Bloody magic. Ancient fury. Prepare for the gripping conclusion to the Chaos & Flame saga, the "fast-paced, action-filled fantasy that reads like a mix of Game of Thrones and Avatar: The Last Airbender " (BCCB) from two beloved New York Times bestselling authors. Now in paperback! A single kiss set Chaos ablaze. Picking up months after betrayal transformed Darling Seabreak into the long-lost Phoenix and every House regent into their empyreal form, Darling struggles to make sense of her destiny as a legendary creature. How can she, an orphan with no family, be the one to reunite the fractured houses and bring about peace, if she can't control the magic of her new Phoenix body? Talon Goldhoard , still in love with Darling but wounded by her betrayal, is tasked with ending the vicious war that his family instigated. With the Phoenix reborn, Talon is hopeful that the bloodshed will end swiftly. Instead, the kingdom grows more fraught, with the threat of violence ever present – especially from dark, conniving forces within the walls of his own House Dragon. As Chaos reigns, Talon and Darling must find their way back to each other – not only to survive but to save the kingdom. Can Darling harness the power of the ancient magic that runs through her blood to bring about a new peace? Or will the fury that House Dragon fueled for a hundred-year war be too strong to break? "A nuanced story with a cast readers will cheer for." — Kirkus Justina Ireland is the award winning and New York Times bestselling author of many books, including Dread Nation , Deathless Divide , Rust in the Root and Ophie’s Ghosts. She is also the author of numerous Star Wars books and one of the story architects of Star Wars: The High Republic . You can find her work wherever great books are sold and you can find her on Instagram as @justina.ireland or at her website justinaireland.com. Tessa Gratton is the New York Times bestselling author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, nominated twice for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Her most recent novels include the queer fairy tale Moon Dark Smile , the queer Shakespeare retelling Lady Hotspur , and novels of Star Wars: The High Republic. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife. Queer, nonbinary, she/he/they. I dream of fire. It devours me, swallows me whole, until I am consumed by it. My hair, my eyes, my bones, all of it is flame, burning brightly, blinding me, and remaking me into something new. There is pain, but only at first, and then . . .  Then there is only ecstasy. The fire moves through me, with me, warming, soothing. It whispers to me the history of Pyrlanum, it screams the defeats and despair of the people. It calls to Chaos and Chaos answers in fits and spurts. The flames whisper that this is the way it should be, that this is right. We are one with Chaos, the flames and me. It is joyous about the future and cajoles me to action. The fire is everywhere, and it knows this land, this country that I call my home. The fire listens to the people, it hears their heart wishes and heartaches, and it shares all of it with me while carrying me through the air, high above it all, a place where there is only truth and freedom. There is no disappointment among the clouds, no pain or regret or fear. There is only the phoenix. 1 The water in the shallow stone bowl ripples as the spell-­water breaks and Captain Greenspine’s wavering face and voice smear away. “Chaos take it!” I snap, slamming my fist into the table. Teacups and goblets rattle on the thick wood, and the few boonlights we’ve managed to keep on flicker. I want to push away and throw my chair across the room, hopefully smashing one of the paned windows overlooking the inner gardens, then storm out. It would be so satisfying. But General Bloodscale would relish such an outburst too much. I can picture the smug smile he’d offer. So instead I carefully flatten my hand and breathe. “I’ll try to get him back, my blade,” says Alastair Sevenclaw, the only seer left in Phoenix Crest whose boon is remotely reliable. This mode of communication has always been complicated and difficult even for strong seers, but Aunt Aurora’s never failed. I learned to rely on it too much for sending orders to the far reaches of Pyrlanum. Of course, now I know Aunt Aurora was supplementing her boon with blood magic. She taught me viscerally when she ripped the regent of House Kraken’s heart from his chest. “Don’t bother,” I say. “He heard my orders. The rest was questioning the why of them, which should be irrelevant to carrying them out.” General Bloodscale grunts. “What is it, General?” I ask slowly, hating how my voice sounds silky and dangerous like Caspian’s. “You used to be the first to question commands you found lacking. Why the change of heart, Hi