The Kiss

This novel in the Witch & Wizard series follows siblings Wisty and Whit Allgood, a prophesied witch and wizard, as they struggle to govern a newly freed City while facing threats from a ruthless Mountain King, a manipulative politician, and a mysterious stranger whose romantic pull on Wisty conceals a devastating secret.

The story opens after the Allgoods' greatest triumph. The One Who Is The One, the former dictator of the Overworld (the realm encompassing the City and surrounding lands), is dead, and citizens celebrate their liberation. At a ceremony, General Matthias Bloom, a stern holdout against the fallen New Order regime, introduces a democratic Council of 34 members, including Wisty and Whit. Bloom presents himself as Keeper of The Book of Truths, a sacred text that prophesied the siblings' role in defeating The One. Amid the celebration, Whit spots a threatening figure who drags a finger across his throat before vanishing.

That night, Pearl Marie Neederman, a resourceful seven-year-old from the City's impoverished Gutter district, is kidnapped by hulking men who throw her and other children into trucks. Meanwhile, at an art gala, Wisty meets Heath, a strikingly handsome and apparently unaffiliated stranger with jet-black hair and intense blue eyes who immediately pursues her. She is drawn to him but wary. That same evening, Whit's magical holographic performance transforms into horrifying visions he cannot control, and he flees in distress.

The Council's first session exposes dysfunction. Bloom shuts down the siblings' proposals for schools and community spaces, citing bankruptcy. He reports the water supply from the western mountains has stopped, blaming the Mountain King, a ruler largely unknown to City dwellers. Separately, over 25 children have been reported kidnapped. Whit refuses Bloom's proposal to reinstate former New Order soldiers as police. The siblings recruit allies into a citizen patrol called the Over Watch, including Janine, a former Resistance leader and Whit's emerging love interest; their comrade Sasha; and Ross Lilienfield, Sasha's friend and a graffiti artist.

On the Mountain, Pearl endures brutal conditioning. Children are forced into endless running drills; those who stop are compelled to bang their heads against a wall. Pearl sees the King on a castle balcony: an old man in furs with a yellowing beard. Other captives tell her the King cut the City's water to lure the witch and wizard into a trap.

Bloom pushes through sanctions requiring all magic makers to register and refrain from using magic, framing Wisty's defiant protest as proof that unregulated magic is dangerous. The Allgoods' parents and Mrs. Highsmith, an elder witch, reveal an underground network of magicians who suspected Bloom's authoritarian aims. Meanwhile, Wisty's bond with Heath deepens. At a Resistance party, she feels his wizard power merge with hers, an intoxicating experience. Byron Swain, who harbors a crush on Wisty, discovers that Heath once led the New Order's Youth Brigade, a paramilitary organization. Heath explains that The One killed his father, leaving him no choice but to join the regime.

A kiss on Heath's porch causes Wisty's fire magic to spiral out of control, igniting the roof and sending her raging through the streets while terrified citizens watch. They agree afterward to channel their combined power into rescuing children. Unknown to Wisty, Whit and Byron overhear Heath speaking with a hooded figure whose "lord" demands he bring the siblings in chains.

Bloom declares war on the Mountain King, accusing magicians of collaborating with the enemy. Pearl's mother reveals Pearl is among the missing. Wisty must choose: accompany Whit to the Mountain or stay to protect their parents from Bloom's persecution. She stays. Whit accuses her of choosing Heath over family and departs with Janine, Sasha, and Ross. Their expedition battles shadow wolves, Mountain soldiers, and archers. Whit uses healing magic and shape-shifts into a grizzly bear to guide his friends through freezing rapids, but an arrow strikes Sasha. His power drained, Whit cannot save him. Sasha dies for the Resistance.

Meanwhile, Wisty and Heath use combined magic to locate and rescue more kidnapped children. On the Mountain, Pearl lunges at the King with a hidden blade, but he does not bleed; he compels her to thrust her hands into a fireplace. Whit's group discovers the children's conditioning camp. Izbella, the King's daughter, overrides a kill order and demands Whit prove his healing abilities. He heals the King's dying grandson, Njar. The Wizard King storms in, demonstrates his terrifying power, and orders the group thrown into the Vault, a cell inside the snow leopards' den. Pearl, now brainwashed, serves as their jailer, her hands horribly burned. Njar rescues them at the last moment. Izbella reveals Heath is her son and warns Whit to keep Wisty and Heath apart.

In the City, Byron leads Wisty to a ghetto Bloom constructed for magicians: barracks behind an electrified fence that incapacitates magic makers on contact. Heath admits he grew up on the Mountain and transports Wisty there through their combined magic. They arrive just as a snow leopard attacks Whit. Janine pushes Whit clear, but the cat seizes her. Wisty and Heath ignite the mountainside, driving back the army, while Whit heals Janine and saves her life.

Izbella confronts them, warning that a witch and wizard must never be together. Heath admits his father was The One Who Is The One. Staggered, Wisty rejects him. During their descent, the siblings reconcile, each admitting fault. Byron meets them with devastating news: Bloom deported all magicians to the ghetto. At the Council chamber, Bloom has purged youth representatives and formed an Inner Circle. He screens surveillance footage linking Heath to the kidnappings and showcasing Wisty's destructive power. As guards seize the siblings, Pearce, The One's teenage enforcer, whom the Allgoods believed dead, emerges. His power has been suppressing magic across the City. Bloom announces the magicians will be sacrificed on the front lines of war.

Bloom marches everyone to battle. Magicians stand chained at the front; Wisty is caged between the two armies. The Wizard King demands full surrender. Bloom kneels and offers The Book of Truths. The King brainwashes the assembled population through his hypnotic gaze. Whit realizes the King controls minds through eye contact and urges Wisty to counter with her own ability to influence minds. She struggles against the King and Izbella's combined psychic assault until Heath intervenes, freeing her. They direct combined power outward, snapping chains and waking citizens, but Wisty realizes Heath is redirecting the freed masses to attack the King. She tears her hand away.

Before her eyes, Heath transforms: Dark hair turns white-blond, turquoise eyes go flat and icy. "Heath" was Pearce all along, using shapeshifting magic to orchestrate the kidnappings, manipulate both the King and Bloom, and seduce Wisty to harness the combined power of a witch and wizard. Wisty attacks Pearce; he retaliates savagely. Whit joins her, and their united magic, pure and controlled, drives Pearce to his knees. He demands they kill him. Izbella rides forward, swearing to end the threats, restore the water, and free the children. Seeing something human in Pearce, the siblings choose mercy. Izbella carries Pearce into the forest, and the Mountain army retreats.

In the epilogue, Council meetings move to the open square, youth vote, leadership rotates, and every citizen receives The Book of Truths. Bloom is convicted and banished. Water flows again, and freed children, including Pearl, return home. Wisty, still feeling a phantom connection to Pearce, faces her fear of her own fire. Channeling hope and love rather than rage, she releases a massive fireball that settles over the City like a glittering second sun. Whit appears beside her, and together they walk to join their family.