LPN Deep Dives: HOSAB / Episode 38: Big Case of Da Ferk

Summary

LPN Deep Dives: Crescent City

Episode 38: Big Case of Da Ferk
Release Date: February 24, 2026
Hosts: Natalie Jean & Jackie Zebrowski
Podcast: LPN Deep Dives: Crescent City

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the final deep dive into Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas, as Natalie Jean and Jackie Zabrowski break down the dramatic closing chapters and epilogue. The hosts examine Bryce's shocking journey, Hunt’s bleak fate, the climactic multiverse twist, and the uncertain path forward for beloved characters. With trademark wit and plenty of roleplay, Natalie and Jackie reflect on what these endings—and new beginnings—mean for fans, while building excitement for their coming coverage of the third book. The tone is playful, candid, and deeply enthusiastic about the books and fandom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Banter, Cosplay & Sisterhood

• The episode kicks off with playful banter as Natalie and Jackie discuss getting into character through cosplay, violet contacts, fantasy wigs, and “haunted doll hands.”
• Each host shares their “book boyfriend” preference (Rhysand vs. Cassian from ACOTAR), and Jackie jokes about "turning Henry into Rhysand" while Natalie muses on character qualities.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Jackie: “I say do what gives you a smile. Put a wig on. Put a fucking wig on.” (03:50)
  • Natalie: “You can reinvent yourself and pretend like reality isn’t real. Just look at us. I've got stupid wings on. Who cares?” (03:55)

2. Looking Ahead: Third Book & Podcast Format

• The hosts reveal their mixed feelings about the upcoming third Crescent City novel, anticipating a denser and more complicated story with multiple points-of-view (POVs).
• Jackie’s more enthusiastic about complex plots; Natalie is apprehensive but open to a reread to “see what she’s aligning.”
• Upcoming podcast format changes are teased, but the deep-dive spirit will remain.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Natalie: “It’s like I’m looking at a big mountain.” (09:51)

3. Multiple POVs & The Challenge of Recaps

• Jackie proposes creating a list of every POV for clarity.
• The tennis analogy: rapid POV shifts in the third book are compared to watching a tennis match.
• The Ethan chapters: debated as dense with plot but less compelling.
• Quote: “Maybe it would be a good idea for me to actually list out every POV… so we can see how many people there are.” – Jackie (13:05)

4. Final Chapters Breakdown: Bryce’s Big Leap

[14:43–31:13]

• The plot resumes with Bryce having fallen through a “wormhole” at the end of House of Sky and Breath:

  • She's disoriented, injured, and surrounded by unfamiliar, manicured landscape—realizing quickly she’s not in hell, as expected.
  • Bryce encounters a mysterious, extremely attractive winged male who communicates in a language she doesn’t know, blindfolds her, and carries her to a lavish home.
  • The hosts gleefully imagine what the male must be thinking (“You know he thinking it though!” – Natalie, 32:38) and riff on the humor and sexiness of SJM’s world-building.

• Notable Quotes:

  • Jackie: “As her gaze moves upward to his face, she’s like, oh, this demon’s hot as hell.” (26:14)
  • Natalie: “How hot is he?”
    Jackie: “His face card is slaying.” (26:22)

• As Bryce meets more people who can’t understand her, she finally uses the ancient Fae language, causing shock among the group. They’re stunned by her possession of the Star Sword, which resonates with the male’s dagger—its twin.

5. Crossover Confirmed: Bryce in the Night Court

[35:07–44:14]

• Bryce pieces together that she’s not in hell, but in another world entirely—revealed by the fae’s reaction to her language and sword.
• Another couple appears, echoing familiar ACOTAR characters. The man’s star-flecked eyes and the woman’s paint-covered hands and tattoos leave no doubt: Bryce has landed in the Night Court.
• The hosts revel in the reveal:
  • Natalie: “It’s him. Oh my god, I miss them.” (44:14)
• The emotional resonance and SJM’s bold universe-collapsing twist are dissected, contextualized as a fandom-defining moment.

6. Epilogue: Ethan’s Plotline & Cliffhangers

[44:52–51:12]

• Shifting to Lunatheon, the epilogue follows Ethan, who is trying to watch over the wolf mystic while grappling with logistical and moral dilemmas.
• He’s confronted by Amelie Ravenscroft and must make tough decisions as he receives a call from Flynn summoning him home urgently.
• The wolf mystic finally awakens as Ethan pleads for help.
• Quote:
  • Host Natalie (reading): “Please… my friends need me. My pack needs me. …He’d lost his brother, his brother’s pack, the pack that would have one day been his, but this one—he wouldn’t lose…” (50:15)

7. Reflections & What’s Next

• The hosts debate the beauty and emotional devastation of SJM’s cliffhangers.
• Natalie and Jackie express empathy for needing “happily ever afters” in reading material, with shoutouts to romance bookstores (Ripped Bodice) categorizing endings.
• They genuinely mourn for the characters and prepare listeners for a short break while the podcast retools for the next book.

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Memorable/Notable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Cosplay Commitment
  • “If you need some violet contacts, who gives a shit? …Just look at us. I've got stupid wings on. Who cares?” – Natalie (03:55)
• On Differing Book Preferences
  • “Which is why… I think I’m going to like Crescent City the third book more the second time around.” – Natalie (10:32)
• Banter on Fictional Crushes
  • “That makes sense… So that we can be sisters in any dimension.” – Jackie (06:03)
• Re: Multi-POV Complexity
  • “There are times I was like, I felt like I was watching tennis.” – Natalie (12:41)
• Bryce’s Arrival After the Wormhole
  • “Bryce is sprawled across a grassy space. Her body is battered and she imagines she looks afright…” – Jackie (21:46)
• Dagger & Sword Reunion
  • “The star sword began to hum within its sheath, glittering white light leaking from where leather met the dark hilt. The dagger…” (37:04)
• Bryce Meets the Night Court
  • “Hello, Bryce Quinlan… My name is Rhysand.” (44:07)
• Summing Up the Emotional Cliffhanger
  • “They've been enslaved again and now Bryce is in the Night Court… There's a lot going on there already.” – Jackie (52:00)

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Key Segments (Timestamps)

• Intro, banter & cosplay: [02:36–06:34]
• Looking ahead to book 3: [09:18–13:14]
• Bryce’s multiversal fall: [14:43–31:13]
• Arrival in the Night Court: [35:07–44:14]
• Ethan’s epilogue & cliffhangers: [44:52–51:12]
• Emotional wrap-up, reflections, what’s next: [51:39–53:18]

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Listener Takeaways

• This episode delivers a comprehensive, character-driven recap of the final dramatic chapters of House of Sky and Breath, rich with context, humor, and genuine emotion.
• Jackie and Natalie both dissect the sprawling cast and the challenges of the upcoming third book, openly welcoming differing opinions while keeping things fun and relatable.
• They celebrate the SJM-verse crossover and gear fans up for future episodes and new directions for LPN Deep Dives.

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For fans and newcomers, this episode encapsulates everything that makes LPN Deep Dives fun: irreverent analysis, deep fandom knowledge, and the sense of sharing the wild ride of a truly expansive fantasy universe with friends.

Transcript

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[Natalie Jean]

We're excited to announce that we're going to Prythian and Valbara and Best Gaieth.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

If you're nasty and you can too.

[Natalie Jean]

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[Jackie Zabrowski]

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[Natalie Jean]

Visit fantastiquecollection.com and use our code Faybayes at checkout to receive $10 off of

[Host Natalie Jean]

any of these events.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Dreamers and readers.

[Natalie Jean]

Night 1 and 2 Mythical Creatures, Masquerade Fantastique Starfo Ball and the Farewell Fae Bash.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Not only that, but if you use our code Farewell Fabes at checkout for those events, you will receive an exclusive swag bag from the weekend.

[Natalie Jean]

I'll do anything for a swag bag, Natalie.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Please forget me.

[Natalie Jean]

Yes, that's right. Use our code Fabaze F A E B A E S at fantastiquecollection.com to get your $10 off of any of these events.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Dreamers and readers, baby, I cannot wait for this. Give me, give me that swag.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Welcome to Crescent City with your hosts, Natalie Jean and Jackie Zabrowski.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I feel as though this is how Rhysan looks in the mirror in the

[Natalie Jean]

morning you're doing right now.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Yeah, because he just goes. Wow. Oh my God. Wow.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I would.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Wow. Look at how this. Oh my God. It's like I don't even have to try.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

If I were him, I Would also say that in the morning.

[Natalie Jean]

I did look into getting violet contacts, but I'm worried if I put in

[Host Natalie Jean]

violet contacts that I'd never take them.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I know I'm really going to start messing with contacts, and it's going to be a problem for everyone.

[Natalie Jean]

The real problem, that I have a good Spanish. Honestly, our friend Sonia sent me to a good place. The problem is I have to get prescription contacts. So it is an investment to do it. And I'm worried that it's like, why would you. In the same way, when I watch Buffy, and of course, Willow gets addicted to using magic.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Because wouldn't you?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

If you were able to.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

100.

[Natalie Jean]

And I feel the same way about this.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah. I say do what gives you a smile.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Put a wig on.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Put a fucking wig on.

[Natalie Jean]

If you need some violet contacts. Me. Who knows gives a shit? You can reinvent yourself and pretend like reality isn't real. Just look at it. Look at us. I've got stupid wings on. Who cares?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I'm wearing these gloves because I couldn't find my correct Feyre gloves. And these look like I'm. It's their. Their haunted doll hands from Halloween. And that's what I'm preten. Our tattoos.

[Natalie Jean]

I'm glad that you're not. I thought. I thought at first it was just on one hand, and I thought you were giving me, like, Michael Jackson, Especially with the two fingers.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Well, I can't move the computer.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, I thought. I thought that you were trying to tell us something about Feyre. That I was like, is this where she gets into her lesbian experimentation section so that you can have these two fingers free?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I mean, they've talked about bringing a third in a few times, but it's usually two men worshiping Feyre.

[Natalie Jean]

That's the thing. And then she's like, oh, the baby's gonna rip me ap. But then we're past that. It's over. I know it's over, but I do love I I.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You actually look like you could be the boy.

[Natalie Jean]

This is my next wig.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's your next wig.

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah, I. I did dress like this. This is why I was dressed as our child when she went to the bone carver. And you guys are listening, and if you haven't read Crescent City, you're probably thinking, what are you talking.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You mean a court of thorns and roses?

[Natalie Jean]

Court of thorns and roses. What are you talking about?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

If you have not been paying attention to this podcast, why are you.

[Natalie Jean]

Why are you listening to it? Yeah. If you're not. If you don't know anything about the book that we're currently talking about. Yeah, that then. I don't know what to tell you, but this is where things I dare

[Host Natalie Jean]

say get interesting with Crescent City.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We are about to climax out of this.

[Natalie Jean]

It's because you're sitting next to me. Is it because you sit next to me? Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Because you're my mate.

[Natalie Jean]

Well, because also Rizan is your number one. Right? Yeah, yeah. Like a far. Like, far. Like the way that for me, Cassian is my far number one. Rizan is your four number one.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

And I. Which is great. So that we can be sisters in any dimension.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

That's right. Yes.

[Natalie Jean]

But don't turn Henry into reason, because I feel like I'm gonna have issues. Well, I. He's not my number one, but it's not that I don't want to bang reason.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I actually think Henry has a lot of qualities of reason, which is like a leader, somebody who can, you know, find satirical. In any instance, you are firm but gentle. Yes. There are many qualities that they share. And I think that that's. That makes sense.

[Natalie Jean]

And even though I really want him, I feel like Henry's more from the Autumn Court, but we. Because he looks. He's right there. It's the. It's. He looks like he's from the Autumn Court. And he's got a sneer.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Well, it's just because he sneers at you because you're a sister. He doesn't sneer at me.

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah, no, he never. I would never see a sneer at you. Oh, my God. I think if he tried to sneer in front of you, he'd be like. You just start to cry again.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Okay, that's. Again, that is a sisterly impersonation.

[Natalie Jean]

Yes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He wouldn't do that. No, he's quite. Ma. He's quite. He's both. He is traditionally masculine, but he's also very sensitive and thoughtful and emotionally introspective. He is.

[Natalie Jean]

And very good.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He was raised by strong women and around women.

[Natalie Jean]

Yep. Thank you. Thank you for recognizing me.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You're welcome. Resond. And Jackie. Yep.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Both of us.

[Natalie Jean]

Both of us are there to make Henry more fuckable.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Jacksonde.

[Natalie Jean]

Thank you. Jacksonde. Jackson.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, God. That was. That was a dad. That was a Henry senior joke.

[Natalie Jean]

That was a Henry scene. I mean, you could hear the accent. I heard it come out of me. It's better. That's the accent. I did. You know,

[Jackie Zabrowski]

of the choices you have, that was the better one.

[Natalie Jean]

And I'm not dressed like the prime right now. So I can't even pull all of that in, you know? I know, but look at me. I do.

[Host Natalie Jean]

I just.

[Natalie Jean]

Not that Rizond is an effeminate man, but I do feel like I could. If I were taller and if I were broader, I really could pull off a reason cosplay pretty well. Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I actually think that Rizan is described as beautiful quite often.

[Natalie Jean]

Yes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And also, and if he is stylish, he likes jewelry and like, he like dresses to the nines.

[Natalie Jean]

Yes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He wants to be fashionable. So yeah, I think you could pull that off.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Well, that's why babe got something on your face.

[Natalie Jean]

Feyre, you kind of. If you could.

[Host Natalie Jean]

If you could.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Rizan would never.

[Natalie Jean]

If you could. No, he would never.

[Host Natalie Jean]

You'd be like, look at my beautiful mate. She was in the midst of painting.

[Natalie Jean]

How dare you.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He would just be thinking about chapter 55, 54. That's all he'd be thinking about every time. It's fine.

[Natalie Jean]

I'll be thinking about it. But you know, we are at the

[Jackie Zabrowski]

end of Crescent City of House of sky and Breath. We are not at the end of Crescent City.

[Natalie Jean]

We are not at the. We're not the house of sky and Breath.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yes.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Okay. I know.

[Natalie Jean]

We have to do the third book.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, it's thick. It's a thick baby.

[Host Natalie Jean]

To do the third book next.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

No, we get to do the third book.

[Natalie Jean]

Honestly, I was talking about this with Adam and I think that it will be an interesting conversation because we feel not completely the opposite spectrum, but we both have very differing feelings on the third book. So I want you to know if you're listening and you've read the third book and you're like, stick with it. Let's go through it again. Because it is important to whatever she's setting up. So it's good that we know it. It's good that we're going through it again. And I'm an apologizing myself.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I enjoyed it.

[Natalie Jean]

You love.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Thoroughly.

[Natalie Jean]

Yes. And we will be going through and. And it's not that I hated it either. It's just that reading it again seems like I'm looking at a. Like a big mountain.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's a lot of. It is a plot thick situation. She has a lot of different line. Right. It's a string theory. There's stuff everywhere. She is. She is standing in front of that board and I love that kind of. I like. I'm a Stephen King girly through and through. And he takes his time and makes things very complicated and overly long. And I like that.

[Natalie Jean]

Which is why, though, I think I'm going to like Crescent City the third book more the second time around because I did read it so fast, so furiously, and I said family and then I opened up a Corona and then

[Jackie Zabrowski]

you went on the new roller coaster

[Natalie Jean]

at Universal Studios and I was like, that is fast. But then I came back from being Vin Diesel and I recognizing that, I think going through it again and recognizing more of what she's aligning in it, I think is going to make me like it more.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I do think you have to enjoy rereading books to enjoy it. I do think that because it is a lot. There's too much. And I do enjoy rereading books and I also read slower because I just am not a fast reader. I think I, I just think a lot and I think about things.

[Natalie Jean]

I've always said that about you. It's like Natalie, like she can barely keep up a conversation because she's always thinking.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And that's why I don't know a lot of different words because I am filled with just thinking about what I learned. So that's a lot of time.

[Natalie Jean]

You're very smart. You are very smart. You write these episodes every week. I do. I know I do.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I do. I don't do a single AI ver.

[Natalie Jean]

I don't never would you work with Jess, who also work very hard.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

And our, yes, our, our researcher has did an enormous amount of help this time around and I'm thankful for that. And also, since this is our last episode of this book, I should stay at the top. We're going to take just a couple weeks break after we finish this before we start the third book. And we will be returning with an entirely new layout. We're making some switches in the LPN studios. It's very exciting. So we're going to have it a little bit different format, but it's still going to be the same.

[Natalie Jean]

But it will be a different book.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Book. But the same books.

[Natalie Jean]

But a different book.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Very different things are happening in it.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

And there's a lot of perspectives in it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

There's a lot of different POVs. Yes. There's a lot of third person POVs.

[Natalie Jean]

I, I felt like I, I, There are time. That's why I'm so glad that we'll be able to unpack it together because there were times I was like, I felt like I was watching tennis.

[Host Natalie Jean]

We're just like back, back, back, back.

[Natalie Jean]

And just like, which, where are we at now?

[Host Natalie Jean]

Oh, great. We're back to Ethan.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, I'm gonna Maybe it would be a good idea for me you actually Ethan chapters list.

[Natalie Jean]

We can skip Ethan chapters if you want to Skip the Ethan chapter.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

No, there's plot. There's plot.

[Natalie Jean]

No, there's plot in it.

[Host Natalie Jean]

I know.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I'm gonna list out exactly every POV in the book so we can see how many people there are perspectives of.

[Natalie Jean]

Okay, great.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

That would be a good idea.

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I love this. So this is the last episode of this book. And we left Bryce for falling through a wormhole.

[Natalie Jean]

She keeps on falling in into wormholes.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Isn't that one of your sexual awakenings?

[Natalie Jean]

Alicia Keys.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, wait. This Alicia Keys. I was thinking that was.

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You were singing in Vogue. Oh.

[Natalie Jean]

I mean. Oh, it does.

[Host Natalie Jean]

In Vogue.

[Natalie Jean]

I'll.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Don't let go. I never did.

[Natalie Jean]

That's scary. That's scary a little bit.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But romantic, I guess, in that way where, like, it's romantic if you. If you're the kind of person who thinks it's romantic when a guy just, like, stands outside your window. I don't. Some people do.

[Natalie Jean]

It depends on the guy. Say anything.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I'll never. I will. I will never. You will never get me to hate on that movie.

[Natalie Jean]

I love that movie so much.

[Host Natalie Jean]

That's what I'm saying.

[Natalie Jean]

It really depends. Like, if it's Lloyd Dobler.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

Lloyd Dobler doesn't mean anything negative or wrong by what he's doing. He just loves and he doesn't know

[Host Natalie Jean]

what else to do.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's true. We've last Lloyd Toddler. I love a Lloyd. Oh, my God. Are you kidding me and Ione Sky. Get out of here. All right. We're not talking about that.

[Natalie Jean]

And John Mahoney. Come on. With the tax. All the tax fraud.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

That is technically an incredibly interesting thing to put in a teen romance. Is her father is a criminal. Spoiler.

[Natalie Jean]

It's a great movie.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Great movie. Top to bottom. We last left Bryce falling across a spacetime continuum. Okay.

[Host Natalie Jean]

You're right.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Has gone arai. But also in the moment. A new plan was formed from the inner circle. The team you vaccine seems to be on their side. The hind is a mystery. We don't know whose players in which games. Everybody's playing chess on a checker's board. We don't know what's happening. Whoa.

[Natalie Jean]

We.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We're about to find out what fate is in store for all of these players in the final section of House of sky and breath. Chapter 77 doesn't start out sounding very hopeful. Hunt is bound and gagged in Gorzian stone Rune and Baxian have also received this treatment. And we're with Hunt's thoughts as they are led back to the throne room from the hallways from whence they came, where Bryce has disappeared, her whereabouts unknown to them. Now the archways portal is gone along with her. Only the destroyed hallway around it gives any evidence of the scene that has just played out.

[Natalie Jean]

Don't make me read it again, Natalie. Don't make me read it again, Natalie.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

His lightning stores have been utterly depleted. Empowering Bryce to what they all pray is hell.

[Natalie Jean]

I feel like I'm being sent back

[Host Natalie Jean]

to the torture chamber.

[Natalie Jean]

Like, I feel like. I feel like I get Hunt in this situation. No, it's horrible. And I feel like right now, Natalie, you're forcing us back into the torture chamber. You're doing this to us.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But you did consent to listen to this, so that's on you. Boo.

[Host Natalie Jean]

So we're.

[Natalie Jean]

We're all go down together?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yep, we're going down.

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[Jackie Zabrowski]

So they are completely imprisoned. They can't use magic. Hunt sees the Hind walking freely beside Rigela, speaking. The two of them speaking to one another. So either the Hind has been playing all of them, including Ruhn, or has somehow managed to continue to fool the Asteri. We don't know yet. He holds on to his hope that Bryce will return with Hell's armies and holds her lingering scent in his heart as he's pushed to his knees before Rigelus. He hopes that Bryce frees their people, but doesn't think that he or Ruhn will be there to see it.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Go ahead, Hammer, rigela said, smiling at Hunt. Cold death in his ageless eyes. Hunt could feel Ruhn and Baxian watching in muted horror. Hunt bowed over his knees, waiting for the blow to his neck.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He thinks of Bryce in these last moments, but the death blow doesn't come. Instead, a grinning pollux grips his head as a calm Rigelus approaches him and stands above him.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Rigelus laid his glowing hand on Hunt's brow and pain erupted through his skull, his muscles, his blood, as if the very marrow of his bones were being burned into mist.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Hunt screams in pain and fury as the halo etches across his brow.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, I was gonna dress as hot today, but I couldn't do it because I didn't want to put it on. I didn't want to put the tattoo on my head.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, it's not fair. The halo goes across his brow, each thorn stabbing through his skull. As if real, he feels his power, his autonomy, pour out of him, his body once again serving a master.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Hunt screamed again, and as darkness swept in to claim him, he wondered if that soul scream, not the halo, was what Rigelus wanted. If the Asteri believed the sound of his suffering might carry through the gate and into Hell itself where Bryce could hear him, then Hunt knew nothing at all.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Great. So that's how that part ends in this book.

[Natalie Jean]

Natalie, why are you doing this to us?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I don't know why I'm doing this.

[Natalie Jean]

And I know that it's SJM doing this to us.

[Host Natalie Jean]

But.

[Natalie Jean]

And I know that plot has to happen and that not every book is a happily ever after. And I know that. But I hate that.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I hate it.

[Natalie Jean]

But I hate that. And I am. I'm becoming the kind of it's like I love to be destroyed by a book.

[Host Natalie Jean]

I do. I love it.

[Natalie Jean]

But recently I've been reading a lot more Happily Ever after. So I tell you what. Because I just. I. I'm so fragile.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

That's why. There's. There's a section. Our friends at the Ripped Bodice. They have a section in their bookstore that is does not have happy ending A warning for you, which is very helpful in these trying times.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Yes.

[Natalie Jean]

It's just sometimes it's like I just need to read about love.

[Commercial Announcer]

Get it?

[Natalie Jean]

Just be about love. And that the problem is that they can't be together. That they're together and maybe one of them is a minotaur and you gotta get milk. It's just like these big the big beads of the pre come like if I could just think about it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Comes coming out of your ears. You have a mind sex.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh God.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Oh.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So now.

[Natalie Jean]

But also check out, you know, Romantasy Deep Dives because we will be talking about some other happily ever after stuff pretty soon.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh yeah, we're going to have some other content coming. Yeah. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram please.

[Natalie Jean]

Romantasy deep dives and YouTube.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So we're at chapter 78 and we are with the Bryce who has fallen upon something through a hole.

[Natalie Jean]

Talking about first light again.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Or is this a hell had grass and mist?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Bryce has landed somewhere, shaking in shock and grief and also now dizzy. Bryce is sprawled across a grassy space. Her body is battered and she imagines she looks afright. She can see the blood under her nails, though her body is exhausted beyond words. She screams at it to move, to get up, to begin the process of finding Aidas on this foreign planet. In a panic, thinking about all the creatures that had poured out into Midgard the previous spring, her eyes dart around for danger, looking for demons, only to spot the Star Sword laying next to her. She had taken it from Ruhn in those final moments.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Get up, she told herself, gritting her teeth. The mists parted ahead, peeling back to reveal a gentle turquoise river perhaps 50ft from where she knelt, flowing right past the lawn.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Feeling more disoriented than ever, she realizes she seems to be in someone's manicured yard. And then I wrote defer.

[Natalie Jean]

I imagine she's really having deferk going on.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Big case of the fur.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

On the other side of this river, she can make out shapes moving through the mist lazily. She screams internally for her body to move through the shock she's experiencing. Looking down at her leggings, she sees that the harpy's blood still covers a large portion of her clothes.

[Natalie Jean]

It was a good kill though.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It was a that's a sick ass kill.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Really good kill.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Before the blood can draw whatever nightmares that hell holds, she makes herself manages to get one foot under her to stand.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Something icy and sharp pressed against her throat. A cool male voice A cool male voice spoke above her, behind her, in a language she did not recognize, but the curt words and tone were clear enough. Don't fucking move.

[Natalie Jean]

Do you like my little wings?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I do, but you're not as real.

[Natalie Jean]

Ah, little wings. Ah, little wings. I'm not Asriel, but I'm also. But it's like I'm giving shadows. Like I'm definitely like I'M all about that shadow right now.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's not what I would call threatening.

[Natalie Jean]

My little tiny wings. Yeah, that definitely couldn't pick me up. I'm gonna. Oh, I'm gonna come at you. You wait. You wait. Once I can get airborne, I'll show you.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

They're cute.

[Natalie Jean]

I guess it's not, but it's not sexy. They're not sexy.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

No, I wouldn't necessarily say they're. They're virile.

[Natalie Jean]

They are the tops I was looking for though, so I was excited because it does give the shape of what their wings are. But then you see how little they're, how cartoonishly little they are and it's so funny.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah, it's almost like you could be frightening. And then when the wings. Wings open, you're like, oh, maybe not.

[Natalie Jean]

What do you mean? God. This is what I'm saying, guys. Everything is horrible out there. But if you just get yourself a pair of wings that also moves out when you pull the strings. I mean, entertainment for hours really is so something.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Someone has stopped her with a knife to the throat. Her powers are drained and useless. This being speaks again from behind her, but she has no idea what he's saying. It's some language she's never heard, so she remains still. A hand from this being reaches down, grabs her shoulder and twists her body to stand and face him.

[Host Natalie Jean]

She glimpsed black boots, dark scale like armor over a tall, muscled body. Wings. Great black wings. A demon's wings. A demon, you say?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Well, as her gaze moves upward to his face, she's like, oh, this demon's hot as hell.

[Natalie Jean]

How hot is he?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

His face card is slaying. No, she is. She didn't say that. She does say he's beautiful. She is in reeling with despair. And as he tries talking to her again in this foreign, strange language, she begins to try to communicate what she needs. Aidas, she says to the male humanoid creature. I'm looking for Aidas. He watches her, seeming not to understand what she's saying.

[Host Natalie Jean]

But so, so hot.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But man, is he good looking.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Good lord.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Suddenly his eyes widen as he glances next to her. She follows his gaze and sees that he is staring at the star sword. She's too broken to care. She steps forward towards him, grasping at his shirt, fully at his mercy. As tears begin to fall again, she begs to be taken to aid us. Realizing they can't communicate through language, he gestures to her and pulls a piece of cloth from his armor. He motions for her to put it over her eyes. With no other available Options. And emotionally spent, she complies. He tightens the fabric around her eyes at the back of her head. And she notes he isn't rough or cruel. Before she can think, he has scooped her up into the sky and realizes they are flying to wear unknown.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Bryce tried to use the time in the air to stop shaking, but she couldn't. Couldn't even form a solid thought.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

This would have been the time to flap your wings of all of the things.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I guess y'.

[Host Natalie Jean]

All.

[Natalie Jean]

You shake it from these. Oh, oh, these are giving you. Don't worry. We gonna get you away. We're gonna get you where we gotta get you. Don't worry.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Are they separate strings?

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah. When you walk through the door. Hey, you know I got a big wing. A big wing spin.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh, this is entertaining me.

[Natalie Jean]

I. I'm get. Get yourself a pair of these wings. I don't work. I don't work for big wing. But these are a lot of fun. They're big spin

[Jackie Zabrowski]

support local artists. There actually are a lot of wing makers around now on Etsy.

[Natalie Jean]

It's crazy. You can really get some amazing wings made.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

And I am, I am looking into it.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Yeah. I just keep, just keep measuring Jeff and how big he gets.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, I know.

[Host Natalie Jean]

You gotta see how big wings my

[Jackie Zabrowski]

boy badifying him for years.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So they are up in the air. She doesn't know what to make of what's going on, but she is just too like, just drained, destroyed, in despair to even care that much. They've taken to the air very brief amount of time. And then he comes back down to the ground. And though she's still blindfolded, she can tell they're entering some kind of domicile. He speaks and goes to put her down. But not knowing what he says, she loses her footing.

[Host Natalie Jean]

He caught her and sighed. She could have sworn he sounded exasperated. He gave no warning as he hauled her over a shoulder and trampled down a set of stairs before entering somewhere nice smelling roses, bread, paint.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I like that you combine trampled and

[Natalie Jean]

tromped to one Trompled. Yeah, he tromped.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I liked it. I think you should keep it in

[Natalie Jean]

his tromple down the stairs.

[Host Natalie Jean]

I like it. Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

It's because he big. Oh, he's clomping around.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Except he's not. He's also live.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Very live.

[Host Natalie Jean]

So big.

[Natalie Jean]

You know, this is really. Oh God. The second I get back into the acotar where I'm just. Sorry, oops. But I'm just. And then I start thinking about those big old boys. Big old bad boys. Oh God.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She tries to process this. Is hell like nice? Is this some kind of illusion? Has she gone mad? He leads her towards what turns out to be a couch of some sort. A comfortable one. When he begins speaking, she tries to tell him that she doesn't speak Hell's language and again attempts to convey that she needs to see the prince of the pit. Her heart twists as she thinks of Hunt. Imagine she will never see her mate again. Sorrow threatens to overwhelm her. Sobbing, she rips off the blindfold in frustration and pleads with the male to help her. He only watches her. But then she is distracted by the space they are occupying.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Dark oak wood floors and furniture, rich velvet fabrics, a crackling fire. Books on the shelves lining one wall. A cart of liquor and crystal decanters beside the black marble fireplace and through the archway beyond the winged mail, a foyer and a dining room. Its style could have fit in with her father's study, with Jesiba's gallery, or the night Corn.

[Natalie Jean]

Take me back.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Cautiously, she asks him what part of hell this is. Finally, he at least answers with an acknowledgment of her words.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Hell?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He seems to ask. Yes, she says, and begins to rattle onto him, trying to get him to understand what she needs. He only shakes his head in confusion. But before she can try anything else, she hears the sound of others entering the house and rushing towards the room they're in.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, sorry.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You okay?

[Natalie Jean]

I'm sorry. The water that went down the rock.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Okay, so before she can try anything.

[Natalie Jean]

Keep that all in. I feel like, yeah, that's.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Leave it.

[Natalie Jean]

Let them hear. Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So before she can try, she hears people rushing towards the room.

[Natalie Jean]

God, I would love to hear his perspective of how hot Bryce is. Like, it's like. I mean you wouldn't from him, but you know he's thinking. You know he thinking it though.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Ooh, there's some fanfic about those too. I'll tell you that.

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[Jackie Zabrowski]

approval so she stares at this new group of people who enter through the same doorway, mouth agape. There is a small one in the group who reminds her of Fury and is certainly Fae. Her clothes look old fashioned, like something that would have been worn on Cormac's Isle in Midgard. Another winged male and a pretty brown haired female, also Fae. She tries again with this group. Please, I need to find Adas. They begin to chatter amongst one another.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Sorry, I just realized on my ears on I forgot to put my ears

[Natalie Jean]

and I'm sorry, it's like you don't even know who I am now. I forgot to put my ears on.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Who are you? Who are you?

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, you could be Ass I guess. But I mean with the I guess he has the same tattoo.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You can be Asriel, but I want

[Natalie Jean]

you to be Rhys. I know I want to be Rhys.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

James, can you just have ears hovering on the entire episode? That would be awesome. Thank you.

[Natalie Jean]

Or else I'm not the character.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So they begin to speak to one another again in this language she doesn't understand, not seeming to understand her either.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Bryce swallowed hard. She knew only one other language and that one her heart thundered. Bryce said in the ancient language of the Fay of the Starborn business oh my God.

[Natalie Jean]

Is she a royal? Oh wow. Do you want me to translate it?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Is this world hell?

[Natalie Jean]

I need to see Prince Aidas. This petite.

[Host Natalie Jean]

The petite dark haired female staggered.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh sorry, that was you.

[Natalie Jean]

How dare you. Natalie.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Now I'm confused.

[Natalie Jean]

Is it because we're in an upside down world? Is it because we're in a different place right now? I know which one is who and I am he and we are she. We are all together.

[Commercial Announcer]

Huh?

[Host Natalie Jean]

The petite dark haired female staggered back, a hand to her mouth. The others gaped as if the small female's shock was a rare occurrence. The female eyed the Star Sword.

[Natalie Jean]

Then

[Jackie Zabrowski]

she looks at the male who brought her here and gives him some kind of signal.

[Natalie Jean]

Like that could be it because she's

[Jackie Zabrowski]

me. Thinks that that person already has A meat.

[Natalie Jean]

Ah. Me thinks that they are thinking about other things.

[Host Natalie Jean]

While she speaks in the ancient language.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

The male pulls out the sword he's been carrying. The male who brought Bryce to this room. And Bryce gasps. His dagger looks almost the twin to the star Sword.

[Host Natalie Jean]

It was its twin. The star sword began to hum within its sheath. Glittering white light leaking from where leather met the dark hilt. The dagger.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

You got to make the sounds of the swords. Yep. Good. Perfect.

[Natalie Jean]

That's how you know that they were siblings. Because of the sounds. You shut up. You shut up. Stop touching me. Stop touching me.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Stop touching me.

[Natalie Jean]

Shut up.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He drops siblings. So it begins to like, react to the other sword in this male. This one who brought Bryce to the room, panics. He drops the sword, almost as if it's hot. The group of people seems stunned. One of them points to the Sar sword and gasps.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Gwydion.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

They seems to know it somehow. What the f is going on? Bryce turns to the small Fae female and speaks to her in the old language. She asks the female if this is hell. The face simply answers back that no one has spoken that language in 15000 years. It seems to remember there's a certain dating system back in Midgard that might

[Natalie Jean]

correlate with that dating system where we get to the guys with the big wings. Is that the kind of dating, like an app?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

They hose them?

[Host Natalie Jean]

That kind of.

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

This information only makes Bryce feel more tired. She tells the small one.

[Natalie Jean]

Can you imagine? Especially right now, like, you wake up, like all this stuff is going on, and then you wake up and you're like, oh, I'm where? I'm 15 thou. Okay, well, I just. You know what?

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Can I have a nap?

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah, I need to. I need a timeout for a second.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

She tells the small one she needs to. To find Aidas. The small one tells Bryce she doesn't know who that is. And the female tells her some other pretty bad news.

[Host Natalie Jean]

This place is not hell. Bryce slowly shook her head.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I. Then where am I?

[Host Natalie Jean]

She surveyed the silent others, the winged males and the other Fae female who stared coolly.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

What world is this?

[Natalie Jean]

You went our. You went our. And she gonna paint you. I'm gonna kiss you. She's gonna paint you. I won't kiss you.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But I.

[Natalie Jean]

We will provide some help.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Maybe. I think if she heard that as the response, she would just like run

[Natalie Jean]

into the river and be like, I can't.

[Host Natalie Jean]

I can't.

[Natalie Jean]

I can't.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh God.

[Natalie Jean]

Is it an only singing world? Is that why they can't understand Me.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Then the door opens again and another couple bursts through the doorway. Another brown haired Fae female steps in. She's dressed in casual clothing and covered in paint. Tattoos are on her hands and arms below the loose tunic she wears.

[Host Natalie Jean]

The winged dark haired male who stepped in behind her. Bryce. Gasped. Ruhn. The male blinked. His eyes were the same shade of violet blue as runes. His short hair the same gleaming black. This male's skin was browner, but the face, the posture. It was her brother's. His ears were pointed too, though he also possessed those leathery wings like the other two males.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Looks like Rune, huh?

[Natalie Jean]

So I guess she doesn't want to kiss him. So that's good. Yeah, that is good. Don't get that vibe from him.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's my boy.

[Natalie Jean]

I this is why we're reading Crescent City. This is why we're doing this show is because of this and because of where. Like that's the thing. The third book is not my favorite but I like what it's doing and the forward movement from the other store. Like I like where this is going.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I do too. And there are some people who absolutely despise that that's happening that way. But not me.

[Natalie Jean]

I like that. The world's Gobbit. I like it. I like it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

These two new people they take in the scene in front of them. The male looks her over, then looks at the sword and then right into her eyes. She is taken aback that the literal stars seem to be in his pupils.

[Natalie Jean]

Do you see him, Natalie? You see him? There's Oprah Lake Lively. We don't want her in there. I don't want any of those. But it's right next to Ryan Reynolds. You can see it right behind if you go underneath over there.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Get him out of there. Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

Tom Hanks is up over here.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

But I I feel about any of

[Natalie Jean]

them kind of caught like like the back of my eye.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

What about. Can you just have chat in there? Is he a star?

[Natalie Jean]

I not for the ways he wants to be. But Chet's in there too.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Okay.

[Natalie Jean]

Yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Two Beside herself with weariness and sorrow to fight, she begins to weep, stumbling over her words. Midgard her mate she can't find. She needs help.

[Natalie Jean]

I don't know what you think. I know what you're saying.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Weekly she begs, pleads for them to help her.

[Host Natalie Jean]

But what does she do Monthly.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We gotta get through this.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Weekly.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I got it now.

[Host Natalie Jean]

I got it.

[Natalie Jean]

I like disappointing you Natalie. It's always. It is my favorite.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Good. Well do. You're really good.

[Natalie Jean]

Thank you. It's almost like we're making a whole career out of it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

The fae who looks like fury. I forgot I had to keep talking. The fae who looks like fury speaks to the others, becoming the impromptu translator. She turns and tells Bryce, the one with the tattoos, the female wants to know her name.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Bryce glanced from the tattooed female to the beautiful male at her side. They both possessed an air of quiet, gentle authority. The others all seemed to wait for their cues, so Bryce addressed the two of them as she lifted her chin.

[Natalie Jean]

My name is Bryce Quinlan and we're Mommy and Daddy. And Mommy and Daddy do love new babies.

[Host Natalie Jean]

The male stepped forward, tucking in his wings. I'm tucking in my wings.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Host Natalie Jean]

He smiled slightly and said in the old language in a voice like glorious night. Hello, Bryce Quinlan.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

My name is Razonda.

[Natalie Jean]

It's him. It's him. Oh my God, I miss them.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I missed them too. I missed them. Don't worry. Now we go back to Ethan.

[Natalie Jean]

It's just like. It's like Ethan knows. He like he knows like, oh, you really like what about me? Oh God, with the wolf. And just like there are other bigger things going on, we are interdimensionally traveling, Ethan. Oh, don't worry, it's not going to end there.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Technically that is the end of the book. Here is now, however, an epilogue very brief, because if you'll recall, there are many not closed ends tied up in Midgard. We only were at the palace. There's lots of stuff happening in in the city as well. So now we are with Ethan, who we left last, left in Lunatheon, where he had told Hypaxia that he could not join them on their mission, and where he is seeking out the captured Fendir heir, sold into slavery to the Astronomer. He stands outside in a raging storm in front of the Astronomer's building. He has been waiting there for a time to see if any movement occurs around the building. Most people seem to have hunkered down for this storm. Has the Astronomer been taken in for questioning, or is he just simply doing the same?

[Host Natalie Jean]

Something moved in the shadows far down the alley, beyond the neon glow of the signs above the tattoo parlors and bars, swift and hulking, and he sniffed the air. Even with the rain, he knew that scent, knew the golden eyes that glowed in the rainy darkness.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's friggin Amelie Ravenscroft.

[Natalie Jean]

That B word that it's like can't Sabine claw your eyes out? Or something like go at each other.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Sissy punchathon or some shit.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Oh no, not the Sissy Punchathon again,

[Host Natalie Jean]

put him in the ring.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So she is appearing there in the shadows. And it seems as though she was either following Ithan or was sent by Sabine to scope out this alleged Fendir and maybe do away with her. Because now Sabine has figured out that this Fendir, who she apparently knew about but thought had died or disappeared forever, is not so. Died or disappeared.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, no.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He growls. And she slinks away. I guess because he's got his Alphas out, he tries to figure out, oh, no. Okay, this is a problem. Now that I've revealed this fact, there is going to be immediate danger for this Faye, who's entrapped in this case 24 7. They're going to have people casing the building all the time.

[Natalie Jean]

It's almost like I didn't think about it.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He did not think about it very well. It was not the best kind of thinking he could have thought. And so.

[Natalie Jean]

And all the other smarter people were busier doing other things so nobody could be like, hey, bud, what you doing over there? Yeah, maybe now's not a good time, unfortunately.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

So he is now in a place where he's like, I gotta convince my friends to come take shifts to watch over this wolf and just. I know, I know, I know. Hold your hold back. And just as he thinking this over

[Natalie Jean]

very hard, or they all like getting torture, like digging. Wait, they're starting to watch the wolf. Yeah, don't forget. Yeah, he's got the whole frat house that he could pull from his phone

[Jackie Zabrowski]

rings, which he is sat nearby him. Seeing that it's Flynn, he picks it up and is about to ask him for this massive favor. When he hears the tone in his voice, he stilled.

[Natalie Jean]

What is it?

[Host Natalie Jean]

Flynn's breathing turned harsh.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I know it's serious.

[Natalie Jean]

It's so hard to do it. Serious voice.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Flynn.

[Natalie Jean]

Flynn. Flynn. Oh, that's what he sounds like, Natalie. It's serious, but that's what he sounds like. And he should think about that. Maybe he should think about cleaning up whatever himbo accent you got coming out of there.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Ethan's body freezes in horror of awaiting what news Flynn has to bring. Reliving the moment from three years prior, sure that all of his friends have died once again. But we, the reader, know it's not that simple. No. As Flynn tries to explain it to a growingly confused Ethan, Flynn tells him he needs to come back to the house so they can talk.

[Host Natalie Jean]

We need you, Flynn said. And his voice was full of an authority that people outside the Ox rarely heard.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

We're friends now. Wolf, get your furry ass over here.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Ethan peered toward the towering doors, felt himself being pulled apart by Urd herself.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

After a moment he tells Flynn he'll be there in 15 minutes. Ethan has made a decision. In moments he's in front of the astronomer's door. Moments later he's ripped the door from its hinges. He's decided that if the Old is in there, he'll just tear him apart. He stomps over to the Wolf's tub.

[Natalie Jean]

Wake up.

[Host Natalie Jean]

His words were a low growl.

[Natalie Jean]

We're going.

[Host Natalie Jean]

The mystic didn't respond, lost to wherever her mind took her.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

He tells her he knows that she can hear him and that they have to leave. He has only moments until someone's like, oh, what happened to this door?

[Host Natalie Jean]

Please, he said softly, head bowing. My friends need me. My. My pack needs me. That's what they'd become. He'd lost his brother, his brother's pack, the pact that would have one day been his. But this one he wouldn't lose it would fight until the bitter end to protect it. Please, ethan whispered, voice breaking. Her hand twitched, the water rippling. Ethan's breath caught in his throat. Her brow furrowed. The feeds on her tank began blaring and beeping, flashing red. The hair on Ithan's arms rose and then, lids fluttering like the alpha fought for every inch toward awakening. The lost Fendir heir opened her eyes.

[Commercial Announcer]

Whoa.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It's like the end of that one Twilight movie.

[Natalie Jean]

One where he waits for the eggs and wants to bang the baby when she grows up.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

After.

[Natalie Jean]

After that. You mean the new book where he waits for her to grow up and then he waits and he's like is she 18 years? She 18? You could have sex with it yet.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Countdown. Like the Olsen twins.

[Natalie Jean]

Yay.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

No it's that's not what we're talking about here.

[Natalie Jean]

No, that's not what we're talking about here. But what we are talking about is

[Host Natalie Jean]

the end of this book.

[Natalie Jean]

And there was a lot is a

[Jackie Zabrowski]

conclusion on House of Sky and Breath. We have many things going on. What will happen to Hunt Rune in back scene? What's going to happen? They've been enslaved again and now Bryce is in the night court.

[Natalie Jean]

I think I being she didn't get

[Jackie Zabrowski]

to hell what's going to happen to her? And now Ethan is caused another kind of problem.

[Natalie Jean]

He's making more problems.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

There's a lot going on there already. And now he's bringing another seventh or eighth problem into the situation. However maybe it's what Urd wanted.

[Natalie Jean]

But also, isn't it beautiful that they found Bryce on the lawn in their place where people usually shouldn't be able to find. And I like that they didn't. Even though he did blindfold her, which I thought was a good, good thought, as you know, because he's always thinking he's our shadow. Daddy.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I think he has the. The blindfold in there for other reasons.

[Host Natalie Jean]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

Oh, yeah.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

When he's.

[Host Natalie Jean]

When he's teaching.

[Natalie Jean]

When he's got to be teaching Quinn. But I am, you know, they don't immediately attack her. And I think it also goes to say a lot about them. They miss their world.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

I do, too.

[Natalie Jean]

And I'm excited. I know that we're going to be getting ACOTAR 6 soon.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

And I know that we will go into that book when it drops. So I. And I think it drops this year.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

It was slated for this year. We'll see.

[Host Natalie Jean]

We will see.

[Jackie Zabrowski]

Things have been quiet on the front.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Natalie Jean]

But, you know, things are going to be quiet here just for a little bit.

[Host Natalie Jean]

We'll be back to you so soon with book three of Crescent. Sam.

[Commercial Announcer]

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