Endgame

It's 1948, and World War II has just ended. Berlin is in pieces, torn apart by bullets, bombs, and bloodshed. But a particular scientist has survived - one with vital knowledge of an ancient weapon. When Endgame spies learn of the news, Boone, a Cahokian, and Ariadne, a Minoan, are each sent undercover to find the scientist amid the snowy rubble. But when their paths intertwine, the last thing they expect is to let their guards down and work together.

Several decades before the Players of Endgame meet at the Calling, an earlier generation of Players is learning the rules. Each has been chosen as the one to save their ancient bloodline - and win Endgame. But not everyone wants to see Endgame take place. One group in particular has other ideas. They call themselves the Zero Line, and this is their mission: Kill the Players. Stop Endgame. Prevent the end of the world.

Before they were Players... Before the Calling... They trained to be selected as the one to save their ancient bloodline - and win Endgame. In this collection of Training Diaries novellas, follow Marcus, Chiyoko, Sarah, Alice, Aisling, Baitsakhan, Jago, An, Shari, Kala, Maccabee, and Hilal through sacrifices and betrayals, broken hearts and broken bones, as they shed their normal lives and transform into the Players they were meant to be.

Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game that would determine our future. This is Endgame.

Endgame is here. Earth Key has been found. Two keys - and nine Players - remain. The keys must be found, and only one Player can win. Queens, New York. Aisling Kopp believes the unthinkable: that Endgame can be stopped. But before she can get home to regroup, she is approached by the CIA. They know about Endgame. And they have their own ideas about how it should be Played. Ideas that could change everything.

For Sarah, Jago, Aisling, Maccabee, Shari, An, and Hilal, Endgame has reached its final phase. The third key, Sun Key, is all that stands between one Player saving their line - or perishing along with the rest of the world. And only one can win.