Ruhn protests helplessly while Hunt goes numb as Bryce vaults the fence to the Heart Gate. Before the black void, a white radiance gathers around Bryce; debris lifts as gravity falters. She cups a pulsing star drawn from her chest, declares herself Bryce Quinlan, Heir to the Starborn Fae, and the light flares like the sun.

A memory surfaces: during a high-speed attempt to free trafficked animals, Bryce and Danika crashed when an asp shifter shot their motorcycle. Wounded and kneeling, Danika faces execution and confesses her love. Bryce commands Danika to close her eyes, unleashes blinding starlight, disarms and kills the smugglers, then hides the power again—kept secret from her sire, the Asteri, Midgard, and even Ruhn, though shared with Danika.

Back in the present, Bryce lets the light build, recalling how the Starsword once hummed to her, recognizing kinship, and how kristallos venom blocked her access until Hunt’s kiss coincided with its removal. She dismisses any claim to throne or title, having let Ruhn keep them, and recognizes the light as an old, simple power she once used only to blind and protect.

Choosing to act for her city and world, Bryce fully extracts the star for the first time despite the strain. After calling Hunt one last time, she steps to the quartz arch, trusting the Gate as a prism. Knowing the repaired Horn lies within her and is filled with her light, she wills the rifts to close and thrusts her starlight into the Gate.