MYTHS AND MORTALS (Numina trilogy #2) by Charlie Holmberg

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg builds her bewitching world of beasts and betrayal as the Numina Series continues.

Sandis has escaped Kazen’s grasp, but she finds herself unmoored, reeling from her thief friend Rone’s betrayal.

Kazen has been hurt but not stopped, and he’ll do anything to summon the monster that could lay waste to the entire world. Sandis knows she must be the one to stop him, but with her own trusted numen now bound to another, and finding herself with no one she can trust, she is in desperate need of allies. Rone seems determined to help her, but Sandis has no intention of letting him get close to her again. What she doesn’t know is how much Rone gave up to protect her. Or how much more he is willing to give up to keep her safe.

As chaos mounts, Sandis must determine whom to trust. After all, the lines between enemy and ally have never been less clear…and corruption lurks in the most unlikely of places.

Opening line:
"In a room clouded with cigar smoke, Sandis stood between two men who had betrayed her."

Sandis barely made it out of Kazen's control, with Rone's help, before she is betrayed, with Rone's help. She wants desperately to trust someone, but that is proving out of her grasp. Until she meets someone from her family. HER FAMILY. Sandis will do anything to have a family. Even live with her vile Uncle Talbur. He crosses the line one last time and Sandis finds herself wandering the streets and trying to figure out where to land.
Rone justifies what he did to Sandis, though it pains him almost every time he talks with Sandis (probably because she likes to poke that wound with a red, hot poker). His goal in the last book was to rescue his mom from prison and get her to safety, which he did. He has only a few weeks to join his mom before his papers expire, but in his guilt, and possibly love for Sandis, he wants to rescue her.
The two have to join forces to defeat Kazen. They go to every person they can think of, call in every favor, to find and bring Kazen down.
There's a lot fighting, a lot of pain, crying, yelling, and anger in this book. But it is mixed with smiles, help and a kiss or two. And loads of surprises and twists.

Charlie has the innate ability to write a story that pulls the reader immediately into the fantasy world she's created. The characters are full of weakness and heroics; the world is dark, or bright, depending on the characters; and the story arc is powerful.
On the flip side. she teases the readers with her CLIFFHANGERS! Luckily, I have the third book in this trilogy and can start reading it today.

Thanks to netgalley for the early read!