House of Sky and Breath

At the Comitium, Celestina tells Hunt demonic activity has intensified at the Northern Rift (analogous to a North Pole; Most ways in and out of Midgard are sealed, but accessible portals still exists at the Northern and Southern Rifts). This indicates that demons from Hel might be planning to infiltrate Midgard. Celestina gives Hunt a dossier with specific information the demons. She can scent he and Bryce are now mated and congratulates him.

Hunt visits the Hind at the barracks to find out if she’s going to report their involvement at Ydra. The Hind pretends to have no idea of what Hunt is talking about, and directs Hunt to outside the Comitium, where the Harpy has done something “rather extraordinary” (561). Hunt finds two Ophion rebels blood-eagled, which means the Harpy put the rebels facedown, sawed through their spines, broke their ribs, and ripped out their lungs, leaving them draped on their backs like an eagle’s wings. The rebels must have been alive through the horrific torture. Hunt cannot believe Celestina allowed the Harpy to do such a thing and then display the bodies. Ruhn gets a visit from his fiancé Queen Hypaxia (Witch-queen Hecuba’s daughter and the Hind’s half-sister).

Tharion makes his report to the River Queen, informing her about the Ocean Queen’s fleet of city-ships. The River Queen is miffed her sister kept the existence of the ships a secret from her. She wants Tharion to find out more about the ships and continue the search for Emile. Tharion heads above and encounters Hunt at the surface. Hunt wants Tharion to alert the Blue Court about growing demonic activity. Extremely dangerous demons called Deathstalkers have been seen in Nena near the Northern Rift. Hunt tells Tharion Emile is safe, but doesn’t possess magic. Tharion decides not to disclose this to the River Queen so he can enjoy his missions on ground for a little longer.

Hypaxia shrinks her broom to a neat golden brooch. She is at Ruhn’s place for a request: she wants a protective escort during her current visit to Lunathion and Celestina’s and Ephraim’s mating celebration. Hypaxia’s mother Hecuba raised her in isolation and summoned three dead wise spirits to educate Hypaxia. This alienated Hypaxia from her mother’s coven. Now that her mother is dead, Hypaxia doesn’t trust to be protected by the coven. Ruhn agrees to Hypaxia’s request and appoints Ithan her escort.

Ruhn requests Hypaxia to let Ariadne the dragon join her escort. The guise of Hypaxia’s protection will give Ruhn a legal reason to commandeer a dragon enslaved by someone else. 

Meanwhile, Bryce and Hunt meet at the archives and make up, apologizing to each other. Hunt tells Bryce he admires her for her effort to rescue Emile, even though her methods were underhand. Bryce tells him the Viper Queen was a good choice to find Emile since his scent was found in the marshes, where crocodilian Sobeks live and the Viper Queen can communicate with reptiles. Fury has now delivered Emile to Bryce’s parents. Henceforth, Emile will be known as Cooper Silago, Silago being Randall’s last name. Bryce and Hunt have sex and reaffirm their love for each other.

Day seeks out Ruhn on the bridge to tell him Pippa Spetsos is planning a huge strike in retaliation in retaliation to the blow-up at Ydra. Pippa wants to send a clear message to the empire as well as the Ophion rebels who challenge her authority. She is backed by the Ophion Command. Ruhn observes Day sounds aloof. She says she regrets letting her guard down and telling him the bedtime story. Ruhn counters that both he and Day like each other. Day chides Ruhn for playing flirtatious games while a war is going on. Ruhn is privileged and knows “nothing of cost, or of sacrifice” (586). Ruhn is hurt by Day’s accusation that he is superficial and has had an easy life.

Bryce gets a visit from her father, the Autumn King, at the archives. Having caught her new scent, he asks why she has mated with Hunt, effectively nullifying her betrothal to Cormac. Marrying Cormac would have offered Bryce extra protection because Avallen, Cormac’s stronghold, is a bastion even the Asteri cannot enter. Bryce refuses to believe the Autumn King wanted her to marry Cormac so she would be protected. She thinks her father is too ruthless to care about anyone, especially since he killed his rival, the last Starborn Prince, out of spite. The Autumn King says Bryce has been fed irrational fears by Ember. It is hypocritical of Bryce to benefit from his name, as she did when she called the CCB director, without obeying him. He is legally changing her name to Bryce Danaan since she has begun to use her royal privilege. The Autumn King recognizes the numbers and letters from Sofie’s arm Bryce is studying. He says he too has been seeking this particular information for long. When Bryce asks what it reveals, the Autumn King simply says, “The truth” (593). 

Bryce believes using her fae-princess status was not a smart choice. Not only is Juniper still mad at her, she is now also obligated to do her father’s bidding. She soon gets a proof of name change, a new scooter registration, and a new credit card funded by her father. Bryce wants to talk to another Princess to understand the implications of her new position and possibly, loopholes on escaping it. She gets Hypaxia’s number from Ruhn and arranges a meeting. They meet at a pizza place, while Ithan, on Hypaxia’s guard duty, waits outside.

Hypaxia commiserates with Bryce on learning how her father is manipulating her. A diplomatic approach is needed for Bryce to manage her father. Since Bryce is a Princess, Hunt, her mate, is now a Prince. Perhaps Bryce could leverage this fact to work her way out of her betrothal with Cormac. Hypaxia tells Bryce about her own history. She considers her ghosts who were her tutors her “dearest friends” (596). The tutors are older even than the Asteri and have told her of the time before the Asteri’s arrival. In that time, the dead went to a peaceful resting place, and not the Bone Quarter. Hypaxia stopped her mother Hecuba from going to the Bone Quarter because she knows its true nature.

Hypaxia has never met her half-sister, the Hind. Bryce thinks it is sad that the Hind was sent away from her mother at three when she started demonstrating her deer-shifter ability. Hypaxia plans to meet the Hind, even though she doesn’t agree with the Hind’s cruelty. Hypaxia’s engagement with Ruhn was an attempt to consolidate her power against her mother’s coven, whom Hypaxia believes are not loyal to her. Hypaxia can sense the power of the witches is fading. Instead of investigating this, her mother’s coven only wants to grow even more subservient to the Asteri. Hypaxia is in love with someone else, but they have told her the relationship has no future. Bryce looks outside during the conversation and sees an enormous, scaly grey demon attack Ithan, biting his throat. Bryce rushes outside.

Before Bryce can scream, Ithan is on the ground, clutching his ripped-out throat. Another demon is approaching them. Hypaxia asks Bryce to stand back-to-back with her, weapons out. Bryce asks Hypaxia to shoot her magic into Bryce so Bryce can charge her powers. Hypxia shoves her palm into the star on Bryce’s chest, transferring her powers of healing to Bryce. This enables Bryce to teleport them to Ithan so she can grab Ithan’s gun and fire at the nearest demon. Hypaxia converts her brooch back into the broom and uses it to fly to the other demon and stab him. Hypaxia now turns her attention to healing Ithan. Hunt and Isaiah arrive at the spot. Hunt tells Bryce the demons are deathstalkers, “personal pets of the Prince of the Pit” (606). Meanwhile, Bryce and Hunt learn that Ariadne, who was supposed to be watching Ithan from the rooftops, has taken advantage of the attack to escape. Bryce tells Hunt she is now officially a princess.

Ithan wakes up in the embassy of the witches, where Hypaxia has taken him to heal. Ithan asks Hypaxia to do for Connor what she did for her mother Hecuba: keep him becoming secondlight.