I felt his words against my skin, sending chills through me. "I would devour you. I would break you apart, and do it all over again until all you can think about is me. I would show you what it's like to be alive in the dark," Alina has chosen the Darkling and is trying to accept a new way of life without Mal but something lurks in the shadow, a new threat.

Forty years before there was a Sun Summoner, there was a Tidemaker who the True Sea spoke to. Tormented by tragedy, she looks to return to the rest of the world, but will the Darkling teach her how to love or how to hate? And once he's through with her, will she ever be able to love again?

In the conservatory at Tomikyana, Alina tells Mal what their story would have been if the Grisha Examiners had discovered her power. This is that tale, from the very beginning, to the bitter end. (AlinaxMal, AlinaxDarkling)

Spoilers for R&R. This is an alternate ending to Ruin & Rising where Mal is killed but not by Alina's hand, thus changing the entire sequence of events. Alina never loses her power, the Darkling doesn't die, and Nikolai needs help ruling over Ravka with the darkness inside him.