The Fiery Heart
First edition
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| Author | Richelle Mead |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Bloodlines |
| Genre |
Young adult Urban fantasy Paranormal romance |
| Publisher | Razorbill |
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Publication date
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November 19, 2013 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 420 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Indigo Spell |
| Followed by | Silver Shadows |
The Fiery Heart is the fourth book in Richelle Mead's Bloodlines series and was released on November 19, 2013. It is told from both Adrian's and Sydney's perspectives. As from the start of the series, Sydney Sage is an Alchemist who been assigned to protect the Moroi princess, Jillian Mastrano Dragomir, from the assassins who would like to overthrow Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir, the Queen of the Moroi, from her throne.
The novel begins where The Indigo Spell left off, when Alchemist Sydney Sage proclaimed her love to the Moroi Adrian Ivashkov. That starts their taboo relationship just as Sydney's younger sister Zoe is introduced as an Alchemist tasked to both watch over Sydney and learn from her. The Fiery Heart is told in alternating chapters, between Adrian's perspective and Sydney's. Sydney begins to accept her path in defying the Alchemists by being initiated in Jackie Terwilliger's coven of witches, which is named The Stelle. Sydney finds out from one of the witches that the oldest witch in their region, Inez, has had a history with personally fighting Strigoi. Inez claims it was because her blood tasted bad to them. Sydney has been having the same issue, and is immediately curious. She asks her mentor Jackie to take her to meet Inez. Things are further complicated when Sydney receives a call from her father, notifying her of his impending divorce and his expectation that Sydney will testify against her mother in order to win custody over the underage Zoe, and thus ensure that she will stay on the path to becoming an Alchemist.
Adrian continues to struggle with a balance in his use of Spirit, with the ever-looming threat of darkness that envelops him if he uses too much. Previously turning to alcohol and cigarettes to mute Spirit's effects, he and Sydney have made a pact to cut down on their vices (hers being caffeine addiction) in order to try live a healthier lifestyle. An incident with one of Adrian's fellow college artist friends, a student named Rowena, causes a block of concrete to fall on her hand while she is constructing a sculpture. This leads Adrian to impulsively heal her hand, worried that a broken hand would ruin her future career as an artist. After Adrian begins to crash from the high of Spirit magic, he begins to hallucinate hearing the voice of his dead aunt Tatiana, and consequently begins to heavily drink again. Sydney finds him in a disheveled state, and suggests that Adrian begin taking anti-depressants in order to cut him off from Spirit and thus the darkness. Adrian argues that he is not able to cut himself off of Spirit, for fear that those he cares about might need his help.
Zoe begins to grow suspicious of Sydney as she continues to be absent with the excuse for doing work for Ms. Terwilliger. Zoe tells Sydney her constant involvement with the teacher is unnecessary, as is being too friendly with the Moroi and Dhampirs. Sydney retaliates by saying that being involved is necessary for their mission and for their cover. Sydney, Jackie, and Adrian then travel together to see the witch Inez. Inez is at first a little sarcastic and bitter, but eventually warms up to Sydney when she sees how committed she is after making her change her flat tire, and that she has already been initiated into a coven. Inez reveals that the reason Strigoi were not able to drink from Sydney was because she had been using magic, and had thus tainted her blood. Sydney soon learns that magic is bound to the Moroi blood, but that witches have to draw their magic from the Earth. This leads her to get the idea of replicating the tattoo that her friend and ex-Alchemist Marcus Finch created in order to break the magic in the Golden Lily tattoo that all Alchemists possess.
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