Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
When Malik asks Cas about the Joining, he’s stunned to learn they haven’t completed it. When Cas asks him why he didn’t try to kill Poppy again—or why Millie didn’t—Malik explains that Poppy is still her sister, even if she wasn’t supposed to know about her. As for him, by the time Poppy was old enough that he didn’t see her as a child, he figured Cas would kill her to get back at the Blood Crown. When Cas asks him if he wants to defeat the Blood Crown and if Millie does, as well, he answers in the affirmative. Malik then agrees to join them in finding Malec, killing Isbeth, and ending the fight once and for all.
Just before Casteel removes the bone chains, he asks Malik about the rhyme he said while in Lockswood. Malik listens to Cas recite it and says it’s disturbing, but he has never heard it before.
They reach the others, and when Malik sees Delano, he kneels. Delano, in wolven form, nudges his hand with his head, making Malik shudder. He places a palm on Delano and closes his eyes, unable to stop the tears. Preela was Delano’s sister, and that pain is still as fresh as it was when the Blood Crown took her from him.
In Padonia, the reunion with his father is tense. And even though he’s no longer chained, it’s clear he isn’t completely free. Naill and Email watch his every move. During dinner, he’s shocked when Valyn reveals the Blood Queen’s true identity, making it known that he and Eloana knew all along.
The distrust remains clear as they set out to find Malec. They won’t even give him a weapon, despite the threat of the Craven. He insists they give him something to fight with when they are attacked, trying to reason with them that he can’t help them take down the Blood Crown without something to fight with. He’s told to use his charming personality and to shut his mouth.
Poppy casts the Primal magic locator spell, and he can tell it worked and says as much. As they follow the trail, he assumes it will lead them to the coast. He asks Poppy why she hasn’t asked about that night in Lockswood. She doesn’t reply, so he nudges her, insinuating that she must have lots of questions. Poppy asks him how Coralena died, and he explains that Isbeth made her drink draken blood, but that she favored the Handmaiden, so it was one of the few times the Blood Queen didn’t draw out a death.
When they reach the tunnel and are set upon by Gyrms, Malik once again asks for a weapon and then suggests that Poppy just go all Primal on them.
After retrieving Malec, Malik rides next to the wagon. In Padonia again, they put him in a chamber under guard once more. He’s always been good at being where he’s not supposed to be, however, so he sneaks out and surprises Poppy in the stables, where she’s with Malec’s casket. He touches it and remarks that it doesn’t feel like anything special to him. He asks her if she senses anything, and she shrugs, clearly lying.
Later, as they’re discussing sabotage and sacrifice, Malik reveals that all manner of things crossed his mind regarding thwarting what they were about to do but that he prefers not to be burned alive. When he reminds Poppy that she sacrificed her father to save Cas, at least in a way, he adds that he’s relieved to know she did. He explains how he’s done all manner of things for Millie. When asked if she would do the same for him, he replies that Millicent would be more apt to set him on fire. Poppy seems stunned, and he explains that while they’re heartmates, she doesn’t actually know that.
Malik hopes Millie won’t be at the Bone Temple but assumes that Isbeth will likely demand her presence. When Poppy asks why Millie hasn’t tried to stop Isbeth, Malik explains that while she is strong and fierce, she’s not a demis like the Queen. And that while she is Isbeth’s daughter, she’s not evil. She’d never kill a child or her sister—unlike him. He then tells Poppy how Jalara killed Preela in front of him, and that Poppy carries a piece of his bonded wolven with her in the form of her dagger’s hilt.
Once they reach the Bone Temple, they finally entrust him with a sword, and he helps Emil and Naill unload Malec and carry him to the Temple. Without looking at her, he asks Millie if she’s okay.
As events unfold and Poppy pieces together her part in the prophecy—that she was the bringer of death and destruction by bringing Malec to Isbeth—he swears when it all comes together. As the earth cracks open and the dakkais spill forth, he fights and tries to safeguard Millie. Delano saves him at one point, but Malik ends up fighting Callum. When Isbeth lashes out at Millie, he protects her as best he can but dies—until Poppy, with the Consort inside her, brings them all back to life.