Siege and Storm – Leigh Bardugo

Alina and Mal have tried to run from the Darkling, but he finds them, and brings them back to Ravka. But the Darkling isn’t aware that his allies are not all that they seem, and the privateer he has hired to bring them back to Ravka instead saves Alina and Mal for his own ends.

And so it is that Alina finds herself back in Os Alta, now in charge of all the Grisha, needing to plan how to defend them and the King from the inevitable day that the Darkling will return. She’s more sure of her power, and now has heard of a way she might be able to increase it, but that power is putting her at odds with Mal, and leading her down a path she isn’t sure she really wants to follow.

This is a good middle book – you can’t say it’s really that full of action, but it definitely sets up what should be a good ending to this trilogy.