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Everything's going to be okay. The center will hold.
How do you know?
Because we are the center.

—Sydney and Adrian


The Fiery Heart is the fourth book in Richelle Mead's Bloodlines Series and was released on November 19, 2013. It is to be told from both Adrian and Sydney's perspectives.

Summary[]

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In The Indigo Spell, Sydney was torn between the Alchemist way of life and what her heart and gut were telling her to do. And in one breathtaking moment that Richelle Mead fans will never forget, she made a decision that shocked even her.

But the struggle isn't over for Sydney. As she navigates the aftermath of her life-changing decision, she still finds herself pulled in too many directions at once. Her sister Zoe has arrived, and while Sydney longs to grow closer to her, there's still so much she must keep secret. Working with Marcus has changed the way she views the Alchemists, and Sydney must tread a careful path as she harnesses her profound magical ability to undermine the way of life she was raised to defend. Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney struggles to keep her secret life under wraps as the threat of exposure—and re-education—looms larger than ever.

Pulses will race throughout this smoldering fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where no secret is safe.

Plot[]

As the novel Indigo Spell ended, where Sydney proclaimed her love to Adrian and they both got into a relationship, Sydney found that her little sister Zoe had become a "junior" alchemist and was given the same assignment as Sydney. The Fiery Heart begins with Sydney's relationship with Adrian and her holding on to witchcraft, both of which bring her equally into danger from Alchemists and their concepts. Everything's put at risk when Sydney's parents begin their divorce, which causes conflicts for Carly, Sydney, and Zoe since they have to each choose one of their parents, most importantly for Zoe since she is underage. Zoe is brainwashed by her dad to support him, while Sydney chooses her mom's side since her dad is less caring and more cold-hearted.

Sydney's relationship with Adrian was smooth when Sydney's dad came to meet Zoe and Sydney. Her dad was collecting elements to prove that their mom is incapable of taking care of kids and falsely saying she might be having an affair. Throughout the process, he called Keith, and from that moment on, Sydney's anxiety increased as she found that Keith had become more like a robot than a human as an effect of his re-education by the Alchemists. In order to escape, Sydney started to use her magic and skills to create an ink that would prevent the compulsion existing in the original Alchemist ink. After a lot of research, she found that salt could be used and did a spell on it. She tested it on Trey, and it worked. However, when Adrian asked Sydney to take it as the tattoo is non-visible, she said there's plenty of time after everything would be solved.

During all of this, Adrian is fighting his own demons, where his excessive usage of Spirit causes him to be unstable and face psychological problems, including hearing the voice of his late Aunt Tatiana. Lissa called Adrian and asked for his help on a case where Strigoi changed back again to identify the changes, as it could possibly help the Moroi to prevent further Strigoi attacks or keep everyone safe from Strigoi. As Adrian went to help, he drew blood from Olive, the girl who had been changed back from Strigoi, and contained the spirit in the blood so it could be held for longer. During this process, he used his spirit energy so much that he almost passed out.

After returning from Lissa's business, he started to feel anxiety to the point where he went to the pawn shop where he earlier pawned Aunt Tatiana's rubies for money to buy presents for Sydney's birthday. This is where Sydney found him and cried, as she was scared and worried for him. As a concern for Sydney's happiness, Adrian consulted a psychiatrist and started taking medication, which stopped his spirit abilities, making Jill's connection with him fade.

On Sydney's side, her strong connections with the Moroi, Dhampirs, and Ms. Terwilliger have made Zoe suspicious. Luckily, Zoe doesn't suspect Adrian, as he and Sydney mostly communicate via text using an untraceable prepaid phone that they call Love Phone. As Sydney and Adrian were invited back to the court again regarding the Strigoi issue, Sydney revealed that she can possibly create an ink that would keep them safe from Strigoi by tattooing it in their bodies. As everyone was there, they sought help from Abe, who is well connected and can get them any ingredients they need to proceed. However, Sydney asked a special favor from Abe to use his earth abilities on her own vial of ink so she could use it. She used it on Trey, and it worked. The vial that Sydney created for the Court was tattooed to Neil, who wonders whether it worked or not since the only way to find out is by an attack from Strigoi.

After a few unexpected moments where Lissa and Sonya asked Adrian to use his spirit abilities, Adrian broke the news that he was on pills, which deeply upset Sydney. After the court business, they were on their way back to where their car hit a tree, and they were forced to find shelter at the nearest hotel. As the whole situation occurred during winter, Sydney was forced to use her magic to form a fireball for warmth. Neil saw and promised that he wouldn't tell anyone. At the hotel, Sydney and Adrian made love and brought their relationship to a whole new level.

After returning back, Sydney and Adrian contacted Marcus so that they could give him the ink for his new recruits of ex-Alchemists. Neil got a new idea: find a Strigoi and let it attack him while Sydney remained hidden unless something went wrong. Neil also invited Eddie to join, and eventually Eddie discovered Sydney's magic abilities.

Zoe kept on suspecting Sydney, and worst of all, Adrian lost his Love Phone, causing him to contact Sydney using his normal phone. Sydney, Neil, and Eddie find a Strigoi. It attacked Neil, and to their surprise, the tattoo ink worked. Neil's blood caused discomfort to the Strigoi, and they were killed in the end with major help from unexpected allies Angeline,Trey, and Jill. As Eddie argued with Jill about how dangerous it is for her to expose herself in a Strigoi situation, Jill kissed Eddie, proclaiming her love for him.

On their way back, Sydney got dropped off at Adrian's place, and she told him everything that happened since she had been keeping the whole plan a secret. The next day, Adrian, instead of Sydney, went to give large amounts of ink to Marcus. While Adrian dealt with Marcus, he texted Sydney to meet at Ms. Terwilliger's place, and Sydney replied that she was delighted. As Marcus, Adrian, and Ms. Terwilliger waited for Sydney to arrive, Adrian realized that it was late, an uncommon occurrence for Sydney. He texted her multiple times but received no reply. Suddenly, they heard a car roughly pulling up in front of them. Realizing it might not be Sydney, Ms. Terwilliger opened the door and found Eddie with ragged clothes, saying that Sydney had been taken by the Alchemists.

On Sydney's side of the story, she received a text from Adrian saying that the venue had changed to a cafe. She invited Eddie along and texted Adrian to see if he got the Love Phone back, which he affirmed. As Eddie opened the door of the cafe, he realized it was an ambush and ordered Sydney to run. While they were hiding, Sydney heard her dad asking her to surrender and Zoe saying that Eddie is not Sydney's love life. Realizing she imposed a risk on Eddie, who might be killed by the Alchemists, she tricked Eddie into splitting up while she surrendered.

As Sydney is captured, she realizes who betrayed her since Zoe was the one who found the Love Phone in her car and puts together what has been going on. Her dad, since his glory was more important than his daughters, thought Sydney posed a threat because she supports her mom, and he used this as a chance to get Sydney's testimony out of the way. As Sydney was drugged and sent to re-education.

Adrian stopped taking his pills in order to get his Spirit abilities back so he could visit her in dreams. But that didn't happen, even with his growing Spirit abilities. He couldn't find Sydney, and neither could Ms. Terwilliger, who failed to contact her with her magic. Desperate and miserable, he did everything he could to rescue Sydney and eventually realized that her last word to Eddie was some sort of spell, which translates into the Center will Hold. When he realized something, Adrian got his way out by saying he needs to go somewhere so he wouldn't feel anything for a while, and Jill asked for how long. He answered, "It doesn't matter."

The novel ends as a naked Sydney is being mentally tortured at re-education, which is trying to force her to confess her sins and get purified through the process. As she would not like to lose herself as Keith did, she decided to give the re-education process a hard time. The novel ends as she says, "All right. Let's see what you've got."

Characters (In Order of Appearance)[]

Alicia DeGraw (mentioned) • Alison • Amelia (mentioned)Brent BadicaDimitri BelikovBrayden CartwrightEdison CastileCassie • Chad • Rowena ClarkKeith DarnellAngeline DawesAlicia DeGraw (mentioned)Clarence DonahueDorothyRobert Doru (mentioned)Jillian Mastrano DragomirVasilisa DragomirWesley DrozdovMarcus FinchInez GarciaRosemarie HathawayHopper • Horace • Adrian IvashkovDaniella Ivashkov (mentioned)Nathan Ivashkov (mentioned)Tatiana Ivashkov (mentioned) • James (mentioned) • Jamie • Ian Jansen (mentioned)Trey JuarezSonya Karp • Maude • MauraIbrahim Mazur • Ronald Mikoski • Christian OzeraNatasha Ozera (mentioned)Neil Raymond (mentioned)Jared SageDeborah SageCarly Sage (mentioned)Sydney SageZoe SageNina SinclairOlive SinclairMonique Szelsky (mentioned)Mikhail TannerJaclyn TerwilligerVeronica Terwilliger (mentioned) • Trina • Micah Vallence (mentioned) • Wade (mentioned)Miss Wentworth (mentioned)Malachi WolfeSabrina WoodsLars Zeklos

Translations[]

The book has been translated into Bulgarian, Czech, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, and Turkish.

  • Brazil: Coração Ardente – publ.: August 18, 2014
  • Bulgaria: Огнено сърце - publ.: January 1, 2014
  • Czech Republic: Ohnivé srdce – publ.: February 12, 2014
  • France: The Fiery Heart - publ.: January 1, 2014
  • Germany: Feuriges Herz – publ.: April 3, 2014
  • Poland: Serce w płomieniach - publ.: January 1, 2014
  • Russia: Пламенное сердце - publ.: January 1, 2014
  • Slovenia: Ognjeno srce - publ.: July 1, 2015
  • Turkey: Ateşli Kalp - publ.: May 1, 2014

Quotes[]

I didn’t care about anything except her and the way touching her drove me wild, even as her calm and steady presence soothed the storms that raged within me.

—Adrian Ivashkov about Sydney Sage


Trivia[]

  • Mead has said that Fiery Heart is the most romantic and shocking of the Bloodlines Series.
  • The cover has Sydney (front) and Adrian (back).
  • This is the first book by Mead in the Bloodlines series that will have two perspectives.
  • Mead has said that Rose, Lissa, Dimitri, and Christian are going to be in this book.
  • Mead has reported that Adrian will be testing for cures for spirit darkness throughout the book.
  • Richelle Mead said that the book is more emotional, dealing with depression and mental health, especially for Adrian.
  • According to Mead, Fiery Heart is going to have a heartbreaking ending, and it will hit Adrian on the head.
  • The first chapter will be from Adrian's point of view. The last chapter will be from Sydney's point of view.
  • A new couple will be discovered, one nobody thought would happen.
  • A much-loved character will betray one of the characters.
  • There is a cliffhanger at the end of the book.
  • Sydney gains new skills.
  • Adrian makes a personal and deeply emotional discovery.
  • Adrian's full name will be introduced in the book.

External Links[]

Book Covers[]

References[]

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