The Serpent and the Wings of Night

Over the next week, Raihn and Oraya hunt vampires together every night. Their skills improve drastically, and Oraya begrudgingly admits that they make a good team. Meanwhile, she practices with Mische on her magic, which is perpetually out of reach no matter how hard she tries. Mische believes this is because Oraya and her magic are afraid of one another—that Oraya must open her heart to it and seize it. Meanwhile, Oraya’s visits with Vincent have become sparse, and he becomes more distracted with outside matters but refuses to reveal anything to Oraya. In the second week, Raihn and Oraya skip their nightly vampire hunting to include Mische in their training. Oraya begins to think that their alliance may actually work, and she even starts to enjoy it.

On a particularly slow night of hunting, Raihn leads Oraya to a human pub. Accustomed to the reserved behavior of the vampires, Oraya admires the raucous humans. She marvels at Raihn’s ability to blend in and look truly human. When Raihn notices Oraya’s tension, he insists she’s safe—foreign words to her. Oraya asks about Raihn’s past and learns that he was Turned over 200 years ago, but that when he was human, he liked to frequent pubs such as this. He also admits to missing the sun.

Raihn asks why Oraya remains in the House of Night instead of fleeing to a human nation. She remembers once considering the possibility of doing just that, when she was 17 and had just been attacked by the young vampire man she’d taken as her lover. Oraya chose to stay because she wants to fix the problems here. Raihn asks why Vincent adopted a human child in the first place. Oraya can’t quite decode his subtext but is displeased by his tone. Before she can ask him to clarify, an explosion shakes the pub.

The source of the explosion is the Moon Palace, which is aflame with Nightfire following a targeted attack. Raihn flies to rescue Mische from the fire, with Oraya in tow. The apartment is aflame, and both Nightfire and demons bred from Nightborn magic are surrounding Mische. Raihn employs the Asteris, killing all three enemies instantly. Mische clings to life as the tower groans around them; the structure threatens to collapse at any moment. Raihn lifts Mische into his arms, but Oraya knows that he can’t carry both at once. Urging him to get Mische to safety first, Oraya rushes him out as the apartment door bursts open. As four demons pounce for her, Oraya realizes that she can feel the Nightfire’s energy. Without thinking, she draws power from it and uses the power to kill all four as Raihn returns for her. Oraya has a feeling that this attack signals the beginning of a war.

Many other contestants have been severely injured in the attack and make blood sacrifices to Nyaxia, requesting permission to withdraw from the Kejari. Raihn and Oraya do so for Mische. Vincent addresses the House of Night and declares the attack to be an act of war. He also delivers a chilling threat to the Rishan vampires, whom he believes to be behind the attack.

Word arrives that the Ministaer has denied Mische’s request to withdraw from the Kejari. In Mische’s current condition, she will not survive another trial, so the denial is a death sentence. Jesmine arrives to round up the Rishan and Bloodborn contestants for questioning, but Oraya doesn’t trust that Raihn and the others will remain unharmed. Though Raihn is convinced that the Rishan vampires did not cause the attack, Vincent and Jesmine are convinced otherwise. Jesmine delivers Vincent’s message to Oraya before escorting Raihn from the premises. The note from Vincent details a meeting time for tonight. Oraya stays with Mische. Worried that the vampire woman might not last the night given the extent of her injuries, Oraya uses the last of her healing potion on her friend.

Oraya meets with Vincent later in the evening and notes that he is stained with someone else’s blood. He is convinced that the Rishan were behind the attack and confirms that they have launched attacks elsewhere in the House of Night. Oraya fears that she might lose Vincent just as she did Ilana, because he must be the Rishans’ primary target. She wonders if the Rishan vampires have an Heir again. If they do, it would explain these attacks. Vincent assures Oraya that once she wins the Kejari and they bond, they’ll have the power to invade the territory of the Rishan.

Although Oraya is afraid to challenge Vincent, she asks if he can convince the Ministaer to accept Mische’s appeal for withdrawal. Instead of showing empathy, Vincent instructs Oraya to kill Mische while she is weak because it will bring Oraya one step closer to winning. She makes Vincent agree to ensure that Raihn isn’t broken before the Halfmoon trial, using the rationale that she still needs him as an ally. After her meeting with Vincent, Oraya seeks out the Ministaer and offers to let him feed on her in exchange for accepting Mische’s withdrawal from the Kejari. Oraya returns to the apartment, her wrist sore from the Ministaer’s bite. Deep down, she knows that she did so because she cannot bring herself to kill Mische.

Raihn returns, and Oraya stitches up his wounded back, angry about Vincent’s broken promise not to hurt him. When Oraya mentions that the Ministaer has accepted Mische’s withdrawal, Raihn describes the sadistic vampire that Turned Mische and admits that he is sometimes ashamed to be a vampire himself. Raihn gives Oraya permission to drop their alliance for the Halfmoon trial, as they both know that he won’t be in his best fighting shape. Oraya refuses, eliciting a genuine smile from Raihn. He squeezes her hand, and Oraya allows herself to enjoy the rare physical contact.

The following night, Raihn takes Mische to some friends whom he trusts to care for her. A few hours after Mische’s withdrawal from the contest, the remaining candidates are summoned to the great room for the Halfmoon trial. Raihn’s wounds have improved, but only slightly, which leaves his movements stiff and painful. Each allied group is given a goblet of liquid to drink before the Moon Palace disappears around them.

The goblet of liquid that Oraya and Raihn shared links their bodies and minds for the duration of the Halfmoon trial. The arena is split in half by a white stone wall that separates her and Raihn on different sides. On the far edge of the arena is a peak with two doorways at the top for the contestants to choose from, only one of which leads to a safe escape. Many contestants fall prey to the creatures within the arena, unable to function with the added mental burden of an additional mind in tandem with their own. Oraya and Raihn leap into the fray, their previous training allowing them to function despite the distraction of their mental connection. It soon becomes apparent that any wounds that one team member suffers will be mirrored in the other. Together, they battle their way across the arena, moving toward the archways.

They reach the peak and race to the top, pursued by hordes of bloodthirsty beasts. Angelika finds Raihn and attacks him; his injuries leave him vulnerable. Frantically, Oraya searches for Ivan, Angelika’s partner, and attacks him in an attempt to save Raihn. Momentarily distracted by other combatants, Oraya takes a wound in the side and is pushed into the throng of demons.

Oraya stabs wildly with her blade. She is unable to cut through the sheer number of beasts surrounding her and panics, aware that Raihn won’t be able to reach her in time. She struggles to wield her magic and fails. When Raihn suggests that she use her fear as a source of power, Oraya draws on it and feels the fear transform into rage, which explodes out of her as Nightfire. It consumes everything around her, and Oraya walks out of the flames unharmed. She climbs toward the gateways, and rather than immediately seeking Vincent as she normally would, she finds Raihn on his knees, staring at her “like [she] was the most incredible thing he had ever seen” (264). He pulls her into an embrace, and only then does she look for Vincent.