James Patterson - Witch & Wizard: The Fire

YOU WANT A FAIRY TALE, DONT YOU?

Whit and Wisty Allgood have sacrificed everything to lead the Resistance against the merciless totalitarian regime that governs their world. Its supreme leader, The One Who Is The One, has banned everything they hold dear: books, music, art, and imagination. But the growing strength of the siblings magic hasnt been enough to stop The Ones evil rampage, and now hes executed the only family they had left.

YOURE NOT GOING TO FIND ONE HERE.

Wisty knows that the time has finally come for her to face The One. But her fight and her fire only channel more power to this already formidable being. How can she and Whit possibly prepare for their imminent showdown with the ruthless villain who devastated their world before he can become truly all-powerful?

THERE IS NO HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

In this stunning third instalment of the epic Witch & Wizard series, the stakes have never been higher and the consequences will change everything.

JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. He is the author of two other popular series for young readers: Maximum Ride and Daniel X. This is as well as writing three of the top detective series around the Alex Cross, Womens Murder Club and Detective Michael Bennett novels and many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.

James was inspired by his son, who was a reluctant reader, to write books specifically for young readers. He has also formed a partnership with the National Literacy Trust, an independent, UK-based charity that changes lives through literacy. In 2010, James Patterson was voted Author of the Year at the Childrens Choice Book Awards in New York.

Also by James Patterson

Witch & Wizard series

Witch & Wizard ( with Gabrielle Charbonnet )

Witch & Wizard: The Gift ( with Ned Rust )

Maximum Ride series

The Angel Experiment

Schools Out Forever

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

The Final Warning

Max

Fang

Angel

Daniel X series

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X ( with Michael Ledwidge )

Daniel X: Watch the Skies ( with Ned Rust )

Daniel X: Demons and Druids ( with Adam Sadler )

Daniel X: Game Over ( with Ned Rust )

Illustrated novels

Daniel X: Alien Hunter Graphic Novel ( with Leopoldo Gout )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 1 ( with NaRae Lee )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 2 ( with NaRae Lee )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 3 ( with NaRae Lee )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 4 ( with NaRae Lee )

Middle School ( with Chris Tebbetts and Laura Park )

For more information about James Pattersons novels, visit www.jamespatterson.co.uk

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For Jack, who started me down this long, twisted, magical road.

You will be king one day, and youll be a very good king.

J.P.

For Bobbie Dembowski, who taught me the magic of words, and Mark Dembowski, who cheers louder than any foolball fan. ILYIHYNDYTBPITWW!

J.D.

Welcome to your worst nightmare, or maybe one you cant even imagine. A world where everything has changed. There are no books, no movies, no music, and no free speech. Everyone under eighteen is distrusted. You and your family could be taken away and imprisoned at any time. Your very being is expendable, even unwanted .

What world is this? Where could something like this have happened? Thats hardly the point .

The point is that it DID happen. Its happening to us right now. And if you dont stop and pay attention, it could happen in your world next .

YOU WANT A fairy tale, dont you? Well, Im not sure I can give you that.

You can find adventure here, that much is true. Theres magic, too, and murder and intrigue. And there is a man more wicked, more ruthless, than any monster or madman lurking in your grimmest childhood nightmares.

But there are no heroes. I cant be that for you not anymore, not after everything thats happened.

It went like this.

There was a great orator, smart and charismatic. Crowds came from every corner of the Overworld, hypnotized by his promises. They called him The One Who Is The One for a reason: he was the one who would change the world. It wasnt until he took everything away that the people even knew what theyd had.

First we watched our books burn, the gray tendrils of smoke choking out our protests. Then our art and our music disappeared, and the rest of our freedoms werent far behind. Red banners stretched up over the tallest buildings, and ash rained down with bombs. Prisons overflowed with children, and when they were released, they were no longer just kids but dead-eyed warriors trained in torture.

It was for the greater good, The One said. The New Order, he called it.

The Prophecies talk about two people who will alter the course of this history. A girl and a boy, a witch and a wizard. My sister and I, Wisty and Whit Allgood. It was as surprising to us as much as to anyone. Terrifying, even.

We tried to be your heroes, tried to live up to that destiny. With our newfound powers, we offered hope. We joined the Resistance movement and infiltrated the prisons. We protested the New Order and advocated for peace.

But after the last bombing, my sister and all of our freedom fighters were scattered like seeds in the wind, the entire Resistance crumbling. Even our parents went up in smoke. Their cries still echo in my ears.

So I had no one left. I thought I had nothing left to give. But then came the plague. It was my last chance to make a difference. I walked into homes that smelled of death and seethed with disease. I carried bleeding children into clinics and shelters. And in one of those clinics, I found my sister working as a nurse, helping as I had, hoping as I did for a better future.

But then Wisty got sick, too.

Now, The One Who Is The Ones eyes, playful and cruel, look down mockingly at me from the billboards. Id thought we could fight him. Id thought we could win. I guess I was wrong. You see, without both Wisty and me, there is no history, no future, no hope.

And shes dying.

So here we are. This is the end. This is no fairy tale, and there is no happily ever after. Our world does not end when you close the book. Our world is real. Too real. It sounds like children shrieking in the darkness and soldiers boots thundering through the streets. It smells of sewage and disease and defeat. It feels like the weight of my sister writhing in my arms.

It tastes of blood.

MY LUNGS ARE bursting, and if she dies, Ill die.

Were tearing through the cramped, dank streets of the capital, running for our lives from the New Order police and their trained wolves. My calves are burning, my shoulders ache, and my mind is numb from all thats happened.

There is no more freedom. So there is no escape.

I stumble through this strange, awful world we have inherited, past a mass of the sick who are shuddering from more than just the cold. A man collapses at my feet, and I have to wrestle my arm away from a woman holding a baby and pointing at me, shrieking, The One has judged! He has judged you!

And then theres the blood. Mothers scratch at open pustules, and children cough into rags stained red. Half the poor in this city are dying from the Blood Plague.