He means Wisty. The One wants her fire.
It’s like Boy Wonder’s been rehearsing his lines on action figures. This is the twerp who’s bringing us in? He won’t pull the trigger, not without Captain Ferret’s say-so, and even with an injured hand, I could easily deck him—
But before I get that far, his eyes flutter closed and he crumples to the ground.
I pick up the object that nailed him in the back of the head. A snow globe?
In the entryway behind him is that same big-eyed, grim-faced little girl who was watching me in the square. She looks fierce, her tiny mouth twisting in annoyance.
The expression kind of reminds me of Wisty at the height of her frustration with me, actually. The girl’s standing outside the door, beckoning me into the alleyway.
“You just gonna gawk at me, wizard boy? I’ve got more where that came from, if you need a little nap.”
“You have two choices,” the pint-sized vigilante professes.
I look at her warily. There’s no telling if she’s really on my side. They’ve used kids to get to us before, and there are almost no rebels left in this Capital. There’s a reward for our capture, no doubt; maybe she’s got dark motives.
She’s filthy and bone-thin, but she’s got this strangely confident expression on her face. And—weirder—she’s wearing antlers.
Then it sinks in: the Holiday.
In my panic I must’ve missed the details. Though celebrating the Holiday is forbidden under pain of death, out the window, I see hints of it everywhere: ribbons clipped onto New Order flags, candles winking from window sills, and ice sculptures like Wisty and Mom went nuts for—only these are shimmering tributes to The One.
“You have two choices,” the little girl repeats impatiently. “And they are your choices, and yours alone.”
She’s got her hands on her hips, her round, silvery eyes glaring out of her tiny face. She must be around seven or eight, but her face looks way older, like one of the wizened old elves Wisty and I used to read about in The Necklace King series—back when we got a kick out of fantasy books and didn’t know we actually had magical powers.
“You can either come with me, or let the red-haired girl die. It’s no big thing for me,” the little fountain of goodwill says, like death is something she’s intimately familiar with, even bored by. “You should dump her and save yourself.” She eyes Wisty and frowns. “That’s what I’d do.”
Contents
Front Cover Image
Welcome
A Preview of Kill Me if You Can
A Preview of Witch & Wizard: The Fire
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Part Two
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Part Three
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Chapter 137
Epilogue
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Books by James Patterson
Acclaim for The Postcard Killers
Copyright
About the Authors
JAMES PATTERSON has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1976, James Patterson’s books have sold more than 210 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Mr. Patterson also writes the bestselling Women’s Murder Club novels, set in San Francisco, and the top-selling New York detective series of all time, featuring Detective Michael Bennett.
James Patterson also writes books for young readers, including the award-winning Maximum Ride, Daniel X, and Witch and Wizard series. In total, these books have spent more than 200 weeks on national bestseller lists, and all three series are in Hollywood development.
His lifelong passion for books and reading led James Patterson to launch a new website, ReadKiddoRead.com, to give adults an easy way to locate the very best books for kids. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.
LIZA MARKLUND is a Swedish journalist and author of the Annika Bengtzon series, which has sold nine million copies in thirty languages
. She lives in Sweden and Spain.
Books by James Patterson
FEATURING ALEX CROSS
Cross Fire
I, Alex Cross
Alex Cross’s Trial (with Richard DiLallo)
Cross Country
Double Cross
Cross
Mary, Mary
London Bridges
The Big Bad Wolf
Four Blind Mice
Violets Are Blue
Roses Are Red
Pop Goes the Weasel
Cat & Mouse
Jack & Jill
Kiss the Girls
Along Came a Spider
THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB
The 10th Anniversary (with Maxine Paetro)
The 9th Judgment (with Maxine Paetro)
The 8th Confession (with Maxine Paetro)
7th Heaven (with Maxine Paetro)
The 6th Target (with Maxine Paetro)
The 5th Horseman (with Maxine Paetro)
4th of July (with Maxine Paetro)
3rd Degree (with Andrew Gross)
2nd Chance (with Andrew Gross)
1st to Die
FEATURING MICHAEL BENNETT
Tick Tock (with Michael Ledwidge)
Worst Case (with Michael Ledwidge)
Run for Your Life (with Michael Ledwidge)
Step on a Crack (with Michael Ledwidge)
FOR READERS OF ALL AGES
Daniel X: The Manga 2
Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life (with Chris Tebbetts)
Maximum Ride: The Manga 4 (with NaRae Lee)
Angel : A Maximum Ride Novel
Witch & Wizard: The Gift (with Ned Rust)
Daniel X: The Manga 1
Maximum Ride: The Manga 3 (with NaRae Lee)
Daniel X: Demons and Druids (with Adam Sadler)
FANG: A Maximum Ride Novel
Witch & Wizard (with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
Maximum Ride: The Manga 2 (with NaRae Lee)
Daniel X: Watch the Skies (with Ned Rust)
MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel
Maximum Ride: The Manga 1 (with NaRae Lee)
Daniel X: Alien Hunter (graphic novel; with Leopoldo Gout)
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (with Michael Ledwidge)
The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride Novel
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports: A Maximum Ride Novel
School’s Out—Forever: A Maximum Ride Novel
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
santaKid
OTHER BOOKS
Kill Me If You Can (with Marshall Karp)
Now You See Her (with Michael Ledwidge)
Toys (with Neil McMahon)
Don’t Blink (with Howard Roughan)
The Postcard Killers (with Liza Marklund)
Private (with Maxine Paetro)
The Murder of King Tut (with Martin Dugard)
Swimsuit (with Maxine Paetro)
Against Medical Advice (with Hal Friedman)
Sail (with Howard Roughan)
Sundays at Tiffany’s (with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
You’ve Been Warned (with Howard Roughan)
The Quickie (with Michael Ledwidge)
Judge & Jury (with Andrew Gross)
Beach Road (with Peter de Jonge)
Lifeguard (with Andrew Gross)
Honeymoon (with Howard Roughan)
Sam’s Letters to Jennifer
The Lake House
The Jester (with Andrew Gross)
The Beach House (with Peter de Jonge)
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
Cradle and All
When the Wind Blows
Miracle on the 17th Green (with Peter de Jonge)
Hide & Seek
The Midnight Club
Black Friday (originally published as Black Market)
See How They Run (originally published as The Jericho Commandment)
Season of the Machete
The Thomas Berryman Number
For previews of upcoming books and more information about James Patterson, please visit JamesPatterson.com or find him on Facebook or at your app store.
Acclaim For
THE POSTCARD KILLERS
“A GREAT CRIME FICTION NOVEL… SOLID, FAST-PACED, WITH SOME SMART TWISTS AND TURNS, AND QUITE SUSPENSEFUL… Two quite different writing styles, two very different backgrounds… and it moves at a blistering pace.”
—ScandinavianBooks.com
“THE STORY WAS BEYOND FAST-PACED. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN. The killers were despicable and their fate was kept unpredictable.”
—BookRevues.blogspot.com
“THIS NOVEL IS A FAST-MOVING AND COMPELLING READ MARKED BY SHORT CHAPTERS, WHICH KEEP THE READER’S INTEREST.”
—Suite101.com
“I LIKED DESSIE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING… THE CLIMAX WAS PERFECT. AND THE EPILOGUE WAS SWEET… ANOTHER PERFECT JAMES PATTERSON NOVEL. No unneeded details or descriptions, vivid descriptions bring mental pictures to mind that make you shudder, characters that are complicated with simple words, and short chapters make this a quick, but very enjoyable, read. Highly recommended!”
—BookaholicsReview.wordpress.com
“THIS IS AN EXCITING AND ABSORBING MYSTERY THRILLER. Both the exotic European locations and the references to art works and theories add to the satisfying plot… ANOTHER PATTERSON WINNER!”
—RoadtripAmerica.com
“A GRIPPING AND QUICK READ.”
—Eurocrime.co.uk
“KEPT ME TOTALLY ENGAGED AND READING MUCH LONGER THAN I SHOULD HAVE—being later to work than I originally planned. Although this is not a ‘short’ book, it is a quick, easy read.”
—TheFriendlyBookNook.com
RAVES FOR JAMES PATTERSON
“PATTERSON KNOWS WHERE OUR DEEPEST FEARS ARE BURIED… THERE’S NO STOPPING HIS IMAGINATION.”
—New York Times Book Review
“THE MAN IS A MASTER OF HIS GENRE. We fans all have one wish for him: Write even faster.”
—Larry King, USA Today
“WHEN IT COMES TO CONSTRUCTING A HARROWING PLOT, AUTHOR JAMES PATTERSON CAN TURN A SCREW ALL RIGHT.”
—New York Daily News
“JAMES PATTERSON KNOWS HOW TO SELL THRILLS AND SUSPENSE IN CLEAR, UNWAVERING PROSE.”
—People
“PATTERSON HAS MASTERED THE ART OF WRITING PAGE-TURNING BESTSELLERS.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“JAMES PATTERSON WRITES HIS THRILLERS AS IF HE WERE BUILDING ROLLER COASTERS. He grounds the stories with a bare-bones plot, then builds them over the top and tries to throw readers for a loop a few times along the way.”
—Associated Press
“A MUST-READ AUTHOR… A MASTER OF THE CRAFT.”
—Providence Sunday Journal
“THE PAGE-TURNINGEST AUTHOR IN THE GAME RIGHT NOW.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“JAMES PATTERSON ALWAYS DELIVERS A FASCINATING, ACTION-PACKED THRILLER.”
—Midwest Book Review
“ONE OF THE BESTSELLING WRITERS IN HISTORY.”
—New York Sun
“PATTERSON IS A MASTER.”
—Toronto Globe and Mail
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Grand Central Publishing Edition
Copyright © 2010 by James Patterson
Excerpt from Kill Me If You Can Copyright © 2011 by James Patterson
Excerpt from Witch & Wizard: The Fire Copyright © 2011 by James Patterson
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
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Second eBook Edition: July 2011
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-316-12771-4