Half City Recap: What You Need To Remember Before Cursed City

Half City Recap: Before We Begin…

Before Half City gets going, Vivienne “Viv” Abbot already knows more about the supernatural world than most people around her realize.

Viv grew up in Astera, a city where humans live alongside Lymantrians and deviants, although ordinary people aren’t necessarily aware of just how deeply the supernatural world is woven into everyday life. Her father, David Cadell, secretly trained her to hunt deviants from a young age. When she was ten, David was murdered by Brood demons, leaving Viv without the one person who truly understood what she was.

Viv is an Aeon, a rare type of hunter with an extremely powerful second sight that allows her to sense deviants. Aeons are almost extinct because their abilities come with an uncontrollable bloodlust when they are near deviants. Viv has spent years keeping her identity hidden while continuing to hunt in secret.

By the time the story begins, Viv is living in Astera with her childhood best friend Penny and maintaining the appearance of a relatively normal life. She works at the Windsor Museum and research institute, spends time with Penny and her brother James, and tries to keep her supernatural life separate from everything else.

That becomes impossible when Viv encounters a demon on the subway and crosses paths with Reid Graveheart. Reid is a powerful and mysterious combat instructor at Harker Academy, an elite school where hunters are trained to fight supernatural creatures. He quickly realizes there is something unusual about Viv and eventually brings her to Harker.

What starts as an opportunity for Viv to learn more about her abilities soon turns into something much bigger. Students begin disappearing. Strange creatures attack the academy. A powerful magical weapon is stolen. And buried within Harker’s restricted archives is information about a terrifying ancient magic that could change the balance between the mortal world and the Underworld forever.

And unfortunately for Viv, she is much more connected to that magic than she could ever have imagined.

The Setting

Half City takes place primarily in Astera, a major city on the eastern seaboard and the cultural, political, and business center of the country. Astera is also home to the largest deviant population in the world, making it one of the most important places in the supernatural world.

The city is literally divided by the Chasm, the enormous supernatural gateway that separates Astera’s northern and southern districts. North of the Chasm is where much of the city’s wealth and political power is concentrated, while the southern side is more working-class and known for its nightlife and supernatural underworld.

The Chasm itself has a much darker history. Thousands of years ago, the High Thane used dark magic to open a gateway between the mortal world and the Underworld, allowing deviants to enter the human realm. The Lymantrians eventually sealed the gateway, but many deviants remained behind in the mortal world.

That history is still visible throughout Astera, and the Chasm remains a powerful dividing line between the city’s different worlds. The mortals do not know they live with Lymantrians and Deviants (whereas the Deviants are the most dangerous for mortals).

Astera is where humans, Lymantrians, and deviants have been forced to coexist for centuries, and beneath the city’s ordinary surface, the old conflict between the mortal world and the Underworld is beginning to stir again.

Then we have Harker Academy, which exists on another plane (separate from Astera), and gateways connect it to major cities. One of the most important for Viv is the gateway from the Old Campus directly into Windsor, the museum and research institute where she works.

The Supernatural Population

Lymantrians

Supernatural beings who possess souls but have nonhuman abilities, traits, or appearances and live alongside ordinary mortals. They include hunters, witches and warlocks, pixies, nymphs, mermaids, shifters, fairies, elves, and gnomes, with the Elders serving as their governing authority.

Lymantrian Order (Hierarchy), from top being the highest in ranking to bottom:

1. The Elders: The Elders are the oldest surviving Lymantrians and the governing authority of the Lymantrian world. They maintain order, settle disputes, administer justice, and regulate hunters and their activities.
2. Hunters (see thorough explanation below)
3. Pixies: Pixies possess powerful healing abilities.
4. Witches & Warlocks: Witches and warlocks use spells and hexes, though some can turn deviant through dark magic.
5. Nymphs
6. Mermaids
7. Shifters: Shifters are long-lived Lymantrians capable of transforming. Dichotomous shifters possess two distinct forms.
8. Fairies
9. Elves
10. Gnomes

Hunters & Aeons

Hunters are the first and last line of defense protecting mortals from deviants. Most hunters develop their abilities around age twenty-one, gaining enhanced strength, accelerated healing, and a high tolerance for blood loss and injury. Hunters generally cannot magically sense deviants. Instead, they learn to identify them through physical characteristics, abilities, and behavior.

Aeons are a rare, nearly extinct type of hunter with a powerful second sight that allows them to instinctively sense when a deviant is nearby. Unlike other hunters, their abilities can emerge before the age of twenty-one. Being near a deviant triggers an intense bloodlust and desire to kill. Aeons were once brought back to help fight deviants, but their hunger for deviant blood allegedly became uncontrollable, leading the other Lymantrians to nearly eradicate them.

Their Daggers

Hunters traditionally carry two magically connected daggers, representing the two sides of their purpose. Aeons carry a secret third blade, representing their connection to both light and darkness. Damage to one dagger can affect the others within its matching set.

• The Demon’s Dagger: Represents the deviants hunters are sworn to fight.
• The Lymantrian’s Dagger: Represents the mortals and goodness hunters are sworn to protect.
• The Aeon’s Dagger: A hidden third weapon carried by Aeons, representing a combination of light and darkness.

Deviants

Supernatural beings originating from the Underworld who now live among mortals. They follow a strict hierarchy led by the High Thane, with demons at the top and increasingly less human-looking creatures ranked below them.

Deviant Stratification (Hierarchy), from top being the highest in ranking to bottom:

1. High Thane: The High Thane is the supreme ruler of all deviants and the leader of the Brood. Only a naturally born demon can become High Thane and rule from the Throne of Bael, which grants immense power and immortality.
2. Demons: Demons are the highest-ranking deviants and are nearly indistinguishable from humans except for a red ring around their irises. They survive by consuming mortal souls and can only be killed by pure silver through the heart or brain, or by another demon’s claws.
3. Born Deviants: Born deviants are a category within the deviant hierarchy that ranks beneath demons and above turned deviants.
4. Turned Deviants: Turned deviants are mortals who have been transformed into deviants, including vampires and werewolves. Unlike naturally born deviants, these species can create more of their kind by turning humans.
5. Half-Borns: Half-borns are deviants that fall somewhere between humanoid species and more animalistic beasts. This group includes selkies, succubi, sirens, giants, djinn, harpies, and trolls.
6. Beasts: Beasts are the more animalistic deviants, including creatures such as basillisks, dragons, wyverns, banshees, strzyga, ogres, hydras, and hellhounds.
7. The Undead: The undead are lower-ranking deviants that include ghosts, wraiths, and ghouls. Each form functions differently and has its own specific weaknesses that hunters can exploit.

Magic System

Syrabraxa

Syrabraxa is the most powerful form of dark magic in existence, capable of breaking the barriers between different planes of existence. It can only be created by a turned witch, and its power is so immense that possessing it eventually causes uncontrollable madness.

The first High Thane used syrabraxa to open the Chasm, creating a gateway between the mortal world and the Underworld. Thousands of years later, the current High Thane wants to recreate the magic, reopen the gateway, and unleash the Underworld’s deviants onto the mortal plane.

Creating syrabraxa requires four extremely rare ingredients:

• Liquefied Blade of the Third: the melted metal from an Aeon’s Dagger.
• Celestial Bloom: also known as asphodel.
• Eye of the Conjuring Witch
• Aeon’s Blood

The ingredients are brewed together into a potion and then magically implanted into a living host. Once the magic is inside the host, whoever kills that host inherits the syrabraxa and its immense power.

There is only one known way to remove syrabraxa: the witch who originally created the spell must remove it. However, the only known case of syrabraxa being removed from an Aeon resulted in that Aeon losing their supernatural abilities as well.

This makes the magic particularly dangerous for Viv. Once syrabraxa is implanted into her, killing her would transfer the magic to whoever delivers the killing blow—while removing it could potentially cost her the very abilities that make her an Aeon.

Important Terms

• The Brood: A powerful faction of demons led by the High Thane. The Brood is responsible for the murder of Viv’s father and is ultimately behind the plan to recreate the syrabraxa.

• The Elders: The oldest surviving Lymantrians and the governing authority of the Lymantrian world.

• The Citadel: The headquarters of the Elders, a massive palace located beyond the Fickle Thicket near Harker Academy.

• Citadel Hunters: Highly respected hunters who work directly for the Elders.

• The High Thane: The supreme ruler of the deviants and leader of the Brood. The current High Thane wants to recreate the ancient magic that originally opened the Chasm.

• Syrabraxa: An ancient and extraordinarily powerful form of dark magic capable of breaking the barriers between planes of existence. The original High Thane used one to create the Chasm.

• The Lure: A magical bracelet Reid gives Viv. It allows him to sense when she is in danger, and Viv later gives it to Penny for protection.

• Gnostic Censer: A magical artifact stolen from the Windsor. It protects the person creating a syrabraxa from the madness caused by possessing such powerful dark magic.

Key Locations

The book takes place in Astera, “The Half City”, a major city on the eastern seaboard and center of the country. Astera is divided by the Chasm, the enormous supernatural gateway that separates Astera’s northern and southern districts.

North of the Chasm is where much of the city’s wealth and political power is concentrated, while the southern side is more working-class and known for its nightlife and supernatural underworld.

• The Windsor: Astera’s major museum, gallery, and research institute. Viv works here before attending Harker. The Windsor also contains a magical gateway connecting it to the academy.
• Babylon: Viv and Penny’s neighborhood in the South of the Chasm.
• Lethe: Where Viv grew up before her father’s death.
• Hesperides: The wealthy NTC neighborhood where Viv’s mother lives.
• Fever Dream: An exclusive nightclub hidden beneath the Chasm. It is also a major center of Astera’s supernatural criminal underworld and is controlled by Deacon Graveheart (also known as the White Stag).
• The Citadel: The headquarters of the Elders, located beyond the Fickle Thicket near Harker.
• Harker Academy of Deviant Defense: An elite four-year college dedicated to training hunters to protect mortals from deviants.

Let’s dive a little deeper into Harker Academy, since this is the most important location in this book and has its own map. Harker exists on a separate plane from Astera, with magical gateways connecting the academy to major cities around the world. The gateway at the Old Campus leads directly into the Windsor, making it possible for students and faculty to travel between Harker and Astera.

The academy has strict rules for students, particularly first-years. They are not allowed to leave campus after dark, and the Fickle Thicket is strictly off-limits. Hunting in Astera also requires faculty supervision. Students can earn coveted spots in Field Training, where they participate in supervised hunts and gain real-world experience, although these opportunities are highly competitive.

Students study deviant history, abilities, and weaknesses alongside intensive physical and combat training. After four years of training and final examinations, graduates are assigned to deviant hotspots around the world. The most accomplished hunters can also compete to become Citadel Hunters, who work directly for the Elders.

Harker’s campus includes the Old Campus and several student housing areas, classrooms, training facilities, the Archives and Library, an infirmary, armory, planetarium, amphitheater, lake, cemetery, and various other facilities. The academy is essentially both a university and a training ground, preparing young hunters for the very real dangers waiting beyond its gates.

The Story: Half City Summary

Viv Abbot has spent most of her life making others believe she is simply a young woman living a relatively normal life in Astera. She works at the Windsor, spends time with her best friend Penny and her boyfriend, Penny’s brother James, and secretly hunts deviants in her spare time.

What almost nobody knows is that Viv was trained to hunt from childhood by her father, David Cadell, who was murdered by Brood demons when she was ten. Viv also has a secret that makes her very different from ordinary hunters: she is an Aeon, a nearly extinct kind of hunter with the ability to sense deviants before they reveal themselves.

Her life starts to unravel when she encounters a demon on the subway and meets Reid Graveheart, Harker Academy’s intimidating combat instructor. Reid recognizes that Viv is far more capable than she should be and eventually brings her to Harker, the elite academy where hunters are trained to fight deviants. Viv initially has no idea what to make of Reid, or why he seems so interested in her, but Harker quickly becomes much more complicated than simply a school for hunter training.

At Harker, Viv becomes close with Sophia, Elliot, and Peter, while Kitty Briggs, another student and Peter’s cousin, suddenly disappears. Around the same time, strange attacks begin happening around campus. Wraiths and other undead creatures appear, a zombie attack leaves everyone on edge, and Viv discovers that her Aeon’s Dagger has been stolen.

The more she investigates, the more she realizes that something much bigger is happening at Harker. In the restricted archives, Viv and her friends uncover information about an ancient form of dark magic called syrabraxa, a magic powerful enough to break the barrier between the mortal world and the Underworld.

Syrabraxa was originally created by a turned witch and was once used by the High Thane to open the Chasm in Astera. The magic requires four ingredients: the liquified blade of the Third, Celestial Bloom, the Eye of a Conjuring Witch, and Aeon’s blood. Once brewed, the resulting magic has to be implanted into a living host.

The problem is that syrabraxa drives its host toward madness, and whoever kills that host inherits the magic and its enormous power. Viv begins to realize that her being an Aeon may not simply make her unusual. It may make her the missing ingredient someone has been searching for.

As Viv digs deeper into the mystery, she also becomes increasingly close to Reid. Their relationship starts with suspicion and frustration, but Reid repeatedly proves himself willing to protect her, and Viv begins to see the person beneath his intimidating reputation. During Field Training, they fight deviants together, including a terrifying strzyga attack that forces Viv to confront just how dangerous their world really is.

Reid eventually reveals that he is not human or a hunter at all; he’s a demon, more specifically a former Brood demon who has spent centuries trying to live differently from the creatures he once belonged to. Viv is shocked, especially because she has been raised to hunt creatures exactly like him, but she cannot deny what she feels for him.

Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding Kitty becomes stranger. Viv receives what appears to be evidence that Kitty is still alive and left Harker of her own accord, but later revelations completely undermine that story. Viv also discovers a hidden garden filled with asphodel, one of the ingredients needed to create syrabraxa, and encounters a mysterious white antler that seems connected to the larger supernatural conspiracy. When Lyra disappears as well, Viv becomes increasingly convinced that the disappearances are not random.

Her personal life is falling apart at the same time. Her relationship with James ends as Viv realizes that she can no longer pretend she is living an ordinary life, while her relationship with Reid becomes impossible to ignore. After Reid finally opens up about his past, the two of them kiss and eventually become intimate. But their happiness does not last. Viv discovers that Reid has been keeping things from her, and when she learns about his connection to the criminal underworld, her trust in him collapses.

That connection leads Viv to Fever Dream, the exclusive nightclub hidden deep beneath the Chasm. It is there that she meets Deacon Graveheart, the powerful demon known as the White Stag, and discovers that he is Reid’s older brother. Deacon is deeply involved in Astera’s supernatural underworld, and his existence forces Viv to question just how much she actually knows about Reid and his past. The revelations drive a wedge between Viv and Reid, leaving their relationship fractured just as the danger surrounding them is escalating.

Then the attacks become impossible to ignore. The Windsor is targeted, and Viv discovers that Fiona, her boss, is actually Professor Gemeline Lisette, Harker’s Underworld Studies chair and resident historian. Fiona is a dichotomous shifter who has been living under another identity, and her connection to Harker gives Viv another piece of the puzzle. During the attack, a gnostic censer becomes important, and the timing of everything begins to point toward the coming new moon.

Eventually, Viv and Reid find their way back to each other. Reid admits how deeply he cares about her, and Viv finally allows herself to accept both sides of him: the man she loves and the demon he was born as. Their relationship becomes physical again, but this time Viv understands that being with Reid means accepting the parts of his identity that she was raised to fear.

Around the same time, Viv finally begins remembering more about her father’s death. A mysterious number, 26, keeps resurfacing, and the pieces begin to point toward someone much closer to her than she expected. The person behind the strange events at Harker is Dean Edgar Driscoll.

Driscoll is not simply a corrupt dean. He is a powerful warlock who has been turned and is secretly working for the High Thane. He has been collecting the ingredients necessary to create syrabraxa, and he has been searching for an Aeon to use as its host. The disappearances of Kitty and Lyra were connected to that search; Driscoll reveals that they were killed because the Brood believed they might be Aeons. The earlier evidence suggesting that Kitty had left Harker was therefore false or deliberately misleading.

Then Driscoll takes Penny. To save her best friend, Viv allows herself to be captured and brought to Driscoll. There, the final pieces of the mystery fall into place. Driscoll reveals that Viv is not only an Aeon, but she is the daughter of David Cadell and the last Aeon he has been able to find. Her blood is exactly what he needs to complete the syrabraxa spell.

Driscoll brews the magic and implants it directly into Viv, turning her into the living host of the most powerful dark magic in existence. His plan is to use Viv as the vessel that will allow the High Thane to break through the barrier once again, reopen the Chasm, and unleash the Underworld’s deviants onto the mortal world. And because whoever kills the host inherits the syrabraxa, Viv’s existence suddenly makes her one of the most dangerous and most valuable people alive.

Before Driscoll can finish what he started, Reid arrives. He manages to reach Viv, but he is forced into a confrontation with Finn, the High Thane’s son. Reid stays behind to fight him while Viv turns on Driscoll. She kills him, saving herself and Penny, but there is a devastating catch. Driscoll was the only person who knew how to create and remove the syrabraxa. With him dead, Viv is now permanently carrying the magic unless someone can somehow find another way to remove it.

And Driscoll’s final words make everything even worse. As he dies, he tries to warn Viv about Reid, saying, “Reid. He’s… he’s not—” before he can finish. Viv has no idea what he was about to reveal.

She gets Penny to safety and finally tells her that she will explain everything, but Reid is nowhere to be found. With the syrabraxa inside her, the High Thane searching for her, Driscoll dead, and Reid missing after staying behind to fight Finn, Viv has no idea who she can trust anymore. So she goes to the one person she never expected to turn to: Deacon Graveheart.

At the end of Half City, Viv walks into Fever Dream carrying the most dangerous magic in existence and asks the White Stag for help. And that is where Cursed City begins…..

Biggest Plot Twists & Reveals

Viv Is the Last Aeon

For most of the book, Viv believes being an Aeon is simply a dangerous secret that she needs to keep from the people around her. She eventually learns that her rarity is much more significant than she realized. Aeons were nearly wiped out because their second sight and overwhelming bloodlust made their abilities difficult to control, and Viv appears to be the last surviving Aeon.

More importantly, her blood is exactly what is needed to create syrabraxa. Her identity isn’t just a piece of her past; it is the reason she has become central to the High Thane’s plan.

Edgar Driscoll Is the Villain Behind the Harker Mystery

The man running Harker Academy has been secretly working against the very people the school is supposed to protect. Driscoll is a powerful warlock who has been turned and is working with the High Thane.

He has been collecting the ingredients for syrabraxa and searching for an Aeon to use as its host. The strange events at Harker, the missing students, and the attacks are all connected to his plan.

Kitty and Lyra Were Never Simply Missing

Kitty’s disappearance initially looks like one of Harker’s unexplained mysteries. At one point, Viv is even given evidence suggesting that Kitty is alive and chose to leave school.

But the later reveal is much darker: Driscoll admits that Kitty and Lyra were killed because the Brood believed they could be Aeons. The earlier evidence that Kitty had left was therefore not the truth Viv thought it was.

Driscoll Killed Viv’s Father

Viv has spent years believing that her father was murdered by Brood demons, but she never knows exactly who was responsible.

Driscoll eventually reveals that he was directly involved in David Cadell’s death. This makes his connection to Viv much more personal: he isn’t simply trying to use some random Aeon for the High Thane’s plan. He has been connected to Viv and her family for years.

Viv Becomes the Host of Syrabraxa

The biggest reveal comes when Driscoll finally completes the spell. Syrabraxa is created using several extremely rare ingredients, including Aeon blood, and Viv is the perfect host because she is an Aeon. Driscoll magically implants the finished spell into her, meaning Viv is now carrying the most powerful dark magic in existence inside her own body.

And there is no easy way out. The witch who originally created syrabraxa is the only known person capable of removing it, and Driscoll dies before Viv can get the information she needs.

The High Thane Wants to Reopen the Chasm

The syrabraxa isn’t simply powerful for the sake of being powerful. The High Thane wants to use it to recreate the magic that originally opened the Chasm and reconnect the mortal world with the Underworld.

If the plan succeeds, the barrier between the two worlds could be broken, and the High Thane could unleash the Underworld’s deviants onto the mortal plane.

Reid Is a Demon

Viv spends much of the book getting closer to Reid without fully understanding what he is. Eventually, she discovers that Reid is a former Brood demon. He isn’t simply a hunter who knows a lot about demons; he was one of them.

This becomes one of the biggest emotional conflicts in the story because Viv was raised to hunt deviants, while Reid is literally one of the creatures she was taught to kill. Yet despite everything, Viv falls in love with him and eventually chooses to accept him as he is.

Deacon Is Reid’s Brother

The mysterious White Stag running Fever Dream turns out to be much more important than Viv initially realizes.

Deacon Graveheart is Reid’s older brother, and unlike Reid, he remains deeply embedded in Astera’s supernatural criminal underworld. His influence makes him one of the few people powerful enough to potentially help Viv after Driscoll’s death. Which is exactly why Viv ends the book going to him.

Driscoll’s Final Warning About Reid

And then there’s the cliffhanger that is almost certainly going to haunt everyone going into Cursed City. After Reid arrives to help Viv, Driscoll tries to warn her about him as he dies: “Reid. He’s… he’s not—”

And then he dies. We never learn what Driscoll was going to say. That means Viv enters Cursed City carrying syrabraxa, with Reid missing, Deacon as her unlikely ally, the High Thane still hunting her; and a final unanswered question hanging over the man she loves: what was Driscoll trying to tell her about Reid?

Half City Ending Explained

The ending leaves Viv in a very different position from where she started. She entered Harker looking for answers about her father. She leaves carrying the syrabraxa, the most powerful dark magic in existence.

Reid arrives in time to help her escape the Brood’s warehouse, but he stays behind to fight Finn and the remaining demons. Viv doesn’t know whether he’s alive, captured, or somewhere else entirely.

She gets Penny to safety and gives her a cover story so Penny can avoid being pulled into the supernatural world. But Viv herself has nowhere safe to go.

She can’t return to Harker because the High Thane’s forces are after her. She doesn’t want to put Sophia, Peter, or Elliot in danger. She also can’t simply return to her old life with her family.

And she has no way to remove the syrabraxa. So she goes to the last person she ever expected to ask for help: Deacon Graveheart.

Viv arrives at Fever Dream injured and exhausted. Deacon immediately reminds her that he promised to kill her if she ever came back. Then Viv shows him the magical wound on her back. When she tells him the problem concerns Reid, Deacon stops. He takes Viv inside Fever Dream. And that’s where Half City ends.

Meet The Characters

The supernatural world of Half City is full of demons, hunters, shifters, and other creatures, but these are the people you really need to remember going into Cursed City.

The Main Characters

Vivienne “Viv” Abbot

A 21-year-old hunter and secret Aeon. Viv was trained to hunt by her father, David Cadell, and has spent years hiding her Aeon identity because she’s afraid of her bloodlust toward deviants.

At Harker, she finds friends, answers about her father, and a relationship with Reid. By the end of the book, she’s the host of the syrabraxa and is being hunted by the Brood.

Reid Graveheart

A powerful demon, former Brood member, and Harker’s combat instructor. Reid was raised in an abusive demon family and eventually turned against the Brood. He and Viv go from enemies to reluctant allies to lovers.

At the end of Half City, Reid stays behind to fight the Brood while Viv escapes. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Sophia Valentine

Viv’s roommate and closest friend at Harker. Sophia is one of the first people to discover Viv is an Aeon and immediately accepts her. She’s childhood best friends with Elliot.

Peter Roydon

Viv’s friend and classmate and Kitty’s cousin. Peter is particularly knowledgeable about supernatural history and helps Viv uncover information about the syrabraxa.

Elliot Thompson

Viv and Sophia’s friend and classmate. He’s a strong fighter and becomes part of Viv’s Harker found family.

Supporting Characters

Penelope “Penny” Pine

Viv’s childhood best friend and roommate. Penny has no supernatural abilities but is one of the most important people in Viv’s life. She is an elementary school art teacher and comes from a wealthy, influential family. She’s James’ younger sister.

James Pine

Penny’s older brother and Viv’s boyfriend and later ex-boyfriend, as Viv ends their relationship during the book. He works in public relations.

Nora Abbott

Viv’s older sister, who is married to Fiona, a high-ranking executive at the Astera City Foundation Against Crime.

Beatrice Abbott

Viv’s mother, former Lethe councilwoman, currently Astera District Attorney, and running for mayor with Caspar Harlock’s financial backing.

Caspar Harlock

Multimedia billionaire, CEO of the Harlock Group, influential Astera businessman, and financially backing Beatrice’s campaign for mayor.

Deacon Graveheart / The White Stag

Reid’s older brother and the powerful demon who owns Fever Dream. He’s a powerful figure in the Astera’s criminal underworld. He is also known as the White Stag. Viv initially believes The White Stag (aka Deacon) is behind the missing Harker students.

Deacon once killed the woman Reid loved and has a complicated history with his younger brother.

Fiona / Professor Gemeline Lisette

Viv’s boss and the Head Curator at the Windsor. She is secretly her professor at Harker and the Harker’s Underworld Studies chair and resident historian. She’s a dichotomous shifter who maintains two identities. She is married to Nora, Viv’s sister.

Edgar Driscoll

Harker’s dean and a powerful turned warlock. He’s secretly working for the High Thane and is responsible for creating the syrabraxa and turning Viv into its host. Viv kills him at the end of the book.

Finn

The High Thane’s son. He’s present during the syrabraxa ritual and fights Reid when Viv escapes.

David Cadell

Viv’s father. He trained Viv as a hunter and attended Harker under the name David Cadell. He was murdered by the Brood when Viv was ten.

Important Relationships

Viv ↔ Penny

Childhood best friends → strained by secrets. Penny has been Viv’s closest friend for years, but Viv has hidden almost everything about her supernatural life. Their friendship is strained as Penny realizes how much Viv has been keeping from her. Viv ultimately protects Penny by getting her away from the supernatural conflict.

Viv ↔ Nora

Viv’s older sister who knows what Viv is doing as a hunter. She is married to Fiona, which eventually plays an important part in Viv’s life and the story plot.

Viv ↔ Sophia

Roommates → best friends/found family. Sophia becomes one of Viv’s strongest sources of support at Harker. She’s also one of the first people to learn that Viv is an Aeon, and she never treats Viv differently because of it.

Peter and Elliot are also important friends to Viv. Kitty was part of her friend group before she disappeared.

Viv ↔ Reid

Enemies → reluctant allies → lovers. Viv initially hates Reid because he’s a Brood demon. As she gets to know him, she learns that he rejected the Brood and struggles with his own demonic instincts just as she struggles with her Aeon nature.

They eventually fall in love and sleep together. By the end, however, Reid is missing after staying behind to fight the Brood.

Reid ↔ Deacon

Brothers → estranged enemies. Deacon is Reid’s older brother. Their relationship is deeply damaged by their abusive upbringing and Deacon’s murder of Reid’s former lover.

Reid has spent years trying to distance himself from Deacon and the Brood. Now Viv is relying on Deacon to help find Reid.

Viv ↔ Driscoll

Dean/student → allies on the surface → enemies. Driscoll initially appears to be one of Harker’s authority figures.

Viv eventually discovers that he was working for the High Thane, helped orchestrate the search for an Aeon, and was directly involved in her father’s death. He ultimately turns Viv into the syrabraxa’s host. Viv kills him before he can kill Penny.

Before You Read Cursed City

If you only remember a handful of things before continuing the series, make sure it’s these:

• Viv is an Aeon, a rare and nearly extinct type of hunter who can sense deviants.
• Reid is a demon and former Brood member, but he rejected the Brood’s way of life.
• Viv and Reid fell in love after starting out as enemies.
• Deacon Graveheart is Reid’s older brother and the White Stag who controls Fever Dream.
• Harker Academy has been compromised from within.
• Dean Edgar Driscoll was working for the High Thane.
• Driscoll was involved in Viv’s father’s murder.
• The Aeon’s Dagger was stolen as part of the plan to create a syrabraxa.
• The syrabraxa is ancient dark magic powerful enough to break the barriers between worlds.
• An Aeon must serve as the host for the completed syrabraxa. Viv is now that host.
• Whoever kills the host inherits the syrabraxa’s power.
• Driscoll was the person who created the spell and therefore the only person who could remove it.
• Viv killed Driscoll, so she may now be permanently bound to the syrabraxa.
• Kitty and Lyra were killed after being mistaken for potential Aeon hosts.
• Penny survived her kidnapping and was sent to the police with a cover story.
• Sophia, Peter, and Elliot know Viv is an Aeon.
• Fiona and Professor Lisette are the same person.
• Driscoll died while trying to warn Viv about Reid, but never finished his sentence.
• Reid is missing after staying behind to fight Finn and the Brood.
• Viv goes to Deacon for help because she has nowhere else to turn.

And that’s where we pick up when Cursed City begins.

This post by @fantasyfangirlspod was helpful in getting this recap together.