God of Malice

Killian tracks Glyndon’s phone and quickly finds where she has run to, but when he arrives she refuses to get in the car with him. She berates him for how he treated Devlin, blaming him for his death, but Killian won’t take responsibility. In addition, he mocks the relationship between Glyndon and Devlin, noting that they only knew each other for a few months and that Devlin was manipulating her and feeding into her insecurities for ulterior reasons. Glyndon threatens to throw herself in front of a car if she can’t go back home. Knowing she could do it, Killian drives her to the airport, where the private jet takes her back to London alone.

The perspective switches to that of Asher Carson, Killian’s father, as he senses that his wife is troubled. Reina mentions what Glyndon told her a few minutes earlier, saying that it isn’t okay that their son thinks they’re afraid of him. Asher, however, takes Gareth’s view that Killian is just masking his darker side and will eventually be driven to evil. The two hear a loud sound and go outside their room to see that Killian is choking Gareth, a fear Asher has always had. Killian is asking Gareth why he sent Glyndon a video, and Reina begs Killian to let Gareth go while Asher pulls him away. Gareth reveals that he wasn’t the one who sent the video and had in fact deleted this evidence because he knew Glyndon was good for Killian. Killian finally brings up the fact that his father said he wished he’d never been born. Asher apologizes, claiming his words were in anger because he and Reina had known someone like him in the past who hurt them. He clarifies that he doesn’t like Gareth more than Killian but is harsher on him only because his character is harsher. The family reconciles as much as they can in that moment, and they all encourage Killian to continue to pursue Glyndon, even though she’s disgusted by him. Killian and Gareth take another private jet back to England, and Asher and Reina are glad they had that conversation, however painful.

Back at her family’s mansion, Glyndon runs into her grandparents. She talks with her grandfather about how Killian broke her trust, and he mentions that she could hurt Killian back if she wanted to. Her grandfather calls her father so they can strategize how they’ll break Killian’s legs, teaching Glyndon the lesson that if she lets others fight her battles she’ll always feel helpless, but that she can get some closure if she does it herself. Returning to campus and to the cliffs where Devlin died, she begins to wonder if their friendship was really a friendship at all. Devlin always loved to talk about himself and how misunderstood they both felt, and because of this he wanted Glyndon to join him as he drove his car off the cliff. When she said she didn’t want to, Devlin accused her of being a coward and a nobody before forcing her out of his car and driving off, leaving her behind in shock. Though she now understands how manipulative Devlin was, Glyndon still knows Killian had no right to talk to him the way he did when Devlin was in that state.

Glyndon hears a familiar voice behind her and is stunned to see Devlin in the flesh. He says that he lied about being an orphan and that he and his sister Cherry belong to a family associated with the mafia. He reveals that he’s a Serpent and befriended Glyndon to get closer to Landon but then fed Killian information about her to pique his interest. He’s angry that the Heathens and the Elites have been playing nice with one another and wants to instigate a war between the two. Devlin punches and bloodies Glyndon, knowing that Landon and Killian will throw everything into chaos when they find out. When she regains consciousness, Glyndon sees Killian above her making sure she’s okay and asking who hurt her.

Killian feels more angry than he ever has when he sees that Glyndon is hurt. After he takes her to the hospital and discerns that all her wounds are external, Brandon and Landon come to visit her. Both Landon and Killian have received messages from the Serpents, and Landon immediately knows they need to team up to get revenge. Brandon tries to convince them to go to the police, but Landon and Killian are seeking retribution. Killian leaves with Gareth, who told him about how someone snuck into the Heathens’ security and sent messages to Glyndon when they were on the flight back from New York. The brothers find and interrogate Cherry, who sent Glyndon the invitation to the initiation and the video of Devlin, and she claims her brother forced her to do it. Killian isn’t surprised to learn that Devlin didn’t actually die and that he manipulated him into getting interested in Glyndon. He comes up with a plan for him, Gareth, Jeremy, Landon, and Nikolai to sneak into the Serpents’ headquarters and attack the leaders, and though he and Landon argue about who gets to kill Devlin, Killian ultimately goes after him with a bat, promising to make him feel more pain than Glyndon was forced to suffer.

When Glyndon wakes up, she asks Brandon where Killian is, and she’s horrified to learn that he and Landon are playing right into Devlin’s plan to start a war. Killian arrives soon after and doesn’t give Glyndon a clear answer when she asks if he killed Devlin. Glyndon is hurt that he didn’t think of how it would make her feel to have Devlin’s blood on her hands, but Killian says he let Devlin live so that he and Landon could torture him in the future. Killian did think about his actions from Glyndon’s perspective and also knew that he’d never be satiated if he took one person’s life, which would eventually mean he’d have to leave Glyndon. Killian admits that he loves Glyndon—but in a violent and unorthodox way rather than a noble and tender way. Glyndon understands that when she fell for Killian, she had to accept the good and the bad sides of him, and she finally admits that she belongs to him.

The perspective switches to Levi King, Glyndon’s father, three weeks after the previous chapter when Glyndon brings Killian home to meet her family. Levi and Glyndon’s grandfather openly threaten to beat or kill Killian for breaking Glyndon’s heart three weeks earlier, but Killian explains the entire situation with Devlin, including the fact that the video Glyndon saw was conveniently cut short to remove context that exonerated his actions toward Devlin. Brandon is the only man in the family to stand up for Killian, knowing that the only approval that should matter is Glyndon’s. After Killian leaves, the other men agree to keep an eye on him, though Killian has already given them permission to kill him if he ever hurts Glyndon. Levi goes into his bedroom to see Glyndon showing Astrid the picture she painted at the beginning of the novel, and Astrid admits that it made her feel emotional and encourages her to keep doing her art. Levi exchanges text messages with his friends—all of whom are fathers of other characters in the novel—and they lament their children’s growing independence, foreshadowing upcoming relationships in the series.

Three months later, Glyndon is still growing closer to Killian, who has opened up and shown her his photos of her. Chaos continues among the three warring clubs like Devlin wanted, and Glyndon notices that Killian is looking tired. She does her best to express that she has always wanted him and believes that his first assault on her “brought back [her] senses in a painful outburst” (442) during a time when she felt lost and was contemplating death by suicide.

Two years later, Killian is irritated that he can’t have Glyndon all to himself. He has Glyndon meet him at the cliff where they first met and asks her to marry him. She says yes, and he puts a ring on her finger to further claim her before they have sex and talk about having children together.