Broken Knight (all Saints High, #2)

L.J. Shen's Broken Knight follows Knight Cole and Luna Rexroth, childhood neighbors in the wealthy Southern California enclave of Todos Santos whose bond deepens into a turbulent love story shadowed by addiction, loss, and the struggle to find one's voice.

Knight and Luna grow up next door to each other. At nine, Knight copes with his adoptive mother Rosie's recurring hospitalizations for cystic fibrosis, a genetic lung disease, by punching trees until his knuckles bleed. Luna, a year older, was diagnosed with selective mutism, a condition in which a person is unable to speak in social situations despite being physically capable of doing so, after her biological mother, Val Vasquez, abandoned her before age two. She communicates through sign language but fiercely protects Knight, once retrieving his stolen bike from Vaughn Spencer, Knight's best friend and neighbor, by kneeing him in the groin. In their shared tree house, Luna pricks both their fingers and writes "Ride or Die" on Knight's hand in blood, a pact that anchors their relationship.

At thirteen, Luna hears the song that played the day Val left and panics, fleeing into traffic on her bicycle. Knight pulls her from the path of a car, saving her life. For the next six years, he sneaks into her bedroom every night to hold her, whispering the nickname "Moonshine" and comparing her to the moon's quiet glow.

By eighteen, Knight is one of the most popular boys at All Saints High alongside Vaughn and their friend Hunter Fitzpatrick. He projects a confident image but has secretly remained a virgin, waiting for Luna. Two earlier attempts to kiss her failed, and a third, on her seventeenth birthday, produces a genuine mutual kiss interrupted by a girl Knight has been seeing. Luna tells Knight she loves him but cannot trust him with her heart, insisting they remain friends.

At a party, Vaughn corners Luna and urges her to leave for Boon College in North Carolina, a school for gifted students with mild disabilities, arguing she needs to outgrow her dependence on Knight. Luna decides to go.

At Boon, Luna is roomed with April, a girl from Montana who speaks sign language. Forced to communicate daily, Luna signs more freely than ever before. She befriends Josh, a student who cannot speak due to vocal cord damage from a childhood accident. When April shows Luna an Instagram photo of Knight kissing Poppy Astalis, a kind English transfer student, Luna is devastated. She does not know the kiss was staged for charity. Believing Knight has moved on, Luna sleeps with Josh. The next morning, she finds missed calls and tender texts from Knight and is overcome with regret.

When Luna returns for Thanksgiving, Knight discovers text messages from Josh on her phone. At the holiday dinner, a drunk Knight makes a veiled public reference to Luna's sexual experience, humiliating her. Luna follows him, and Knight demands she speak aloud. Under this pressure, Luna breaks through her selective mutism for the first time, shouting that sleeping with Josh was a mistake. Knight reveals he is a virgin who waited for her; the rumors about his conquests were fabricated. Luna insists he must trust her words rather than demand proof. Knight tells her it is "payback time."

Back at Boon, Luna's growth continues as she socializes and speaks brief words to Knight on the phone, though she cannot yet speak to anyone else. Knight begins dating Poppy, though he feels nothing for her. His drinking escalates as Rosie's health deteriorates. He also receives persistent letters from his biological mother, Dixie, a young woman from Texas who gave him up at sixteen.

During winter break, Knight brings Poppy to a party and kisses her in front of Luna. Vaughn kisses Luna as a provocation, and Knight attacks him. Luna screams at Knight aloud, but when Vaughn asks her to speak to him too, she cannot: Her voice works only for Knight.

Luna visits the gravely ill Rosie, who asks her for three promises: to always be there for Knight; to collaborate on a memorial project for Knight, his brother Lev, and his father, Dean Cole; and to ensure Dean finds love again after Rosie dies. In the tree house, Knight confides that Rosie will not receive a lung transplant. Knight also drunkenly confronts Dixie, who reveals the truth of his conception: She was drugged and assaulted at a party at sixteen and never learned her attacker's identity.

Luna asks her stepmother, Edie, to hire a private investigator to find Val. The PI discovers Val died of an overdose in Rio de Janeiro eighteen months earlier. Processing grief and relief, Luna speaks aloud to her father, Trent Rexroth, for the first time, saying "I love you."

Knight arrives at Luna's window sick with the flu, and she tends to him. Their physical intimacy escalates into their first mutual sexual contact. Afterward, Knight finds a sealed letter Luna wrote to Josh containing the phrase "of course, I love you" and assumes she is still in love with Josh. He leaves, masking his devastation. The letter is a farewell explaining she loves Josh only as a friend.

Luna rides to the tree house to tell Knight she wants to be with him but finds him on top of Poppy, apparently about to have sex. She silently descends and flies back to Boon, cutting off all communication. Knight, who could not go through with sleeping with Poppy, is confused when Luna vanishes.

Knight's substance use intensifies. Rosie is placed in a chemically induced coma for end-stage cystic fibrosis. Dean withholds this from Knight until he arrives at the hospital. Knight obtains cocaine and Xanax and overdoses alone. Dixie, who has been secretly watching over him at Rosie's written request, finds him unconscious and calls an ambulance.

Dixie contacts Luna from the hospital. When Knight wakes, Luna tells him she is ending their relationship. She has dropped out of her semester to stay in Todos Santos, but she cannot be with him while he has an addiction. She frames the decision as fulfilling her promise to Rosie: Taking care of Knight means refusing to enable him.

Rosie is taken out of her coma to say goodbye. She speaks privately with each family member, making Knight promise to stay sober. She asks Dean to find love again and passes away peacefully in his arms.

At Rosie's funeral, Luna delivers a public speech for the first time, presenting the multimedia slideshow she and Rosie created together. Knight cries for the first time. He begins therapy and stays sober, monitored by Luna, Vaughn, and Hunter. He reads Rosie's letter to Dixie, which calls Knight "our son" and asks Dixie to care for the family. Deeply moved, Knight lets Dixie into his life and asks for her help winning Luna back.

Knight arrives outside a boutique where Luna is shopping, accompanied by friends, family, and the football team, each holding a sign spelling out a proposal. His sign reads: "Ride or die, Moonshine?", invoking their childhood pact and his nickname for Luna. Knight kneels with Rosie's engagement ring, to which Dean added diamonds for each year of his sobriety, and declares he has loved Luna since age four. Luna refuses to return to Boon, saying her home is with him, and accepts.

In an epilogue one year later, Knight and Luna live on Venice Beach, both attending UCLA. Luna is pregnant and has published a bestselling memoir called Silent No More. Knight has remained sober and maintains a relationship with Dixie. At Luna's book event, she notices Dean and Dixie sitting side by side, their fingers almost touching, a quiet sign that Rosie's final wish may one day be fulfilled.