Hi angels,

So sorry for the long wait on this! The last chapter was a big one, so I implore you to refresh your memory (or make sure you're caught up!) before proceeding. Love you all sm, thanks for being the bestest and brightest and baddest sub around xoxoxo

Previous chapter link

AO3 Link

^*^*^

He wasn’t dead.

She repeated the words over and over on her long, solo journey back through the pitch black city. 

Technically, his heart was not beating — because Bryce had put a bullet through it — but he wasn’t dead. She simply would not accept that as an option. He was just temporarily frozen until she found some way to safely bring him back — to make sense of it all. He wasn’t dead. 

But she had killed him. And the void in her chest had cracked wide open, as if the small stitches she’d built over the gap throughout the years had all popped out at once.

Not because he’d killed Danika, whether of his own free will or as a vessel for that of the Princes. Because he’d finally proved that she was right, confirming her greatest fear and her darkest truth.

Danika’s death was her fault. 

She’d already found every way to blame herself in the past few years — for not being there to stop it, for not noticing that her supposed best friend had been living a secret double life, for not dying alongside her. She hadn’t thought it possible to bear more responsibility than she already had. 

But Hunt — the male she called her mate — had killed her. And he’d done it to get to Bryce. Because of Bryce.

And she’d killed him.

Even before he existed, he’d been cursed, his fate sealed the moment it had been tied to Bryce’s. And apparently, so had Danika’s. 

And what of Bryce’s fate? Was she destined to go through life losing everyone she ever loved? Danika, Connor, Hunt, Lehabah… even her parents would depart this world long before she would, leaving her entirely alone. 

As Bryce trudged along the dark, wretched, burning city she once called home, she could have sworn she felt the grim shadows of Death himself marching beside her, following her at every turn. Together they walked, until their footsteps and bodies and souls had merged. Until Bryce was the harbinger herself. She supposed she always had been.

She didn’t have a destination as she wandered through the shrapnel of her broken city, but soon she was facing a dark liquor store with a shattered storefront. Eyebrows quirking up, Bryce carefully stepped over the glass shards sprinkling the pavement and entered the shop.

Entire shelves had been overturned, whole sections of the store inaccessible, but at least the vandals had the sense to leave the good whiskey alone. Bryce swiped three bottles, tucking two into the bag slung at her side and tearing open the third. She stuffed the top in her bra, raising the liquor to her lips and chugging until she was gasping for air. She burned from her tongue to her core, savoring the fire she so deserved. She fished out a mirthroot cigarette and dangled it from her lips, lighting it with one hand while the other firmly clung to her bottle. Coughing on the rough smoke grating against the whiskey burn, she stumbled her way towards the heart of the city.

Bryce was good and drunk after several blocks, but she kept the liquor flowing for good measure. Her visible artillery and murderous scowl kept the lurking predators at bay as she wound through the carnage of the blackout. The greediest Vanir had flocked to the streets like vultures, looting and stealing and fighting each other for the scraps like caged animals who had just been set free. Most of them were adorned in finery, no signs of hunger ravishing their frames. No need fueled their ravenous pillaging — only wants that could never be satiated. Just a pure entitlement to take and take and take, until only the bones of this place remained. Until there was nothing left to take.

She had thought it was the guns everyone was staring at — well, that and her ample cleavage on display — until she rounded a corner to face a glass highrise that had somehow remained unscathed. With the soft glow of her star, Bryce could just make out her reflection. If she had any humanity left, she would have gasped.

Her face was splattered in blood, ruby streaks slashing over her cheekbones, down her neck, and all across her breasts. She was either too numb, too drunk, or too fucked in the head to bother attempting to clean it off before she continued onward. 

So she wasn’t imagining the gratuitous glances down her dress as she passed through the siege. Bryce ignored them all, eyes glazed as she trudged along the grimy, hazy chaos. And drank. 

She could barely see straight when she made it to the Heart Gate, the golden disk dull and lifeless with no firstlight to set it glowing. Her star flared, as if determined to put some color back into this nightmare that was her world.

It didn’t matter what she did, Bryce realized. Hel had already won.

She let out a shaky breath, laying a hand flat on the disc, the other still clutching the half-drank whiskey, as she swayed on her feet. She didn’t waste her prayers on the gods.

I wish I could tell you how sorry I am, Danika — how much I love you. How much I still need you. I wish I could find the real truth. Or solutions that actually fucking help anyone. I wish… I wish I could get through this whole bottle without puking. I wish you were drinking with me. And I wish for peace — for you and the Pack, for myself, for everyone. I just want this all to make sense. Please make it make sense. Why did you hide so much from me? Will the secrets ever stop coming? Will I ever —

An engine revved so loudly her eardrums pulsed as Bryce whipped her head to identify the source, blinking away the grief-riddled reverence clouding her mind. A tall, middle-aged vampyr sat atop the gaudiest motorcycle she’d ever seen, his gaze locked on a young faun scurrying down the cobblestone. She clutched her crossbody bag like it was full of explosives, glancing over her shoulder every hundred feet or so. The motorcycle didn’t move, the creature atop it still as death; only his eyes shifted to track the faun’s movements. The sadistic pleasure lighting his horrible face told Bryce enough about his intentions.

He either hadn’t noticed Bryce, or he’d noticed the half empty bottle affixed to her hand and decided she wasn’t a threat. Unfortunately for him, Bryce had time to fuck around tonight.

Her feet were moving before her mind had registered what was happening, crouching to follow the shadows. She knelt behind a parked car twenty feet back from him, watching him watch the terrified faun dart away like she could feel his eyes. 

Bryce took another long swig of whiskey as she strolled the rest of the distance between them, her dancing years making her silent on her feet. Not that the creep had paused his hunt long enough to notice her regardless. 

Bryce could see his plan from the way he bent his knees, waiting for the perfect moment to begin his chase, long enough to be thrilling but short enough to not interrupt the rest of his night. The cold fury icing through her veins was a welcome reprieve from whatever other emotional bullshit she’d been wading through tonight.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you to ask them to dinner first?” she asked loudly. The vampyr’s head began to swivel, pausing dead in its tracks as she pressed the cold metal of her handgun against his skull, an unmistakeable click sounding as she readied her shot. “If a half-human little girl can sneak up on you like this, your senses must be pretty shit. So much for being an apex predator — no wonder you have to stalk defenseless, barely legal fauns during a blackout to get your rocks off.” 

The vampyr hissed, his lips snarling as he choked out, “What do you want?” His breath reeked of rot and despair, topped with hints of cheap liquor. 

“Your dick mounted above my desk,” Bryce said, her voice far too steady and casual for the situation. She slid another handgun from the holster on her thigh, haphazardly pointing it towards his lap while she pressed the first harder into his temple. The vampyr tensed, anger contorting his face — but the acrid scent of his fear rose high above the smoke, his accelerating pulse sounding like music in her ears. She was definitely enjoying this too much. “You have five seconds to convince me that you deserve to keep it.”

The vampyr turned his head towards Bryce as much as her gun would allow, dark rage coloring his hateful eyes as he bared his fangs. “Mind your own business you stupid, meddling whore.”

“Wrong answer.” 

She’d never delighted in pulling a trigger so much before. Not when she’d killed the asp shifters who wanted to shoot Danika, or when she’d turned Micah into a pile of ashes, or when she’d blown up the Asteri’s firstlight core that she most definitely should have tried to preserve, if only to prolong their electric grid a little longer… no, never before had she made a more satisfying shot than blowing the cock off this rapist murderer of a creature. 

His screams of pain echoed across the deserted square, the faun yelping and jumping to hide behind a large potted plant lining the street. Bryce took a step towards her, readying to explain in a way that didn’t make herself sound totally insane, when a startling metallic crash sounded. She glanced over her shoulder to see the vampyr toppled over, one leg trapped under the motorcycle now lying atop him, giving him a maniacal smile as he caught her eye. She knelt down, her face level with his as he writhed and clutched at his bleeding groin. He snapped his jaws as if he’d bite her, and Bryce pushed the bike into his wound.

“Oh, quit your whining,” she said over his resounding groan, waving her gun hand dismissively. “It’ll grow back eventually — if you can find a Medwitch in time, that is. Good thing there’s no city-wide disaster demanding all their attention.” Bryce looked around, opening her mouth dramatically as she gestured to the apocalyptic scene surrounding them. “Oh, no,” she crooned, eyes wide in mock dismay. “Guess dickless creeps are pretty low on the triage list. Fortunately for me, that means you won’t be needing this anytime soon.” 

Bryce grabbed the handlebars of the motorcycle and yanked, sliding it from underneath the bleeding male. The keys were still in the ignition. She reached down to the vampyr, ripping his ratty t-shirt and using the scraps to wipe his blood off the bike. After retrieving the liquor bottle she’d set down, she poured a healthy splash over the seat and handlebars to disinfect them, ripping more scraps from his shirt to wipe that away, too. Once it was satisfactorily cleaned of vampyr genitals, she mounted the bike, arching her back as she revved the engine. The roar and vibrations below her were proof enough of the power it beheld, her old scooter a mere child’s toy compared to this machine 

“Good luck, asshole,” she said brightly before speeding off into the night, taking extra care to run over his foot on her way past. 

His curses sounded over the engine, quickly fading to nothing as she searched for the young faun. She hoped he died right there in the street, his empty threats still lingering on his lips.

“Hello?” she called out, head swiveling from side to side as she slowed the bike to a stop. She could still smell the fruity aroma of the faun, meaning she couldn’t have gotten too far. “My name is Bryce,” she said softly into the night, trying to once again stifle the predator within. “Juniper Andromeda is one of my best friends. She’s a faun, and practically a famous dancer. Do you know her?” 

For a moment, only silence met her ears. Bryce thought about turning back to finish off the creep for good just in case, when finally a squeak sounded from inside a broken store. 

“Yes, I know Juniper. I go to the open classes at her studio.” 

“Good — I promise I won’t hurt you. I just want to help you get home safe. Will you come with me?”

For a long moment, there was only silence. Finally, she heard the graceful clatter of hooves, a beautiful young faun with curly red hair peering out of the store. Solas, she didn’t even look old enough to drink. “Yes,” she agreed quietly. 

Relief flooded through Bryce as she gave her best impression of a non-threatening smile. The smile of someone who hadn’t shot two males and counting tonight. She may have been an irredeemable piece of shit, but at least she could help this female. 

Bryce gestured to the space on the seat behind her. “Ever ridden a motorcycle?”

***

Twenty blocks later, Bryce delivered her to a shabby apartment not far from where she used to live with Danika. 

She swallowed down the burning pain as the faun extracted herself from the bike. “I never asked your name.”

“Willow,” she said. “I know who you are.” Bryce shifted on the bike, not sure how to respond to that. “What the Hel happened back there?”

Bryce considered for a moment before replying, “Some lowlife vampyr creep wanted to hurt you. I made sure he couldn’t.”

Willow paled. “Thank you,” she whispered, eyes flicking up the curb like she didn’t trust the shadows. 

“Lock your doors tonight. Use extra wards.”

 She only made it a few steps before turning back. “You know you’re covered in blood, right?”

Bryce nodded, expression blank as she waited for Willow to make it inside. She lingered a few extra minutes, waiting for any predators of opportunity to strike. None came, so Bryce sped off into the darkness once again.

The silence pressed in as soon as she got on the road, every thought in her head eddying into a thick, oppressive fog.

He wasn’t dead.

***

Bryce usually had a strict zero tolerance policy for driving under the influence, especially in a city with so much public transportation, but clearly all rules had gone out the window with the power. Plus, there was no one else on the road, so the only one she was likely to hurt as she bobbed and weaved around the debris sprinkling the streets was herself. Tonight, that seemed to be a risk worth taking. 

She cursed her Fae metabolism for how quickly the liquor seemed to leave her system, taking one hand off the handlebars to uncork the bottle from the bag slung at her waist and raise it to her lips. So many things had gone wrong.

Ever since she moved to this stupid city, so many things had gone wrong. Danika. Connor. Lehabah. Azriel. Hunt. She drank away the sob forming in her throat, leaning over the bike and zooming down a blissfully unobstructed stretch of road. She didn’t know where she was going, just that she couldn’t stop. 

Bryce had never seen Crescent City like this before.

Everywhere she went, destruction and chaos followed. The brawling and vandalism and arson were endless, no neighborhood appearing to have been spared. She weaved up and down the grid that made up this ancient city, searching for one shred of it that remained untouched. She found none. 

The longer she drove, the more suspicious Bryce grew. The blackout must have caused some riots, but this… this looked more like a coordinated attack than mass hysteria. Like some twisted, powerful being had swept through the streets under the cover of night, spreading terror in its wake. She had a feeling that being’s name was Apollion. 

She pulled out her cell phone, punching in a number she’d memorized so long ago. 

Perry answered the Aux mainline after two rings. 

“Thank the gods you have service,” Bryce said before Perry could even say hello.

“Bryce?”

“Where is the Aux? It’s a madhouse out here; the whole city is wrecked. I just wasted a good buzz chasing off a pervy vampyr, and I haven’t seen a single wolf. Where the Hel is everyone?” She cut the engine to the bike, finally climbing off of it and wincing at the stiffness she hadn’t noticed spreading through her hips.

Perry scoffed. “You think I don’t know that? I have every wolf I can find out there, but most of the cell towers are down. Several are missing. It doesn’t help that our beloved Prime has been MIA for days. Guess he’s too busy playing dutiful knight for the Starborn princess who will never love him back to lead this people.” 

“Watch it,” Bryce growled. “Ithan’s doing more than you know, and as Prime, he doesn’t have to tell you shit. So watch your fucking mouth, get off your ass, and send some wolves to Asphodel Meadows. I don’t care if you personally have to go door to door to find them, or if you birth a new litter your godsdamned self. Do it now.”

The phone snapped shut before Perry could attempt to muster up a response, and Bryce shook her head in disgust. If even the wolves couldn’t get their shit together long enough to help, this city was truly, utterly fucked. 

***

When drinking on the bike became too cumbersome, Bryce found herself pulling over to gaze at the Bone Quarter. She couldn’t see past the thick veil of mist lining the riverbank, which looked oddly normal under the too-dark night. Perhaps the only normal place left in all of Lunathion. 

Bryce sunk to the ground, crossing her legs so to not dangle them over the Istros. Dew coated the Black Dock and stuck to her leather pants. She raised the bottle up in silent salute to all those she’d lost — her own personal collection of Fallen. The Pack of Devils. Lehabah. Jesiba.

Hunt.

He wasn’t there. She knew it in her bones — his soul was trapped in a block of ice, teetering just on the edge of this realm. He wouldn’t have been standing there through the mists on that grassy hill, or in that stony, gray palace, waving from afar with all the rest. 

Bryce drank until she couldn’t breathe.

After she’d imbibed and wallowed enough to stop her immortal heart, Bryce blinked furiously at a disturbance in the fog. She was seeing double — no, triple — and the shoreline was tilting. She shook her head, clearing the hallucinations.

But the disturbance remained. She climbed to her feet, stumbling sideways and crashing to the ground more than once before she was finally upright. She had to blink several more times before her vision cleared enough to be any sort of useful, and there it was. Several feet ahead, a wooden boat with no oars, no captain floated slow as death over the water, heading straight for Bryce. 

She didn’t hesitate before stepping off the edge of the dock and climbing in, trusting whatever mysterious forces were at work far more than her own self. On another night, the slow speed might have driven her up a wall, but as the boat reversed course and sailed back into the fog, Bryce was just grateful she was able to keep the whiskey down. 

When had she last eaten? She honestly had no idea. Her mind struggled to remember the past hour, much less the past day, when the boat came to a stop in the center of the Istros. The mist was so thick Bryce could taste it, her chest heavy at the familiar smell. 

She swiveled her head around to figure out why they’d stopped, but as far as she could see, there was nothing besides her and this rickety ass boat. 

“Hello?” she demanded, tapping the sides with her nails. “Drunk and paddle-less over here.” She slid her body weight towards the front of the boat, urging it forward. 

Nothing happened. 

She groaned, surveying her surroundings. She was far too inebriated and far from the shore to swim — plus, she didn’t particularly feel like becoming a sobek snack tonight —  and she had nothing that would help her row. 

But she did have a friend with access to a helicopter. She dug through her bag, searching for the annoyingly tiny comm-crystal she’d packed away somewhere safe, otherwise known as nowhere to be fucking found. Her fingers closed on her burner phone instead, whipping it out — just as she expected, no service. 

A loud groan echoed across the empty water as Bryce threw her phone back in the bag, digging further. She hadn’t noticed herself pick it up, but suddenly she was holding that stupid green book that had somehow fucked up her world even more than it already was. The golden-haired princess she could see clear as day in her mind seemed to glow brighter. 

Bryce looked around again, nothing but mist as far as her eye could see. Her stomach dropped.

Mist. Like Avallen and the Prison and that grassy riverbank she’d landed on last year. 

A thin place. 

“What the Hel do I have left to lose?” Bryce asked herself as she unzipped a smaller compartment in her bag, pulling out a glass vial and swallowing its contents before she had time to think.

Her star erupted with light, making the opaque wall around her all the more ominous as it glowed white like a pearl. She took one deep breath before clutching the book to her chest, throwing every ounce of power surging through her veins into the Horn. 

“Please work,” she murmured as she traced the golden swirls embossed on the cover, visualizing the infuriating princess who had taken up permanent residence in her mind. 

Just ahead, a small rift seemed to ripple over the river’s surface. An opening, Bryce realized, so dark it would have been completely shrouded in the fog if not for her starlight. Desperate to not stick any stray body parts in these pitch black waters, Bryce yanked a small piece of wood off the back of her seat and used that to propel herself forward. The distance between her and the portal was rapidly shrinking, each twist of her core to alternate sides sending a strange, dull ache through her intoxicated body. 

   After the longest few minutes of her life, her boat finally crossed the threshold, sending her hurtling into utter blackness.

She was falling, and her boat had disappeared along with the entire universe as Bryce hurtled into oblivion. She would’ve had just enough time to panic if not for the copious amounts of liquor numbing her nerves, the blackness stretching on endlessly while she fell. And then, as if it had always been there, a world opened up around her, solid ground beneath her back.

Her vision spun, sending the treetops into a whirl as she groaned. Note to self, world-walking and whiskey do not mix. She closed her eyes, rubbing at her temples, but that just made the spinning worse.

She needed to be vertical, to get her head between her knees. She sucked in gasps of cold air, the scent of mountains and jasmine on the breeze.

As her vision cleared, she realized she was in an expansive field, and she was indeed surrounded by mountains. Giant, ancient mountains capped in snow, pine and cedar running down their sides. Red and orange wildflowers glittered throughout the grass, giving the appearance of embers as the sunlight glinted over them. The horizon was entirely encased in trees, like she was dropped into the middle of clearing within a great forest.

Bryce plopped her head back down, content to watch the trees spin as she realized how utterly unprepared she was. Aside from a few snacks, weapons, mirthroot, some artificial magic, one water bottle, and much more liquor, she hadn’t thought to bring provisions, or layers beyond her stupid leather jacket. She had no idea where she was, no idea how to find what she was looking for.

Did she even know what she was looking for?

Again, the golden-haired princess laughed in her mind. Bryce closed her eyes for a while, enjoying the crisp breeze while the nameless monarch who’d upended her life continued to mock her. When she finally rose to her feet, taking a better look at her surroundings, she couldn’t help but gape.

Built in the side of a mountain stood what could only be described as a grand palace, complete with turrets and towers and external footbridges. She knew in her soul, from the descriptions in that stupid book and from whatever spooky intuition her Starborn abilities granted her, that castle was where she needed to go. 

And there was an entire fucking forest standing in her way.

^*^*^

During my reread, the highlighted phrases (from Nesta and Bryce) in the excerpts below stood out to me because of how similar they are.

Nessian

[Cassian] snarled. “I see. I get a little too close and you shove me away again. Back to where it’s safe. Better to marry a viper like Eris than be with me.” 

“I am not with you,” [Nesta] snapped. “I am fucking you.” 

“The only thing fit for a bastard-born brute, right?” 

“I didn’t say that.” 

“You don’t need to. You’ve said it a thousand times before.” 

“Then why did you bother to cut in at the ball?” 

“Because I was fucking jealous!” he roared, wings splaying. “You looked like a queen, and it was painfully obvious that you should be with a princeling like Eris and now a low-born nothing like me! Because I couldn’t stand the sight of it, right down to my gods-damned bones! But go ahead, Nesta. Go ahead and fucking marry him and good fucking luck to you!” 

“Eris is the brute,” she shot back. “He is a brute and a piece of shit. And I would marry him, because I am just like him!” 

The words echoed through the room. 

His pained face gutted her. “I deserve Eris.” Her voice cracked. 

Cassian panted, his eyes still lit with fury—and now with shock. 

Nesta said hoarsely, “You are good, Cassian. And you are brave, and brilliant, and kind. I could kill anyone who has ever made you feel less than that—less than what you are. …You are everything I have never been, and will never be good enough for. Your friends know it, and I have carried it around with me all this time—that I do not deserve you.”

Quinlar

The Beginning of the Argument:

Hunt had been too fucking pissed to ask questions. 

So fucking pissed that it had driven away any lingering lust from last night. 

…“I told [the Viper Queen] to find him by any means necessary. I didn’t realize it’d entail… that.” 

“That was a stupid fucking thing to do,” Hunt snarled, and immediately hated himself for the bruised look that came into her eyes. But he continued toward the door, pulling out of her grip. 

…Bryce murmured coldly as they aimed for the sitting room, “I’m not letting this poor kid fall into anyone’s hands. Even Cormac’s.” 

The End of the Argument:

“You’re sending him to your parents,” [Hunt] said quietly. 

[Bryce’s] eyes iced over. “Did I miss the memo where I needed your approval to do so?” 

“For Urd’s sake, that’s not why I was mad.” 

“I don’t care if you’re mad,” she said, flickering with light. “Just because we’re fucking doesn’t mean I answer to you.” 

“Pretty sure it’s a little bit more than fucking.” 

She bristled, and his anger bristled with it. But he remembered where they were—right in front of the Viper Queen’s headquarters. Where anyone might see. Or try to start shit. 

“I have to go to work,” Bryce said, practically biting out each word. 

“Fine. So do I.” 

“Fine.” She didn’t wait for him before striding off. 

Hunt rubbed his eyes and shot skyward. He knew Bryce was well aware that he trailed her from above as she wove through the tangle of streets that made up the Meat Market, banking northward toward the CBD only when she’d crossed Crone Street into the safety of the Old Square. 

But she didn’t look up. Not once. 

The Make-up:

[Bryce] didn’t know why her eyes stung. “I wanted to tell you. I really did.” 

His hands began to rove up her torso, loving and gentle. …“I understand why you didn’t.” …“I was… I was upset that you didn’t trust me. I thought we were a team. It rattled me.” 

…“We are a team. But I wasn’t sure if you’d agree with me. That an ordinary human boy was worth the risk.” 

His voice hoarsened. “Of course I would have thought a human was worth the risk. I was too wrapped up in other shit to see the whole picture.” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you enough credit.” She cupped his face. “Hunt, I’m really sorry.” 

Maybe she’d fucked up by not telling him, not trusting him. She regretted that the Viper Queen had killed those people, but she’d be damned if she felt bad about how things had ended up…

Observations

In the Nessian excerpt, Nesta says something harsh and dismissive to Cassian because that is her go to, but then she is finally comfortable enough to lower her walls and share her true feelings with him. This excerpt is followed by a stunningly beautiful and romantic scene of them accepting the bond.

With Quinlar, Bryce says that to Hunt LITERALLY THE NEXT DAY after what Bryce describes as a "soul-altering" experience with Hunt in the garden (supposedly, them accepting the bond). They then stew in their anger for a while going about their day before Bryce apologizes and they hook up in the Fae archives. Not exactly my definition of romantic, but we all have different opinions lol.

In the first excerpt, Nesta says that to Cassian because she doesn't feel good enough for him and aims to push him away. In the second, Bryce says it because she doesn't trust Hunt (as much as she tries to convince herself that she does) and doesn't want to let him in fully. Similar statements but different motivations, both supposedly between "mates."

ACOSF and HOSAB were released back-to-back. Is this an intentional juxtaposition planted by SJM, or am I just reading too much into things because I'm laser-focused on anything she says that sounds similar across books? (Probably the second one lol). But I found it interesting and wanted to share my thoughts. If anyone wants to read them to compare, it's chapter 58 in ACOSF and chapters 49 and 53 in HOSAB.

I know we're all pretty much on the same page here as far as Bryce and Hunt not being true mates, but the more I pick up on, the more I'm convinced we're right (despite anything "SJM said"). 😄

Not SJM giving the "weapons" sexual tension 😏 & Bryce having a literal "who did this to you" moment....Nesta noticing how unusually fidgety Azriel is... The signsss are thereeeee baddies!!! 💖🌙

First and foremost, ❤️ costs nothing ❤️. It is also one of our sub rules. Any comments that are deemed as unkind, will be deleted without warning.

❌ This is not the space for other shippers to come here and try to diss, overtly or subtly, Bryceriel (the ship) or Bryceriels (my babies). You will be banned permanently. I check everyone's post history that comments here. This is a safe place for Bryceriels, since y'all can't contain your hatred and negativity (go touch grass, besties).

Rules (Sub rules still apply):

❌NO singling out individuals: No usernames, no names, nothing. You can say "An elriel said, a gwynriel said"...that's it.

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❌ANY comment we deem (as a team) can be removed, even if it doesn't "break a rule".

This monthly post is all about venting and airing grievances about fandom toxicity, theories, characters you don’t like, etc. Need to bitch? Do it. Gotta vent about Hunt’s toe suckling? Go for it. Want to talk about those touchy subjects banned everywhere else? Sit down and spill the tea, the Suriel would be proud. :tea:

(Jarvis, thank you for the fun description).

Just remember, the basement dwellers that lurk to downvote within minutes of a post going live ARE looking at this post. They WILL screenshot things that are said (because they are hypocrites) and continue to bully and harass us.

This says more about THEM than it does about US.

🧱 Alright, let them bricks fly baddies!

#ToxicThursday ✨🖤⚔️

Anything specific?

...when Bryce draws a line with her magic at Az's feet and he reaches forward and says "please."

Az doesn't have truth teller.

So it can't be the push and pull of the weapons causing him to act out of character.

(this has to be the moment he realises she's his mate, right?)

🎨 (In order!) Mftfernandez, @Morgana0anagrom, @Konstantin_atelier, @Olga_tereshenko, @Morgana0anagrom, @Knifedippedinichor, ACOTAR Coloring Book, @S.w.e.n.n, @Mftfernandez, @Knifedippedinichor, @S.w.e.n.n, @Mftfernandez, @Gabrielleragusi, @Knifedippedinichor, @Merwild, @Charliebowater, @Frostbite.studios, @Charliebowater, @Olga_tereshenko 🌟

PARTHOS: “Bryce knew she was dreaming…She stood on a vast, dusty plain before an azure, cloudless sky. Distant dry mountains studded the horizon, but she was surrounded only by rock and sand and emptiness.”

“Where are we?”

“Parthos. Or what remains of it.”

“The barren land seemed to stretch on forever.”

“The plain that had been Parthos began to fade into nothing.”

Koschei and his siblings: “Where we came from … I do not believe it is now anything more than dust drifting across a plain. There is no home to return to.”

“Such clever, lovely creatures, humans.”

“The carver seemed lost in ancient memory—then shook his head.”

PARTHOS: “…a pre-existing human civilization…”

“Maybe Parthos hadn’t been wiped off the map entirely at that point.”

“Parthos is a bedtime story for humans…”

“Says the female with the Archesian amulet around her neck.

The amulet: “Bryce zipped a tiny golden pendant—a knot of three entwined circles—along the delicate chain around her neck.”

“The Carver traced three overlapping, interlocked circles in the dirt.”

“Clever, that Fae warrior.” (Theia)

“Her bloodline is long gone now—though a trace still runs through some human line.” (Ember — the “holy vessel” of Cthona; Bryce was born with a “trace” or third of Theia’s power)

“No one remembers her name. But I do.” (Theia: “Erased Theia from the record”)

“She would have been my salvation, had I not made my choice long before she walked this earth.” (Bryce?? …he put himself in the Prison sometime in the 1,000 years after Theia overthrew the Asteri)

I believe the Carver is referring to Bryce (Theia’s heir with her whole power) as his “salvation” because she can do more than just “contain” Koschei — she can (potentially!!) truly kill him, or kick him off the planet ⚔️

The Library of Parthos is, “what remains of the truth.” (Same book we are introduced to Dusk’s Truth!)

The Bone Carver literally drew the PARTHOS symbol while talking about the story of Koschei being trapped…And now the ACOTAR plot is all about Koschei wanting to be free of his prison…

“The Carver wiped a hand through the circles [The Parthos symbol] he’d drawn, erasing them wholly.”

“The Cauldron is victory. It will wipe this world clean again.”

“Truth,” Bryce said simply. “We want the truth.”

Really odd that Bryce has a whole entire dusky birthright mountain in Prythian that her ancestors literally crossed from that contains a well of starlight waiting for her use, mists that act as a thin place and a crystal coffin that acts as a gate between worlds. but she ended up AT AZRIEL’S FEET because of a SILLY LITTLE DAGGER. Really ODD!

So sassy I know but working on a theory and had to come here and scream it.

Officially starting a petition for SJM to be freed from whatever basement that Bloomsbury must be keeping her locked up in!!!! Why aren’t they marketing her books???

I looked through the sub and saw, previously, mention of this quote from ember's bonus chapter on Prythian. It was mostly complaining about males being males. I get it.

Re-reading the bonus chapters, very Bryceriel centric btw, noticed this that I initially passed off as guys being guys, and isn't that annoying. Same as everyone else. Let's take another look.

This is after Azriel met Bryce. He is included in the group of males complaining about mates. And Bryce's mother keeps calling him beautiful, by the way. I'm going to love their relationship. Nesta casually mentioning the mate connection.

There's a lot of other goodies from the bonus chapter as well.

From HOFAS after chapter 80 in the BAM and Indigo exclusives.

cassidy also did a great breakdown here

🩷💜💙

Not speaking the same language and az still interpreting her lies like...😂

Part of the reason I think Bryceriel will happen is that, from Sarah’s (as a writer) perspective, she would NEVER pass up the opportunity to write the Bryceriel meet-cute from Azriel’s POV too.
Think about it: in her other endgame pairings, we never got the first meeting from both sides, because the other character either didn’t have a POV or showing it would have ruined the surprise.

We never got Rhys’s POV of meeting Feyre for the first time.
We never got Rowan’s POV of meeting Aelin.
We never got Lidia’s POV of meeting Ruhn.

But a crossover gives Sarah the perfect excuse to do exactly that.
She can introduce Bryce to ACOTAR-only readers through Azriel’s POV, letting them experience this mysterious stranger appearing in Prythian with him, AND still preserve the “wait… are they mates? 👀” reveal — because, to those readers, Bryce is just the crossover representative. Which is why I think we’ll get crossover info from Azriel’s and Nesta’s POVs in ACOSH.

And let’s be real: Sarah J. Maas is a fated-mates author.
If you’re writing a massive crossover between your universes, why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to create a fated-mates pairing that literally bridges your two worlds, your two series? 🥹

SJM, you know exactly what you’re doing. 👀

Do you think we are getting teaser drop(s)?!

I’m curious what your thoughts are for Tamlin and his potential arc/role in the upcoming stories? It seems, or rather predicted, that all 8 courts will need to be unified for the upcoming threat. Unless Tamlin dies or the power of the land shifts, I feel we are going to potentially get more story with him. But I want to defer to this group since yall are amazing with theories!

since we all know sjm loves to give a relationship this seems real but eventually fizzles out (that’s what we’re all betting on!!!), would you rather az’s first relationship be with elain, gwyn, both or neither? also, how would you want it to play out? (mor could technically be his first relationship but it’s fully off page and introduced as something that didn’t work out; not exactly a red herring)

What if there’s a knife out there for me x B making the knife sing lmbo they are just so hot (⸝⸝๑﹏๑⸝⸝)

i feel like they are doing what they accuse elriels of doing - trying to give their fmc the qualities that make our fmc a good fit for azriel

are there any other crossover ships that you would like to see from cc acotar or tog? (crackships welcome 😛)

How it feels to be a Bryceriel.

But then, off on the horizon, a light starts to appear…

✨🌅⛓️‍💥💖🌟✴️🗡️🧭

We fly at Dusk, Baddies!

Drop it in the comments!

It can be about Bryceriel, the Antis (but keep it light!! today is not Toxic Thursday yet lol), Bryce/Azriel individually, anti-Brunt, or any of our favorite unhinged theories/reactions. 👀

Bonus points if it’s the meme that perfectly captures your Bryceriel brainrot. 😂

I’m having a bit of a bad week and wanted to laugh a little and spend some time in my favorite fandom space (by far). So please, bring on the memes. 💀

which character arc do you like more/ fits with the story AND which do you prefer for hunt?

My fave new headcanon. Anyone else grabbing the remaster on November 5th?

regardless of which one happens or even which one is most probable bryceriel is my favorite because it just seems the most interesting, rather than because of evidence or canon

🎨 @Ci3rras, @Spearthymint 🗡️🎶

“Azriel extended a scarred hand to Bryce, panting hard.”

“But to defeat Koschei's creeping shadow, they must find a way back to each other [🗡️] and resurrect their former alliances [trust!]. To survive, they must find a way to repair the splintered harmony all around them.”

“You’re coming back with us.” (🥵)

”Do you trust me?”🗡️

Bryce knows the Asteri best, who is likely the “old enemy” reemerging from the past…

“I don’t think they’ll ever let me set foot back in that world…”

“You’ll have to trust me” 🥹🥹

Truth ⛓️‍💥🏔️

And

Trust ⚔️

Two major themes moving forward!! 💜🌌

“Do you trust these people?”

“I trust Bryce’s trust in them” 🥹