Set Fire to the Gods - Sara Raasch Page 0,136
wrapped so tightly against her that he could hardly breathe. He didn’t care. If this was how he died, he would die happy.
She pulled back. “Are you all right?”
“You’re asking if I’m all right?”
But he was. The ache in his head was gone. His muscles no longer twitched. His bones didn’t hurt.
“I’m fine,” he said, surprised. He was alive, severed from his home and any god who tried to claim him, and it didn’t matter, because for the first time in his life, he felt whole.
He didn’t need Geoxus or Anathrasa. He didn’t need Petros, whispering in his ear that he wasn’t enough. He didn’t need to hide behind the curtain of Elias’s power. He had his own power, and he could trust himself to use it.
Ash hugged him again, and kissed his neck, and as the moon crossed the sky, the ship rocked, carrying them farther from the chaos in Deimos and closer to a wild, uncertain future.
Together, they would survive this war. They knew what it was like to be broken. They knew what it was like to be remade.
They were strong. And now, they would be ready.
Acknowledgments
Set Fire to the Gods has been six years in the making.
The first spark of an idea started at the 2014 RT convention in Dallas. Everything we are now, everything this book became, originated there, where we were eating cake in a hotel room and went, “Hey, we should write a book together.” It was a game at first, but over time and a few (thousand) emails, we fell in love with the characters and created something neither of us could have imagined all those years prior.
A massive thank-you goes out to our agents, Mackenzie Brady Watson and Joanna MacKenzie. This book underwent many concept shifts, and your careful reads and guidance are the reason Set Fire became what it is today.
To Kristin Rens, who became “Editor Kristin” and who we adore even though she spells her name wrong (ahem . . . KristEn). Thank you for taking on our Magical Gladiator book. For shuffling Ash and Madoc into working order. For pulling out the details that had gotten lost over the aforementioned six years of development and telling us what parts were best. You are a goddess of editing energeia (editeia?).
To the other magical beings at Harper: Caitlin Johnson and Renée Cafiero, who helped us polish up Set Fire; Jenna Stempel-Lobell and Alison Donalty, who made this book gorgeous; and Michael D’Angelo and Aubrey Churchward, who got our book to all the right people.
To Cameron from Beacon Book Box not only for being willing to read an early draft of Set Fire but for being so, so excited. Your enthusiasm is wild and wonderful and one of the many reasons we adore you. To Katie McGee, for still finding the time even under deadline and release craziness, and Kelly Morton (and all of JosephBeth Booksellers, letsbehonest, every one of you guys has our full hearts), for your early delight in this project.
To Sara’s sanity keepers: Kristen Lippert-Martin, Lisa Maxwell, Anne Blankman, Jaye Robin Brown, Olivia Hinebaugh, Danielle Stinson, Shannon Doleski, Shanna, and Angele McQuade; and her loves, Evelyn Skye, Erin Bowman, Rae Loverde, Ashley Poston, Claire Legrand, Natalie Whipple, Janella Angeles, Madeleine Colis, and Akshaya Raman.
And the people Kristen can’t write/function without: Mindee Arnett, Katie McGarry, Jen (the muse) Tetzloff, Courtney Forster, and Deanna Fairfield; as well as Jaime and Erin, and Meg and Kass, who always read her books and swoon, the mom friends who keep her sane, and the jazzerfriends who keep her healthy (and okay, also sane). Infinity hugs to you all!
A huge thanks goes to our husbands, Kelson and Jason, for staying encouraging over the course of this book’s ups and downs and up agains. To Oliver, for giving Mommy Sara time to write—well, as much as can reasonably be asked of him—and Ren, who inspires Mommy Kristen every day with his limitless enthusiasm. To Sara’s parents and sister for their never-ending support. To Kristen’s parents, sister-in-law, and parents-in-law for the same. We are so fortunate to have you all in our lives.
From Sara: To Kristen. Saying “thank you” at this point feels disingenuous, because I’ve gushed over you at great length, and hell, I even dedicated my half of this book to you. But I hope you know that working on this project with you was, and will forever be, one of the highlights of my career. I want another six years of back-and-forth email threads, of nearly incoherent GIF conversations via text (I’m sure there are some more Dwayne Johnson ones we haven’t found yet), of knowing that if I got stuck, I could call you, and you’d drop everything to help me find cohesion in chaos. I don’t know which god I pleased to have gotten you, but I am the luckiest author, the happiest friend, and my life is richer with you in it.
From Kristen: SAME!! I don’t know what I’d do without you, Sara. This project never would have survived, I’m certain of it, without your organization, planning, energy, and Ash-like tenacity. We did it, friend, and I hope you know each time I think of this book, I will remember the magic you taught me, both on the page and off it.
Enough already. Let’s go get a cupcake.
About the Authors
Courtesy of the authors
SARA RAASCH is the New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes series and These Rebel Waves.
KRISTEN SIMMONS is the critically acclaimed author of the Article 5 series, The Glass Arrow, Metaltown, Pacifica, and The Deceivers.
Fueled by cupcakes and bacon, they contemplated becoming supervillains but decided to use their combined love of sexy gladiators for the greater good to write Set Fire to the Gods.
You can visit Sara online at www.sararaaschbooks.com and Kristen at www.kristensimmonsbooks.com.
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Books by Sara Raasch
Snow Like Ashes
Ice Like Fire
Frost Like Night
These Rebel Waves
These Divided Shores
Books by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons
Set Fire to the Gods
Rise Up from the Embers
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Copyright
Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
SET FIRE TO THE GODS. Copyright © 2020 by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover art © 2020 by Johannes Voss
Cover design by Michelle Taormina and Jenna Stempel-Lobell
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Digital Edition AUGUST 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-289158-7
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-289156-3 (tr.)
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2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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