Many thanks to all the generous Nigerian readers who donated their time and expertise to make sure I wasn’t just making up crazy nonsense.
The flight from Houston to Austin’s executive airport was short, less than half an hour in the air. It would take more time to get from the airport to the Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́’s compound in Costa Bella. Most days I’d rather just drive, but I needed to be back in time for Nevada’s big date with Garen Shaffer. I don’t know why she had to meet him. I could tell her how’d it would go, what his pitch would be.
“Oh, Nevada, you’re so pretty, and I’m so handsome, and rich, did I mention I was rich, sure you’re not yet, but I have enough for both of us. Let’s breed and make powerful, pretty progeny. Come with me Nevada, marry me and live a safe, comfortable and perfectly boring life.”
What he wouldn’t promise, what he couldn’t lie about, especially to her, was love. No, what Garen was really offering was business arrangement. More merger than marriage. One, that, as much as I hated to admit it, made sense. Nevada was Truthseeker Prime, stronger than Garen or anyone in his family. What he offered was the protection and the financial security that came with being a part of an established, respected house. What he was offering was worth millions, what he asked for in return was priceless. The most powerful Truthseeker of her generation, the legendary long-lost child of house Tremain. Or more specifically, her DNA. The potential children that their union would produce.
That wouldn’t be how he’d couch it, of course. He’d use terms like partnership, family and potential. Maybe he’d even mean it, but Shaffer and I both knew what he wanted, most of all, what his family’s wealth and reputation couldn’t buy was a guarantee of Prime offspring. Their talent was a rare one, and unless the House Shafer wanted to start marrying distant cousins, Garen had to find an equally powerful family or face the very real possibility of the house’s power waning with each new generation.
Of course, I didn’t tell her any of this. Why would I? She knew how I felt about it, but the decision had to be hers. What I wanted, maybe what she wanted, didn’t matter. In the end, the woman I love, who I thought loved me, would do what was best for her family and the future House Baylor. And I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
No, best to focus on what I came here for. On the ride over from the airport to the Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́ mansion, I thought of how to best approach the weather clan. Well respected, with a reputation for neutrality and fair dealing, House Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́ rarely, if ever, involved themselves in Prime politics. They’d come to Travis county decades ago during the worse drought in living memory. Lake Travis fell below five hundred feet, lower than ever in recorded history. Crops withered, fires raged, Spicewood burned. Finally, the Austin city council sent out a cry for help to anyone, be it scientist or sorcerer, who could break the drought. Week by week the lake grew smaller, and the reward grew larger and still unclaimed. Temperatures and tempers flared. Finally, when it seemed that it would never rain again, the Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́. Crowned by the Wind, in their native Yorùbá tongue, appeared and with them came the storm clouds. Before the squall, some laughed, some jeered, but as the tempest raged, adults danced like small children in the rain. The Weather mages were hailed as saviors and rewarded with ten acres on the lake they had rescued. As the area had prospered, so had the Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́. Down a private drive and behind a massive gate stood the nearly fourteen thousand square foot pure white limestone mansion the Clan called ” Ilé Mọ̀lẹ́bí.”
As I came up the steps, the heavy ornate door swung open. Táyọ̀ Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́ stepped out and pulled me into a bear hug. Which was a far cry from the first time I met the youngest son of House Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́. When I’d walked into the first class of my sixth grade, he’d emptied a trashcan over my head.
Táyọ̀ grinned. “Connor. Mom said you’d be coming by to talk to dad. The great war hero and tragic recluse graces our humble abode. It must be serious if you’ve broken your self-imposed exile.”
“Still king of the middle school putdowns, Táyọ̀?”
“Hardly, it’s Dr. Afefe to you, Private Rogan.”
“It’s Major, and since when do they give out Ph.D.s for standup comedy?”
“Climate Sciences, actually, and we were all proud of your service, Connor. Ah, I have missed you too. How are things in Houston?”
“Not great,” I told him,” I was hoping to talk to your dad into letting me borrow Ọmọ́tọ́lá for a while.”
“’Tọ́lá?” He looked surprised, “What do you want with my beautiful cousin? Because if you put her in danger, I will break every bone in your body. And I am not joking this time. It will middle school all over again. You’ll have to go back to the Ondo jungle to hide from me.”
Before I could reply, a deep voice boomed through the house. ” Arákùnrin, if you are quite finished with your foolishness, bring our guest to the study.”
Táyọ̀ manufactured a look of mock horror and pretended to cringe. “Yes, father.” He turned to me and stage-whispered, “Time to go.”
I followed my friend through the foyer and into a hallway on our left to a set of double glass doors. Táyọ̀ stopped before the doors, knocked twice, and waited.
A moment later the same sonorous voice commanded, “Enter.”
Táyọ̀ opened the door turned to me, mouthed “Good luck,” and ushered me inside. Once I’d entered, he closed the door behind me and stood outside.
Adépérò Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́ stood against the far wall of the room, in front of a massive marble fireplace. Above it sat a coat of arms: a black shield between two white chargers with a red eagle on top. The floor, the walls and built in book shelves, even the ceiling seemed to be of the same mahogany. Overstuffed leather chairs and a matching couch sat atop an exquisite Persian rug. An honest to God old fashioned English study. Maybe after we discussed my situation, we could have brandy and cigars while debating the current state of the British empire.
“House Rogan honors us with this visit,” he intoned formally, “How may we help you, Connor?”
Adépérò looked almost exactly same as he had the first time I’d met him when my father brought me here on family business, nearly twenty years ago: tall, lean, bald and clean shaven with dark skin stretched tight over high prominent cheekbones. The same thoughtful, penetrating gaze and unlike his son, stoic. I knew he was fifty-eight, but he could have passed for a fit man in his mid-forties. When he shook my hand, the grip was firm and the muscles on his arm rolled under the simple white, loose fitting shirt. According to Táyọ̀, his father was a lifelong practitioner of both Dambe and Lutte, traditional West African boxing and wrestling. I wondered for a moment if I could take him. Yeah, sure I could. Maybe, but beating up an old man in his home probably wasn’t the best way to get a favor from him. Best to charm him.
“Mr. Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́, you look well.”
“Thank you, Connor, as do you. Now, again, what can we do for House Rogan?”
Straight to business then.
“I came to ask a favor. Alexander Strum is planning to unleash a storm upon Houston and I’d like your family’s help to prevent it. Specifically, Omotola Ogidan. Of course, I would pay for her services and guarantee her safe return.”
Adépérò frowned. “Why would Strum do this? What could he hope to gain?”
“It’s a private matter between our houses.”
“Yes, we know the history of your houses well, Connor. We know how your fathers fought. The destruction, the loss of life on both sides. And here the two of you are, years later and you’ve learned nothing. What do they accomplish, these private little wars of yours? Why do you think my house would help you?”
“Because if you don’t, he’s going to conjure up a tornado so large that the death toll in Houston and the surrounding areas will be catastrophic. He thinks I have something I don’t, and he’s threating to level the city and blame me for it.”
“Apologies, Connor, but that makes no sense, I cannot believe that any house, even House Sturm, would destroy a city out of revenge. The council would hunt him down like a dog. He would be a fugitive, all hands turned against him. Besides, what you’re describing takes a tremendous amount of time and power. We don’t create, Connor, we coax, we direct or divert. The atmosphere isn’t an isolated environment. When one summons rain in one spot, somewhere there will be a drought in another. When his father attacked yours, he used an existing storm cell. He gave it a nudge and then guided the resulting tornado. There are no conditions conducive to tornado creation at the moment, which means that Sturm would have to manufacture it out of thin air, literally, risking consequences no one can predict. We, who adjust the weather, do not do this. It is unthinkable. Do you have any proof of this?”
“None,” I admitted. “He has threatened to do it and my gut tells me he will.”
“Your gut?”
I was losing this battle. “Could it be done? Could you do it?”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “I could. But I would never. We came here, strangers in this strange land, with nothing, but our power and our pride. We were welcomed, and we have thrived,” he waved a hand to indicate the fine home, “because we help people. We do not misuse or abuse our gift. We do business with the other houses, as we did with your father, but we do not, ever, engage in house politics or intrigue. For this we are left alone. This fight between you and Sturm is, as you’ve said, a private matter. If we do this for you, intercede directly on your behalf, we would no longer be viewed as neutral, we would be seen, and rightly so, as your ally, and your enemies would be ours. This I will not do.”
“I see. Thank you for your time.”
“Young man, you did not allow me to finish. Because I knew your father, and because my son speaks highly of you, we will give serious consideration to what you have said. We will make inquires and if it is necessary, we will send someone to investigate your claims. If we find what you say to be true, we will send someone to help. Not because we feel obligated to intercede on your behalf, but because what you’re describing is an abomination. If one of our kind chooses to play god, we will do everything we can to keep the city and its people from harm. Now, will you be joining us for dinner, Connor?”
I guess that was it then. It wasn’t as much as I’d hoped for, but it was better than nothing.
“Thank you but no, I’m afraid I have a very important engagement tonight back in Houston and I can’t be late.”
“Did you drive or fly?”
“I flew.”
“Take a car,” he suggested.
“Why?”
“Because a hailstorm is gathering between Austin and Houston, and it will take you too long to go around it.”
I glanced outside the window, at the day suffused with sunshine.
Adépérò smiled. “I neglected to mention earlier, the reason my wife wasn’t here today is that she is at an open-air Student Art Festival in Zilker Park today. Our oldest granddaughter is presenting. It would be a shame to have it ruined.”
Thank you! A lovely start to Wednesday.
Thank you for this, Gordon. Definitely helps make being back to work after the holiday a bit easier, hope your move is going well!
Ooh thanks Gordon. Love Rogan.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Your blog is frequently a high point of the day, but a POV is completely awesome.
I love the series. One of the best I’ve read in a long time. So I actually thought that we would hear no more from this direction but here you go giving me gifts I didn’t ask for. It’s almost like it’s Christmas but it’s three weeks away. Also the fact that I found this after working 9 days straight and this is my first and only day off for a while I consider this a gift! Thank you for the gift and now I need to go back and read it again for consistency purposes….
Ahhhh! More, more, more!
<3 Thank-you!
Thank you for the POV. Does the Part 1 in the title refer to the POV, more to come? Or, more Wildfire to come? Just asking. **blinking**
Hey Wont, yeah the next bit will be him watching Nevada on her fabulous date with Garen.
Yes! There sponse to wont’s question was the second best thing I read today. The snippet was the first.
Yay! 😀
Thank you! 1) For your response, and 2) for the wonderful nugget there is more forthcoming!!
Forgive me for this……Squeee!!!
Thank you!
This is wonderful, but I am glad it is not real, since my son is planning to into meteorology at OU next year and the weather mages would reek havoc on the science…..haha!
Thank you Gordon! I love seeing Rogan’s side of things. And especially his visit to the weather mages.
Thank you Authorlords! Ah, I really needed this but it’s like potato chips: I want more more more!!!!
Thank you?
Love it! Thank you! Getting a glimpse of Connor as a child , doing normal child things, is fascinating.
Thank you for the awesome pov!!!!♡
Happy sigh.
Thank you for this, Gordon! I love this series and it’s great to have some scenes from Rogan’s POV.?
thank you. I can’t wait for Part 2. 🙂
❤️❤️ I love to read the masculine POV. Thank you. ❤️❤️
Thank you. Love this series so much. We all need more Rogan and Nevada in our lives!
Thank you. What a gift for the day!
(This was a day that started with passing out when I got out of bed, then stumbling in to teach surgical techniques – on sea slugs. So lots of room for upward mobility…)
?I hope you feel better. Have you had your blood pressure checked? What part of the pretty and gelatinous looking sea critters we’re you operating on?
Thank you, I am, and I think I’m staying home tomorrow (and eating better food, and getting caught up on sleep, gods). And it hadn’t occurred to me, but I went off a migraine med that had been raising my blood pressure, so it’s likely back down to its 105/60ish, which couldn’t have helped. (There are other factors. I have a list of things I do to keep my body working, and I’ve been doing the opposite for a number of items the past bit. Ha! Body says no.)
The surgery is on the feeding grasper – it’s a technique I developed some years back, kind of on a dare from my PI. One of my students is helping me increase the repeats on some experiments for a paper that’s pretty much ready to go out, about soft-body bio-mechanics. The best thing is it’s super low impact, and the slugs wake up the next day and recover without problems. No sutures, no opening the body cavity, and now we can directly work with muscles that had been considered inaccessible.
And… ahem. I will stop now because friends threatened to make me a t-shirt with “don’t ask me about my research” on one side and “ask me about my research” on the other. I will tell you. If you’re at all interested, ping me on twitter, and I can send you a copy of the poster I presented at Neurosciences a couple of weeks ago. I even figured out how to explain all the biomechanics with no math and with pizza instead, which I am very proud of. (While there are plenty of mathematical biologists, there are more who see all the equations and start edging away.) I want this stuff done with – I’ve accepted a position designing robots, and I kind of need to get on with things… (I get visitations with the slugs.)
Love the Rogan POVs ! It’s fascinating to see things from his side.
Thank you! Love these characters and their interactions. A great series and my current go-to for distraction. Nice to know Rogan had some friends. 🙂 Back to the last of my moving boxes being gone through. Good luck with your move!
Great as always! Thx so much!
Thank you for the early Christmas gift! Wonderful!
Thank you and more please!
Enjoyed a glimpse into how Rogan thinks. I miss the weekly Innkeeper blogs, so this was a welcome surprise. Thanks & have a great day.
Thank you,,, so unexpected, and so appreciated.
Thank you. So insightful in how Rogan thinks! Love it!
Thank you! A pleasant surprise!
Side note while I’m thinking of it. Have you ever watched the kids’ animated king Julian Netflix show? If you haven’t, you should. Especially a spot where King Julian is being sarcastic/imitating someone else. It’s what went through my head when I read Rogan “imitating” Garen.
Thank you! This was a great treat!
TY TY TY TY TY!!!!
I LOVE these dude POV’s!!!
Thank you Gordon. This is delightful and the brand of snark I need more of.
Wow, thanks so much for taking the time to put this out! You both just keep giving and it’s humbling. Continued good luck with your move, Kate 10, and all the rest of your packed schedule!
Squeeee!!!!
❤️???
I was trying to figure out how a kid from Houston was in sixth grade with a kid from another county, but then I realized they probably went to the same boarding school. Now I’m curious to know how Rogan retaliated, because no way he allowed a kid to get away with dropping trash on his head.
Thanks for the POV, Gordon!
Cool! Thanks Gordon!
rogan has friends! yay!
thank you for the snippet!
(I like exclamation points!)
Thank you for this very nice gift! I wondered what Rogan thought about Nevada’s “business meeting/date” with Garen Schaffer. It was also nice to read about House Ade-Afefe.
Bring on Part 2 when you can. 😀
Very appreciated!
Time to reread Wildfire.
Woohoo wasn’t expecting this today! Happy Happy 😀
This was an awesome treat! Thank you so very much, totally brightened my day. Hope you and yours are well!
Thank you! I am re-reading this series for the umpteenth time and just finished the dinner scene with Garen. It’s very generous of you to share Rogan’s visit to the Adé-Afẹ́fẹ́ family and his private thoughts on Garen, especially as you are both so busy with other things.
This just made me incredibly happy!!! Thank you
hmmm interesting.
So Connor isn’t 100% certain that Nevada loves him?
I thought he knew she loved him, but from his perspective might choose not to be with him because of genetics and stuff, not because she doesn’t love him.
Anyways, thank you for POV! 🙂
Yes! Awesome and much needed after some bad days…
Thank you!
Loving getting these extra little surprises! Thank you and don’t hesitate to throw us another bone or two!
You are my favourite authors. I love all your books, novellas, POV’s & blog posts – you’re such hard working, funny, kind & generous people. Thank you. You give us such wonderful & rich worlds in your stories. They are joyous & help me forget my situation, my pain, icky medication side effects & hospital appointments. They make me laugh when I really didn’t think I could. With love & thanks Sara xx
Wonderful! Thank you so much!
This was a lovely treat to reward a busy day at the community college! Thank you.
Thank you so much for the help over hump day!
You liftet my spirits, i am very thankful!
Love it!!!
I enjoy the alternate POV you provide. All of them. Thank you!
WooHoo!
Excellent
LOVE! Rogan POVs. Thank you.
Yay!!! ???
Thanks.
Love it!!! Thank you.
Excellent! Thank you so much!
Thanks. I needed this!
Always love the back story. It’s coffee for the soul.
Thank you *.* !!
Thank you, Gordon.
More lovely, three dimensional characters to enjoy.
In Connor’s voice, no less.
Wish we could interweave this into the book…
Yay!! Thank you so much!!
Thank you. I had such an awful day and this helped.
A snippet… like a sip of water in the desert… Ah… Thanks, Gordon!
Wow. Thanks. Loved it.
Thank you! Really appreciate all the extra details and the new character interactions.
Awesome! Thank you so much for Rogan POVs.
I know that view! So does the Oasis exist in Nevada’s world? Does the House Ade Afefe compound sit on that spot instead, the original restaurant never having reopened after burning in the mid 00s? I love the idea of magical Austin – low level music mages busking downtown, buildings at the university named after powerful houses, Whole Foods being founded by a plant mage, SXSW Interactive panels on the intersection of magic and technology…
Actually they did reopen. It’s not the same, though. The place has turned into a mini mall of sorts.
http://oasis-austin.com/
That was a fantastic POV. Thanks Gordon!
Excellent! As many others have noted, the alternate POV is fantastic. In particular, I loved the section with Tayo…
Always a pleasure to visit with our friends in Houston. Come on by anytime.
Thank you for the snippet! Love getting back story!
Love it! Thank you very much
Adorable image!
Thank you Gordon. So nice to hear a snippet with Rogan. Totally different than Nevada’s thought patterns. Yea, love the little personal touches you and Ilona put in every scene. That is what makes you great writers.
Thank you!
That was great. Thank-you so much!
Squee! In the spirit of the holidays,
I’m happily humming ?
“It’s begining to look a lot like Snippets!”
Thank you Gordon!
Loved it! We need more Rogan POVs.
Thank You! Awesome story. I love it!!! I can’t wait to read part 2. It is like an awesome Christmas gift! You guys are amazing.
Love it love it thank you so much
Thank you so much for the midweek bonus 🙂
Thank you Gordon!!!
Nice to see how Rogan regards Nevada, on the Prime strata. I also enjoy getting more of the peripheral characters. Thank you! Such fun.
Love how you both tell a story! I am also beginning to believe in magic – I had just finished re-reading white hot and starting wild fire again when this popped up in my facebook feed. Similar thing with a Nalini Singh series a couple of weeks ago. Maybe I should take requests 🙂
Thanks so much for this! This is such a treat for all of us fans. Feels like an early holiday present 🙂
Thank you!
Yesss! Loved it! ?? And “Part 1” means there will be more! ?
I live the thought of middle school Rogan, and would live to see more with the weather-gifted family.
Thank you for the early Christmas present! Can we expect more? Please?
You’re both awesome… Gracias y bendiciones ??
Yay Rogan! I love this!
Thanks, Gordon!!! Love it!! And the Nigerian comment was a hoot as well!! Thanks again!!
Since this is labeled from “Part 1” is there a Part 2 in the works? Please say yes!!!
Being starved for your books, after reading this, which I LOVED, I’m off to re-read all 3 books…again?
Thanks for the snippet and sharing your writing and lives with us. I’m so glad you decide to call Austin Texas (Cedar Park) home. I love that you understand the people and places you write about it makes your world more rich and real. I’m so happy you are writing more in this world and hope you continue as I’m sure there is so much more to explore! All the best to you and the family this holiday season and beyond!
And then????
And then he went to watch her date…..
OK so this was totally cool, Gordon. I loved it and now I want to know what did sixth grade Rogan do to get Tayo to dump a trashcan on his head. That was hysterical!!
This was terrific, thank you for this. It will help start a cold day.
Many thanks Gordon, such a nice surprise ?
Thank you!!!
thanks, nice surprise
Thank you!
Really enjoyed that, thank you?
Thanks, I appreciate background. Connor has a friend. Yeah.
Reading this I had to go back.
Going back got me to thinking about book size and publication and edits
I can’t deny the industry its needs
But I can curse them to a fare thee well for what they deny me.
When reading this I was confused because I remembered this
and I knew there was not this depth of detail, which is why I went back
With a word hear and a phrase there and a sentence or two you gave me, a wash, of this backdrop
which is why I am cussing them the way they need to hear
I would deeply appreciate your delivery of my blow to their face the next time they do this
Authors write; is the cry, that needs to ring through their psyche
And now I’m off to re-read the series!
^^^This
I love these little stories. It’s like Christmas came early. Thank you!
I loved this! Thank you so much for writing it. Please keep bits from Hidden Legacy coming – I so love these characters and this world. In case you are looking for another possible POV story, I would love to see the meeting between Nevada and Rogan’s mother – truthfully, I’d love to see it from both Rogan and Nevada’s POV. Bringing your girl to meet mom can be stressful for a man, and from personal experience I know meeting your future mother-in-law for the first time can be scary for a woman.
I know, I’m being greedy. Can’t help it. These books are like chocolate for me!
Thanks again!
P.S. – so I also would like to know the 6th grade trashcan story…
What I was hoping for was Conner’s POV when Arabella jumped from the chopper and transformed. Through his chat with Nevada after.
Being greedy, it would be awesome to continue right on to a meet and greet between his mother and Nevada.
Yes please … pleeeease, pleeeease, pleeeease …
Love you Gordon ?❤
Thank you, Gordon. This was wonderful, and a wonderful surprise.
Thank you, what a nice gift this is! ❤️
Mille fois merci! I love how Rogan terms any meetings with a male “a date” whereas Nevada is probably thinking “business meeting/proposal”….
Thank you! Love the POVs!
This is awesome! Thank you so much!
OMG! I love you guys. Thank you so much for your generosity with the snippets. In what was otherwise a fairly ordinary week, you have made my day!
Thank you great POV
Brilliant. So love this world.
Loved this POV & LOVED Rogan’s POV when he kidnapped Nevada ❤❤❤
Thank you Gordon xx
AuthorLords thank you for this amazing snippet. As a Nigerian woman who has loved everything thing of yours I have ever read it means so much to me to see my culture represented in your work. My mother and grandmother are Yoruba. It is the only other language I understand and can speak conversationally. I don’t think I have the words to describe what I feel when I see names that are so familiar to me written with such care and consideration. My already considerable admiration for you has grown leaps and bounds!
Thank you so much <3
Thanks Gordon. Really enjoyed it!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for this delicious surprise!