Phoenix Flame - Sara Holland Page 0,95

secret has always been priority number one. But how great would it be to bring Dad here? The petty little kid in me wants to see his face when I prove to him I never lied about the magic that lived here, not ever. And the greater part thrills at the idea of having my whole family, here, together, even if it’s not forever.

Marcus shrugs. “Tell you the truth, Maddie, I think things are going to get a lot messier from here on out. Harder to keep a secret.”

But the way the corner of his mouth curves up tells me he doesn’t entirely hate this idea.

“We might as well get ahead of the story.”

Later that night, I stand up on the balcony where I once poured my heart out to the Silver Prince, and then later begged Nahteran to give our family a chance. This time, I watch the sun slip below the mountains. I’m alone, but I’m not. Dad is with me, connected through the phone at my ear. Below my feet, somewhere in the inn, are Marcus and Graylin and Willow and Mom and Nahteran and Taya.

They are probably still sitting in Marcus’s living room where I left them. There were so many people that Nahteran and Taya and I were relegated to cushions on the floor, the adults claiming the couch. We spent the night playing cards, drinking wine and tea, telling stories, making plans. Together. Safe.

“I’m still not following, Maddie,” Dad says, sounding puzzled over the faint tinny buzz of our bad connection. “I’ll come to your uncle’s place if you want me to so badly. I can be there tomorrow, but why now? And why do you sound so happy?”

“I can’t tell you on the phone, Dad.”

It’s too big. Too much.

I let out a laugh of pure exhilaration and hope into the starry twilight. Maybe there’s magic in the rest of the world after all. A breeze picks up, lifting my hair, carrying the scents of pine and flowers and running water.

“Let me show you,” I tell him. “Come to Havenfall. You have to see it for yourself.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

What a wild and strange journey it’s been! Writing and launching Phoenix Flame through seemingly endless global upheaval was a challenge unlike any I’ve ever faced, and I couldn’t have done it without the most awesome publishing team an author could ask for.

Thank you to the whole team at Bloomsbury on both sides of the pond, including Cindy Loh, Claire Stetzer, Diane Aronson, Erica Barmash, Faye Bi, Phoebe Dyer, Beth Eller, Courtney Griffin, Mattea Barnes, Naomi Berwin, and everyone else who has had a hand in bringing Phoenix Flame to the world! I will forever be thankful for your talent, hard work, and enthusiasm. Thank you for loving Maddie, Brekken, Taya, and Nahteran as fiercely as I do.

Thank you to designer Sarah Baldwin and artist Peter Strain for creating the absolutely stunning, gorgeous, showstopping covers of Havenfall and Phoenix Flame. There aren’t enough adjectives in the world to do your beautiful art justice.

Thank you to Lexa Hillyer, Lauren Oliver, Lynley Bird, Stephen Barbara, Lyndsey Blessing, Pete Knapp, and everyone else at Glasstown, InkWell, and Park & Fine—I am blessed to have so many brilliant and indefatigable minds on my team! And thank you, too, to Deeba Zargarpur, Alexa Wejko, and Emily Berge—I’m so lucky and proud to count you among my friends.

The best thing about working with books for a living is all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way. Thank you so much to Elizabeth, Katherine, Jazmia, Patrice, Laura, Arvin, Mark, and all my other friends and colleagues in this wide world of publishing—you make it all worth it.

Thank you to Celine, Liz, Ronnie, Quinta, Emily, Lindsey, and Brent for being lifelines during the great lockdown of 2020 and always. I am so grateful for you. And I know I probably owe you a text.

Thank you to my family for always being my solid rock, no matter what the world might throw our way. Love always!

Read on for a bonus chapter from Nahteran’s perspective!

The landscape looked so peaceful. That’s what struck Nahteran as Wyoming scrolled by outside the window, Taya in the driver’s seat next to him, the mountains a distant presence to their west. Byrn had plains too, but they were the opposite of peaceful, the ground charred and split with the scars of lightning, the sky constantly roiling with fire-laden clouds. Nothing like this, the rolling, scrubby fields interspersed here and there with scrappy