ILONA ANDREWS

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A small snippet

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So things have been pretty terrible lately.  Here is a little snippet from Gordon and me to help you think of something else.

Chapter 1

God was dead.

No, that wasn’t quite it.  He was dead.

No, that wasn’t it either.

Voices tugged on him, refusing to let him sink back into the numbing darkness.

“Hugh?”

He was laying on something hard and wet. The stench of sour, alcohol-saturated vomit hit his nose.

He was drunk.  Yes, that was it.  He was drunk and getting more sober by the moment, which meant he had to find something to drink or pass out again before the void where God used to be swallowed him whole.

Cold liquid drenched him.

“Get up.” A familiar male voice, but the identity of the speaker lay deep inside his memory, and to reach for it, he would have to think.  Thinking brought the void closer.

“This is pointless.”  Another voice he knew and decided to not remember.  “Look at him.”

“Get up,” the first voice insisted, calm, deliberate.  “Landon is winning.  He’s killing us one by one.”

Something stirred in him.  Something suspiciously resembling loyalty and obligation and hate.  He tried to sink deeper into the stupor. God didn’t want him anymore, but the darkness was happy to take him in.

“He doesn’t care,” the second voice said.  “Don’t you get it?  He’s lost.  He might as well be dead and rotting for all good he would do us.”

“Get the fuck off this floor!”

Sharp pain punched his skull.  Someone kicked him.  He briefly considered doing something about it, but that way lay reality.  Staying on the floor was the better option.

“Hit him again, and I’ll split you sideways.”  Third voice.  Cold.  He knew this one too.  That one rarely spoke.

“Think.”  The fourth voice.  Collected, reasonable, dripping with contempt.  “Right now he’s drunk. Eventually he’ll be sober. If you kick him in the head, you’ll injure his brain. What good is he then? We already have one brain-damaged imbecile.  We don’t need another.”

One… two… three… The count surfaced from the muddled depths of his min.  He used to count just like this to see how long the insult would take to burrow through the hard shell that was Bale’s brain.

Four…

“I’ll fucking kill you, Lamar!”

“Shut up,” the first voice said.

Yes.  All of them needed to shut up and leave him the hell alone.

“Get up, Hugh.”

Stoyan, his memory supplied. Figured.  Stoyan was always a persistent sonovabitch.

“We need you,” Stoyan insisted.  “The Dogs need you.  Landon is killing us.  We’re being purged.”

Eventually they would go away.

“He doesn’t give a fuck,” Bale said.

“Bring me the bag,” Stoyan said.

Something landed next to him.

“It’s not gonna matter.  He’s all fucked up.  He’s laying here in his own piss and vomit.  You heard that dickhead at the door.  He’s been in this shithole for weeks.”

Hugh heard the zipper.  Something was put in front of him.  He smelled the stench of rotting blood and decomp.

“Even if he sobers up, he’ll crawl right back into the bottle and get shit-faced.”

Hugh opened his eyes.  The severed head stared back at him, the brown irises dulled by the milky patina.

Rene.

“He can’t even stand anymore.  What are we going to do, tie him to a stick and prop him up?”

The world turned red.

“To hell with this.” Bale leaned back, readying for a kick.

Rage drove him up before Bale’s foot connected to the severed head.  He locked his hand around Bale’s throat, jerked him off his feet, and slammed him down onto the nearest table.  Bale’s back hit the wood with a loud thud.

“Halleluiah,” Lamar said.

Bale clawed at his arm, the muscle on his thick biceps bulging.  Hugh squeezed.

Felix loomed on his right, reaching for him.  Hugh hammered a cross punch into nose with his left hand.  Cartilage crunched. The big man stumbled back.

Bale’s face turned purple, his eyes glistening.  His feet drummed the air.

Stoyan locked his arms on Hugh’s right biceps and went limp, adding his dead weight to the arm.  Felix lunged from the left and locked himself onto Hugh’s arm, trying to force an arm bar.

The world was still red, and he kept squeezing.

Water drenched him in a cold cascade, washing away the red haze. He shook himself, growling, and saw Lamar’s face.

“Welcome back,” Lamar said.  “Let go of the man, Preceptor. If you kill him, there will be nobody to lead your vanguard.”

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Comments

  6. Holy Hannah.

    You’re gonna do a Hugh story. Wow!

    Enjoy the well earned vacation. This is amazing.

  7. Wow. I already can’t wait for more. Seriously good stuff. Now go back to enjoying your vacation!

  13. Oooh yes! Hope doing nothing is working for you. But it’s good to see you’re still dropping bits of creativity into our world. Thank You.

    Aziz Asari hosting SNL. Cracks me up!

  15. Half a world away from Texas but also pretty horrible week. Possibly one of the worst I’ve ever had…

    Thank you!

  19. Hooooooo-eeeee!!! Holy schnippet!
    Thank you and yay for Hugh’s story, especially while you’re on holiday xo

  20. Mwuahahaha! Yes!! The man we love to hate, hate to love and all the combinations there of is back!!!

  21. WOW you two are brilliant! I can’t say I feel sorry for him or think he doesn’t deserve this since this is Hugh and all… but I think most people can relate to how he is feeling right now. I certainly can. Seeing where you take him and how you get him there is going to be an interesting journey. I’m intrigued… although I might wait to see what others think before I auto buy it, because again I really really hate Hugh. 😉

  23. Thank you so much! I can’t begin to tell you how this lifted me up today:) So good and so many burning questions, love it!

  25. To someone who has been a soldier this makes utter sense. We love our country, but we bleed for our brothers and sisters in arms. If the powers that be turn against our brethren, we will become like rabid dogs.

  26. Holy crap!! You ARE really doing this! I wasn’t sure you’d find the time with everything else, but don’t forget the time off you promised yourself, kk?

    Hugh… well, turning him into someone we can sympathize with is going to be a significantly harder sell than recruiting Arcann to the good goes in swtor! But if anyone can pull it off, it’ll be the two of you! =)

    I’ve been messing with screenshot editing using Photos in Windows and with good results, but I like what I’ve seen one of my Twitter friends do with her screenshots using the Photoshop plan I asked you about there, so I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t know that I’ll be doing art from scratch like you, but if I can get good enough to do decent edits, it’s a start!

  27. YAAYYYYY!! I’m excited to see Hugh’s story. Thank y’all so much for the snippet! Now enjoy yalls time off!

  28. I don’t hate Hugh. Hugh is someone who has been magically mind-f*cked for tens of decades and has suddenly had the rug of his existence pulled out from under him. The “God” he worshipped no longer wants him, so now what? In his mind, his entire existence is suddenly meaningless (sounds a bit like a teenager suddenly deprived of the ir latest love, doesn’t it? Only more extreme.). And yet, there is still some small seed within him just that won’t let him end himself. Maybe its loyalty to his “Dogs” (or theirs to him), maybe its a need to repay his former “God” for the injustice that has been dealt him, or maybe its something else. But THERE is the story, and THAT is why I can’t hate Hugh.

    • Regarding the snippet: I honestly don’t know if he can be redeemed. His people killed Aunt B. He killed Mauro. 🙁 Normally if you’re going for a love story the reader has to be able to love the character and wish for him and the heroine a happy ending. I don’t know if I could do that, but if you’re going for a story of redemption through rebellion against his former God, I’m definitely up for the ride 😀
      Then again, everything you guys write is gold, so I can’t wait to get my greedy hands on this book.
      I also want to see if he’s truly the “wrecking ball” that Kate described him as, or if it was purely a product of his upbringing. I you take away the “God” figure that has been taking “responsibility” for all his bad deeds (since they were Roland’s orders), does he feel remorse? Does he develop a conscience? Was being a sociopathic killer his true nature after all? Or, like Kate, once away from the influence of his “Father” will he reflect on what he has done?
      This is VERY INTRIGUING 😀 😀 😀

  40. Thanks!

    This makes me remember how much I hated Spike from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and how that character became so complex and was redeemed.

    I never imagined a Hugh novel or story… looking forward to reading it.

    I hope you have a lovely break, though, and get your energy back. : )

  42. Ok, you’ve sold me. Wasn’t sure I wanted a Hugh book, or for him to be redeemed, because he’s was so much fun to have in a book as an utter asshole. But, damn.

  44. omg, omg, omg!!!! I can’t even put into words all the thoughts running through my head, it’s too exciting!!!

  45. Oh my. Just when we thought we had problems … it’s astounding how you can make us so sympathetic to Hugh with just a few well-chosen words. And it’s good to see that Stoyan made it safely out of Atlanta to meet up with his brothers-in-arms.

    Thank you for the snippet. I hope you are enjoying your time off.

  47. You should already know the extent of your power over us, but this is a new level. Reading this and descending into this world of Hugh, ahhhh….it brings sorely needed solace.

    Thank you.

  48. OMG it’s real. Honestly I never thought this books was a real thing. Like others, I don’t see how Hugh can be redeemed in anyway. Which means I’m dying to know how he can be. Clearly there is a way. Just wow.

  49. I honestly was surprised. In a good way. I thought that you would bring up Hugh on some point, like when Kate would need help or something.
    I can’t really explain it, but I always thought he and Kate would team up in some sort of way. Platonically of course. For me Hugh was always a very fascinating character. In someways he was like Kate or as mantioned in the books: he is what she could have been (don’t recall it quite right). Despite what he had done, I always hoped he would be good in the end. Maybe I just wanted a happy ending for him. Always felt sympathy for him 🙂

    Love the series!

    • Huh. Honestly, I still kind of wonder if that’s where this is going? I mean, Hugh has been purged, his people are being purged, indications are he is going to have his whole own arc about getting his shit together…

      …but in a larger universe sense, making an alliance with Kate seems, well, mutually kind of likely if they’re geographically close and both having Roland problems. A bitter pill for both of them to swallow, but part of him getting his shit together, and part of Kate learning how to be a grown up in the kind of power playing at the level she needs to to survive this bit with her father (I mean, look at what she did with Ghastek and his crew? She’s kind of in a building alliance / consolidating power mode, I suspect, particularly under her aunt’s tutelage.)

      It also kind of leaves a lot of room for a certain kind of dark hilarity. I mean, just think about the folks we know about now. Any councils of war are going to be *awesome*.

      (Of course, I might be totally off about sequence, and maybe Kate and Curran have bailed on city ruling and are off raising a family while Hugh has to slog his way through his own redemption arc.)

      • Well, since I haven´t read Magic Blinds untill now, I only understand half of what you meant 😀 I am in the middle of my thesis and have another three weeks to go 🙁
        It was just me wishing for things (Hugh getting along with Kate) 😀 I try to get back on your comment when I am done with the book 😛

  54. Thank you so much for taking time off from your much needed & well deserved rest and share this with us.

  55. I am intrigued, sounds like an interesting story to come. Your snippets always makes me feel happier and today that was most welcome.

  59. Authorlords – thank you for your blessing. There was me thinking you’d both be chiling for a few weeks – nope. You’re off writing about Hugh. Wowsers. I’m so interested in this man.
    Like Klio said about, I thought at some point he’d come over to Kate’s side to join her. His own story will be so much more interesting to read.
    Ooh, will he have a love interest? Asking for a friend.

  60. This and the previous Hugh snippet are both powerful, even arresting. The words grab you up and hold you. The story is very dark, but it needs to be. Wow.

  63. That was great. Thank you. I always wonder what happened to him and when he will be back to cause trouble.

  66. Thank you for this snippet. I much prefer having my mind in your world than in reality. Hugh’s story will be an interesting one, I have no doubt. I look forward to it.

  69. I have such mixed feelings about this one! I’ve loved everything you two have written and I know I’ll love this one too.
    I’m just not sure how much I want to love Hugh. I’m so curious to see how his story works out.

  70. Yay! The man we love to hate!!! I so needed this today, so thank you Author Lords!

    Quick question… Can someone tell/remind me who Rene was? I really don’t remember this character.

  71. Sweet!!
    This is going to be even BETTER than when Stephen King made the sequel to IT!!
    It was soooo cool when Pennywise realized that what he really needed was LOVE and started making balloon animals at children’s birthday parties!!
    I can’t wait to see YOUR perfect bad guy making balloon animals…
    It should be ALMOST as good as when Darth Vader became a good guy.
    That was a great moment in the canon as well.
    Will Hugh get midichlorians also??
    HOW WON’T THIS MAKE THE SERIES BETTER??!!
    I. AM. SO. READY. TO. SEE. THIS.
    …so anyway, that post happened…
    My wife said not to post this because I’m sick and “hopped up on cough drops”.

    But, I thought at least ONE person should say, ” this is a bad idea”.
    All that said though, I guess it’s like when Samuel L. Jackson said of Lucas about Episode 1,”It’s his and he can do whatever he wants with it”.
    Maybe he should have also had at least one person say,”Sir, are you SURE you have thought this through?”

    Thanks
    Ryan

  73. This was fun. I see Hugh getting with the white warlock mentioned just before Kate’s wedding as strong enough to hold power. I would never trust Hugh as far as I could throw him. He certainly would be happy for a bit or revenge. I can see all sorts of ways to use Hugh and his Dogs. Cannon fodder. I wonder about the timeline of Kate’s war with her father. Where does the baby fit in. This was a joy to read in a very sad, discouraging time. Thank you for thinking of us. Rest and get better

  74. Say, aren’t you folks supposed to be doing a whole lot of nothing? And here you are doing teasers, lectures, and signings…

    Oh boy. I so found Hugh to be a completely reprehensible rat bastard that I am scared you might make him likable, even a little bit. That man deserves to be made to look at his life and realize what schmuck he has been.

    Anyway, thanks for posting and hope you and family are getting some quality time together.

  75. Thank you guys so much! I hope you get the break you need and that you’re feeling capable of disengaging if you need to (I had a period of no internet availability over Christmas and it really did help not to be constantly bombarded with the awfulness).

    Your work is amazing and I look forward to seeing how you pull this off 🙂

  76. Well, that was unexpected. Hugh? Almost feel sorry for him, but we’ll see what comes forth! Enjoy your days of nothing!

  77. oooh, I’m torn. a book! a book by you! of hugh! but, I so enjoy hating him. is he going to get his horse back?

    • He better not get the horse back! Kate EARNED that horse — well technically Curran grabbed the horse but…. anyway no horsie for Hugh.

      • Lol! I agree, finders keepers. Although, except for Kate riding him in the battle with Roland, they never used him for anything after Julie got a new horse. But, I have to wonder where the horse went after Kate was knocked off of him in the battle. He disappeared. Did Hugh get him somehow?

    • while I was digging for the first hugh snippet, I basically read all of them, and one was julie coming in the house and demanding a new horse because hugh’s monster war horse was NOT working. so, the horse moved out of the keep with kate and curran.

  79. Oh yea, two celebrations today. A snippet and whatever crud I’ve been fighting off the last month is gone. Actually had some energy today and accomplished some things. Hope you are doing relaxing stuff in between catching up on life stuff and enjoying date nights and naps too.

    You probably heard by now, Mike Briggs passed away this week; so very sad and such a shock. I met him last fall while he visited with people waiting in line to meet Patricia. He wrote some very entertaining pieces for the website and had a great sense of humor. I always have a hard time when good and decent people die at a young age and wonder why it couldn’t be a scum-sucking bottom feeder instead. I know God has a plan, doesn’t mean I have to like it though.

    • OMG! Mike Briggs has passed away??!! So sorrowful to hear that. I completely related to his blogs and articles. I’m a techie vicariously living on the fringe in the worlds of artistry and creativity. Mortality is so fleeting and it’s waning seems to fly ever faster as the years get older.

      Ilona and Gordon, please enjoy some true downtime during this “nothing” gap…

    • WHAT!? Holy @$%&! Not fair. My heart goes out to Patricia, family, and friends. Not fair. He seemed such a kind and caring soul from his posts. oh. just. oh…

    • Mike was a really neat person to converse with. A friend and I went on a group camping trip with Patty, Mike and Ann in 2015. There was some really fun and interesting discussions.

      I will really miss his life and experience posts on the blog.

  82. Honestly, I’m still not sure how I feel about this. Not every villain needs to be redeemed. But then, Hugh never considered himself a villain, did he? Hmmmm.

    • I was reluctant at first about a story centered around Hugh, but then it occurred to me that if I could like Dexter (serial killer one, not the cartoon one) then I’d probably come to like Hugh, too.

      Who am I kidding? I’m going into it hating him, but I’m sure by the time the Authorlords are done with me, I’ll be addicted to the book and asking how long until the next one comes out. Damn enablers.

  84. Dang, Rene just can’t catch a break. I am really looking forward to the rehabilitation of Hugh – just to see if you can pull it off! 🙂

  86. Oh my AUTHORLORDS!!!
    I hate you because I want to hate Hugh, but I think I’ve already started to like him too. Somehow. Somewhere along the way.
    And I can’t imagine the way you can realistically make it – from my loathing to something resembling liking him. But it’s your job, after all. Good luck. *laugh*

  87. I think Hugh is awesome. And Evil (at least he was) but also, kinda awesome.
    He was such a sexy bad guy I wanted him to reform.
    I don’t think I’m alone.
    I think, him turning on Roland and joining forces on with Kate and Curran, despite how much they hate him, for the people they love that he killed, and how much Curran must despise the fact that when Kate thought he might be cheating on her, there was that little bit of sexual tension between Hugh and kate that existed (at least in my mind) at one point, wow. I love the idea of Curran and Kate going up against Roland, and needing Hugh and his crew of bad guys, Hugh and Curran wanting to kill each other every 5 minutes….it would be delicious. I don’t know where you are going with this, but I trust you every step of the way, whether it is the direction I just imagined or something completely different, but I can’t wait to see where it ends up.

  89. WARLORD’S PRICE!!!!

    Yes, I’m shouting with joy. I wasn’t even going to check the site since I figured you’d be chilling for awhile, but then you surprise us with this. Thank you!

  93. Im actually really excited about this. Like really really excited. I’ve always like Hugh as a character. I know I’m supposed to hate him but I think the incredible duo knownot as Ilona Andrews have made him so dynamic. He’s just a victim of circumstance. Everything from his obsession of Kate, his love of Roland and his absolute ruthlessness.

    Kate said that if she had met Roland as he is now after Voron died she would lapped it up. She would’ve been just like Hugh. She had the fortune of having Greg though. She actually knew what unconditional love felt like. Hugh never got that.

    AHH. I’m so excited. I’m gonna freak out!

    THANKS ILONA!!!

  96. I don’t mind trying to humanize villains. Very few evil villains woith no redeemable qualities. Because that’s real life. (They do exist though…..I read the child abuse news if I want to remind myself how lucky me and my kids are). I’ll totally buy this book!

    Thanks for the snippet…..I NEVER pay attention to politics. The last time was 8 years ago when i voted for obama…..I’m sorry to say I scan article headlines more because…I didn’t think “he” could scare me, but he actually does a little seeing what he’s like just a few days into office….

  99. Woohoo!!!! I’m sooo hyped with this snippet. Despite Hugh being one of Kate’s adversaries, I’m still happy that we get to see what happened to him after Roland discarded him.

    Thank you for this! Can’t wait for the release of the new book!

  102. Yay! One of my fav characters. I wonder if you’re going to give him long flowing locks like you threatened to. A mane of cascading hair.

  103. Hi.
    Too much real in real life, lately.
    Thanks for the smile and I loved the fact that Hugh may be a some-what bad guy with a change of attitude.

  109. Fantastic! And the present can’t last forever. Eventually it will be 2022. Hopefully we’ll all still be alive.

  111. Wow, wow, wow! Love the snippet, but I wonder what this is a snippet from? The Kate Daniels books have been written exclusively from Kate’s pov so far and if she’s not there then we don’t get to see what happened… Could we be getting a Hugh story?

    • They’ve been talking for quite awhile about doing a Hugh spin off. It’s actually on one of their book writing schedules on the website.

    • Agree, JoAnn. The way the last book was written, Kate was coming to terms with the things she admired about D’Ambray, and the implication that she cared what happened to him after her dad threw him out, if he was still dangerous, and if he was okay. Also implies he was neither dead or finished with Kate.
      Illona, Gordon, Barb and JoAnn, I’m glad to see this snip of foreshadowing.

  113. Thank you to you both!! This was an amazing surprise and very much needed after this past week. I hope you continue to enjoy your free time. <3

  114. Ahhhh…. thank you. That was like a long, refreshing drink for the senses. I have been reading other authors to fill in the time till we get more Ilona Andrew titles. (Plus to get away from all the political news.) And frankly, nothing quite matches your pace and detail. I didn’t realise how much I needed that read till I read it.

  118. Life goes in cycles and so does this world. I stopped reading + watching News + Current Events when the Recession hit – sometimes you just have to take a step back for your own sanity. Every now and then I pop my head up from my ‘escape novels’ but the anger + disappointment rear their ugly heads again. So, I just try to be the best person I can be. I try to be kind. Your books make my life so much happier. Thank you both Ilona and Gordon and thank you to everyone who comments. I love this community ? I’m looking forward to loving(!) Hugh too (my dad + youngest son’s name ?).

  124. At first I thought this was a snippet from White Hot. I was very confused, and had to re-read it. So excited for Hugh’s story!

  125. …it is real…it’s aliiiiiiiiive O.o
    YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!! WohoooOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!! 😀

    Thank you so much! 🙂

  128. My life has gone from good to bad to puzzling. I could use Hugh book. After all he’s lost his God and has to continue on. Thanks you for this.

  131. Yay! Squeeeeee! We have Hugh’s book to look forward to!
    I’m so glad you guys decided to write this, even though it all started as an prank.
    Hugh’s done terrible things but he’s also a interesting character.
    I’m pretty sure we’ll all still despise him, but maybe he can redeem himself…. Maybe just a little?

  133. Warlord’s Price, this is the best kind of April’s Fool prank turned into reality. Though I had a lot of reservation about the possibility for redemption for such a person, but Hugh really met the wrong person as a child. With all that healing potential, he could as easily have been the miracle man. Please let him find a heart.

    Thanks for the snippet. You guys are the best!

  135. *wordless screaming of delight*

    THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!

  138. Oh boy can I relate to that face down on the floor experience. Now I can sit on the edge of the mattress and start chanting “Put your boots on, put your boots on, put your boots on” and go to work.

  139. Thank you, but don’t forget to rest up. We need you guys focused when the vacation is over, so please don’t feel like you can’t have “do nothing” time.

  140. Thank you. Very grateful to hear from you and appreciate your work, even more so now. Blessings on you both.

  141. Thanks for the snippet, looking forward to this book. 🙂

    Now can we talk about the connection between Hugh and Rene ? Rene as in Book 3 Rene ?
    She’s dead ? Oo
    If I remember correctly they new each other as children, right ? (I think you wrote something about this in a former snippet….)
    And she’s dead ? I liked that carracter, she sounded cool and badass… Oh, well I trust you anyway, there’s no way this book could disappoint me. Hehehe 🙂

    • If this is the same Rene,* I’m officially sad. She was badass.

      * Naming conventions usually being strict, but maybe there’s a reason?

        • I’m aware of Hugh’s connection. I’m (and I suspect others are) just citing the One Steve Limit – which might not reflect real life at all, but is super convenient short hand. Especially since Rene isn’t the most common name? But hey.

          (I suppose the real life counter-equivalent of the One Steve Limit is Project Steve which basically states that for how ever many scientists you can find who say they doubt evolution you will find way more scientists just named Steve* who totally support it, even though only. In life, there is no One Steve Limit.)

          * Stephanies, Stephans, Etiennes and a bunch of others all count – Science is international, and we’re really trying on gender! (Mind you, once you cross language families… still, there is room.)

          • …even though only around one percent of scientists are named Steve.

            (My brain was so fried, and only kind of knew it.)

        • Thanks for the link I somehow missed that snippet! this is great, while it’s probably the Hugh book wouldn’t it be terrific if it was setting the scene so that Hugh will fight with Kate when it comes to a final showdown with her dad.

  143. Thank you for thinking of us! Delighted this story is happening, such a fun back story and an Internet Award for character redemption. I just love your work ❤

  144. I thought Rene was Red Guard.
    Have we met Stoyon before? Can’t wait to read this.
    Seems almost disloyal to Kate & Curran to feel badly for Hugh… but I do.

    • Different Rene. Rene was his friend in the childhood snippet, when Roland recruited him. Stoyan is the guy Kate pulled off the cross. Julie told Kate that Roland was purging the cohorts, and Landon Nez (top necromancer) was hunting them down. Landon is the guy that picked Kate up and asked her about the sword, then freaked when she told him Grandma gave her a new one. I loved that line, and his reaction.

  148. This book is going to be putting my thoughts of hating Hugh topsey-turvey isn’t it? I am excited how this will all work out.

    Now go have some fun and relax.

  149. Thank you! That was a lovely sensory piece, distraction of placing everyone into their slots amidst the action thoroughly distracting me from the *everything* I’m stuck in (waaaay more than simply the election and the world falling to pot). Thank you. That *was* nice (and don’tcha know, standing up is the new Minnesota Nice [you’ve been here, you know what I mean]). Much love, you guys!

  150. Ohhh Kate, It seems that the vision you saw might come true with a different outcome that both of you though originally.

  151. Wow! This was timed so perfectly. Today I have been stressing about what is ahead of us and not only was this fun to read but the action in it actually released some steam in me. Thanks!

  152. Yyyyaaaassssss!! Can’t wait to see the woman who puts Hugh’s ass in order… When is this coming out??

    But seriously, looking forward to Hugh’s redemption story like nobody’s business… Here’s a guy who did unspeakable things because of his conviction and his God. So what happens when those are taken away, and he wakes up to the reality of everything he’s done in the name of his misguided faith? Game on, Authorlords!

  156. So you are really going to do it. You are writing Hugh’s book. Bet you would have never imagined writing this one 5 years ago. If anyone can pull it off it is you two. Looking forward to it.

  157. After reading this snippet and making a comment last night and reading the newer comments tonight, besides saying thank you like everyone else, Hugh made a huge mistake in almost killing Kate in Mishmar. As Curran said Roland got scared when he felt weaker because Kate was slowly dying. Oh to be listening in on that conversation between Roland, Hugh, and possibly Landon Nez.

    Can’t wait to read more! Now……take it easy.

  160. …and the authorlords are back, praise be. This snippet really tickled me. I went back and reread the “Warlord’s Price” and Yeah, no posts, and started cackling all over again. Sending you good thoughts so you may enjoy writing this book as much as we will enjoy reading it.

  167. Your experience with OFS might suggest that posting lots of snippets turbocharges the official launch. Maybe you could try it again with Hugh’s story????

  169. Literally squee-d out loud when i saw this!!! Thank you 😀

    I know you guys are taking a well-deserved brake, but is this a tentative release year for this at all?

  170. Haha I was confused when I first saw an unnamed snippet, but once I realized it was about Hugh my jaw fell open and I started sweating (from excitement). AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I’m SO thrilled and absolutely cannot wait. Thank you for your effort Authorlords! Your books are seriously such a bright part of my life, just thinking about your worlds makes me happy. Please stay awesome and healthy <3

  174. Holy crap! Yay thank you I was really hoping you would write Hughs book since the day I saw that April fools cover, that cover is awesome by the way. Thank you! can’t wait to finally read it. ?

  175. Thought you two were taking a break! But I’m not complaining. Thanks for remembering us. Loved it!

  178. Thank you. It has been a terrible week, and this was very distracting and a nice respite. Now back to fighting.

  181. I’m sorry things have been terrible & hope they get better soon! Thank you for this snippet!!

    I was fired on Thursday, my last work day was Friday & I cleaned out my stuff yesterday. But … I’m not recovering from a massive hangover, I haven’t been kicked in the head & I didn’t open my eyes to see my best friend’s severed head on the floor in front of my face. My life is good!

    • Oh, that sucks, and good luck with dealing with the outcome!

      But awesome attitude!

      (When I was in tech, I remember a few times where I was working 70- or 80- hour weeks, and dealing with a lot of project fuckery, and I’d finally have a chance to call my favorite aunt, who at the time was a CSI*, and I’d be “Hey, how are things going, do you have a chance to talk?” And she’d be “Actually I do, and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to catch my breath, this week has been awful, I’ve had eleven execution style murders on my plate…” And all the sudden my eyes are as wide as saucers and I’m sitting there thinking OMG, I love my job, my job is awesome!. Points of comparison are great.)

      * this is back when no one knew what a CSI was. A couple of years later, suddenly everyone thought I had the coolest aunt in the world.

  182. This snippet had a real ‘wow’ factor in it.

    Disclaimer, as it were…

    I have worked with bad boys. Some were sad, used badness to cope, some just did what they had learned at home. Sometimes adult men who have done bad things learn to turn over a new leaf when they for the first time permit themselves to feel what a victim feels.

    I see more redemptive possibilities for Hugh, from what we have been given, by our authors, than for Adam Pierce in Burn for me.

    So many possibilities, our author lords showing human understanding mixed up with fictional tropes.

    This snippet…The deeply distressed somewhat but not completely self destructive Hugh.
    His colleagues, fellow Dogs, whatever, rousing him with the proof that his childhood friend, the closest thing he had ever had to a family , was dead. It’s a fictional trope, that one seeks revenge for the loss of a loved one. Who do we thing killed Rene, or had him killed?

    There is also a sadness in Hugh, he has human emotions.

    We have him telling Kate in Magic Rises about Voron’s death: … A somber remorse remained, mixed with a resignation born of old grief…

    Hugh carried on to tell her how he had not come, at that time, to kill Voron, thought Roland had wanted him dead. Hugh just wanted to know why the man he had seen as a father had abandoned him.
    Somehow it had taken Hugh 16 years to find Voron, though he found Kate fairly soon after she started to use her magic. Voron, who would know of Rolands orders, spared his foster son patricide. I don’t ship Kate and Hugh for BFF, but maybe he will somehow help her avoid being the one to do what Voron wanted, killing her own father. Maybe we will learn more about Voron in Hugh’s book.

  183. Wow. Thank you, Gordon and Ilona. That is an awesome snippet. (I don’t care if there should ever be a book to go with it or not, this snippet is wonderful as it stands.)

    Here’s hoping the remainder of this year is better than it has started off for many of us.

    • It’s available for pre-order here: http://subterraneanpress.com/the-innkeeper-chronicles-volume-one-by-ilona-andrews-preorder

      Limited: 750 signed numbered copies

      Lettered: 52 signed leatherbound copies, housed In a custom traycase

      If anyone wants a copy, particularly of the lettered edition, I would strongly recommend ordering it now before it sells out. SubPress editions usually only receive a single print run and can sometimes sell out very quickly. That’s why I ordered it as soon as I got the newsletter email earlier today. It could be sold out next week already.

      • Next week?! The leather bound sold out in less than a day!! I’m so bummed I missed out on it. The authorlords are mighty and the horde is hungry 😀

  186. It was an awesome snippet, but why does it have to be a stand alone Hugh book? My first thought was they are bringing Hugh back for the big finale; which ever side he stands with he is a great character redemption or not. We already know that Julie understands what has happened to Hugh, maybe she recruits him and his band of men?????
    Only time and the Author-lords will tell…

  187. Yep, and I just ordered 2 copies of the numbered trade edition, one for me, one for my daughter. They are going to go really really quickly. Wish I could spring for the lettered version but it’s a bit out of my range. The cover is gorgeous!

    Anne in Virginia

  188. ROFL. As usual author lords and never fail to entertain me!! Alternate term for P***y that popped in my mind as I was reading this? Squeeze box, as in Mama’s got a squeeze box (yeah, the music sort of popped up in my head too, LOL)…

    If I’m being polite in company talking about the female anatomy it would be “lady bits” or you know, My Down Under.. But for sexy I like something like the sex scenes found in Karen Chance and other writers- hers really do *sizzle* and yet, I don’t think she’s ever gotten vulgar about it.

    Grace Draven does the same. Usually it is- where the character isn’t really calling out the lady bits, but giving you the sensory over load,the sense of intimacy and the urgency and connection of the moment and describing the action. ….. For me I guess it is all about really, are you actually thinking enough to be coherent and say touch my X , Y or Z (insert term) when you are REALLY in the groove panting moaning and having your brain blown to bits on pleasure overload?

  189. Great Bit but it’s sad that Roland (or his people) killed of Rene, the kid that was saved the same time he ‘saved’ Hugh.

  190. For me the problem with, “saving,” a bad-guy character is that I never get totally involved with the character, and it suspends my acceptance of future bad guys.
    There is a fairly old Linda Howard book called, “Death Angel.” She matched up a kept woman and a contract killer. She did a pretty good job of it, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around a hero who murdered people for a living, and for me he remained a shallow person, although the heroine developed real depth and turned into a great character.
    That said, this was a great snippet, thank you.

  193. I heard the other day that Hugh’s book is a possibility. I dared not to hope. And now this. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We all love and hate Hugh and he’s great material for standalone. I love you guys.

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