House of Earth and Blood

Danika stops into the antique gallery to take a shower and stow her magical sword in a closet before setting out for the council meeting. Bryce complains that her back is sore because of the tattoos that Danika insisted they both get when they were drunk a few days earlier. Scrawled across their backs in some unknown language are the words, “Through love, all is possible.” Danika’s skin has already healed because she is a full-blooded Vanir.

Bryce admires her friend’s resilience since she herself possesses very little magical ability. The two first met when they became college roommates. Danika will someday be the leader of her pack, bypassing her mother, Sabine, in the line of succession. In contrast, Bryce is a nobody. Bryce’s only other two friends are Fury, a mer who works as an assassin, and Juniper, a faun who is a professional ballet dancer.

Fury has already made the Drop. This ritual is a rite of passage that allows the Vanir to attain semi-immortality. Both Danika and Bryce anticipate doing this when they reach the age of 27. Although the ritual will extend their lifespans, they can still be killed. This is a fact that Briggs uses to his advantage by planting bombs in Vanir locations.

When Danika sets out for the council, Bryce accompanies her part of the way. They stop at the Old Square Gate to make a wish in exchange for a sliver of their magic when they touch the gate. This has become a tourist attraction, but the gates in each sector were once used as communication portals among all six regions.

That evening, Bryce returns from work to find the entire Pack of Devils camped out in her apartment enjoying pizza night. Danika is in a bad mood because the council is unable to prevent Briggs’s release. Worse still, Sabine publicly humiliates her daughter by blaming her for the deaths of two college students near Luna’s Temple during a blackout a week earlier on Danika’s watch.

Rather than hanging out with her friends, Bryce prepares for a date with a rich human named Reid, whom the pack dislikes for his arrogant ways. Connor, Danika’s second in command, has a crush on Bryce and pleads with her to go out with him. She agrees to do so on Saturday night.

Bryce arrives at a pricey restaurant called the Pearl and Rose, but Reid is 45 minutes late. When he does show up, his behavior annoys Bryce so much that she leaves midway through the meal. She then calls Fury and Juniper to meet her at their favorite night spot, the White Raven. On the way inside, Bryce purchases some party drugs from a street dealer. She intends to get very high that evening.

She sends and receives texts all evening. Some are from Danika complaining about Bryce’s absence, and several are from Connor anticipating their upcoming date. Even though she has serious feelings for Connor, Bryce has casual sex with someone at the club that night. She texts Danika afterward to brag about the encounter.

Hours later, Bryce staggers back home. She is so befuddled by drugs and alcohol that she has trouble climbing the stairs to her flat. When she arrives, a horror awaits her. A demonic creature has ripped apart the entire wolf pack, including her beloved friend Danika. The monster bolts out of the apartment. Grabbing a broken table leg, Bryce chases after it for blocks. She eventually catches it gutting an archangel (Micah). Bryce is able to fight it off before calling for help and collapsing from her own injuries.

Still later that same night, an angel named Isaiah Tiberian observes Bryce in an interrogation room in the military legion’s holding center. She is still in shock and unable to speak. Another angel named Hunt Athalar arrives to question her. Both men are fallen angels who rebelled against the political regime and participated in an unsuccessful uprising years earlier. As punishment, they are now magically enslaved to serve the archangels for all eternity. The tattooed haloes on their foreheads keep them from rebelling. Hunt has become Micah’s personal assassin, among other shady duties. Because Hunt controls the lethal power of lightning, he is known as Umbra Mortis—the shadow of death.

Bryce remains unresponsive to the angels’ questions. They believe that the demon was somehow summoned by Briggs, so they take him back into custody. They eventually release Bryce, though Sabine accuses the girl of stealing the hereditary sword that Danika stowed in the closet at the gallery. After Bryce leaves the station, a Fae prince named Ruhn Danaan arrives, claiming prior jurisdiction in the case. The angels are told to keep out of Fae affairs. Apparently, Bryce is a cousin of Fae royalty through her unknown biological father.

Early the following morning, Bryce arrives at the site of the wolf pack’s funeral. She has been told not to attend, so she is conducting her own private farewell ceremony for her friend.