The Coldest Heart is the 2019 sequel to the magical dark fantasy novel "The Fallen Arises, and the second part of the A Dance In Fire trilogy.
The story picks up where its predecessor left off, with Dorothy Entwistle being held hostage by the malevolent Black Order, the White Order mourning the loss of their allies, and the insidious Mortira Greystoke lurking in the shadows.
The Coldest Heart contains examples of:
- Affably Evil: Syrenna may be an evil, murderous Black Witch, but she is seen to be polite, calm and rarely raises her voice.
- Back from the Dead: Syrenna. Resurrected by her granddaughter Dorothy at the end of the first book.
- Badass Boast: Mortira gives a terrific one when challenged by Karliah Hemlock"You know nothing of death, child. I have killed more people than the Black Plague. The decay and rot of cancer is a winter cold in the shadow of my rage. Lakes of blood stain my name."
- Badass Family: The Blackthorns. Syrenna is a grandmother who is specifically noted as being able to wipe out armies by herself. Her daughter Amaya is no slouch either, fending off at least six mages alone in the climactic battle.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Both played straight and averted. Played straight by Lacrima — a centuries-old vampire — who suffers several injuries that would cripple or at the very least disfigure normal people and is shown later to be completely flawless as usual. Averted by Syrenna, who having come back from the dead appears with milky white eyes and blackened veins that give her the appearance of being made of cracked glass.
- Bullying a Dragon: Ephraim openly mocks and snarks at Ophelia Sandholme, a millenia old vampire who is first seen butchering a demon with her bare hands.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: One poor girl during the final battle is melted into the floor by Vermillia, but the cruelty is taken further when Vermillia takes hold of the girl's skin and promptly pulls the entire front half of her body off.
- The Dreaded: Syrenna. Noted by several characters to be ruthless, murderous and devoid of pity and love, she is feared by almost all that cross her path.
- Mortira is also considered this, as the mere rumor that she is walking the earth again makes Syrenna herself utterly terrified.
- Exact Words: When a witch hunter breaks into the cabin where Syrenna and her people are hiding, Dorothy asks Syrenna not to kill him, and Syrenna agrees. She then has Leyton kill the man instead, and points out to Dorothy that she actually did keep her word by not killing him.
- Fake Defector: Shyra is revealed at the end of the novel to have not been a true member of the Black Order, but joined to get close enough to Syrenna to kill her.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The budding romance between Ephraim Lake and Kyra Shakespeare, Kyra is specifically noted to be a full foot shorter than him.
- Hunter of Monsters: Ephraim Lake, a vampire and witch hunter who shed 'lakes of blood' before he disappeared.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": When Valletta shoots Dorothy, Nero — who has a huge one on his own face — sees that all of the fighting has stopped, everyone in the building is shocked to the core by Valletta killing an innocent and terrified of what Syrenna will in retaliation
- Mook Horror Show: When several mages come looking for Vermillia during the battle sequence, she dims the lights and proceeds to dispatch them all one by one, in varying gruesome ways. The last one is terrified by the time she turns her attention to them.
- "Not So Different" Remark: During the peace summit, Dorothy points out that Vermillia and Anastasia despise one another so much because they both share similar personality traits and see themselves in one another.
- Oh, Crap!: When Nero hears a gunshot ring out and discovers Valletta shot Dorothy, this is his reaction due to knowing what Syrenna would do if she caught Valletta.
- Peace Conference: Following the battle of Ravenstone, the two Orders convene for a summit that is noted to be the first in their histories.
- Secret Legacy: Syrenna reveals that the incredibly powerful White Witch Artemisia Torrance was actually her sister.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: Dorothy being shot dead by Valletta Mirrormoore moments after discovering Syrenna and Xia were her biological mother and grandmother.
