House of Flame and Shadow

Bryce’s group arrives in Morven’s throne room, where the Murder Twins hold captive Sathia Flynn, the sister of Ruhn’s best friend Tristan Flynn.

Morven claims that every Valbaran Fae seeking shelter in Avallen must pay a price. The Flynns escaped the Asteri and now want to be protected in Avallen, but Sathia has refused to fulfill her price by marrying one of the Murder Twins.

Bryce demands access to the Archives and Cave of Princes. Morven claims no women are allowed to enter their sacred spaces, but she convinces him to rethink the decision by presenting the Autumn King’s journal.

Tharion impulsively marries Sathia so that she may be free to travel with them.

In the Eternal City, Ithan goes to the morgue with Hypaxia and Jesiba. Hypaxia resurrects Sigrid, but things go horribly wrong: Sigrid rises as a Reaper loyal to the Under-King. Hypaxia believes she can rectify her mistake if they retrieve a Thunderbird, whose lightning is capable of resurrection—but the only Thunderbird in existence was Sofie Renast, who is now dead and in Avallen with King Morven.

In Avallen, before splitting up into Team Caves and Team Archives, Bryce and her friends inspect the Avallen Archives, finding a map of long-ago Avallen that shows dozens of islands surrounding it. The islands disappeared into the sea shortly after the First Wars.

Bryce, Hunt, Baxian, Tharion, and Sathia search the Cave of Princes while Ruhn and Lidia stay behind to continue searching the Archives. Lidia and Ruhn are still at odds, despite him softening toward her.

Bryce informs her companions of the Mask’s powers. The Cave of Princes contains artwork depicting the eight-pointed star and extinct pegasi. Lidia and Ruhn continue their reconciliation during their time in the Archives.

In the Eternal City, Ithan suddenly hears distant explosions while working. One of Jesiba’s camera feeds shows the Asteri’s Omega-boats firing brimstone missiles on the human sector, Asphodel Meadows.

Ithan and Hypaxia rush to help the few survivors in Asphodel Meadows.

In Avallen, in the Cave of Princes, Sathia asks Bryce what she plans to do once liberating Midgard from the Asteri. Bryce doesn’t care what happens to the Fae; she’s disgusted with their oppressive and greedy behavior over millennia.

At the Archives, Ruhn asks Lidia if she ever meant to meet him at the Lunathion ball the night they’d planned to reveal their identities. Lidia did want to, but the Harpy derailed her plans. Ruhn gives her a heated kiss, shocking himself.

A survivor Lidia saved while working undercover as the Hind visits her while she’s with Ruhn, to profess gratitude. Lidia’s humble acceptance earns the rest of Ruhn’s forgiveness and admiration.

King Morven summons the Autumn King; together, they find Bryce and her companions in the Cave of Princes. The Murder Twins are with them, holding Flynn and Declan captive.

Ruhn invites Lidia into his room. There, she tells him about her sons: She was impregnated by a stag-shifter during a fertility rite of her people but kept the pregnancy a secret. The Ocean Queen offered her protection: Lidia was allowed to stay for two years—while the other Triarii believed she’d been kidnapped by rebels—before the Ocean Queen forced her to return as the Hind, while actually being an Ophion spy. Lidia and Ruhn nearly have sex, but when she flinches while remembering Pollux’s abuse, Ruhn simply holds her.

To escape, Bryce blasts her power, causing a cave in. She and her companions jump into the river, leaving Declan and Flynn in enemy hands—as she believes they won’t truly be harmed by the Autumn King or Morven. The caves are nearly identical to those in the Night Court, and lead Bryce to a similar door which traps her and her companions inside.

Ruhn becomes suspicious when Flynn and Declan don’t show up at the Archives and neither do the Murder Twins.

Bryce and her companions take a descending staircase to another river and find a cavern filled with enormous quantities of black salt—a material that repels Asteri and can be used to communicate with Hel. Bryce and Hunt drink black salt-laced water at the room’s center and enter a dreamscape where three Princes of Hel—Aidas, Apollion, and Thanatos—wait.

While watching over Bryce’s and Hunt’s unconscious bodies, Sathia asks Tharion why he agreed to marry her. Tharion’s sister died last year; he hopes someone would help her in the same way.

In the dreamscape, Aidas, Apollion, and Thanatos sense a change in Bryce’s starlight power: She now contains two thirds of Theia’s gifted magic—one she was born with through Helena’s bloodline, and one she retrieved from the Night Court caves belonging to Silene. The Princes reveal that the black halo that dampens Hunt’s power is similar to the collars the Asteri used against Hel. Just as the collars could not contain the creatures of Hel, so the crown cannot hold Hunt—because Hunt was made by Hel’s Princes.

Ruhn and Lidia arrive at the Cave of Princes, where he believes Flynn and Declan have been taken.

In the Hel dreamscape, Aidas tells Bryce to find the remaining third of Theia’s magic. Once Bryce has all of Theia’s power, she’ll be able to successfully command the full might of the Starsword and Truth-Teller combined.

Apollion and Thanatos admit to crafting creatures such as the kristallos and the Thunderbirds. With the help of an angel scientist and Hunt’s mother, the Princes of Hel also bred Hunt to be used as a weapon, imbuing him with their magic. Hunt his lightning is actually Helfire, which amplifies Bryce’s magic enough to open portals and fatally wield the twin daggers against the Asteri. The Princes of Hel offer their armies to aid against the Asteri should Bryce succeed in opening the Northern Rift.

When Bryce and Hunt emerge from the dreamscape, they realize that Morven and the Autumn King have trapped Baxian, Tharion, Sathia, Flynn, and Declan in a ring of fire. The Murder Twins infiltrate Sathia’s mind and force her to hold a dagger to Bryce’s throat, causing Bryce to drop the Starsword and Truth-Teller. However, after causing a distraction, Bryce summons the blades back to her while Hunt lashes out with his lightning. The twins release their control on Sathia as Bryce melts their minds with starfire.

As Bryce uses her magic to melt off the Autumn King’s hand, Ruhn and Lidia arrive. Ruhn stabs the Autumn King in the heart with the Starsword, and then beheads him. Morven yields to Bryce, but she shows no mercy and kills him. With the two kings dead, Bryce becomes Queen of the Valbaran Fae and Queen of Avallen. She realizes that the prophecy about the sword and dagger uniting her people is not about just the Fae, but about all the races on Midgard. Bryce notes that the eight-point star in the center of the room has slits which perfectly fit the sword and dagger. She inserts them both, which unlocks the third of Theia’s power hidden beneath.

Bryce takes the last third of Theia’s power into herself. Its removal from Avallen causes the smaller surrounding islands to burst forth from the sea and the land to enliven beautifully with lush greenery and flowers.

Morven’s castle is destroyed in the island’s reformation. As Queen, Bryce declares that all people who come for shelter in Avallen may stay without having to pay.

As phone service is returned, Declan reads news of the Asteri’s attack on Asphodel Meadows. The Triarii Pollux and Mordoc have destroyed every Ophion base and many innocent human residents alongside them.