agreeing to let Hunt stay with her as a full-time bodyguard so that Ruhn wouldn't stay with her. Hunt is then given the spare bedroom in her apartment where he sees a couple of photos. One is a sassy Bryce, around three years old, with her beautiful mother and her stepfather, who Hunt realizes is the legendary sharpshooter Randall Salago. And the other photo shows Bryce and Danika from a few years prior to Danika's death, sitting with their backs to the camera, looking like they just went through a battle. We end that chapter with Hunt falling asleep to that image of peace between two friends. Okay, so we start chapter twenty-eight with Hunt waking up to the scent of another male in his room. He opens his eyes only to find Syrinx on the pillow opposite his. And Syrinx is attempting to SWAT at his face. Because he wants Hunt to get up and feed him and Hunt's just like, I'm pretty sure if I feed you, it's not going to be the first time you've eaten today. So I'm gonna be smart and not feed you. Cause Hunt at this point he knows better. He's learned a little bit. He realizes that he did close his bedroom door last night, but it is open, most likely because of syrinx. However, he was sleeping so hard that he didn't hear it open, nor has he heard Bryce get up or any other sounds throughout the apartment. So for a minute he thinks that maybe Bryce left without him. So he throws on a pair of jeans because that's all there was left from the night before that wasn't a wreck. And that's all he has in her apartment because they haven't gone to actually get his clothes now that he's officially living with Bryce in her second bedroom. And then he storms over to her bedroom only to find her still fast asleep. Like she is calmed down. And it's roughly seven o'clock in the morning. he does kind of take a moment to look at her tattoo because of the way she's laying, it is on full display. And the little nightgown that she's wearing has a low back. So he is able to see quite a bit of the tattoo and realizes. the tattoo down her back and the scrolling beautiful lines of an alphabet that he does not recognize. So it is something he does not know. at that point he realizes that he's staring at her like a creep, and he's like, crap, she would kill me if she woke up right now. So he starts backtracking back up the hall and is heading to the kitchen to make some coffee, and that's when Juniper walks in because she has a key. And Juniper just kind of pauses, catching him in the hallway, just in pants, right outside Bryce's door at seven o'clock in the morning. And Juniper's just like, Okay, what's going on here? And Hunt tries to tell her it's not what it looks like. And she's like, Okay, well then if it isn't what it looks like, then give us some privacy and go away. So he goes off to make some coffee. She waltz past him. into the bedroom with Bryce, tries to tell Bryce to put some pants on because of course she's in a nightgown and panties and that's it. Very Bryce outfit. he does hear the majority of their conversation because he is able to. He hears Juniper tell Bryce that she got a hold of Fury, who is coming back because there is now a bounty out for whoever bombed the white raven. So Fury is coming back to start looking as well for whoever bombed it. and Hunt isn't quite thrilled that we're gonna be adding Fury Axtar. to the mix of people and everything that's going on in Crescent City at this point. Juniper wants to know why Hunt is there and Bryce just tells her that Jesiba has her looking into something and Hunt is only there for protection. So Juniper's response is so the gorgeous angel who's currently making you coffee without a shirt. And Hunt of course is smiling to himself because he's listening to them talk about how attractive he is. And she's like, So does it is it part of him being here that he has to be shirtless? And Bryce is like, Well, you know all these angels with all their muscles, they have to show them as much as they can. and Bryce is like, you do know that he's listening right now, and his feathers are probably so so puffed up he won't be able to walk through the door. So at that point then they go padding into the kitchen and of course Hunt is leaning against the countertop, just smiling at them. And he's like, puffed up, really? And that's exactly what he asks her when she finally strolls into the kitchen, still in her night lingerie, her little bright pink lace nightgown and matching panties. He's busy taking in the scar on her thigh 'cause he can see it with how short the nightgown is. And he's silently reprimanding himself for the poor healing job that he did two years ago when she got it. But that's not what Bryce is noticing. she's just noticing him looking in that general area and is like, Hey, eyes up here, buddy. Juniper has brought them chocolate croissants. She's been trying to get a hold of Bryce, but Bryce's phone was lost, stolen, damaged, blown up the night before at the White Raven, so she has not gotten a new phone. And that's why no one can get a hold of her right now. Bryce wants to know why Hunt is up so early, and Hunt's like, it's 7 30. It's not that early, and I wouldn't be up except your chimera practically sat on my head. So I kind of had to get up. then he wants to know who all has keys to her apartment. She says her parents, Juniper, and the doorman. She talks about having to return the key that they took last night to the doorman after she gets herself another copy. Hunt, of course, wants a copy as well. Bryce has woken up in a mood which is not really any different from her normal mood, but her response is to go into a rant. about Hunt being in Alpha Hole all the time. And do they have a handbook for it or do they have a secret support group that he goes to for his alpha hole? And Hunt isn't familiar with the term, obviously, because Bryce made it up, but she goes on to A nice little rant about alpha holes, or at least how she describes them. And it cracks me up because she talks about them being possessive and aggressive, males who rip their shirt off at the slightest provocation, who know how to kill in about 10 different ways, who have females falling all over them, but then when they finally select one, then they go on a full-on mating frenzy. And then refuse to let another male talk to her, look at her, nothing. And then they decide what she eats, when she eats, how she dresses, when she sees her friends, etc. All of that stuff. Which I feel like we've seen mating frenzies before, especially with Rhys and Feyre And Rhys was that way to an extent, but he did a really good job of reigning it in and trying to control it because it it annoyed Feyre whenever he did that. So even if they are a little on that mating frenzy side, they can still reel it in for some. But Bryce is just lumping them all in together. Saying that their favorite hobbies are brooding, fighting, and roaring, and you've perfected about thirty different types of snarls and growls. You've got a cabal of hot friends, which I feel like I mean, aren't all of the people in Sarah's books just attractive? Because that's just like that's how it is. The none of them aren't attractive. It's all a group or a cabal of hot friends. And isn't it Dorian who even points it out in Throne of Glass when they're all on the ship in book five together? Empire of Storms. And he's like, There's an abnormally large amount of attractive people on this boat. So yes, even she points it out with her characters in the books that yes, there is a whole cabal of hot friends. And Bryce goes on to say, in the moment one of you mates, all of you fall like dominoes. Which I feel like we do see in Throne of Glass, because it starts with Aelin and Rowan, and then we get Chaol and Yrene Nesryn and Sartaq Aedion and Lysandra, Dorian and Manon. So yes, all of them do kind of mate. And we're kind of getting that in ACOTAR because Feyre and Rhys, Cassian and well, we haven't gotten to Cass and Nesta's book yet, but they're gonna end up together and hopefully down the line we'll get someone for more and maybe someone for Elain But yeah, I mean we are kind of getting there. So I think it's really funny that Sarah is essentially writing this character to make fun of her other characters. And in all honesty, other romantasy books, because half the time the first book is about one couple and the second book's about the next couple, and then the next. So yeah, it just they're falling like dominoes. But it cracks me up. And once she's done with her rant, not even. she is still on her rant. when Hunt actually takes her croissant away from her. And he's not quite sure if she's going to bite him because she's that annoyed that he took the chocolate croissant away from her, which I completely understand. you take that away from me first thing in the morning? Even before I've had coffee and yes, expect to be bitten or something. Yeah. But he takes it and then he takes a bite out of it. Like not just takes it away. He actually starts eating it. And that gets her to stop her little rant. So then he is able to say the last thing he wants is to sleep with her, which is definitely not true. Definitely not true. And then he goes on to say he doesn't have any friends. So there's no couple's retreat on the horizon for them. And then he goes on to say, and if we're complaining about people who are clothing optional, and then he gives her a hard look, like Really? You're the one sitting here in a nightgown and panties. And he even goes on to say You're the one who parades around here in a bra and underwear every morning, all while eating her croissant. He's finished it at this point. Even though he secretly likes all of the lingerie that she parades around the apartment in, and even mentions the extensive and rather spectacular assortment of lingerie that he tries very hard to forget. No buddy. you like it. Let's let's be honest here. He's just he's he's still pushing his feelings away. he's not letting himself go down that road yet. But then he adds a little bit of truth to it that she doesn't want to hear because this is Bryce. And it is exactly what we talked about in last episode. He says that she's going to get him a set of keys and add him to the enchantment so that he's able to get into the apartment without needing her, just in case. And he says, and You're going to do it not because I'm being aggressive or possessive or assertive. He says, It is part of my job to protect you. it isn't me being an alpha hole, it is me making sure that you don't end up dead. Which is exactly what I said it was when they were at the White Raven, and he was trying to get her to eat. She literally hadn't eaten all day. And I feel like she exhibits wanting to spite herself just to not listen to him. Like you know better. You need to eat on a regular basis, but you're not going to eat because he's telling you that you need to eat or he's pointing it out that you needed to eat. Like just that's crap. that's why she

M: you that

C: pisses me off sometimes.

M: I don't think I remembered how petulant she really gets through

C: Right?

M: it. I'm like, ha ha sassy, okay, a little bratty, but no, she acts like, you know, an eight to nine year old niece stomping their feet and

C: Yes.

M: huh. Just yeah, no. But I still love her so much. But no, her I like that Juniper called her out right before too. With the whole Fury thing. Well, that's how she had to cope. Let

C: Yes.

M: cope how they need to. I like that people are starting to finally, after what, two years at this point, calling her out on hey, you can grieve, you can still feel it. That's okay, but don't treat people

C: Yes.

M: like crap that are trying to be there for you.

C: Yes, and I think we're gonna start seeing that more and more because Hunt is going to call her out on it consistently. And I think we'll see Ruhn call it out, but I think Ruhn's only gonna do it with Hunt, because Ruhn, we're gonna see in a couple of pages, sees that he still can't push Bryce, can't get Bryce to do certain things. But when Hunt says to do it, she still pushes back a little bit, but eventually she'll do it. Because she's getting to that point where I think she's trusting Hunt to not be the assertive alpha hole, but be the type of person she's realizing that he's actually there, that he actually cares about her or is cares about her well being, at least to an extent, even if it's just for this case. But I think we finally see her start to realize that in this set of chapters. She still pushes back, but it's not like it's it's not completely. It's more of a I'm going to do it, but I'm gonna complain about it. so of course she has nothing to say to him telling her that he just wants to make sure she doesn't end up dead. So she then says, Stop swearing so much. You're upsetting Syrinx which is total wool. And he calls her right on it too. And he's like, Really? You have the dirtiest mouth I've ever heard. And then he calls her sweetheart, which is the equivalent of Rhys. calling Feyre darling. And of course, Bryce hates it. But she secretly loves it. Let's be honest. She's just gonna complain about it now and every time he says it in the next couple of chapters, but she secretly loves it. And then he goes so far as to say, and from the way you're acting, I would say you're the alpha hole here not me. and then she hisses. And he's like, yeah, that just proves my point. An assortment of snarls and growls. And again, she doesn't have anything to say to that, so she just storms off to get dressed for work. And on the way to the gallery, after they're both ready, Hunt realizes that Bryce dons her clothes, the hair, the makeup kind of as her armor for the day. And it's very similar to the way that Hunt puts on his armor and all of his weapons, that that's her way of preparing herself. And he ends it with, but I don't wear lingerie underneath. Ruhn is supposed to be showing up at the gallery at some point that day, 'cause that was part of their bargain. So Hunt asks Bryce what the deal is between the two of them. Bryce says that they were close when she was a teenager, but then they got into a big fight and she stopped speaking to him after that, for the most part, and now he can see what their relationship has kind of evolved into. He asks why they fought, and Bryce said it started out about the Autumn King, which Hunt doesn't know that that's also her father. he thinks right now that that's just Ruhn's father. And how that originally they fought because of the Autumn King, and how Ruhn was wrapped around his finger at that point, and then it divolved into a screaming match about each other's flaws. But talking through it with Hunt, Bryce kind of mentions that she's realized that Ruhn, to an extent, was trying to protect her. And that's why the argument happened and why some things were said. But he didn't go about it in a good way. And he was an alpha hole. He was possessive and aggressive about it. And that's what really pissed her off. And so that's why she doesn't like. Alpha holes because she feels like they're way too close to her father. And that's when Bryce does tell Hunt that she does hate her father and she tries to see him as little as possible. But she hates Sabine about as much as she hates her own father. Bryce asks Hunt who's number one on his hate list and he says Sandriel, which is completely understandable. that Sandriel and her commander Pollux take cruelty and punishment to new levels and they punished him for many years while he was under Sandriel's rule. and I like that they have a little bit of camaraderie in that they both have people that they hate and things that they've gone through. So their response to each other is kind of, well, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. And the other one's like, well, yeah, likewise. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you too. So I think we start to see that kind of continue over the next couple of chapters as well, is that they have shared issues or shared understandings and that Because of that it starts to pull them together. they chat about making wishes at the gates. Hunt has never done it. Bryce says that she's done it multiple times. He said, Well, that's just a a child thing. You do that when you're children. She says, Yeah, but it's still fun. And then she tells them that she did it when she was thirteen. And he asks what she wished for, and she says, I wish for bigger boobs. Because what thirteen year old girl isn't wishing for bigger boobs? Unless you already had at that point, then no. But Hunt's response is, well, that paid off. And then silently he's thinking to himself that that is a big freaking lace covered understatement. That it paid off. And he's trying really hard not to look at her large breasts as they're walking down the sidewalk. She asks him if there was anything he could wish for if he knew the wish would come true. What would he wish for? and he thinks through it, thinks that it would be probably to have his mom alive again and happy, or to have Sandriel, Micah, the archangels, all of them dead, the Asteri dead, have the hierarchies come crashing down, but he can't say any of that out loud. and he's not ready to say any of that to her either. So instead he just says, I don't need to wish for better assets. I'm happy with mine. So I guess I wish that you weren't such a pain in the butt. She's like, Wow, rude. so they get to the gallery, Ruhn does arrive eventually, says that the Autumn King would be jealous of the collection of books that's there. And then we get another scene where Ruhn and Hunt are happy when Bryce puts her snark on the other one. Because they have this little rivalry. And it's pretty funny this little back and forth that the three of them have. Bryce starts to get snarky at Ruhn, to which Hunt snickers because he's happy that that's happening. Ruhn questions why Hunt is there, because Ruhn's now annoyed that Hunt is laughing at him. Hunt says he is researching the Kristallos demon. He is guessing it's a type six demon because he's fought dozens of those over the centuries, and he wants to see if there are any similarities between it and any other type six demon. He assumes it's a type six because type seven is reserved for the princes of Hel themselves. But he can't find any similarities between the Kristallos and any other type six demon. But he's also looking through either the data he's compiled or the data he has access to as he's been hunting demons for these last two centuries. So Bryce kind of wonders maybe they're looking in the wrong spot. If the Kristallos demon hasn't been identified, no one at this point has been able to identify it based on their current information. So maybe they need to be looking through older information. And so she pulls up some vases and ancient art from like 15,000 years ago, thinking that maybe they need to look back since the Kristallos was made to hunt the horn, they need to look back to when the horn was last actually used. Which was fifteen thousand years ago in the first war. and she specifically mentions no one had been able to identify it. Maybe that's because it didn't make it into the history books. So it just makes you wonder why didn't it make it into the history books? What else didn't make it into the history books? Lahaba then chimes in, asks Ruhn about being a prince and the chosen one, is it so glamorous kind of thing. And he says It's boring because he doesn't have a lot of the starborn power. He says it's just a sword and some party tricks. And Bryce coos, you poor little prince. Poor little baby Prince Ruhn. Because he's essentially whining to Lehabah And then Hunt grunts in agreement. So then Ruhn gets annoyed again. This is our pattern here. so then Ruhn wants to know if he has something to say, and Hunt's response is, Well, Bryce said it all. I don't have anything else to say on top of that. So then Bryce wants to know what the deal is between Hunt and Ruhn because she's now noticing this interaction, this constant pushback from each other. they both say that they beat each other up at a party. And Hunt says Ruhn is still sore about it. Bryce asks why they fought and they're they both just say, Well the other one is an arrogant butthole. And then Bryce and Lehabah kinda turn to each other and have a little girl power moment and they're like well we're ladies, we're above all of that. those boys in their pissing contests. And Ruhn and Hunt both roll their eyes and realize that they have a little bit of solidarity in rolling their eyes at Bryce and Lehabah. So then Ruhn finally gets up to peruse the shelves to see if he can find something that kind of calls to him and his starborn powers. he starts looking through the books. Bryce puts on some music and he compliments her, just kind of throws out the compliment just to test out the water, see if it's something that can help them bridge the gap in their relationship, or at least start. I think it's interesting that the first book Ruhn goes to grab is called Words of the Gods and it's gold plated. Like I wanna know what this book is. I don't think we ever see it again, but it just makes me wonder if he goes for that one and it says Words of the Gods, what does it mean? Could we see it in another book, maybe? That would be cool. Bryce then tells Ruhn not to touch anything without permission. And his response is from you or the book. And she's like, both. Don't don't touch anything without permission from me and the book. So he's like, okay. Cause he starts to ask why the books move and Lehabah starts to tell him and Bryce cuts him off because it's a secret that no one is supposed to know. so Ruhn ends up pulling down a book that does beckon to him and it is called Great Romances of the Fae. Bryce, of course, teases him, says, Well, apparently your powers are only good at finding smut which cracks me up, but he still reads it and finds out that it is actually pertinent to what they need, to some of the information that they need. So he is reading through it when Declan reaches out, says he has all the information for Bryce. Ruhn emails it over to them so that they can look through. all of the info is just Danika's whereabouts for like a week or two leading up to her death. Most of it is stuff that Bryce kind of assumed it's not surprising because based on who Danika is and what she did, most of her whereabouts, her locations aren't surprising. But There is one that is surprising because Bryce does not realize or Danika led her to believe she was on duty guarding an area near Luna's Temple, but not at Luna's Temple. Based on this information, Danika was actually on duty at Luna's Temple, the couple nights leading up to the horn being stolen, and the night the horn was stolen. So because of that, they now assume Danika saw something and she was killed because she saw something in regards to whoever stole the horn. Ruhn urges her to go through the data again in case she missed something. She doesn't want to agree, but this is where Hunt says, Well, it's better than nothing. Just try it again. And she's like, okay, fine, I'll go through it. So that's where Ruhn is kind of watching this too, that they've made it this far in their friendship that she isn't automatically saying no to Hunt. And Ruhn thinks nothing good. will come out of Bryce and Hunt working and living together, but thankfully he keeps his mouth shut about it. Ruhn does find a passage about Prince Pelias and his bride, Lady Helena. Ruhn finds a passage. It is a three page account of Prince Pelias and his bride Lady Helena. But I didn't realize that Pelias was actually the high general for a fae queen named Theia when they entered this world during the crossing. And Helena was her daughter. From what it sounds like. Queen Theia was also starborn, and her daughter possessed the same power. Theia had a younger daughter with the same gift, but only Lady Helena gets mentioned. And he reads the passage night haired Lady Helena from whose golden skin poured starlight and shadows. It seems like Pelias was one of several fae back then who had starborn powers. So it sounds like Helena has both the shadows and the starlight, just like Ruhn does, even though Ruhn's starlight is very minimal. Ruhn goes on to say it mentions here that the sacred objects were made only for fae like them, that the horn worked only when that starlight flowed through it, when it was filled with power. This claims that the starborn magic, in addition to a bunch of other crap, can be channeled through the sacred objects, bringing them to life. So what I translate that to is that the starborn magic. In addition to other types of magic, can be channeled through the objects and bring them to life. And Ruhn's like, Well, I sure as crap have never been able to do anything like that. Even with the star sword. but it says that's why the prince of the pit had to steal Pelias' blood to make the Kristallos hunt the horn. it contained that essence. I think the horn could have been wielded by any of them though. So by any of those who are starborn. So that's when they realize that even if someone were to find whoever's looking for the horn now, even if they were to find the horn, they wouldn't be able to use it without Ruhn Because at this point Ruhn is the only one they're assuming that they know of that has starborn powers. that anyone without them wouldn't be able to use the horn. This is also when they realize that they're looking for two different people. One is the person who actually stole the horn, the night of the blackout, and two is the person who is summoning the Kristallos demon. they also discuss that the horn is broken permanently, according to the book, and that the fae claim it can only be repaired by light that is not light, magic that is not magic. I think is very interesting. Ruhn claims the Autumn King wants the horn back because the fae's powers are dwindling, that their ancestors could burn an entire forest to ash, and the autumn king could maybe handle a grove of trees, but not much more than that. So the fae's powers are dwindling and have been over the last 15,000 years. Bryce mentions that there are passages in the book about Ruhn's Avallen cousins, that that's the side of the family where Ruhn gets his shadows. But Ruhn says they're a bunch of pricks. Bryce asks if Ruhn received the mind-reading power, and Ruhn corrects her and says it's mind-speaking, but he doesn't actually give her an answer of whether or not he has that particular gift. Instead, he says it has nothing to do with the starborn stuff or with this case. And then they move on. Like nobody questions him. So Hunt then mentions going to the Oracle to ask her about the horn, if she would know who stole it or what their reasoning is, what they want to do with the horn, that kind of thing. Is it even possible to fix it? Both Bryce and Ruhn have had bad experiences with the Oracle, so neither one of them wants to go back. But Hunt does ask Isaiah to get him a meeting with her. Bryce then mentions maybe they should go to the mystics. We have no idea what the mystics are. All we know is Hunt's responses, the mystics are some dark, messed up stuff. We'll do that, but let's do let's go to the Oracle first. Hunt then gets a call and he leaves to take it. Ruhn leaves shortly after. And then Lehabah and Bryce have a moment to chit-chat about the boys, to which Lehabah says, Your cousin is super dreamy. And Bryce's response is, I thought Hunt was your one true love. And Lehabah's like, Well, why can't it be both? And Bryce says, Well, they aren't very good at sharing, so I don't think that'll go over well for you. But I'm sitting over here like, But honestly? Who wouldn't want to be shared by both of them? Come on now. Like Lehabah has the right idea. and then Hunt interrupts them by emailing Bryce saying that they're leaving in five minutes to go get his stuff from the Comitium Bryce responds with, Don't give me orders because she's channeling Feyre for a little bit. Hunt's response is four minutes, sweetheart. And so of course she says back, don't call me sweetheart. And then he says, Three minutes now. they are going to the comitium because they need to get Hunt's clothing. Bryce has changed out of her dress into a pair of super tight jeans, because that's apparently all she wears, and then a button-up white blouse, and thankfully some flats because they're gonna be walking a lot. Since she refuses to let Hunt carry her at this point. they end up going up in an elevator, get to his room. She kinda looks around a little bit, but it's super bland, nothing crazy going on. He hasn't decorated it at all, which kind of makes sense. He doesn't want to see it as a place where he's staying. she does grab his phone, which I think is a really funny part of them, like something that is unique to them, because we don't have this kind of technology in any of Sarah's other worlds, but we get some picture taking between the two of them that's gonna continue throughout the book. So initially Bryce steals his phone and is looking through the photos, realizes that he has thirty-six total photos over the years that he's had the phone, and Every single photo is some point of a crime some part of a crime scene. Most of them are very gory photos. So nothing nice on his phone. going back four years, And she's like, and all of them are dismembered bodies. So of course, what does Bryce do but snap a picture of herself smiling real big? she asks why he doesn't take pictures of anything else, life, pretty flowers, a good meal, that kind of thing. And his response is, Well, what's the point? This is kind of one way that Hunt is kind of keeping him punishing himself. He is not living life in the same way that Bryce is not currently living life either. they do walk past a group of males, most of them are checking her out, but one of which Hunt describes as trying to have a conversation with her butt. And her response is, well, who was that? And he's like, How am I supposed to know? There are 3,000 of us just in the 33rd alone. I don't know all of their names. And he's like, Maybe some guy who checks out your But before he says hello, isn't someone worth knowing? And she's like, no, that's exactly who I want to know for this this specific reason. And that's you know, just for like a one night stand type thing, because she doesn't want someone who's gonna say hello first and be polite. But I think it's really funny because they get out of the elevator at one point and he like holds the door open for her and she walks in, but then she pauses because she doesn't actually know where she is. And he says, I was following her, and then she paused, and I realized she paused because only I know where we're going. She was just faking it. Which cracks me up because that's so Bryce is to just walk in headheld high. looking like she belongs, even though she's no idea where she's going. Bryce does ask when he made the drop. He says he was twenty-eight. She asks why then, and he says that's when his mother, his mother, had just died. And he was reeling afterwards, thinking that the drop might help. So he did it with a public anchor, made the drop, and it didn't make a difference that he inherited it. Because once the tattoos got inked on him five years later, it cut me off at the knees. So he's essentially describing the large amount of power that he has, cut off so much that he now has like a trickle of it, and that's it. So she goes on to ask, Do you ever regret the angel's rebellion? And he's like, Well, no one's ever asked me that. And he says, I don't know what I think because he he can't say. what he thinks. There are too many cameras, too many people who are listening or can hear. So that's all he's gonna respond to with is I don't know what I think now that she knows Micah is the angel that she saved the night Danika died, she asks what would have happened to Hunt if Micah had actually died. And Hunt tells her that their deed of ownership passes to whoever replaces him. If he doesn't have anyone listed to take over, then the assets get divided among the other archangels. And that whoever took over after Micah probably would not uphold the bargain that Micah has with Hunt

M: I feel like in that small section, not that you don't already understand why he doesn't want to go back to Sandriel or another one of the archangels, but I feel like in that small moment you have that, wow, by Bryce saving Micah, it not only saved Micah, but preserved where the 33rd is for the time being. Cause and I feel like Hunt, he hasn't said it, but I feel like when it's expressed right here, you know, he leaves that silent, like. I don't know, like when you're listening to it on the dramatized audio, I felt like there was that pause where it was just that pregnant pause where you're like, Okay, he's not saying it, but he's acknowledging there's a reason he's glad it happened. Yeah.

C: That he's thankful. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, I agree. And I feel like we get that a little bit too in this next scene where they meet Sandriel That Hunt is very appreciative that he is still with Micah because of how Micah handles things. So they end up going while they're getting his things, they find out that they are approved to see Briggs, but Briggs has to be cleaned up and brought over from the prison to the comitium so that they can actually meet with him. also, Hunt is scheduled to meet with the Oracle first thing the next morning. when they get to his bedroom and he starts pulling things out of drawers, I think it's super funny because I feel like this is the cabin that Feyre goes to in the end of book two all over again because he just starts pulling weapons out of random places. And I feel like that's exactly what Feyre did was just start opening drawers and looking under cushions and finding weapons everywhere. And I feel like that's what Hunt's bedroom is. It's just a small version of the cabin. He starts pulling stuff out so that he's able to take him with them. they're heading down the elevator. They make it down to the lobby and there is a ton of people in there trying to people trying to get into the l out the elevator and out of the lobby. And the reason is because on the other side of the lobby, walking in the main doors, is Micah and Sandriel Not a good thing. So of course, everyone in the space then kneels, leaving Isaiah, Hunt, and Bryce, who have just stepped out of the elevator, a very clear shot to Micah and Sandriel because they did not immediately bow. But I think it's interesting that Bryce says a ripple of power at the other end of the lobby made her legs buckle as if it was trying to push her down to kneel and she didn't. And it was at that point that the rest of the crowd kneeled and bowed their heads. So Sandriel and Micah turn to hunt Bryce and Isaiah. Isaiah is trying to get Brunt to kneel, Bryce and Hunt, both to kneel. Isaiah kneels. Hunt doesn't move, and Bryce realizes that he is in shock, partially because of fear, partially like this is PTSD for him. He is frozen in place because of all the trauma that he's had to deal with from Sandriel in the past. He is unable to move. He's struggling to breathe. He's kind of lost, stranded somewhere between the rage and the terror. so Bryce, being Bryce, leans into the stereotype that people have put on her, pulls out her phone, makes sure that the clicker sound is up high enough that everyone can hear, and just starts snapping pictures of the archangels, of all the angels kneeling, and then spins herself around with Hunt, kids gets a picture of them. And then with a picture with the archangels in the background. And she is just the the vapid superficial girl in this scene that people have mistaken her for and then turns to hunt and says, Thanks so much for bringing me, let's go. That is enough to snap Hunt out of his shock. Because Bryce doesn't give him a chance to do anything else. She just loops her arm through his and starts pulling him back into the elevator. Unfortunately, Micah gets there as well and wants to know what's going on. He asks them to explain themselves. Bryce tries to lie and he calls her out on it. She's like, Well, I heard you had a special guest, so I asked Hunt to bring me so I could get a photo. No, MIcah is like, nope. He cuts her off and says, Do not lie. So then Hunt finally is able to say something. He says, I had to pick up supplies and clothes. Isaiah gave me the go ahead to bring her here. And then Isaiah pops in and says, Yes, that's correct. And he backs up Hunt's story. And then Micah's gaze kind of roves over her body because I feel like we were super close to getting to this point when he and Hunt first came to meet with her in the gallery. But now we are getting Micah hitting on her, wanting to take her out to dinner. So she says to Micah, It was good to see you again. And kind of pushed into the elevator. Micah stops her with a hand on her arm and says, I'd like to take you to dinner. And at this point, Hunt just kind of has stopped breathing. And Bryce pulls out of his grip. And as the doors are closing, her response is, Not interested. That's it. To the archangel and governor of all of Valbara, she's just like, Not interested, thanks. And then they leave. And we realize that well Hunt realizes that Sandriel had probably come a little bit early in an attempt to surprise them, kind of catch them off guard, and that no one was knew when Pollux was coming, but thankfully at least he wasn't there. And he has no doubt that Sandriel will ever r forget Bryce's face or what happened. And he also thinks that That if Micah was anyone else Micah would blame Bryce's response on Hunt. And he's also kind of questioning is Micah going to actually do that? And he doesn't, but Micah does call him shortly after and say that he has a job for him and it is the type of job that is difficult for Hunt to to get over after he has done it and that Micah has done it that way on purpose. But in order to get away, Bryce does agree for Hunt to carry her as they fly because there's no way they're going back downstairs where Micah and Sandril are. So he does pick her up, she wraps her arms around his neck, her grip near strangling, and decides to bury her face in his neck. She is not interested in looking. Hunt does ask why she wanted to live in the old square. She says it's because it's the heart of the city. Why not there? He says, Well, Fyro, five roses is cleaner. And she says, Yeah, but it's full of fae peacocks who sneer at half breeds. he says, Well, why not Moonwood? She that's Sabine's territory. Obviously she hates hates me. Honestly, the old square is about the only safe place for someone like me. Plus it's close to work and I get my pick of good restaurants, music halls, museums, all of that. why would I even need to leave when it's all right here in the old square? And he says, Well, you take a different run every morning, different routes and he says, Well that's just to keep it fresh, to keep it fun. he does ask about Micah, asking her out on a date, and she says, Like I said, I'm just not interested and he says most females would be falling at his feet to get a date with him. And she says, Well, I'm not interested, period. And Hunt says, Are you sure it's not because you're just avoiding dating after Connor? is what he doesn't get a chance to say. And she says, see, right there is the problem. You and the whole rest of the world seem to think I exist just to find someone like him. That of course I can't be genuinely not interested because why wouldn't I want a big, strong male to protect me? Surely if I'm pretty and single, the second any powerful vanir shows interest, I should just drop my panties. In fact, I didn't even have a life until he showed up. Never even had good sex until after. Never felt alive until after. That kind of thing. And Hunt's response is darkest Hel, this woman. It's like you've got a real chip on your shoulder there, you know? And she's like, you make it real easy. And she crosses her arms at him and Hunt says it seemed like the stupid ponytail that she had been wearing high ponytail so that swishes back and forth as she's walking, he says it seemed to have crossed his prov proverbial arms too. So Hunt then asks, so are you gonna come with me to the Oracle tomorrow or what? And she's like no. And he says her purred words ran over his skin and her smile was pure wickedness. Hunt braced himself for whatever was about to come out of her mouth, even as he found himself looking forward to it. So he's gotten to a point where he's a little scared of what's coming gonna come out. But also kind of looking forward to it because it's gonna be fun. And she's like, No, you're gonna deal with her on your own. That evening they make it back to Her apartment, he wants to watch a sunball game. And she kind of rolls his eyes at him that this sunball watching person doesn't fit the mental image of the shadow of death, which I think is really funny because we're gonna get something similar in the in the next episode as well. That the image he portrays isn't the shadow of death that everyone thinks when they look at him. And he's like, Well, what do you think I do in my spare time? And she's like, Well, I just assumed you cursed at the stars and brooded and plotted revenge for all your enemies, you know, normal stuff. Which I'm just like, Really, that's that's normal stuff. So that's when Micah calls and tells him that he has a job for him. But Bryce can see Hunt is trying to not tell her what it is that has to go do, but she can see right through it. Or she heard everything that he wasn't saying and knew what Micah had probably ordered him to do. it is bad enough that Hunt feels as if he is nothing but a shadow afterwards, a wisp of life, an instrument of death. He was nothing and no one at all. And it takes him kind of getting back to the apartments and into the next day before he kind of settles back into himself. He goes and broods in the shower. There we go. He broods in the shower and then kind of patches himself up, pieces himself together, and like half crawls out of the shower and into the person he was when he wasn't forced to put a bullet between someone's eyes. he gets back. He does not want Bryce to come out of her room because he doesn't want to talk to anybody, but she does come out just enough to say, I recorded the game for you if you still want to watch it. And he doesn't say anything, just says night and walks into his room. So the next morning he goes to see the Oracle. So this is the first complete description we get of the Oracle, what she looks like, what her chamber looks like. we've had mentions that Ruin and Bryce have both gone to the Oracle and neither experience was positive. So that's the only info we've had on the Oracle so far. But it is a black chamber that reeked of sulfur and roasted meat. and the sulfur was from the natural gases rising from the hole in the center of the space. And the other is because that is what the oracle eats. Because the oracle is a sphinx. So she is a very rare vanir that there were only a few dozen on their earth. And that all of them had been called to the service of the gods. No one knew how old they were, and this one before him, she was so beautiful he forgot what to do with his body. Golden lioness's form Moved with fluid grace, pacing the other side of the hole, weaving in and out of the mist. Golden wings lay folded against the slender body. So it is a golden haired woman with griffin wings and front legs, and then like the the back half of a lion. that nobody knew her actual name, just her title Oracle. And I think it's interesting because she tells him to ask me your questions and I shall tell you what the smoke whispers to me. And That he feels like the words he says the words rumbled over his bones, luring him in, not in the way somet he sometimes let females lure him in, but in the manner that a spider might lure a fly to its web. And every other time Sarah uses a spider reference, it is usually in regards to a bad guy. Not necessarily saying the oracle is bad, but in the past, that's what we've seen from Sarah. Hunt wants to know that this is a confidential conversation. And the oracle says, Once the gods speak, I become the conduit through which their words pass. But yes, this shall remain confidential. So he asks, Why does someone want the horn? And her response is To open the door between worlds. They wish to use the horn to reopen the northern rift. The horn's purpose wasn't merely to close doors, it opens them too. It depends on what the bearer wishes. And Hunt's response is, but the horn is broken, and her response is it can be healed. And the Oracle says, That is veiled. I cannot see, none can see. Hunt says the fae legends say it can't be repaired and her response is those are legends. This is truth. The the horn can be repaired. He asks, Who wants to do this? She says again, this too is veiled. He has a sarcastic comment and says, Well, this is very helpful, but not. And she says, be grateful, Lord of Lightning, that you learned anything at all. And then she goes so far as to ask if he wishes to know the future, his future. And she calls him by his actual name, Orion Athalar And he recoils at the sound of his birth name. No one has spoken that in 200 years. And no, he does not want to know what she sees for his future. He says, I'm not sure I want to know. She says, People come from across Midgard to plead for my visions, yet you do not wish to know. And he says, Thank you, but no. And then she goes so far as to say, Did Bryce Quinlin tell you what occurred when she stood in this chamber 12 years ago? And at this point, his blood turns to ice because he's like, crap, I don't want to hear this. This is Bryce's business, not mine. And the Oracle is surprised again and says, You do not wish to know what I saw for her either. And he says, No, that's her business. The oracle then says, You remind me of w that which was lost long ago. I had not realized it might ever appear again. And so before Hunt is able to ask what that means. Then she leaves and the doors behind him opened on a phantom wind. So there's our phantom wind reference for this episode. But before he leaves, the oracle does say, do yourself a favor and keep far away from Bryce Quinlin So we don't know what happens with Bryce and the Oracle. We will find out eventually, but we don't know at this point. Bryce and Ruhn are both waiting outside for Hunt to come out. So he comes out and says if someone has learned how to repair the horn after so long, then they can do the opposite of once what Prince Pelias did. They can open the northern rift. It seems like one Hel of a motive to kill anyone who might rat them out. they discuss the horn a little bit more in regards to if someone actually wants to open the portal and that's why they're looking for the horn, then there's a good reason. That's that's a good motive for them to want to kill anyone who might know. Presuming Danika knew something. The acolyte at the temple we find out was on duty the night the horn was stolen. So presum that acolyte may have known something. and they also talk about if the mark on the crate of the stuff that bombed the, you know, the explosives in the White Raven, even if it was the rebellion, why are they seeking the horn to aid the rebellion? If they were to open a portal to Hel and bring the demon princes back here, maybe they could be forming some sort of alliance to overthrow the Asteri. that millions would die if they did. Maybe Danika caught wind of this and that's why she was killed. But they realize that they would need help from a Vainir who is particularly strong to be able to summon a demon like that, if it's even possible. That there are some vanir who have pledged to the humans cause, but not a lot. Hunt does say well the new witch cle queen could have been testing her power or something. She could be involved in some regard. Ruhn says well is unlikely to be a witch because the witches have obeyed the Asteri. They've had millennia of unbroken loyalty. And then Hunt says, well, maybe they're looking for a way around having to use the starborn gifts because Ruhn's the only one that they know of who has it. And Ruhn even shows them the bit that he has. that he's not even sure he could use the horn because Pelias, Prince Pelius, possessed what is basically an ocean worth of starlight, whereas he has a drop, and that's it. But Ruhn is thinking that maybe a med witch might have insight on if the horn could be repaired. If they treated the horn as a sentient being instead of just as an object, maybe there would be some healing powers that would work on it. So Ruhn is going to ask around discreetly to see if any any healing witches, med witches, would have some information on it. So then Bryce and Hunt go back to the gallery. Bryce is looking over Danika's locations again. And Hunt is just kind of glancing at her, looking over at her multiple times to the point that Bryce finally calls him out on it. And he says, The oracle warned me to stay away from you. Why? And Bryce says, so that's why you seemed all freaked out when you left the temple. And he says, She said she'd reveal her vision for you, like she has a darn bone to pick with you. And she says, Well, I don't blame her if she's still pissed. So then Bryce gives us a little bit of information on it. It says in fae culture, it's a custom that when girls get their cycle For the first time or when they turn thirteen that they go to the Oracle. The visit provides a glimpse towards their sort of power that they might ascend to when they mature, or so that their parents can help plan unions for years prior to the drop. Boys go too at the age of thirteen. Nowadays it's more to get an idea of what kind of career your child would have, soldiers, healers, that kind of thing. so Bryce got her cycle a couple of days or a couple of weeks before she turned thirteen, and her mom had this like crisis where she all of a sudden feared that she'd shut Bryce out of her ancestry and her heritage. And so she got in touch with her biological father. Two weeks later the documents showed up, declaring her a full civitas if she agreed to claim sky and breath as her house. She tried to refuse but her mother insisted because it was some kind of protection. so she goes to visit for the first time. And it didn't go well. That was the first time that she met Ruhn. She came to stay at Firo for the summer, met the Autumn King, met her father too. She throws that in there just to kind of throw Hunt off the scent that the Autumn King is her actual father. In the initial few days the visit wasn't bad. She liked what she saw, even if some of the other fae children whispered that she was a half breed. Until they she goes to the Oracle and she says it was catastrophic. When the Oracle looked into her smoke, she screamed, clotted her eyes. I heard later that she went blind for a week. And Hunt's like, Well, holy crap. And Bryce laughs a little bit, a little ironically, and says, Well, apparently my future is that bad. And Bryce says I went back to the petitioner petitioners' chambers, the antechambers outside of the oracle's chamber. All you could hear was the oracle screaming and cursing me, and the acolytes run to rushed in. after that, her father then stormed out of the VIP exit, so no one would know that he that he was with her, and then left her there. When she got back to the house, all of her bags were left on the curb. And that Ruhn was able to get her a little bit of money to get her a ticket up on a bus to get back to her her mom. but outside of that, the king per forbade Ruhn from interfering beyond that. then they adjust to talking about a vase that Hunt has actually found in the artwork that she kind of steered him to looking at. It is a terracotta vase dated back nearly fifteen thousand years after Prince Pelias by about a century, but the Kristallos hadn't yet faded from common memory. She read the brief catalog. copy and it said it's in the gallery in Mis in Mircia. But the photos The photos is the Kristallos with some warrior driving a sword through it. And Hunt's responds is, Well that's a good sign. And she's like, What do you mean? And he says that the Kristallos can be killed the old fashioned way. As far as I can tell, there's no magic or special artifact being used to kill it. Just plain brute force, just with a sword. And Bryce's response is, Well, we don't know that for sure. The vase could just be someone's artistic interpretation. She says that thing killed Danika and the pack of devils and knocked Micah on his butt. And you mean to tell me that some ancient warrior killed it with just a sword through the head? So she doesn't quite believe the picture at face value like Hunt does. But then Hunt says that it's odd, it says the vase is originally from Parthos. And then he goes so far as to say I thought Parthos was a myth, a human fairy tale. That it was it's a conspiracy about an ancient library in the heart of a pre existing human civilization. And Hunt challenges her, if it did if something like that did exist, where's the evidence? Really, Hunt? You're sitting in it. That's where the evidence is. Ugh hunt. Sometimes stuff needs to just smack him in the face. So then Bryce goes on to say, well maybe Parthos had hadn't been wiped off of the map at the time that this vase was found, but it has since. And he's like, Really, Quinlan? But then he moves on from their discussion of the conspiracy, possible con conspiracy, and asks if she's found anything new about Danika's locations. But she is still ruling out different things and that's when he gets the call that they can actually see Philip Briggs that evening to talk to him about it. Hunt is trying to warn her that Philip Briggs is gonna be difficult to deal with and it might not be something that she wants to deal with because sh she did just get worked up seeing the Kristallos on the vase, just in picture form. And he's like, Well, you just got worked up seeing that. And I doubt coming face to face with this guy is going to be any easier. And she said, just because we are working together doesn't mean you're entitled to push. into my personal matters, which is a very Bryce thing to say, to push people away. then Hunt says, Well I wanna leave in twenty minutes, so do whatever you need to to get ready. Lehabah tries to talk Bryce into not blaming Athy. That she thinks he just wants to be her friend. And Bryce is worked up at this point. It's just frustrated. Just like, well, I don't give a crap if he wants to be my friend or not. Whatever he wants, I don't care. And Lehabah's like, Well, June is busy with ballet, Fury is good as gone. Maybe it's time you need for more friends. You seem sad again like you were two winters ago. You're fine one minute and then not fine the next. You don't dance, you don't hang out with anyone, and then Bryce cuts her off because it's not something she wants to deal with. so they are going to see Philip Briggs and to try and get some information from him. Bryce is comparing the spaces that they're walking into to see Briggs with the space that she was in two years ago after Danika died. that this facility was she was in the night Danika died was a facility governed by protocols, but this place, she tried not to think about what this place was for, what laws stopped applying once one crossed this threshold. And she doesn't want to think about the sense that lingered and how there were drains every few feet. But she does look at the first light above that it droned like hornets. And she's kind of thinking through when she made the drop, there her power wouldn't go too much. But she sometimes wondered whose first light was currently powering her phone, her coffee maker, her stereo, that kind of thing. And thinking that Hunt, when he made the drop, His power was possibly was probably an explosion that erupted from him that likely could have fueled an entire city based on the amount of power he's rumored to have. she mentions that Philip Briggs' dark hair has been buzzed close to his scalp. She can't see a bruise or a scratch on him, but his eyes were empty and hopeless. And he does mention that he is essentially torn apart every day and then sewn back together and healed, and that that has been his existence for the last two years. He doesn't even know what month, what date, what year it is. And that's the first thing he asks. And Hunt tells him it's the 12th of April in the year of 15035, which I think is super interesting. We talked about it earlier in this book, that this is the only series by Sarah where we actually get a year that everything takes place in. And I can't help but think that that is done on purpose. But who knows, maybe we'll see in later in later books. Maybe we won't. Hunt essentially leaves this investigation or leaves the questioning to Bryce. He does mention that the White Raven nightclub was bombed a few days ago, and considering it was one of his targets in the past, they want to know if any evidence points towards the Keres gang or Keres rebellion. Rebels being active again. And Briggs kind of sarcastically says, and you think I'm behind it, that I have any sort of interaction with the outside world from here. and Hunt asks, Well, what about your followers? Would they have done this in your name? And Briggs' response is, Why bother? I failed them. I failed our people. And he turns to Bryce and says, Our people to her. I failed people like you, the undesirables. And Bryce's response is, You never represented me. I abhor what you tried to do. And Briggs kind of laughs at her and says, When the vanir tell you you're no good, you're not good enough for any job because of your human blood, when males like hunt, this butthole next to you, just she see you as a piece of you know, just see you as something to sleep with and discard. When you see your mother, and he pauses and then says, It is a human mother that you have, right? Because it's never the other way around. He says when she is treated like trash, you'll find those self righteous feelings fading real fast. Which I think is really interesting because Bryce has dealt with all three of those things already in her life. And even dealing with those, she hasn't turned to violence in the same way that Philip Briggs has. But they do get out of him that he is most likely not behind the bombing and had nothing to do with it. They bring up Danika and her murder and h Phillips response is, well am I finally cleared from that? Did you guys finally realize that I didn't do it? And Hunt's like, Well, you haven't been cleared officially. but Philip says I don't know anything about Luna's horn. I'm sure that the Keres soldiers don't know anything about it either, that I like he says I liked Danika. Even when she busted me I still liked her. And then we switch perspectives because we were in Bryce's perspective and now we get Hunt's perspective for a little bit. so then we ha switch to Hunt's perspective. And I like that we switched because for Bryce, she is seeing someone who potentially killed and now she no longer believes killed Danika. Whereas Hunt is now looking at him and wondering if they are the same. If Briggs's Fanaticism is the same type of thing that he had when he led Shahar's legions in the Angels Rebellion. So Bryce asks what he means by saying that he liked Danika. And Briggs has put it together that this is Danika's best friend and says she circled me and my agents for weeks. She even met with me twice, told me to stop my plans, or else she'd have to bring me in. That was the first time, the second time. She said that she had enough evidence against me and she had to bring me in, but I could get off easy if I admitted to my plotting and ended it then and there. I didn't listen then either. That third time she brought her pack and that was that. And Bryce asks, so Danika went easy on you and Briggs says she tried to. For a vanir, she was fair. I don't think she necessarily disagreed with us, with my methods, yes, but I thought she might have been a sympathizer. Bryce says Danika wasn't a rebel sympathizer, and Brig says, no, not yet, but maybe. Danika could have been starting down that path. Maybe she's she saw how her pretty half breed friend was treated by others and didn't like it too much either. That his followers knew Danika was a potential asset. We discussed it right up until the raid and that night Danika and her her pack were fair with us. We fought, even managed to get in a few good blows, but In the end, she did take him in. And Hunt wants to know why he didn't mention any of this during the trial. And Briggs is like, why? What no good would have come from it. He says, Why would I rat out a potential sympath sympathetic, incredibly powerful vanir like Danika Fendyr? even if I was destined to come to this prison to stay here, the rebellion had to live on. And I knew that someone like Danika could be a mighty ally to have on our side. So even after she busted him, he was still trying to kind of not save her, but at least not throw her under the bus to be able to save himself or reduce his sentence. And he says even after Danika died, he chose not to say anything because there was a chance that she might have friends still living who shared her sentiments. So I kept her secrets to myself. Meaning Bryce. Sh he knew that Bryce was somewhere out there, and if she could have the power or then enough powerful friends, maybe eventually he would come she would come to his side if he kept Danika's secrets. And so Bryce wants to know why he's rating Danika out now. And he says, I said it two years ago, and I'll say it again. I didn't kill, nor did the Keres Rebels kill Danika or the pack of devils. The White Raven bombing. They might have managed that. if they did good for them. And that's where Hunt thinks had he been this out of touch with reality when he'd followed Shahar, when he'd led the rebellion on Mount Hermon. If he if someone had told him in those last days to stop, would he have listened? And he has a hazy memory resurface at that point of Isaiah doing just that, screaming at Hunt to stop a couple of days before it all ended. And he seems to think that he was no better than this man in his fanaticism for Shahar and the cause. But Bryce gets up to leave I don't really see that that's important. So they leave, Bryce says we can cross Briggs and his followers off the list of suspects for the Kristallos. They both agree that he was telling the truth. Bryce asks him what's wrong. His response, of course, is nothing because he's gonna do the exact same thing that she does and kind of hide within himself whenever he's upset about something. And she says, Well, he's he says nothing is wrong and her response is, says the guy who's grinding his teeth so hard I can hear them. And I love it at this point because we talked about it a little bit in the the last chapter that they were the image that Hunt is now portraying is not the image of the Umbra Mortis, shadow of death that he has portrayed in the past because he's sitting there in a soft gray t shirt. black sweatpants and a white sunball cap that was turned backwards. And she says it was so ordinary and guy ish for a lack of better words. And then she ends it by saying it was disgustingly distracting. And then he wants to know why she's looking at him. And she doesn't respond and he says, That's annoying. And her response is, So's your face.

M: Yeah.

C: So then Hunt picks up his phone, snaps a photo of her, and then sets it down and goes right back to watching the game. So this is again their little game going back and forth of snapping pictures of each other. And she then says to him, You've been broody since Briggs. He goes to apologize and she's like, Why are you apologizing? And he says, Because it brought up some bad crap about the way I helped lead Shahar's rebellion. And then she realizes that she needs to trot very carefully and how she asks anything else. And so she says, You're nothing like Briggs. And he says, You don't know me well enough to say that. And she says, Did you willingly and gleefully risk innocent lives to further your rebellion? And of course his response is no. And she says, Well, there you have it. And he's like, But I was blind about a lot of things. And she says, like what? And he says, Well, just a lot. Looking at Briggs, what they're doing to him. I didn't know why it bothered me this time. Cause I've been down there often enough, seen other prisoners like that, done stuff to prisoners like that. But for some reason This time it bugged me. And it re made him remember h of his own torture. And that's when she asks how long they tortured him after Mount Herman, and he says for seven years, that he lost track of time as well. In the Asteri dungeons far below the earth. They're so lightless that days could be years and years could be days. and that Ramiel was his first handler and he continued to torture him for two years. so by the time he actually got out, it was it had been nine years since he had seen the sun, seen or felt the rain, felt heard the wind or smelled the rain, seen grass or a river or a mountain, and since he'd flown. Nine years. And he says, so yeah, I may not have been willing to kill innocents to help Shahar's rebellion, but that's the only difference between myself and Briggs. But she takes his hand as a way to kind of reassure him and to comfort him. And then he glances down at their hands, her dusk painted nails contrasting with the deep gold of his skin. She doesn't really have anything to say, just holds his hands and his response is really you have nothing else to say. You, the person who has an opinion on everything and everyone, has nothing to say about what I just told you. And her response is you're not like Briggs. And then goes so far as to say, you might see yourself that way, but I see you too. I see your kindness and your whatever. And she pauses, squeezes his hand for emphasis. I see all the stuff you conveniently forget. Briggs is a bad person. He might have once gotten into the human rebellion for the right reasons, but he is a bad person. You aren't. And you never will be. End of story. And he starts to say, Well, this bargain with Micah suggests otherwise and she's like, No, you're not like him. So then she tries to withdraw her hand as casually as possible, but he can still kind of feel the warmth of her hand afterwards. And she wants to know what's up with that. And he tells her that was the first thing that he bought when he first got to Crescent City because it felt normal and that was the first time he actually got to have some form of normalcy and that he felt it In buying it, it was the start of something new for him. So they've ruled out Briggs and the Viper Queen. Most likely the Autumn King is also not the one who is a part of it. but they're missing something and He then says we are idiots. And her response is, well, at least you said we instead of you or I. And he snickers. And then says, the temple has exterior cameras, they would have been recording the night the horn was stolen. And her response is, Well, you make it sound like the 33rd wouldn't have checked that two years ago. And then he says, Well, maybe they didn't run the right tests on the footage or look at the right fields or ask the right people. Excuse me. Or ask the right people to examine it. If Danika was there that night, why didn't anyone know? Why didn't she come forward about being at the temple once when the horn was stolen? that's when they realized Danika may have known that known who took the horn and she tried to hide it. They're not sure because Bryce doesn't think Danika would have done that. that Danika barely seemed to care that the horn had been stolen to begin with. And Hunt's response is, I don't know, but let's start by looking at the footage. even if it's a whole lot of nothing, but let's send it to someone who can give us a more comprehensive analysis. So they're gonna send it to Declan, just like they asked him to get Danika's locations. But they are doing it in a cloak and dagger manner, which is what I love. But we're gonna get into that in our next episode. So we will stop there and jump in with a pretty cool shooting range scene to start out our next episode. Hands down, my favorite scene in the entire book in the next episode. Okay. Slowly starting to see Bryce and Hunt become all buddy buddy.

M: Mm. They wanna be

C: Right? They're still still holding out a little bit, but they wanna be.

M: Tell him to get over it.

C: Right? Just get a move on here. Come on. All right.

M: Month. We're like five hundred pages into the book. Let's go. Not really, but feels like it.

C: It's only three hundred and fifty

M: Mall, we're forty one sh or no, thirty-five chapters in. Come on. And that's a wrap on chapters twenty-eight through thirty-five. We may not have had all the answers, but we do have approximately forty-seven more theories, a growing list of suspicious characters, and even more questions than we started this episode with, which feels very on brand for Sarah J. Maas. As always, we'd love to hear what you noticed in these chapters, if you're already connecting the dots, or were you just trying to keep up with all the world building like we were? let us know your favorite moments, wildest theories, and which characters have you side eyeing them the hardest. Thanks for hanging out today. We'll be back next time to continue our descent into the beautiful magical chaos that is a house of earth and blood. Until then, trust no one, question everything, and remember if Sarah J. Maas makes a reference to something to more than twice, it's probably about to ruin your life. Or at least your day. We'll see you guys next time.