QUICK LINKS: House of Earth and Blood Recap by Chapter 1–11 | 12–23 | 36–49| 50–59 | 60–71 | 72–84 | 85–E
House of Earth and Blood Chapters 24–35 Summary
This chapter-by-chapter summary of House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas contains spoilers.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 24
Bryce is still reeling from the news about Micah. She’s angry that everyone kept it from her, and no one even told her if he survived. When Hunt tries to apologize, he accidentally lets slip that Bryce was once on his suspect list. That’s the last straw. Bryce tells Hunt to get lost.
She runs through the streets to burn through the anger and grief. A phone call brings Bryce to the White Raven, where she stops in the alcove where she sent her last messages to Danika and scrolls through their old photos. One picture pulls up a memory from senior year. Bryce and Danika were held at gunpoint on a highway after a mess involving a stolen bike, and in that moment, Danika told Bryce that she loved her for the first time.
Bryce takes one last look at the final photo Danika ever sent her and heads inside.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 25
Hunt follows Bryce to the White Raven and sits down without being asked. He orders food and tries her drink, surprised to find it’s just water. Bryce admits she doesn’t drink anymore, a sign she changed after losing Danika.
Bryce steps away, and Juniper pulls her onto the dance floor. Ruhn shows up at the booth. The club owner called him because Bryce seemed off after the crime scene. Ruhn tells Hunt that Bryce used to be a serious dancer and quit after the tragedy.
Hunt realizes he had Bryce all wrong. Bryce isn’t a shallow socialite. She’s been quietly carrying her trauma for two years while letting the world think the worst of her. Bryce spots Ruhn and heads back, visibly angry. Before she reaches them, the club explodes.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 26
A bomb goes off inside the White Raven. Bryce tackles Juniper to shield her from the blast. Hunt gets Bryce out and takes her to Ruhn’s house to recover. Juniper is shaken and yells at Bryce for taking such a reckless risk.
Investigators link the explosion to human rebels who follow Philip Briggs. A symbol at the scene resembles a curved horn, suggesting the bombing was a warning. Hunt calls Isaiah to arrange a prison meeting with Briggs.
Ruhn tells Bryce their father found out she’s involved and wants her under constant guard. Bryce avoids having Ruhn move in by choosing Hunt instead. She then makes a deal with her brother. She’ll give him access to Jesiba’s library if he gets Declan Emmet to help track Danika’s final movements. They agree to start at the gallery the next morning.
Afterward, the Autumn King tells Ruhn to keep the Horn away from the angels and to watch Bryce closely.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 27
On the walk home, Bryce tells Hunt she and Danika had always planned to undergo the Drop together, with Connor and Thorne as their Anchors. Now that Danika is gone, Bryce admits she’s just been going through the motions.
Back at the apartment, Bryce calls her mother and lies about being at the club. Bryce asks Hunt to stay quiet about his deal with Micah. Hunt agrees and opens up about his own situation. If he catches the killer before the Summit, his debt drops to just ten more lives, putting his freedom within reach. Bryce listens without judgment.
Hunt apologizes for treating Bryce like a suspect. Bryce accepts and tells him he’s not the jerk he pretends to be. They eat burgers together and call it a night.
After Bryce goes to bed, Hunt finds two photos in the guest room. One shows Bryce as a toddler with her parents. Her adoptive father is Randall Silago, the famous war hero. The other shows Bryce and Danika on rocks in the desert after what appears to be a brutal fight, with Danika holding a sword nearby and Bryce covered in bandages. It’s the only photo of Danika in the apartment, and Bryce is wearing that same jacket right now.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 28
Hunt wakes up to Syrinx staring at him. Juniper stops by with pastries to check on Bryce. Juniper says the media is blaming the bombing on human insurrectionists from the western continent, with security cameras catching their symbols on a shipment crate. The club owner has put a price on the bomber, which means their old friend Fury might come back to collect.
After Juniper leaves, Hunt tells Bryce he needs his own keys and full access to her security spells. Bryce is annoyed but doesn’t fight it. From this point on, they go everywhere together.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 29
Ruhn joins Bryce and Hunt at the gallery, and they get to work. Hunt searches databases for ancient images of the demon while Ruhn combs through the bookshelves. Declan sends over Danika’s location records from the weeks before she died. She was assigned to Luna’s Temple for the two days before the Horn went missing and was there during the citywide blackout. Bryce thinks the demon tracked Danika because she picked up the scent of the Horn while on duty.
Later, Ruhn finds a book with more of the Horn’s history. Only someone with Starborn power can use it, which explains why the creature was bred to hunt that specific magical essence. The Horn can only be repaired by a very specific and contradictory type of light and magic, so the group concludes it’s likely useless. They’re also dealing with two separate people: whoever controls the demon and whoever has the Horn.
Hunt agrees to visit the Oracle since Bryce and Ruhn both refuse to go back. Hunt later heads to the military complex with Bryce.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 30
Bryce and Hunt head to the Comitium so Hunt can grab weapons and fresh clothes. They talk while Hunt packs, and Bryce starts to piece things together. Hunt isn’t stuck at a lower rank because he lacks ability. Hunt simply has no interest in babysitting soldiers or playing the political game. He shares a bit of his past, though he stays guarded, given where they are.
Isaiah calls with an update. Their request to see Briggs is approved, but it will take a few days. The Oracle also has an opening for Hunt the next morning.
As Bryce and Hunt head out, they see that every soldier is staring toward the front doors. A wave of power rolls through, and everyone drops to the floor in a bow. Micah is at the entrance, and right beside him is Sandriel, who has just arrived.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 31
Sandriel’s arrival catches everyone off guard, including Hunt. The moment Hunt sees Sandriel, he locks up and starts shaking. Bryce plays the starstruck tourist and gets Hunt into the elevator before things get worse. Pollux not being there helps Hunt settle slightly.
Micah stops Bryce and asks her to dinner in front of everyone. Bryce turns Micah down without hesitation. Hunt carries Bryce out through a launch balcony, and they head home.
During the flight, Hunt thanks Bryce for stepping in and warns Bryce that Pollux is far more dangerous than Sandriel. Back at the apartment, Hunt asks if Bryce was serious about rejecting the Governor. Bryce meant every word. When Hunt asks if Bryce is avoiding relationships, she rebuffs him. Bryce is tired of the assumption that a single woman must be waiting for a powerful man to complete her life. Bryce then tells Hunt he’ll be facing the Oracle alone the next morning.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 32
Bryce spends the afternoon going through Danika’s old location data but comes up empty. On the walk home, Bryce teases Hunt for being a typical sports fan.
Micah calls, and Hunt steps away to take it. Hunt gets an order for an assassination, and Micah snaps at him about the lobby scene with Sandriel. Hunt tells Bryce he has routine legion work and slips away, asking Justinian to watch the apartment.
The job is brutal and leaves Hunt feeling hollow. Hunt gets back late and drained. Bryce is still awake, but she doesn’t push him. She just mentions she saved the sunball game for him. Hunt manages a quiet thanks and heads to his room.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 33
Hunt visits the Oracle and asks why someone would want Luna’s Horn. The Oracle gives Hunt two big pieces of news. The Horn isn’t just for sealing doors. It can also tear open the passage between dimensions, and despite the old stories, it can be repaired. Hunt asks who’s behind it or how the repair works, but those details are hidden from the Oracle.
The Oracle then offers to show Hunt his own future, but Hunt declines. The Oracle also offers to share what she saw in Bryce’s future, but Hunt refuses. It isn’t his place to know. Before Hunt leaves, the Oracle warns him to stay away from Bryce.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 34
Hunt meets Bryce and Ruhn to share what he learned. The Horn isn’t just for sealing the rift. It can also tear it open again and can be repaired despite the old stories. The three of them wonder if rebel groups or cults are hunting for it to bring demons into their world. Ruhn offers to check with magical healers for leads.
Later, Hunt asks why the Oracle seemed so hostile toward Bryce. When Bryce was thirteen, her reading went wrong. The vision was so intense that the Oracle screamed and lost her sight for a week. Bryce’s father called her a shame and threw Bryce out. The Autumn King stopped Ruhn from helping her. Bryce took the train home alone.
While the group is researching, Hunt finds an image of an ancient vase showing a soldier killing a demon with a standard blade. It suggests the monsters don’t require high-level magic to kill. Bryce zeroes in on something in Danika’s tracking data. Danika was assigned to guard the temple right when the blackout and theft happened. Bryce is convinced that the assignment links the murder to the missing Horn.
Bryce and Hunt get word that Briggs is ready for questioning and have an hour. While Hunt waits by the door, Bryce sits alone on the floor to grieve and pull herself together before the interrogation.
House of Earth and Blood Chapter 35
Bryce and Hunt question Briggs in a high-security holding area. Briggs is a shell of himself, but he insists that he didn’t kill Danika. He reveals Danika secretly met with him before his arrest and offered him a chance to surrender. Briggs thinks Danika may have quietly supported his movement. He suspects his followers were behind the nightclub bombing, but Briggs had nothing to do with the murder or the missing Horn.
Back at the apartment, Hunt opens up about the years of brutal torture he endured after his failed rebellion. Rage was the only thing that kept him going. Bryce takes his hand and tells him he’s still a good person, nothing like Briggs.
Looking over the case files, Hunt thinks they missed something. The temple security cameras were largely overlooked because of the power outage. Hunt wants a specialist to dig into the footage. His theory is that Danika was there during the theft, recognized the person responsible, and chose to protect them by staying silent.