The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk

Asar grows up on a desolate island off the coast of the House of Shadow lands and learns the art of survival. When he is eight years old, a man comes to collect him on behalf of his father, King Raoul. The man offers him the benefits of royalty but also warns that there will always be danger; Asar’s father will either seek to kill him if Asar becomes too powerful, or Asar’s siblings will want him dead if he becomes the favored heir. Though young Asar is fearful, he comes willingly when the man offers him the ability to master death and live a life of freedom. Since then, Asar has acquired both physical and spiritual scars; he has suffered at others’ hands and caused plenty of suffering and death himself. He always believed the personal sacrifices were worth it, but now he no longer does “because he [is] losing the love of his life” (14). Looking back, he wishes he’d chosen differently.

After her death, Mische wakes in the underworld, where she is greeted by Vincent—the dead vampire king of the House of Night. The underworld is collapsing; fissures in its barriers have created a way for monsters to leak through and feast on the souls of the dead.