Chapter Thirty-Five

Summary

• Bryce and Hunt are taken to a secret, high-security prison beneath the Comitium where Briggs from Keres is held.
• They enter a windowless room where Briggs is chained to a table, his demeanor gloomy but defiant.
• Briggs reveals that he is unaware of the current date, speaking to the isolating nature of his incarceration.
• The conversation leads to the revelation that Briggs, while responsible for planning to incite a war, did not kill Danika and is not connected to the recent bombing at the White Raven nightclub. Bryce removes Briggs and the Keres from their list of suspects.
• Briggs speaks highly of Danika, stating she was fair, potentially sympathetic to his cause, and alluded that she allowed some of Briggs' followers to escape during a raid. This revelation rattles Bryce, a close friend of Danika’s, as Danika never disclosed this information to her.
• In their conversation, Briggs also insinuates that Danika’s sympathy stemmed from witnessing the treatment of Bryce, a part-human being overlooked and ostracized by the Vanir.
• Bryce’s visible discomfort upon hearing this, as well as Briggs’ oppressive confinement, unsettle Hunt, reminding him of the blindness and hatred he experienced during his own imprisonment.
• Hunt reveals the extent of his torture and imprisonment after Mount Hermon, which spanned seven years and the subsequent two years under Ramuel. This disclosure elicits deep sympathy from Bryce.
• Despite Hunt's self doubts and guilt over his past rebellion, Bryce continues to insist that he is not like Briggs. She points out that while both were imprisoned, Hunt did not risk innocent lives during his rebellion unlike Briggs.
• Hunt and Bryce make a breakthrough in their investigation, realizing that they may be able to retrieve more comprehensive footage from the Luna’s Temple the night the Horn was stolen and determine if Danika was present.