Because, as Ilona eloquently put it, our last few weeks seriously sucked.
We get a treat, with the caveat (listen closely, Horde!) that it is not the beginning of a new serial, confirmation of the next project or any other secret message for us to divine in the tea leaves.
It’s a Friday short and we are fluffy about it.
The warehouse lay in complete silence. Nine thousand square feet of concrete floor with rows of drive-in bays on two sides and brick walls on the other two. Metal rafters supported a corrugated steel roof, punctuated by industrial lamps. Normally daylight would filter in through the translucent panels above the bay doors, but it was evening, and the lamps were the only source of light.
I left half of them off, and the concrete was a patchwork of light and shadow.
I sat in the middle of the floor, right leg extended and resting flat. I bent my left leg, grasping it by the ankle, and pulled it toward my chest, trying to loosen my hips. I wore a tracksuit with conveniently long sleeves that covered my arms and a pair of running shoes. My hair was up in a ponytail and out of my face. If anyone walked into the warehouse, they would see an ordinary forty-year-old woman sitting on the floor.
This wasn’t just a bad idea. This was a dangerous idea.
Maybe he wouldn’t show.
The warehouse sat on Pershing Road in Cicero, in the middle of an industrial zone. Warehouses lined the entire street, and by night the area was deserted. The traffic noises had receded a while ago. It was quiet.
I closed my eyes. The silence blossomed like a flower, and I sank into it, listening. There was no emotion, no worry, only waiting.
Reality faded. Not completely. It had become an overlay, and beneath it a different place and a different time unfolded. A lithe figure spun across rocky ground, a sword in her hand, her movement fluid one moment and explosive the next. Behind her, a huge purple sun rose in a pale blue sky.
I’d tried meditation before, but my thoughts always ran away in circles. Kids, bills, work. But this wasn’t meditation. I wasn’t at peace. I wasn’t healing or reestablishing inner balance. I waited like a predator, thoughtless and anticipating approaching prey, while my mind danced through someone else’s memory.
A faint whisper of a vehicle sliding into the parking space.
I let go of my left leg and switched to the right one.
A quiet thump of the car door closing.
Footsteps drawing near.
I opened my eyes.
The door in the far wall swung open, and Jeremy Fenlon emerged onto the warehouse floor carrying a long duffel bag on his shoulder. He was forty-five years old, although most would judge him to be in his thirties until they saw his face. His dark battle suit allowed for full range of movement, but despite being slightly loose on his frame, it couldn’t hide his build. People tended to pick up a little weight as they aged, but his body was lean and almost pure muscle, as if woven from steel wire. He was ridiculously strong and abnormally fast.
Jeremy approached and stopped ten feet from me. He had a classic square-jawed face with a very narrow nose, eyebrows that angled up, and smart brown eyes, wrapped in crow’s feet. His brown hair had begun to grey, and he kept it cut longish on top and brushed it straight back, so it curved slightly. He looked like someone who used his brain for a living, was excellent at his job, and had too much work on his plate. A highly competent surgeon in the prime of his career. A genius professor, scuffed up around the edges.
He was none of those things.
Jeremy took the duffel off his shoulder, crouched by me, and surveyed the warehouse. “Love the place. Thinking of changing careers?”
“I rented it for one night.” I straightened both legs.
“Why?”
“Privacy.”
Was I making a mistake? I’d rolled that question around in my head for the last three days, long before I asked him, and I came up with ‘no’ every time. Tomorrow, I would be officially returning to work. I needed a benchmark.
“I need to know if this is covered,” I said.
Jeremy sighed and nodded. He had a quiet, calm voice, and something about the way he talked anchored you and made everything he said seem reasonable.
“I’m still your assigned Peer Support Specialist. Anything that happens here is covered by therapist-client privilege. I’m bound by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HIPAA Privacy Rule. The only thing that overrides that is the duty to warn and protect. Are you planning on making a credible, imminent threat to your life or the lives of others?”
“No.”
“Then we are covered. So, what can I do for you?”
“I need you to fight me.”
He frowned. “That’s it? That’s the favor?”
I nodded.
He looked around the warehouse dappled with patches of gloom and light and turned back to me. His gaze locked on me, unblinking.
“The fastest and simplest reaction pathway is by touch.”
He spoke in a measured, methodical way, his voice almost intimate.
“No thinking required. Touch a hot pan and your body jerks your hand away before you can process anything. It takes an average human 150 milliseconds to pull their hand out of the fire. It takes me 78.”
He really was ridiculously fast.
“A fight doesn’t rely on simple pathways. It depends on sight. For an average human, the response to visual cues takes about 250 milliseconds. Recognition bumps us up to 384 milliseconds, and once we start making choices, we go up to a full half-second. Normal humans also slow down with age.”
He gave me a quick smile. I smiled back.
“I don’t,” he said. “My choice reaction time in a fight is 246 milliseconds. I assess the enemy, make a judgement, and start moving before you can jerk your hand away from the fire, Ada.”
“I know,” I told him.
“Did you look up my stats?”
I didn’t answer.
Jeremy unzipped his duffel, reached into it, and pulled out a sword with an odd, segmented blade.
“This weapon isn’t designed to spar. It’s designed to kill. And I’m not your friendly neighborhood sensei, who teaches kids the value of discipline through martial arts. I’m a flux reaper. I’ve cut my way through breaches for seven years. Remind me, what is your designation?”
“Dimension Breach Resource Assessor.”
“That’s right. DeBRA. A noncombatant. Being in a situation where you are forced to fight for your life is inherently traumatic. Reliving that stress helps you move past it. However, exposure therapy has its drawbacks. There is a high risk of re-traumatization with improper execution. I’m not sure this qualifies as a proper execution.”
I would have to give him more to get him to agree. “This isn’t about PTSD.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Self-assessment.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I can kill you before your mind recognizes my face.”
“When we started this a month ago, you asked me what I needed. I need this.”
“If Monday makes you anxious, we can postpone.”
I shook my head. “Do this with me, and I will be ready for Monday.”
He pondered me for a long moment and sighed. “Okay.”
Jeremy rose with fluid grace, holding his sword in his left hand. He offered his right to me. I gripped it, and he pulled me to my feet.
“Do you need a weapon?” he asked.
“I have one.”
He squinted at my empty hands. I almost felt sorry for him.
Ten years ago, portals opened in large cities all over the planet. We hadn’t known we were under attack until they burst, spilling monsters into the world. Something had opened breaches in reality, connecting us to other worlds, and attempted to invade. From that moment, humanity was at war.
We adapted.
We developed new terminology, created the Dimensional Defense Command, and dug in for the long haul.
In the wake of that first burst, some people gained unusual abilities. We called those people Talents, and they fell into two broad categories: combat and noncombat. The portals became known as gates. We learned that they led to interdimensional spaces filled with terrifying creatures and valuable resources that defied our understanding of science. Resources we required to continue repelling the attacks.
My talent let me enter a breach and assess the resources it contained. I was a government employee, a valuable asset that the DDC loaned to the guilds. A noncombatant. An average human in every way that counted.
One month ago, I walked into the Elmwood Gate with one of the best guilds in the U.S. I was part of the mining team. The guild was supposed to protect me at all costs. Instead, it betrayed me and left me for dead.
Twenty-seven people lost their lives in that breach. For over a week, my children didn’t know if I’d survived, while the Cold Chaos Guild and the DDC were absolutely sure I was dead. Then I walked out of the gate with my dog.
Cold Chaos and I made a deal. The DDC might have had doubts about my account of their heroic rescue, but they had no proof we lied. More importantly, my death had the potential to become a huge PR nightmare, and once they discovered I was alive, they couldn’t wait to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
I’d been examined, interviewed, examined again, and once the higher-ups ascertained that I had every intention of continuing my work, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. Everything could go back to the way it was.
Jeremy was my DDC-assigned therapist. A high-grade combat Talent, trained specifically to work with people damaged by their time in the breach. His task was to get me over my trauma as soon as possible. For the last month, we’d been glued at the hip. Cognitive behavioral therapy, in-the-moment coping strategies, grounding techniques, we did all of it.
Two weeks ago, Jeremy walked me into a breach and walked me right out. We slowly built up the duration, and yesterday I stayed in a breach by myself for half an hour. Before I threw him this curveball, he had expected to clear me for work on Monday.
Right now, he was likely having serious doubts about my mental state.
Jeremy had devoted all of his professional time to me. He was careful, patient, and attentive. And another person in my place might have mistaken it for genuine care. But I knew better.
Jeremy saw me the same way he saw a monster blocking his path or a vehicle that needed to be repaired. I was an issue he had to solve. The DDC entrusted him with the woman who had found the biggest load of adamantite in the history of this war. His primary goal was to put me back together and send me into the breaches, and he went about that task with maximum efficiency. Once I was fully operational, he would put a check mark by my name and never wonder what became of me.
He was good at controlling his emotions, but hiding from my talent was impossible, and when I tested him a couple of times, I sensed his frustration. There was no genuine compassion or connection there, only a skin-deep pretense at empathy. He must’ve promised to get me up and running by Monday, and he intended to hit that goal. He would do nothing to jeopardize it, which was why I invited him here tonight.
“You should prime the blade,” I said.
“I think we’ll be fine.” He motioned to me with his free hand.
There was something predatory in the way he stood. Something tinged with bloodthirst and inner indifference. A kind of selfish anticipation.
Both of us were shaped by this war. At our very first session, Jeremy told me that one Ada had walked into the Elmwood Gate and a different Ada came out. He had no idea how right he was.
I flexed. My talent snapped into being. Jeremy’s image split into layers of color, and I processed the input in milliseconds.
The wide, thick metal bracelet on my right wrist flowed like water. Smooth metal drained down into my hand and gathered there, still hidden.
“Attack, Ada,” Jeremy said. “Or better yet, let’s abandon this plan and go home.”
I moved.
Jeremy was fast. Fast enough to process the strike of my empty left hand but not quite fast enough to dodge. My fingers grazed his forehead, and I spun around him, my whisper floating like the first hint of rising wind.
“Faster, Jeremy.”
The flux reaper whirled around. I gave him no time to adjust. The metal in my hand snapped into an avelier blade, a narrow sword with a split, razor-sharp tip that was born on another world. I didn’t have a purple sun to guide me, but my body knew all of the movements. I had practiced them every day since leaving the breach. They were second nature now.
Jeremy lashed out, his sword slicing in a horizontal arc. I let his sword slide off my blade, lunged past him, and tapped the back of his head with my free hand.
Jeremy’s eyes flared with orange. The flux blade split in his hand, breaking into a whip of metal segments connected by pulsing veins of orange energy. He became a whirlwind of metal and energy, the whip sword striking, spinning, slicing, retracting into a rigid blade, then breaking back into a whip without warning. His breach name was Render, and that is exactly what he did. If he’d been facing a mob of monsters, he would’ve shredded them to pieces.
I flowed between his strikes, waiting for an opening.
Cut, cut, cut, cut…
He lashed at my legs, and I barely avoided the strike. The orange tendrils of energy passed so close that the static pricked my skin through the cloth of the tracksuit.
Jeremy bared his teeth. He was trying to cut me, but I was fog. I was water.
He spun the flux blade in a spiral cut, the end of the whip snapping.
Now.
I lunged into it and caught the energy tendrils with my blade. The sharp segment slid through the twin tip of my sword and stopped, wedged there.
I punched Jeremy in the chest with everything I had.
The flux reaper flew backward, landed on his side, rolled, and sprang to his feet.
I stopped. One of the lamps glowed directly overhead, and I stood in the cone of light. It slid off my sword as I retracted the blade into the bracelet. I learned what I came here to find out. I was now faster than a peak-tier damage Talent.
I knew I could kill monsters. Walking out of the Elmwood Gate breach proved that. The question was, could I kill people who killed monsters? I had my answer.
If I went into the breach and a guild member betrayed me again, I could kill them.
I would kill them.
“Two hundred and fifty-nine milliseconds,” I told him. “Your average choice reaction time.”
Jeremy stared at me, his expression shocked.
Silence stretched.
He opened his mouth. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Adaline Moore. Dimension Breach Resource Assessor,” I said. “Thank you for your assistance, Jeremy. I believe you’re right. It is time I returned to work. I will be in my office on Monday. Please let your supervisor know that I am available for breach assignment.”
He stayed completely still, as if rooted to the floor.
I turned and walked to the door.
“Come, Bear.”
A massive shadow slipped from its hiding place in the corner of the warehouse.
Jeremy’s eyes widened. He hadn’t seen Bear. He hadn’t even noticed her.
The huge German shepherd padded past him, completely silent, showed him her teeth, and followed me out into the night.
First?
Friday First! :*
wooohoooo…… snippet
OK I won’t wish for more 😉
Happy Friday
OoOoOoooooo a gift from House Andrews. Thank you!
I’m totally going to believe that this is part of a new Inheritance story. Yep. Yep. Yep. I believe it.
I’m in the checkout line right behind you, and I am not at all fluffy about it.
Ain’t we all sugar
Same! 🥳
No matter how hard Mod R tries to wrangle us, she can’t stop the power of the Horde’s willing something into being! It has been proven to work. We’ll all just keep wishing for the rest of The Inheritance trilogy or series (hee hee hee), but still totally understand that this is a gift and be happy for any scraps we get until then.
Thank you so much! 🤗
Omg!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I’m absolutely being the fluffiest!
Squeee!
Literally trying not to squeeeeee loudly and get my expectations up! 🙂😀😃😄😁
I think I missed Ada and Bear.
Thank you so much for the little snippet! I will try my bestest to be p*t!ent.
never been so excited for more OSHA violations. Will be chalant.
This comment had me ROFL!! It’s perfect!
+1000
Thank you for this snippet. It was brilliant.
Lovely story! Thank-you for the happy moments to start my day. Today I think I will break out the soft new baby yarn and start another hat. I found a local charity that runs a free shop. Anyone can take one kitchen size bag of clothes, food, linens or small stuff or drop off 1 bag. They get my excess garden produce too. There are charities all over the place if you look for them! Happy Friday!
Thank you for the snippet. I will remain fluffy and will absolutely not point out how so many of these snippets and funnies lead to books (don’t look at Augustine, Blood Heir, Wilmington or Maggie 😬)
or Hugh 😉😅
To be fair, Hugh was an April fool’s joke gone badly and wonderfully right!
sqeeeeeee!!!!!!!
Ada-time 😀
Wow thanks 😊
WOW! Happy Friday. Ilona was completely right, the last few weeks sucked wide and this put a very happy cherry on top of a stress-filled week.
We are not worthy but extremely grateful.
Go Ada!!
Hell yeah!! That ending is so bad ass!
Love it – thank you for bringing some joy to our Friday!
❤❤❤❤❤ Thank you so much! Oh, and I love the way the graphic of the warehouse looks like a menacing mechanical face!
Loooooooove it!
Ahhhhhhh! I am completely ignoring all of the caveats at the beginning of this blog post! There will be a new book/novel/serial. It is just a question of when. My patience is an infinite lake. 🙂
Thank you. My heart needed this. I appreciate you guys so much.
I’m not fluffy!! More please, pretty pretty please, with cherries on top!
Now off to re-listen to The Inheritance.
Yummmmm. Thank you 😊!
we are SO Fluffy!
Thank you SO much for this! It was a delight to read and I found myself absolutely grinning at the screen by the end.
Squeee!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this lovely treat.
It has indeed been a heckuva week/month/year.
That. Was. Amazing.
Thank you so much for the snippet! I know y’all will get back to this world at some point in the future, and it’s really cool to see how Ada is coming along.
Adaaaaa! Yay Friday!!!
WOW! She is AWESOME!!! Thank you for this glimpse into Ada’s world.
Thanks so much for this! What a lovely surprise, and much appreciated.
Great! Made my friday!
So worth a quick re-fresh this morning. Thank you for the present after a shitty week of loosing some very important people to all of us.
Thank you!
Yeah, Ada!!! Thank you!
Ohhh I LOVE ADA!!! Thank you so much for the snippet this makes me so so happy!!
Oh my God, I feel so lucky, lucky, lucky — that snippet was awesome and exactly what I needed today! Thank you so much… I’m going to babble for a hot second, because I really can’t thank HA or the BDH for the quiet support that has kept me on my feet.
I’ve had a rough two weeks – I was laid off quietly 10 days ago and told that it was not at all for performance but they needed my salary back (I am eligible to retire with a state pension, so that was a factor). I’m 55 and the sole breadwinner for my family and have never had a below average evaluation in the 39 years I have been working…and I know I will get another job and land on my feet, but it hurt more than I expected. I have read TKWNKM fully 14 times and have been making my way through it a 15th time this week, for comfort…but Ada the survivor (and thriver) is an excellent role model for me going into this weekend.
Happy Friday to everyone!
Wishing you a quick exit out of the breach!
And remember, when the monsters try to keep us down, we eat them! #BearLessons
Best wishes to you. May you find a job you love and are well compensated for it.
Sometimes things like that happen so we can be ready for something even better to come along!
May you find what you need, when it’s needed. ((Hugs))
And in the immortal words of Red Green, “Remember, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.”.
Thank you so much. I needed this after a tough month
SO GOOD
The way my eyes lit up when I got to “Ada”, OMG what a treat! Thank you for the fun Friday surprise <3
Squeeeee!! The best Friday treat! Thank you so much for such an exciting and satisfying snippet! Now to devour it again like the BDH member I am.
BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER! Thank you for this lovely snippet that definitely doesn’t look like a sequel of a book I’ve read multiple times. I am fluffy and chalant.
Happy fluffy Birthday!
Squeeeee!! Happy Friday. Great to have some Ada & Bear.❤️
Thank you so much for sharing! I’ve been wondering what would be next for Ada. Hope things calm down for you all soon.
Love it. Loved The Inheritance. Will gladly read the next book whenever it may happen. Thank you House Andrews!
And it’s a happy Friday with Ada and Bear, yippee ki ay. Thank you
This was AWESOME! Yay for Adeline!!!
Thank you. This is just what I needed 🙂
awesome awesome awesome that was amazing please let’s revisit that world
That woke me right up! Didn’t realize I was missing Ada and Bear. That was awesome! Thank you and Happy Friday.
Thank you…..
Squeeeeee!!! Thank you for that! I needed it.
Squeee!!! I love Ada and Bear! I’ve tried to convince my best friend to read the Inheritance but it’s a hard book to describe. All I know is I fell in love with Ada and Bear and will be in heaven when the next book comes out!
love it! I will still wish for more Ada and Bear but will do so patiently… mostly.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you
thank you
Oooooh a SNIPPET!! I am SO fluffy about it… so very, very fluffy :-D.
Thank you!
Fluffy. I will be fluffy. I WILL be fluffy. Thank you so much! This snippet is so exciting. I sincerely hope you had as much fun writing it as I did reading it. And I hope the edits are going well, too.
In an aside, my vellum arrived and they are so gorgeous. I’m having a tough time deciding where I want them in my book 🤔. Thank you! Have a wonderful weekend!
I love Ada!! thank you for the treat! you’ve inspired another re-read.
Love. I will pre-order Inheritance 2 the day it’s available. I’ll reiterate to my friends that they should read Inheritance.
More adventures with Ada, so cool!
Oh WOW!! Love this!!! Damn, now must be Chalant, or is it C.R.A.P.? Casually Resume Appearance of Patience.
I think the Horde has a new saying. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Brilliant and thank you!
Yay, I love Ada! As a fellow woman in her 40s, it’s nice to feel like badassery is still possible! (I cannot fight anyone, but I can project manage like nobody’s business!)
Wonderful! Thank you so much.
Ahhhhh. Sigh of satisfaction. Just what I needed. Thank you.
oh, this snippet is enticing my cheetah reading spirit.
I can’t think of any words in the English language to convey the excitement and joy of reading this post. Thank you for this snippet and for being a source of light and hope in the world!
[SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE]
thank you!!!
Woot! Thank you!
Fluffy! Fluffy!!! I swear I’m fluffy!
Thank you for this Friday treat — I have missed Ada and am happy to hear of her progress. Have a fabulous weekend!
You just made a crappy week a happy week. Thank you for your kindness.
OMG! Your talent and imagination is so wonderful! I love every little crumb you throw our way
So excited! Fabulous, thank you.
OMG that hit the right spot
Is now a good time to beg for more? Asking for a friend
Thank you for the treat… hope everything begins to go smoother.
Thank you. I love these Friday goodies. Sometimes they are the only thing I look forward to when the week is awful.
Thanks for the snippet! I’ve missed Ada, hope we get to see more of her 🙏🏻
Oooh. Wonderful!
Thank you for the Friday snippet. I will stay on Team Fluffy and enjoy even after looking into the coffee grounds (since the Horde can’t look into the tea leaves) to a maybe, someday, long into the far, far, far off future book. 😁
Go Ada and Bear! 🐕⚔️
Awesome snippet!!!!!!! Thank you!
This character is everything I wish I could be. Amazing snippet. Thank you.
Delightful! Thank you !
Yay! I very much needed that this week. Thank you!!!
Oh gawd. What a Friday. Thank you for this.
Thank you both! It did indeed fulfill a need I carry with me weekly.
Also, far be it from me to tell youse what to do, however, please tell your editors to go chillax jump in a lake. You are the creative minds. It’s all your inspiration and hard work. If your gut screams, no freakin’ way! Then stick to your guns. Your horde loves every word you write, rest assured.
Ada and bbear sre back! thanks ❤️
fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy…….but wow! that was so good!
With Maggie arriving, Ada sort of slipped into the back of my brain. I hadn’t really been thinking about what the follow-on weeks had to be like for her. Getting back to work. Whew! Convincing everyone around her that everything was normal…sorta. Wow. Now my brain has something to really chew on. I needed that. I had GA Kate on my calendar for today. Oops, it’s Monday. So it’s more
fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy! Thank you HA!!!
thank you
eeekkkkk!!!! Totally chalant….
Wow! Thank you.
LOL. I literally had just started an Inheritance re-read! This is perfect. I love Ada and Bear!!!!!! Oh, and I would love a coffee cup that says “Into the Breach!” It would be a great way to start the work day 🙂
Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh – saw the announcement on insta and ran as fast as I could – LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT – nothing fluffy here to see 😀
So, does anyone else gleefully play how-fast-can-I-guess-the-world when we get these snippets???
Every time😀
Ada and Bear!!! YES! Thank you.
So exciting – this is a good day because of this snippet. Ada Rocks! Bear is so well mannered. There is more to come in the fullness of time.
I like your protagonists – they are inspiring in their wisdom individually or collectively across your stories.
What a lovely palate cleanser from living and breathing all things Maggie. Glad Ada is doing well.
Was doing a reread of the Inheritance. perfect timing!
As much as I love Maggie, the breach…. it calls for me…
also whether or not Curran got that moat built. LoL
I am drooling here, waiting for the next book; like waiting Christmas. I need a pre-order link, I am going through BDH withdrawal symptoms.
This has been, by far, the story I have been waiting for …. I cannot wait until this series gets 12more books….
It won’t lead to anything … yet.
Love Bear getting in the last word. Priceless.
EEEHEHEHEHEEEEP
I am one of the people patiently waiting on the next installment of the Innkeeper series and now I am adding the next installment of the Inheritance series to the list of your self-published works I MUST read as soon as you release them. I know that novels that fulfill contract obligations take precedence and I will continue to wait, but you guys are really testing me with these FANTASTIC snippets. Have a wonderful weekend
YAY!!! That snippet was SOOOOOO AWESOME!!! thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Love Ada and Bear!🥰🥰🥰 *is chalant!! oh so chalant!! – squee!!- but also fluffy* 😇😉
Exactly what I needed to brighten my day 🤗
Oh my goodness, I love Ada SO much! Thank you for this delicious treat, it really hit the spot!
Ahhhhh that made my day so much better! Thank you!!!
Thank you for this gift!!!! So happy 🥰. Now I suppose I will continue with fluffy and chalant w*iting.
Thanks for the great snippet!
Just a couple of questions: Is this the beginning of a new serial? Is this confirmation of the next project? I’ll check my tea leaves and will get back to you if I come up with any more questions. 🙂
So good! So good! So good!
Thank you for the gift, it was very much needed today.
I love the world the Inheritance built and am looking forward to exploring that in whichever capacity and whatever time period that pertains to. Even if it’s just fan discussions about this little snippet.
Thank you.
Please, please, please! I need 10 more books in this series!!
Oh, yeah……
I am ready for more Ada.
Nice.
But she really really needs help with the trust issues.
She has been, betrayed, by every man she trusted not to act in their own selfish interest.
Internalizing that is a sad and lonely way to live.
It would be nice if she could meet and share a bond of trust and loyalty with a man that earns it.
Squeeeeee!!!!!
OMG! OMG! OMG! YES! YES! YES!
thank you.
Fantastic📖Thank you for brightening a particularly crappy week👍🏻
Thank you so much for this treat:) Hope that one day we will get to hear more about Adeline, Bear & her adventures in the breach worlds.
Love the teaser. Sorry House Andrews is having a series of bad weeks. I hope the tide is turning for them. Some weeks are just like that but hopefully it is behind them now.
I appreciate this fun little snippet!
Most of us did, I believe 😔. Especially with all the great people the world has lost recently.
perfect
LOVE it! You had me at “Cicero” and I was squeeing “Ada, Ada” until, there he said it! Thank you for a wonderful end to a crappy week!
I love this so much. This world is enthralling
O M G . I love this
Absolutely Fantastic!!! 😃😲
Ada kicked butt
Thank you for our weekend treat 💜
Sublime. As always.
Many thanks.
Thank you, I didn’t even know I was missing Ada and Bear until you posted this😎
I’m so excited just to read this treat. I sincerely hope this short will make into the next Breach Wars book. I loved The Inheritance story and w*iting for the next installment until after the 3rd Maggie book and other story commitments are completed will be practically impossible. But I will be challant and not bother you anymore about it. Keep up the great work you folks do to keep us entertained.
ADA yesss !…. and now back to dying for all forthcoming good books. Sigh.
I’m trying not to be too excited. I know House Andrews has a lot on their plate but **squeeeee!!!**
Yay – thank you!!
In the absolute shit show that has been my week, this is a shining bright star. I love Ada and her story so very much. Thank you so much for sharing this awesomeness with us.
Now I’m off to go read this again, then re-read The Inheritance for the sixth time, lol.
We are so fluffy about this treat. Thank you
I am a 54 year old male, the Squeee in my head was pure 13 year old girl (at her absolutest most favorite boyband concert). This was very disconcerting.
More snippets please.
(and who do you think you are fooling with the statement that this isn’t the beginning of the next book) 🙂 BDH will run (amok) with this snippet.
Freaking awesome and so needed on a really sucky Friday but now I’m jonesing for Inheritance 2….
Thank you! I needed this – onward friday or monday #5 this week!
Wonderful!!! I loved it. So very excited to see this
Ada and Bear! What a nice Friday treat!!
Fluffy thoughts. Fluffy thoughts.
I love the awesomeness that is Ada. Betray her and SHE WILL END YOU.
Ahem. Sorry, got carried away.
Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy. All the fluffiness over here.
And yes, this is what the week needed. Ada being awesome.
Thanks, House Andrews!
Thank you. I am also having miserable week. I hope yours improves. Please take care. This was a very nice surprise. And it was just what I needed.
Thank you for this delicious snippet.
BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! Who’s one of the best doggy’s lurking in the shadows, you are, yes you are. Such a stealthy dog, such a good dog, who gets lots of dog treats from the BDH.
ahem ahem, Sorry lost my composer for a second. Thank you for the snippet I will be a fluffy dragon and wait patiently for whatever comes out of it. Yes, very fluffy. Very fluffy.
BEARRRRRRRR! Does this mean sequel incoming? Ohhhh. Please I must see more adventures of Ada and her adorable sidekick. Just a little more, I’d be so fluffy after I promise. I will be less Smaug and more Toothless, promise.
Ahem, I mean thank you again for this. You’re truly generous and benevolent authors who feed us your humble BDH such tastie canapés.
BEARRRRRRRRRR!!!!! Ahhhhh! No fluffy, calm and fluffy
BEARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Fluffy, must be fluffy dragon, must be fluffy
wow. thank you.
everything i could’ve hoped for! what a great way to start my weekend!
Love it! Thank you!
thank you so much for this gift!
I love Adeline and her competence! This was a great energy boost for a tired mom headed into the breach otherwise known as back to school!
Snippet was very appreciated, as was the check in with Bear especially (but Ada as well). Thank you!
I needed this! Thank you.
Ahhhhh, so good!
Wow! Love it! Thank you!!!
Woohoo!! And Yay!! Thank you for the wonderful snippet – Ada and Bear!! And that world is especially fun for me because I lived in the near West suburbs of Chicago for nineteen years.
That was amazing!🤩. Oh my word! Thank you thank you thank you!!!! Squeeeeeeee
YES!!!!!
I’m so happy with this snippet! all of the healthy and fluffy anticipation!
🥰☺️
Thank you so much and Happy Friday!
Thank you so much!
Thank you! I didn’t know how much I needed this. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your talent to take us to another world!