An epic battle between good and evil... Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great—until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts. Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: he is Weirlind, part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At their helm sits the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game—a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir. As if his bizarre heritage isn't enough, Jack finds out that he's not just another member of Weirlind—he's one of the last of the warriors—at a time when both houses are scouting for a player.

Sixteen-year-old Seph McCauley has spent the past three years getting kicked out of one exclusive private school after another. And it's not his attitude that's the problem: it's the trail of magical accidents - lately, disasters - that follow in his wake. Seph is a wizard, orphaned and untrained, and his powers are escalating out of control. After causing a tragic fire at an after-hours party, Seph is sent to the Havens, a secluded boys' school on the coast of Maine. Gregory Leicester, the headmaster, promises to train Seph in magic and initiate him into his mysterious order of wizards. But Seph's enthusiasm dampens when he learns that training comes at a steep cost, and that Leicester plans to use his students' powers to serve his own mysterious agenda.

The covenant that was meant to keep the wizard wars at bay has been stolen, and the sanctuary of Trinity must prepare for attack. Seph monitors the Weirwalls, while Jack and Ellen train their army of ghosts to face an onslaught of wizards. Even Anaweir Will and Fitch are setting traps around the town's perimeter. To Jason Haley, it feels as though everyone but him has a role to play. Then he finds a powerful talisman - a huge opal called the Dragonheart - buried in a cave. When its power washes over him, he knows he's destined for a greater purpose than anyone ever imagined. Madison Moss can hears the seductive call of the Dragonheart also, but she has other things on her mind. Maddie's been leaking dark magic ever since absorbing the blow that was meant to kill her boyfriend, Seph. If anyone finds out, she'll be banished from the sanctuary - and Seph - forever. Meanwhile, Trinity's enemies mean to win the war with the help of the Dragonheart, and they know that Madison Moss is the only one who can get it for them. Moral compasses spin out of control as a final battle storms through a town that was meant to be a refuge. With so much to lose, what will Jason and Maddie be willing to fight for - and what will they sacrifice? It's everyone for himself in this thrilling conclusion to the Heir trilogy.

Peace just doesn't work for some people. Dead to Me is a 10-page short story that connects The Dragon Heir to The Enchanter Heir. It picks up with Leesha Middleton on, as she would say, "the blind date from hell." The date gets worse when she encounters the magically damaged, undead victims of the Thorn Hill Massacre for the first time. Cinda Williams Chima's new book The Enchanter Heir (10.1.13) is the first of two new Heir Chronicles novels in which familiar faces return, new characters take center stage, and not everyone gets a happy ending. Free story, read or download it here on Goodreads via Read or Download Excerpt

They called it the Thorn Hill Massacre—the brutal attack on a once-thriving Weir community. Though Jonah Kinlock lived through it, he did not emerge unscathed: like the other survivors, Jonah possesses unique magical gifts that set him apart from members of the mainline guilds. At seventeen, Jonah has become the deadliest assassin in Nightshade, a global network that hunts the undead. He is being groomed to succeed Gabriel Mandrake, the sorcerer, philanthropist, and ruthless music promoter who established the Thorn Hill Foundation, the public face of Nightshade. More and more, Jonah’s at odds with Gabriel’s tactics and choice of targets. Desperate to help his dying brother Kenzie, Jonah opens doors that Gabriel prefers to keep closed. Emma Claire Greenwood grew up worlds away, raised by a grandfather who taught her music rather than magic. An unschooled wild child, she runs the streets until the night she finds her grandfather dying, gripping a note warning Emma that she might be in danger. The clue he leaves behind leads Emma into Jonah’s life—and a shared legacy of secrets and lingering questions. Was Thorn Hill really a peaceful commune? Or was it, as the Wizard Guild claims, a hotbed of underguild terrorists? The Wizards’ suspicions grow when members of the mainline guilds start turning up dead. They blame Madison Moss and the Interguild Council, threatening the fragile peace brokered at Trinity. Racing against time, Jonah and Emma work to uncover the truth about Thorn Hill, amid growing suspicion that whoever planned the Thorn Hill Massacre might strike again.

The delicate peace between Wizards and the underguilds (Warriors, Seers, Enchanters, and Sorcerers) still holds by the thinnest of threads, but powerful forces inside and outside the guilds threaten to sever it completely. Emma and Jonah are at the center of it all. Brought together by their shared history, mutual attraction, and a belief in the magic of music, they now stand to be torn apart by new wounds and old betrayals. As they struggle to rebuild their trust in each other, Emma and Jonah must also find a way to clear their names as the prime suspects in a series of vicious murders. It seems more and more likely that the answers they need lie buried in the tragedies of the past. The question is whether they can survive long enough to unearth them. Old friends and foes return as new threats arise in this stunning and revelatory conclusion to the beloved and bestselling Heir Chronicles series.

Three boys, three talismans, one destiny. In this page-turning trilogy, Cinda Williams Chima explores what it means to be different, what's worth fighting for, and what's worth dying for _THE WARRIOR HEIR _Jack lives an unremarkable life in Trinity, Ohio. Only his daily medicine and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from other teenagers at his high school. Until one day, Jack skips his medicine and finds himself stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. He feels incredible until he nearly kills another player on the soccer field. Soon, Jack learns the startling truth: he is Weirlind, part of a magical underground society of wizards, warriors, and enchantors. Weir's mighty, feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose determine power through The Game, a modern-day gladiator battle in which warriors from each house fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir. But Jack finds out that he's not just another member of Weirlind-he's one of the last warriors-and both houses are scouting for a player. _THE WIZARD HEIR _ Sixteen-year-old Seph McCauley has spent the past three years getting kicked out of one exclusive private school after another. Unfortunately it's not his attitude that's the problem. It's the trail of magical accidents-lately, disasters-that follow in his wake. Seph is a wizard, orphaned and untrained—and now that the only person who could protect him has died, his powers are escalating out of control. At the Havens, a secluded boys' school in Maine, Seph meets headmaster Gregory Leicester, who promises to initiate him into his order of wizards. But Seph soon learns that training comes at a steep cost, and that Leicester plans to use his students' powers to serve his own malicious agenda. This wizard war is one that Seph may not have the strength to survive. THE DRAGON HEIR The covenant that was meant to keep the wizard wars at bay has been stolen, and Trinity must prepare for attack. Jason Haley finds himself excluded from the action until he finds the Dragonheart. The opal stone seems to sing to his very soul, but Trinity's guardians seize it after they realize its powers. Madison Moss feels the beating heart of the opal, too. The desire for it surges through her, but Maddie also has a secret. Ever since absorbing the magical blow that was meant to kill Seph, she's been leaking dark powers. Trinity's enemies believe they can use her to get to the Dragonheart and they'll use anyone she cares about to make her steal the stone for them. Moral compasses spin out of control as a final battle storms through what was once a sanctuary for the gifted. With so much to lose, what will Jason and Maddie be willing to fight for—and what will they sacrifice?