House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3)

by Sarah J. Maas

Isaiah’s smile broadened. But his eyes gleamed as he said, “So, after all this time, all this suffering … we finally saw the Fallen’s cause fulfilled.”

Nesta’s mate said, “You have one minute before Rhys gets here and explodes.” “Oh, Rhys will be fine, Cassian,” Ember said—in the Fae’s language.

“He and Randall bonded about being overprotective dads,” Ember said. “So now Rhys knows exactly the sort of shit you like to pull, which apparently you pulled here, too …” Bryce glanced to Nesta, who was watching warily. So Bryce reached into her jacket and pulled out the Mask. “Here. As promised.”

But Ember continued, looking only at Nesta, “I am glad of one thing: that I was able to meet you.” Nesta’s lips pressed into a thin line, and she glanced down at their joined hands.

“Your mother loves you,” Nesta said quietly, reading the exasperation on Bryce’s face. “Don’t for one second take that for granted.”

Ember really looked like she might cry now, especially as she turned back to Nesta and said, “This time with you was a gift, Nesta. It truly was.”

Cassian grinned, and, well, Bryce could see why Nesta might be into a male who looked like that.

Ember at last pulled away from Nesta. But she gently put a hand to the female’s cheek and whispered, “You’ll find your way,” before walking toward the portal.

Bryce chuckled and drew the Starsword. Again, Cassian tensed, but Bryce just offered the blade to Nesta. The female took it, blinking. “You said you had an eight-pointed star tattooed on you,” Bryce explained. “And you found the chamber with the eight-pointed star in the Prison, too.” Nesta lifted her head. “So?” “So I want you to take the Starsword.” Bryce held the blade between them. “Gwydion—whatever you call it here. The age of the Starborn is over on Midgard. It ends with me.”

“I think that eight-pointed star was tattooed on you for a reason. Take that sword and go figure out why.”

I HOPE WE FIND OUT IN ACOTAR 6

He only made it one block before a female voice said from the shadows, “You have to be ten kinds of dumb to go back in there.” He halted, peering into the alley from which the voice had spoken. Two crimson eyes smoldered in the darkness. Tharion inclined his head. “Hello, Ariadne.”

Thus, with the stroke of the Autumn King’s golden pen, the royal bloodlines of the Fae were wiped from existence.

“The Oracle was right in a lot of ways, I guess.” Lidia lifted a brow. “It wasn’t just that the crown would go to Bryce, but that she’d end it. The Danaan royal line is finished.” Lidia clicked her tongue. “You’re not dead or childless, after all.”

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Not the being Prime part, that part he didn’t particularly like, but this new future. It’d probably be batshit crazy for a while, and they’d have no shortage of enemies, but … They’d also have each other. A pack. Of all Houses. Which was why they were here. No more splintered Aux, divided among Houses and species. They’d lead by example. Starting today.

The books. The Parthos collection. No longer in darkness and hiding, but here, in the daylight, for anyone to come see. She couldn’t bear to keep them locked away. Thankfully, she’d found three new employees to help her manage the unwieldy collection. Sasa, Rithi, and Malana currently perched on a takeout container, watching an episode of Veiled Love on Hunt’s phone where he’d propped it up against his water bottle. They’d never replace Lehabah, but it filled something in her heart to see them. To hear Syrinx, snoring beneath her new desk, in the little nest of blankets he’d made down there. Like something had finally slid into place. Like she was exactly where she was meant to be.

“I …” Baxian choked on the word. “There are about two dozen of them.” Bryce swapped a confused glance with Hunt and asked, “Them?” Baxian let out a laugh that verged on hysteria. “I swear, it’s like they sprang out of the earth, like they were hibernating or hiding there, I don’t fucking know—” “Baxian,” Bryce said, heart thundering. “What is it?” “Flying horses. Horses with wings.” Bryce blinked slowly. “Horses … with wings.”

“There are pegasuses in Avallen.”

There was an angel in her office, and a pegasus herd on Avallen. And the Asteri were gone and the dead were free … and though she knew there was work to do to heal Midgard, the world was out there. Life was out there. So Bryce and Hunt ran out to live it. Together.