What Is The Main Plot Of Devil'S Rise Novel?

That 'Devil's Rise' novel title honestly threw me for a loop at first because there are a few urban fantasy series with similar names floating around. Assuming we're talking about the one that kicked off a few years back with a guy named Kael who gets dragged into the supernatural underworld after a weird inheritance? The main plot is essentially his trial-by-fire as he learns he's the last descendant of a line of demon-bound hunters, and the 'rise' refers to a prophesied power shift in the hells that's spilling over into the mortal world. He's got this antagonistic partnership with a trapped demon, Lysander, who's bound to him, and most of the tension comes from them needing each other to survive the politics of both human occult societies and the infernal courts, while also not fully trusting the other not to stab them in the back. It's less about a big evil overlord and more about navigating a bunch of competing, morally grey factions—some human, some not—who all want to use or kill Kael for their own ends.

I found the pacing in the middle a bit of a slog, if I'm being totally honest. There's a whole section where Kael is just getting passed between different covens and cults as a bargaining chip, and I remember skimming pages waiting for him to actually do something instead of being acted upon. But the last third really picks up when he and Lysander stop just sniping at each other and start figuring out how their combined abilities work. The 'rise' climax isn't a typical battle; it's more of a tense, ritualistic negotiation where Kael has to outwit several demons at once, leveraging his bloodline's legacy in a way that sets up the sequels. I'm still not sure if I buy the central romantic subplot that develops, though—it felt rushed.