ILONA ANDREWS

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Deleted Scene, Appearances, and Signed Books

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The release date is almost upon us. I am super nervous about this one, which is nothing new. It’s always a gamble when you start a book with a new protagonist. If I could, I would just hide the entire release, but that wouldn’t be any fun for anyone.

Hidden Legacy has taken over the front page of this website. If you want to see it, click Home in the top menu.

We are doing two appearances for this release.

Appearances

8/26  Murder By The Book, Houston TX.

Murder by the Book ships internationally, so if you want a signed copy, this is your best chance to preorder. Let them know exactly how you want it signed in the Other Comments field when you order and we will write whatever you want in it. But maybe no poems this time. 😀 They take too long. Click here for more information and to preorder.

8/29 Barnes & Noble, Austin , 7:00 pm.

The last time you guys complained that we didn’t do a local Austin signing, so here we go. This will be held in B&N at Arboretum, 10000 Research Blvd #158, Austin, TX 78759. This store is a lot easier to get to and parking is abundant. More information here.

If you can’t make either of these two appearances, we will be doing two online events on Friday, 8/30/2019.

There will two Q&A sessions available to live stream through Twitch. Information regarding these sessions is listed below. Click the session you are interested in and you will be redirected to the page where that particular session will go live.

Twitch is a streaming platform, which allows you to ask us questions in real time and have us answer them via video.  You can watch the Q&A session without creating an account, but if you want to ask something, you will have to sign up.  It’s free.

This is the link to our Twitch account: Ilona Andrews Twitch.

To sign up for Twitch, click Sign Up in purple in the left upper corner or in the right upper corner on the menu.  You can also sign in with your Facebook account by selecting that option after clicking sign up.

There will be two Twitch sessions on Friday 8/30/2019.  They will both be recorded, so you can watch the video at your convenience.

Session 1

US: 12:00 pm EST, 11:00 am CST, 9:00 am PST.

Europe: Berlin 6:00 pm, London 5:00 pm.

Australia: Sydney 2:00 am.

Session 2

US: 8:00 pm EST, 7:00 pm CST, 6:00 pm PST.

Europe: Berlin 2:00 am, London 1:00 am.

Australia: Sydney: 10:00 am (Sunday!)

And now for the deleted scene. Technically this was cut from the next book, not SAPPHIRE FLAMES, but it’s not spoilery and we think you might enjoy it anyway.

Pay Me

I walked into the mansion of House Piney wearing my best “Pay Me” pant suit.  Powder pink and slightly oversized yet still obviously tailored, it draped my body in an elegant way, complimented my tan skin, and hid the bruises on my arms. My dark hair rested in a conservative bun at the nape of my neck, my makeup was understated but expertly applied, and my shoes, plum-red Dior pumps, completed the look. My outfit said, “I don’t need your money, but I collect what’s owed to me. Take me seriously.”

The outfit lied. We needed their money. Every cent of it.

Behind me, Arabella wore a similar ensemble in pale grey with a turquoise blouse that contrasted nicely with her blonde hair. Nobody would ever guess that only a couple of hours ago my sister and I come home covered in blood and dirt.

I’d learned this trick from my older sister.  Like Nevada, I spent most of my business hours in jeans and a T-shirt, while my small but expensive wardrobe hung in the closet safely wrapped in plastic. Usually I only pulled it out twice during a case: first, when meeting the client and the second when collecting the payment. I’d come here once before and dressing up proved to be the right choice. House Piney was a second-generation House, practically a brand-new family by the standards of Houston magical elite. They were clearly insecure and deviation from the status-quo made them nervous. They would expect the Head of another House to flaunt their status, so I met and exceeded their expectations.

The foyer of Piney home had that generically luxurious quality particular to newer Texas mansions: travertine tile sheathing the floor, spotless white walls, and an iron-railed staircase leading to the second floor. A safe decorating choice, uncomplicated by personal style and taste.

A middle-aged white man stood guard by the staircase.  He wore a three-piece black suit, white shirt, and a black tie and stood in a classic pose, one arm bent behind him, the other in front, with a white-gloved hand resting across his waist. Arabella’s eyebrows crept up. I shot her a warning look.

The man gave me a short nod. “Good morning, Ms. Baylor.”

“Good morning, Mr. Walt. This is my sister, Arabella Baylor,” I told him.

“Very good, ma’am. Please wait in the sitting room.” He indicated a living room on our right with a swipe of his hand.

We walked into the living room filled with ornate furniture. I’d sit down, but I’d fallen off the armored vehicle last night and my butt hurt.  If I sat, I’d need help getting up.

“A butler,” my sister murmured under her breath. “Do we have brandy and cigars now or after they pay us?”

“They would probably serve us tea and cucumber sandwiches. You can have brandy and cigars when you go to visit Linus next weekend.”

Unlike the Pineys, Linus Duncan was a fourth-generation Prime and for reasons I didn’t understand, he doted on us like we were his grandchildren. Arabella took shameless advantage of that.

The sound of light feminine giggling drifted from deeper within the house. Four people emerged from the other room.  Two young women in late teens, both Caucasian, one in a white dress, the other in a pink. Two men in their early twenties, one white and blond and the other dark-haired and Latino, accompanied them.

The woman in white was Brittney Pine, the youngest child of House Piney. The blond guy next to her was Robert Taylor, House Taylor, Lux mage. Robert created fluorescence, anything from a gentle colored glow to a blinding light, and could attach it to inanimate objects. The other man and the girl in pink didn’t look familiar. All four had that polished House brat look. Life had been kind to them so far and they had no fear she would change her mind.

The girls glanced at us and giggled.

Arabella rolled her eyes.

The foursome landed on the couches at the other end of the room and spoke in hushed voices. We were an oddity. Arabella was their age, I was only a couple of years older, and we were members of the magic elite, but while they lived a carefree existence wrapped in luxury, we worked, and their parents took us seriously. Furthermore, our records had been sealed by our request. Both Arabella and I were Primes, the highest rank of magic user, but the exact nature of our magic remained hidden.

A faint tendril of magic brushed against my mind. Brittney turned away quickly and snickered.

House Piney were telepaths. They could communicate with each other over great distances and they could scan hundreds of people at once, picking up surface thoughts. They specialized in providing confidential communication to large corporations. They couldn’t penetrate one’s mind and pull a secret out, however, which was why they now owed us money.

Another feather-light touch. Strong but clumsy. Compared to what I grew up with, this was amateur hour.

 â€œHandle her,” Arabella ground out. “Handle her, or I will.”

Another touch. This was a huge breach of etiquette. If she did it to the wrong mental mage, she would start a war with another House. As a Prime, I was expected to react. I had to cut this short.

I lowered my mental defenses and remembered the first person I ever killed. The man’s dark silhouette in a ballistic vest loomed in front of me, his head turned away.

I lunged. The blade of my sword sliced his throat, cutting the jugular and the carotid. Blood gushed, dark and hot. The metallic smell of it lanced my senses.

I tasted acid on my tongue.

The man choked, exhaling bloody mist out of his mouth


I yanked myself back to reality. Across the room, Brittney stared at me, wide-eyed. Her girlfriend pulled on her hand. “Hey?”

I walked over to them, slowly, the sound of my heels measured on the travertine tile. My face had iced over. When I took over as Head of the House, this expression didn’t come naturally to me. It’d been six months and now it required no effort.

Brittney shrank from me.

“Would you like to see what’s in my head?” I asked quietly.

Brittney shook her head.

“It’s impolite to trespass in other people’s minds,” Arabella said, studying her nails.  “Pull that stunt with the wrong person, and you’ll end up wearing diapers for the rest of your life, blissfully unaware that you are the sole survivor of House Piney.”

Harsh but true.

Brittney’s girlfriend opened her mouth. I looked at her, loading enough derision into my gaze to make a whole ballroom of debutantes wither. She clamped her teeth shut.

A quick staccato of steps running down the stairs came from above. “Brittney!” A sharp male voice cracked like a whip.

Arabella smiled. “Uh oh.”

John Piney, Brittney’s older brother, charged into the room.

Robert turned to him. “Hi John
”

“Shut the fuck up, Bob. Why are you here?”

Bob recoiled, stunned.

John pivoted to his sister. “Are you high or have you lost your mind?”

“Don’t talk to her like that!” the other girl piped up.

John glared at her. “Leave. Now.”

She gasped.

Bob finally snapped out of his shocked stupor. “I have to go do something.”

John turned to him. “Are you still here?”

The three friends took off for the front door. John stared at his sister.

Brittney turned red, then white. Clearly, a telepathic chewing out was taking place.

“Sorry,” she said in a small voice.

“It’s fine,” I told her.

“Please accept our sincere apologies,” John said. “My parents will see you now.”

Arabella and I followed him up the stairs into a study lined with mahogany shelves. Mr. Piney, a slender white man in his early fifties, sat in an overstuffed red chair that very much wanted to be a throne. Mrs. Piney, naturally pale with blonde hair and a generous figure, waited next to him, on her feet. John stood to the side.

I unzipped the black leather folder I was carrying, opened it, and put it on the desk in front of them, revealing a printout with columns of numbers.

“You’re right. Your nephew is stealing from you. He’s been doing it for the last three years. He occasionally issues bogus payments to your legitimate contractors. They refund him, and he then transfers the money into one of the private accounts. However, the main source of his embezzling is Raptor, Inc. It’s a shell corporation, no actual physical address, no assets. It’s presented as your subsidiary in the paperwork.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Mrs. Piney said.

“What does this Raptor do?” Mr. Piney asked.

“Currently it’s billing the Department of Defense for bogus expenses associated with your military contracts,” Arabella said.

Silence.

“I’m going to kill him,” John said, his voice disturbingly casual.

In his place, I would try to kill his cousin too. Once the DoD discovered the fraud, House Piney could lose the entirety of their military contracts. Civilian jobs would follow. They would be ruined.

I pointed at the paper inside the folder. “These are the twelve accounts he maintains, with current balances and passwords. You’ll find the digital copy on the usb in the pocket of the folder.”

“How did you get this?” Mrs. Piney murmured, scanning the data.

Her nephew had told it to me yesterday over dinner.  He’d practically dislocated his fingers logging into his accounting software trying to impress me with his cleverness and wealth.

“This is what we do,” I said. “Your nephew is unaware that we have this information. If you move quickly, you should be able to seize the assets before he liquidates them.

Mr. Piney raised his head. “Who have you told about this?”

Oh no, you don’t. “Our contract guarantees confidentiality. We do not disclose the information we obtain in the course of our investigations unless compelled to do so in a court of law.”

Mr. Piney was still staring at me.

I met his gaze. Pay us and walk us to the front door, and you will live another day.

I was looking straight at him and I saw the exact moment his confidence faltered.

Arabella stepped forward and held up her cell phone. “I’m ready for your transfer.”

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Comments

  2. I did not read any previous comments, so please forgive redundancy. I love the strength , courage and intelligence of your characters. “Disturbingly casual” I. cannot. wait.

    • Ohh ,love the scenes that feature the two sisters working together.
      You can feel their maturity and intelligence in how they handle the 4 spoiled brats with just a hint of Catalina’s magic.
      Thank you .

  3. If the rest of the book is as good as the deleted scene, you have another winner on your hands.

    Can’t wait until Tuesday!

  5. My spine crawled. My neck muscles tensed and goosebumps crawled up and down my arms. Wow.

  6. If this was deleted, I’m mindboggled about what’s actually IN the next book! Gods, I love the Baylors, and the entire HL universe. Can’t wait to read more about Catalina, and REALLY can’t wait for Arabella’s trilogy! My friend and I have been texting one another with “squee” GIFs for “Ten More Days!” “One More Week until Sapphire Flames!”

  7. Every single time, whether it is snippet or in this case, deleted scene, I am reduced to high pitched squeals of delight.
    Eagerly awaiting release of this novel. Currently speed reading lesser fiction offerings from other authors.
    Thank you 🙂

  9. Thanks for sharing! This deleted scene was crack!

    Can someone please clue me in? What was the dad trying to achieve with the question, “who did you tell?” Was he trying to stiff them on their bill? Because Lina’s reaction “Oh no you don’t” and later “pay us and you won’t be killed” seems to imply (to me) that he had violence on his mind?

    Also, LINUS IS THEIR GRANDPA??! If so, does that mean we don’t get to kill the big bad in the end? God I sound bloodthirsty. And, basic name aside, GO JOHN!!! Potential suitor for Arabella? Loved her line “take care of them or I will ” she’s such a lil bad ass! Grandma Freida would be proud

    • Uh…no. Linus isn’t their grandfather. He treats the Baylors as if they were his grandchildren.

    • I read the question “who did you tell” was House Piney assessing whether or not they should just kill Arabella and Catalina to keep the embezzlement a secret.

    • +1 on Caitlin’s answer.

      Their grandpa was an excised siren from a Greek house. Don’t know that we have been given enough details on Duncan to contradict that, but my impression is he’s part of an established US-based house. I expect his doting is part of a long game as Caesar.

      • I agree! Especially since he’s a fourth generation prime, his family is well known as are their powers, whatever those are.

        Also, Mr. Piney would be a total idiot to pick a fight with house Baylor as that would basically also be picking a fight with House Rohan. Nevada would not let someone who hurt her sisters get away.

        So excited! My only regret is that it takes so long to write yet will only take me a few hours to read.

      • For some reason, I thought Grandma Tremaine used bits and pieces of male prime DNA to create her son. Idk where that idea came from ????????‍♀because iirc, they don’t have gene therapy/modification in HL world?

    • So here’s a House, facing potential ruin thanks to their relative that Catalina investigated…and here are these 2 maybe-Primes of power, come to deliver the news. As the Pines are a telepath house & probably also aware of the Rogan connection, I read this question as, “we’d like to re-arrange your memories or otherwise lay a geas upon you to keep you from speaking of this….EVER”. So we’d like to insist that we rewrite your brains a little.
      But, happily for them House Pine got a clue-bat from Arabella & Catalina’s behavior and backed the bleep off….

      • Huh… That makes sense. Thanks for the thorough explanation ???? sometimes I have trouble reading between the lines

      • Huh… That makes sense. Thanks for the thorough explanation ???? sometimes (often) I have trouble reading between the lines.

  11. Oooooooohhhh! So good! I know you worry but we love everything you write! Thanks for all you do!

  12. Awesome deleted scene. I can’t wait for more of house Baylor. You have created a wonderful world and it will stand on its own no matter who the protagonist is. Relax and everything will be good.

  13. I know this is cut from the next book, but it’s getting me fired up for Sapphire Flames. Like others of the BDH, I’m re-reading the other Hidden Legacy books before Tuesday and I even went back in your blog to search for all the snippets you posted for this book. ???? I can’t tell you not to be nervous, but the word “devouring” is there for a reason. ????

  14. Publishers print fantasy novels that need to be cut down to no more than half their length, yet something wonderful like your writing gets pared down. Makes no sense. Thank you for sharing these “deleted” chapters with us.

    • Ahhh I love this. Catalina is badass!!!

      Uh-oh, Linus. I Gates at the moment he isn’t quite bored.

      Counting the days for the release.

  17. Thank you so much!! I love when you guys post snippets and deleted scenes on the blog. I can’t wait to read Sapphire Flames! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

  18. Looooove it! And soooo looking forward to the release! It’s already pre-ordered so I’m going to wake up and have it on my kindle… and then in paperback a few days later. Good stuff!
    Thanks for sharing! <3

    • Ok, so this is totally greedy of me, but would you ever consider releasing a “book” of all your deleted scenes and short stories? ::throws credit card – please take my money!!!:: Thank you for sharing this with us – it was delightful and I can’t wait to read your next release!!

  23. Wowsers!!!! Oh my ! I am fanning myself. I loooooovvvvvvveeee it!!! Thank so much for sharing this. I love your books and all your books are a success. I can barely contain my excitement as the day to get Sapphire Flames draws near. Please know that any naysayers are not your main group. I love your work and as I have seen from the fans page and reviewers, they think your books are the bomb too! Thank you for sharing your life with us too on the blog…… Thank you so much!!!!!

  31. It’s really hard to like Linus when you think of all the people he has had killed. Cornelius wife and all the times he has targeted Rogan and Nevada and her family. It will be hard when he gets revealed for all of them.’

  32. I can’t wait to read Sapphire Flames. To keep my “Ilona Andrews habit” under control I just reread Magic Binds, Iron and Magic, and Magic Triumphs. ????

  34. Awesome scene so sad it got cut….maybe it needs a delated scene family. They can all hang out in a book all there own….

  36. Re: Twitch sessions – Some of those times are wrong. I noticed the gaps for the time zones were not consistent between sessions, so I used https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html and got:

    Session 1
    EDT (New York) – 12 pm (noon)
    CDT (Houston) – 11 am
    PDT (Los Angeles) – 9 am
    Berlin – 6 pm
    London – 5 pm
    Sydney – 2 am

    Session 2
    EDT (New York) – 8 pm
    CDT (Houston) – 7 pm
    PDT (Los Angeles) – 5 pm
    Berlin – 2 am (Saturday)
    London – 1 am (Saturday)
    Sydney – 10 am (Saturday)

    Also on the Hidden Legacy FAQ under “How did Penelope Lose her PI license?” the first paragraph says “Prices can vary significantly depending on the size of your project. We handle projects for small agencies, and also large projects that can run upwards of $200k. Our minimum project cost is $5,000.”

  37. I was talking to my SIL today about stuff. She just turned 71 and hubby is 72, they’re active and always doing projects in the house/yard and she has taken care of all her grandchildren after school for both families. One set of parents are proactive and doing a good job but the other set not so much. The older kids have benefited greatly by daily contact with their grandparents over the years and it has become more and more apparent as they are into their early twenties. They think and process as adults, have standards of behavior, and accept responsibility for themselves and are realiable in their jobs and personal lives.

    I guess where I’m going with this is that the Baylor family, fiction or not, resonates with me. They are allowed to be their age but are expected and encouraged to be responsible and contributing members of the business and family and to fulfill their part in Team Baylor. That kind of home atmosphere gives kids a solid basis of capable self-confidence that they can handle life’s issues which is part of why I enjoy the books so much as these young people step up and mature into capable adults. And now I’ll get off my soapbox.

    • Hey.. enjoyable / engrossing writing as always!
      Somebody said Linus couldn’t be their grandpa as their grandpa is supposed to be an excised siren ..but who’s to say that it couldn’t be the same person.. as far as I’ve gathered from the novels Linus’ s powers are hidden and he has plenty of charisma and the same kind of power that Lina has.. so maybe House Andrews will surprise us..
      Whatever it’s gonna be I’m sure it would hit the feels..it always does!
      Thanks for sharing these scenes and if u’ve got more scraps from the table we’d- the BDH- be really grateful..love you ..and don’t worry about upcoming reveals as you are Prime authors???? and very much loved by your BDH, who I’m sure would stand by House Andrews.. amen

    • Grandparents, more often than not, raise the youngest generation in my culture (Chinese). As a child, I benefited tremendously from this practice because my grandfather was an amazing person and the only male figure in my life.

      But the same cannot be said for all grandparents. My BFF, for example, was telling me recently that she’s having problems with her mom watching her kids because mom is a compulsive liar and gambler. A drawback in my culture is you don’t really criticize your parents and never, ever, EVER accuse them of lying.

      Tl;dr- not all grandparents are created equal so not all kids raised by grandparents end up like your grand niblings. But overall, if the grandparents are willing and able, I agree that having them help raise lil ones is awesome.

  38. I can’t believe this gets cut. This is fabulous. The 30th is my birthday, so I’m hoping to get a question in. I’m halfway through Sweep of the Blade, and Amazon tells me The new Hidden Legacy will be in my mail box on release day. So exciting. #Luthor

  40. This deleted section was so exciting, the real book must be stunning. I can’t wait for the release to devour it. Way to go! Keep on writing for us fans, please.

  48. I love your snippets. This family totally fascinates me. Thank you for sharing the cut scene. Your cut scenes are most others published ones. Why you’re numero uno.

  49. Oh My Gosh! Love it! Now I can’t wait for this book, as well as Sapphire Flames… Love it! Thank you!

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