City of Lies and Legends

The third installment in the House of Devils series picks up in the aftermath of the Blood Moon. Loren, a human girl created through the Arcanum Well, a machine that grants immortality through human sacrifice, used her magic to seal a rip in the Veil, the barrier separating the living world of Terra from Spirit Terra, the realm of the dead. The effort stopped her heart. Although Darien Cassel, leader of the Seven Devils, a monster-hunting Darkslaying circle in the city of Angelthene, resuscitated her, Loren has remained in a coma for 10 days. Darien spends every night beside her, growing increasingly violent as he hunts down associates of Gaven Payne, a weapons dealer who burned down his late mother's restaurant.

A breakthrough arrives when Roark Bright, biological father of Dallas Bright, Loren's adoptive sister, reveals that a "Reverse Chamber" at a facility called Caliginous on Silverway in the distant city of Yveswich can funnel magic into Loren's body to wake her, though the risks are severe. He provides nine vials of serum to keep her alive during transport. Darien departs with his twin sister Ivy, her husband Jack Steele, hacker Tanner Atlas, and Tanner's mother, Doctor Joyce Atlas. He orders Max Reacher, his second-in-command, to stay behind and search for Max's sister Maya, whom Max recently learned is alive despite believing for years she died in a fire.

In Yveswich, Roman Devlin, Darien's cousin and head of the Shadowmasters Darkslaying circle, is powerful but isolated under the control of his abusive father, Donovan Slade, who runs all Darkslaying circles in the city. Roman encounters Shay Cousens, a young Darkslayer of the Selkie, a shapeshifting aquatic species. Shay tricks him out of money and a prized locket that belonged to his late mother. She possesses rare illusion magic and is secretly searching for her missing sister Anna. Shay strikes a deal: She will return the locket if Roman helps her search the desert for five days.

During the journey, Loren stops breathing and Darien uses two vials to revive her. At the border stronghold of Paradisi, Detective Finn Solace is investigating a demon from Spirit Terra that has materialized inside the city, confirming the Veil is weakening. After arriving in Yveswich, Darien gains access to Roman's secret house through Roman's 12-year-old half-brother, Paxton Slade, and Roman's second-in-command, Kylar Lavin, who arranges chamber treatments at Caliginous.

In the spirit realm, Loren exists between life and death, witnessing events from 2,000 years ago. She sees her biological father, the young Erasmus Sophronia, and his friend Elix Danik, who is actually Roark, discover a goddess named Helia beneath Angelthene Academy. Helia trades her divine powers to a Nameless creature, one of the world's primordial beings, in exchange for the prima materia, the raw substance of creation. The three build the Arcanum Well, sacrificing students to become hellsehers, a new immortal species, and founding the Phoenix Head Society. Years later, Erasmus and Helia use the Well to create Loren, since Helia cannot bear children naturally.

Darien's first two chamber treatments fail. On the second attempt, he enters the chamber and sends his Familiar, Bandit, into Loren's shadow to guide her. Loren takes a leap of faith and opens her eyes, but she has lost all memory of the past six months. Devastated, Darien introduces himself only as her friend and instructs everyone to conceal their romantic history.

In the desert, Roman and Shay grow closer while searching for Anna. At Motel 58, a clerk confirms Anna was there but was taken in a different direction. They discover that a nearby cristala power plant, a facility harnessing crystalline energy, is a front for a laboratory where unwilling Elementals, people with heightened magical abilities, had their powers forcibly enhanced. Anna was never among them. A Veil monster kills the doctor running the lab, and Shay uses her illusion magic to help them escape, after which they share their first kiss.

Back in Angelthene, Max visits his estranged mother, who has a substance addiction, and learns she sold Maya for her fire magic. Max's group discovers the same Facility and learns from an Elemental named Blaze that Maya and others staged a breakout toward Yveswich. Travis Devlin, Roman's brother and a Devil, discovers tunnels beneath Angelthene Academy containing a photograph of the Phoenix Head Society's founding members, including Roark and Taega Tine.

Loren slowly recovers at Roman's house. Darien discovers her body craves elemental magic: swimming for water, heat for fire, and earth contact for green. Scattered memories return, making Loren suspicious her bond with Darien runs deeper than friendship. Darien arranges conduit tattoos for Loren to help her channel magic. Events escalate when Quinton Lucent, the Terran imperator pursuing Loren, attacks Hell's Gate, the Devils' headquarters, stealing Max's Familiar and kidnapping Mortifer, the house Hob, a supernatural domestic guardian. Malakai Delaney, leader of the Reapers, along with Max, Travis, Dallas, and others flee to Yveswich, arriving during a citywide demon attack. Darien fights off dozens of creatures and rescues Roman from a Veil monster at the harbor.

Donovan forces Roman and Paxton back to the House of Black, his headquarters, where Roman is beaten and tortured. Shay infiltrates the compound to rescue them, but Roman later ends their relationship to protect her from Donovan's threats. Meanwhile, Loren discovers photographs on her phone that trigger returning memories. She confronts the group, furious they concealed her relationship with Darien. Their argument transforms into a passionate reunion as Darien confesses his love and Loren's memories flood back. Loren reveals what she witnessed in her coma: the creation of the Well and the truth that her biological mother is Helia, who later took the name Cyra.

Darien privately tells Ivy he traded his fate to the Widow, a Nameless spider creature: He will die the moment Loren does, and the Widow told him Loren will not live past 21; she is currently 20. Loren overhears and is anguished. They argue bitterly, and Darien leaves before they can resolve the conflict.

Tanner discovers that the imperator's men have been disappearing into tunnels beneath Caliginous, where a Well replica is hidden, and that Loren's treatments have inadvertently fed the replica. The group splits into three teams. Darien's team encounters the Basilisk, a primordial serpent king, in a subterranean Crossroads, a junction between realms. Darien kills it with a blade of adamant, a rare magical material, and the Basilisk's death breaks an ancient silencing spell binding Erasmus and Cyra. Max and Dallas's elevator plummets into a demon-filled basement until Maya arrives in her fire form, reuniting with Max for the first time in seven years. In the tar pit tunnels, Shay sacrifices herself to bait Hounds, demonic tracking creatures, away from her companions.

Darien's team reaches the replica but realizes the imperator has lured them into a trap. Explosives seal the tunnel behind them. Learning the replica is about to detonate, Loren races to the Control Tower, a cristala structure that amplifies magic, and presses her conduit-tattooed palms against it, pouring her power into a protective shield. The replica explodes, destroying much of northern Yveswich and killing millions beyond the shield's reach. The blast tears through the Veil, and the Void, Spirit Terra's darkest region, collapses into the physical world. Supernatural darkness engulfs everything, blinding even hellsehers, whose magical Sight normally lets them perceive beyond ordinary vision. Darien's group survives but is trapped underground with swarming demons. Loren, gravely injured, discovers she can still see and promises to guide those beside her. Shay's fate remains uncertain. In Angelthene, Erasmus and Cyra watch the news feed go black, knowing the Veil has fallen. The story ends on a cliffhanger, with the characters scattered across a shattered city and a greater threat approaching.