The cliffhanger has me turned off to the series for now. I'm not sure I really care much about the relationship between El and Orion, so I might consider this the last book and move on. Orion staying behind in a disintegrating school to fight a monster that should've been doomed anyway can only turn into what I call a "Deus ex magicka" situation if he survived, and I'm exhausted of that trope being used with cliffhangers.

The rest of the book was actually interesting and has set up a cool universe though, so it's possible I come back.