House of Sky and Breath

The revelation that Avallen Fae Prince Cormac is a secret member of the Ophion rebel faction stuns Bryce and the others. Cormac wants to know the intel they have on Sofie, his girlfriend. Sofie was killed by the Hind because she had learnt vital information against the Asteri. Tharion tells him Sofie’s body hasn’t been found, which gives Cormac hope she might be alive. Cormac tells them he helped Emile flee Kavalla as Sofie stayed behind to fight the dreadwolves. Cormac had promised Sofie he would look after Emile, but the boy ran away from Cormac as he was afraid Pippa Briggs wanted to use him only as a weapon against the Asteri. In her quest to be promoted into the Ophion Command, Pippa has become particularly cruel. She wants to torment Vanir (magical) folk to avenge their mistreatment of humans. Pippa’s elite squad of soldiers is named Lightfall because their ultimate aim is to fell the Asteri, who are thought to be living Stars. Cormac wants to find Emile and keep him safe from Pippa. His secret mission has to remain hidden from Ophion Command.

Cormac agreed to marry Bryce so he could get answers about Sofie and Danika through Bryce. Danika had a hunch about the Asteri she wanted Sofie to confirm. By the time Sofie carried out Danika’s mission, Danika was dead. Bryce makes an arrangement with Cormac: he will help her unlock her powers in exchange for her help in finding Sofie and Emile. They will pretend to be engaged so her father does not marry her off to someone else. Cormac agrees, but says their engagement should be broken only after his work in Valbara is done. Cormac privately tells Ruhn he has a mission for him as well.

After Cormac leaves, the group discusses the evening’s many reveals. Bryce wonders if Dusk’s Truth is connected to the Lightfall squadron because light-fall is a way to describe dusk. Project Thurr, named after the God of Thunder could be related to thunderbirds. Though Bryce is getting involved with the new happenings, Hunt is more circumspect. Bryce and Hunt head out and Hunt tells Bryce he’s had enough of battle having seen enough horrors in his thousands-year-long lifetime. He wants a normal life. Bryce reminds him that given their special abilities, “we were never going to be allowed to live like normal people … trouble was always going to find us” (198). They have no option but to join the war and help rescue Emile. Hunt reluctantly agrees, but cautions Bryce that they must tread very carefully. Bryce tells Hunt she doesn’t want to wait until the Winter Solstice to have sex with him. Hunt agrees. They kiss in an alley, but Hunt wants them to be careful showing affection in public because Bryce is technically engaged to Cormac.

Tharion fills Ithan in about the events of last Spring. Bryce killed Micah with a god-killing weapon for brutally killing Danika and her pack, called the Pack of Devils (The plot of House of Earth and Blood revolves around Bryce’s quest to find her best friend’s murderer). Ithan is ashamed because there was a time he doubted Bryce’s loyalty towards Danika and Connor. Tharion tells Ithan he should stop pitying himself and help out; a wolf’s strong smell of sense could be useful in finding Emile. Later, Ithan finds Danika’s sword in Bryce’s apartment and starts playing with it. Immersed in his pretend-play, Ithan jumps on Bryce’s coffee table, brandishing the sword. Just as Bryce walks in, the coffee table breaks. Bryce and Ithan discover the table had a secret compartment in which Danika kept her research papers.

Danika’s papers don’t just include college essays, but also documents and images of newspaper clippings about the origin of their world, the nature of the Asteri, and firstlight. (Once a Vanir make the Ascent back from their Drop, their body is bathed in an energy called firstlight. This energy is collected by the government to power the city. The Vanir gets a drop of their firstlight as a souvenir). Danika’s papers question the Asteri’s claim to divinity. The Asteri are supposed to be beings that contain the power of an entire star, but the only proof for this is their word. Bryce and Ithan also find a blank page titled Dusk’s Truth.

Meanwhile, Ruhn and Cormac meet. Cormac requests Ruhn to help with the rebellion. He believes Sofie was in touch with Agent Daybright, the most important spy in the rebellion, with “direct access to the Asteri” (222). In fact, some suspect Agent Daybright might be an Asteri. Sofie and Agent Daybright communicated via crystal-fueled radios, but this method is now deemed too dangerous. Cormac wants Ruhn to contact Agent Daybright with his mind-speaking powers instead. Since Daybright feeds the rebellion information that has led them to strike the supply lines of the government forces, Ruhn’s contact with Daybright can save thousands of lives. Cormac tells Ruhn that Danika might have asked Sofie to hide in The Bone Quarter, a part of the underworld in the city where dead souls go.

The intelligence Ruhn must seek from Daybright is about a hit the rebellion has been planning on the Spine, the North-South arterial railway that cuts Pangera in half, and chief conduit for arms for the government forces. Cormac has heard rumors the Asteri are working on a new mech-suit prototype, designed for Vanir pilots to slaughter the rebels. The rebels need to intercept the technology and study it.

The River Queen’s daughter visits Tharion. Being an elemental humanoid, the Princess does not need a mer form to be in water. She is equally at home in her one form in air and water. She wants to be intimate with Tharion—the first time in many years—but Tharion deflects her request. He suggests instead that they go on a double date with Bryce and Hunt. The Princess agrees.

Hunt shows Baxian around, as per Celestina’s directive. Hunt cannot figure out Baxian, who seems a far cry from the terrible Fallen Angel he was under Sandriel’s command. Later, Hunt, Isaiah, and Naomi discuss how awful it is to have Pollux and Baxian occupying the rooms of their deceased fellow-angels, Vik and Justinian. While Justinian died in the attack on Crescent City last spring, Vik’s essence was trapped in a box for eternity at the bottom of the water by Micah. With Micah dead, the others don’t know how to reverse his curse and rescue Vik.

Bryce updates Hunt on Danika’s papers. It is becoming clear Danika was on the verge of a major discovery about the Asteri. Bryce wants to carry on Danika’s search, but Hunt wants to focus on his relationship with Bryce. The two discuss the last time they were intimate with anyone; for Hunt it was six months ago with a nymph at a bar, and Bryce slept with a lion shifter a while ago. Bryce and Hunt make passionate love but stop short of intercourse because Ithan is in the same apartment and can hear them. After Ithan shouts at them that their plan for sex “sounds medically dangerous” (236), an amused Bryce and Hunt go to sleep.

In deep sleep, Hunt finds himself in an abyss between dimensions. He hears the voice of Apollion, the Prince of the Pit, the brother of Aidas. Apollion is a Prince of Hel, dreaded for killing an Asteri. For that, Apollion is known as “the Star-Eater” (238). Apollion’s father was the Void, the primordial being that existed before existence, and Chaos was his mother. It is to this state everyone will return one day. He tells Hunt that he is wasting his powers. Together, he and Bryce can wield a magic unlike any other. They need to find a way to discover their combined power. Hunt awakens from the dream to find Bryce and Syrinx peacefully sleeping next to him. He vows to protect Bryce from all the dangers of Midgard and Hel.