My cell rang. An unlisted number. Oh good. Ten to one, somebody wanted to sell me super-special medical insurance or inform me that the IRS was about to arrest me unless I dropped everything and bought an armful of gift cards at Wal-Mart.
I answered it. “What is it?”
“You’re tracking me,” Alessandro said.
Runa’s eyes went big.
“I am not tracking you,” I told him. Technically, it wasn’t even a lie.
“You’re having me tracked. I understand that I’m irresistible. It’s a cross I bear. But do try to have some self-control, Catalina. I’m embarrassed for you.”
He… Argh. “As I recall, I never had a problem resisting you.”
“I thought we agreed that you would drop this.”
“I didn’t agree to anything.”
“Catalina, listen to me. This is serious, the people involved are dangerous, and your well-being is important to me.”
Since when? “Why don’t you tell me more about it? Maybe if I fully understand the danger, I’ll stay out of it.”
“No, you won’t. You have no sense.”
“I have all kinds of sense.”
“This is your last warning, Catalina.”
“Or what?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to find out.”
He hung up.
“I have all kinds of sense?” Runa quoted.
“I was too mad to think of a snappy comeback.”
I glared at the phone. Insufferable ass. When I got my hands on him, I would pry his mind open like a tin can. And then I would make him do a little dance, record it, and play it for him on a loop after I drained my magic off. Irresistible. I’ll show you irresistible. Just you wait.
Fireworks!!!!!
CATALINA AND ALESSANDRO AAAAAAAHHHHH
AAAAAHHHHH!!!!♡♡♡
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
+1
Yay AlessIna!!
Catassandro?
Both of these sound weird lol
Both sound like diseases 😆
How about Catales? Close enough to catalyst that the science geeks out there (I’m looking at you Tyklikat) will like it.
I knew I would spell your name wrong. I meant Tylikcat. I almost had it.
…it’s really Tylik. Tylikcat is the make it longer variant. And clearly a bad idea.
I’m afraid Cassandro got me, some months ago, though yours is rather more sly.
Haha brilliant!! Thank you x
I am loving Catalina so much! You guys never fail to give a voice to secondary characters when you pull them into the spotlight. Thank you for the snippet!
Ohhhhhh, this is going to be so good! Can’t wait for Alessandro’s comeuppance. Didn’t he learn anything from watching Nevada & Connor. Silly man
Oooooooh I’m looking forward to that dance!!
Cooool! Carry on, carry on, don’t let your momentum stop! But have a wonderful Christmas season and know that the snippets are helping to make our holiday bright!
Couldn’t say it better! Thanks for such a fun snippet!
YUS, more Catalina and Runa and Alessando , just love his name.
She is tracking him, is he here in Texas or home in Italy?
I JUST GET SO DAMN HAPPY WHENEVER YOU POST A SNIPPET.
I THINK I AM ADDICTED TO ILONA ANDREWS, AND I LIKE IT .
THANK YOU
I love it!!
I love these snippets but sometimes I feel like someone is offering me a super delicious chocolate before making me watch the rest of the box in an impregnable glass fronted safe….I know they’re in there, and I know I’ll be offered more but damn it, i want all the chocolates now!!
Oh, did I say thanks, before whining? No? Thanks! 🙂
This – totally this!!!
Catalina and Alessandro!!!! I’m loving Runa, too.. I don’t think she was introduced in a previous book, was she?
I think Runa is the poison eater in _Diamond Fire_.
She was the poison mage introduced in Diamond Fire.
And I hear julie andrews singing ” Just you wait Henry Higgins, just you wait.’
Me, also… ???
Audrey Hepburn? That’s what I first thought too!
Julie Andrews on stage, Audrey in the film.
Actually Audrey is the actress in the film, but did not do her own singing
I think the singer’s name was Marni Nixon. It was a huge scandal and cost Audrey Hepburn the Oscar that year. Julie Andrews won for Mary Poppins.
You’ve got it. Marni was the voice for any actresses.
_M_any actresses.
Ahh… young love ❤️
Whoot! Thanks for the snippet!
?
Lol! I needed this today. Thanks so much!
Woooohooooo! Alessandro and Catalina sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g ?
Sometimes when I read, I try to see if I can come up with a snappier comment. Nope, “I have all kinds of sense” is just about as snappy as I could come up with too. ??♀️
Awesome, awesome and more awesomeness!
Thank you, a nice surprise to get my day going.
Thank you! So…Alessandro’s being tracked????? The plot thickens.
It’s New Years Eve and the 4th of July rolled into one! ?
I’m grinning ear to ear after reading this. Thanks for posting!
I suspect, given the previous snippet, that it’s Bug who’s doing the tracking for Catalina.
HUZZAH! Thanks so much for this lovely, lovely snippet. Wishing you and your loved ones in advance a terrific holiday season and a much improved new year!
I’m going to love this book, !!!!
Thank you
Literally rocking in a corner over this. My heart is thumping out of my chest. I’m going to love these two so much ?. Thank you Authorlords, glad you “got it together” ?
Based on the 1st paragraph, i thought you, meaning Ilona, got a call and then got a recording of the other paragraphs. What a prank it would be!
So, soooo good! Thank you so much!!
Love it!!! I cannot wait!!! Where can I ship you two Death Wish coffee? Just want to help out with a little extra caffeine! ?
Thank you. Obviously the relationship is a foregone conclusion. Neither will admit it. That’s a sure fire recipe for fun. Wheeeee!
WANT, NEED, put in my hands – my precious – CANNOT WAIT – you guys rock and thanks
Happy Day!!! Omg I can’t wait for the book! It will be so fun. I love their interactions already 🙂
Thank you. I have a sick kid here; he is missing last few days of the semester. It is throwing my baking schedule off until his Mom can come get him. Auntie is tired already and needed a smile.
YESSSSSS! I’m so stoked for this next book!
God! I love it. If you ask me which Book/ series of IA is my favorite I couldn’t truly choose… unless I could say “the next one”
Is this a lovers spat or former lovers spat. Either way, I am so ready to read this!!
hahahaa, too much fun!
AHHHHHH i’m so excited to see more of Catalina!!!!! thank you!
Like a moth to the flame those two are destined to create some sparks. As usual, you are in the process of creating another irresistible story. Thank you for this snippet.
YUM!
LOL, I have holiday brain! when I started to read this post I didn’t realize it was a snippet. I’m all, “Why is the world are you answering an unlisted number on your cell….are you procrastinating so you don’t have to write?…”
I swear there was an audible CLICK when I read Alessandro and realized that it was a snippet.
I am in pre-holiday-travel-freakout-mode right now and this completely made my day!! Thank you so much <3 <3
Runa&Catalina (friendship) + Catalina&Alessandro (banter) =perfection.
I also thought it was Ilona, silly me. Thank you for the snippet! Looking forward to the book!
Me, too! My first thought after reading the first paragraph was, “Oooh, I can’t wait to see what Ilona tells them this time!” Now I want to find the post where she talked about what she did last time. It was classic.
Whoo what a nice surprise I was having withdrawal symptoms this has cheered me right up thank you AL waiting with baited breath for the book??????
Love these snippets, thank you! But so many questions: what case? How is Alessandro involved? Is Caesar involved or is it totally unrelated? Can’t wait to find out ?
I’m thinking, you got it together! And thank you ?
When can I buy this again?!?!
https://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Flames-Hidden-Legacy-Book-ebook/dp/B07G141J8W
Also, just popped up on Barnes & Noble site for those of us with nooks. Trying to find some relief from the end of the Innkeepers, I’ve checked out the sites of other must buy authors. No one has a site as good or as friendly as yours. Thanks for the snippets and the blog.
Yeah, for the snippets of catalina and allessandro!!! Can’t wait for this book!
Yes! Yes! Yes! This made me smile so much – thanks for sharing!
Ahahaha!!! Catalina and Runa are besties!
(…and now some part of my poor warped brain is insisting that Runa needs her own story, which will be called “Tainted Love”… this of course is a terrible idea, though maybe it wouldn’t make a bad soundtrack.)
Tainted Love is already a song – from the 80s by Soft Cell. Yes I am old 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF68OyTlP4E
That’s what I had in mind 🙂 (Ah, the stories I could tell you, like when some of my friends did a belly-dance routine to Tainted Love…)
I thought about this one:
https://youtu.be/1ybaiCgOFUQ
😀 Every time I hear that song, I see Fraternity Row after dark in my mind.
NOT the Marilyn Manson version.
Great snippet thanks for the teaser! 🙂
Woot! Thanks for the fun snippet.
Oooohhhh!! Catalina getting feisty! Can’t wait!
Ha! Good times! Can’t wait for their story.
Sweet!
This is going to be sooooo much fun. Cannot wait but like with Innkeeper, I will deal.
+1
Thank you. I love these snippets.
+1
I love Catalina’s sass! Glad you’re getting some writing to happen. Thanks for sharing!
Fabulous! I can’t wait for the book, whenever it may be released. Thanks for the snippet ?
So thrilled that you’re continuing to share little snippets!
Happy holidays to you and all your household! – xoxo – A.
“Ten to one, somebody wanted to sell me super-special medical insurance or inform me that the IRS was about to arrest me unless I dropped everything and bought an armful of gift cards at Wal-Mart.”
For some reason, my latest spam calls are in Chinese. Don’t understand them at all.
Personally, I enjoy the emails that threaten to expose my kinky tastes to the world unless I send them a bunch of bitcoin.
Amusingly, I get these pretty regularly, and the asking price keeps dropping.
I’ve been getting a lot of Chinese spam calls too. I actually do speak Chinese and, if the ones you’ve been getting are anything like mine, there’s an important message waiting for you at the Chinese Consulate and if you don’t want your residency status affected, you need to press 1 immediately.
I got bored one day and pressed 1.
Dude wanted money. Shocker, I know. I told him I was reporting his ass to the fcc (random agency I pulled out of my ass idk if they even care about robo calls) and that what he does for a living is shitty and I basically cursed him out. He hung up on me. They still call me 3-5x a week. ??♀️
Those are the ones I’ve been getting… except I never let it get that far.
I’ve gotten a different one recently, though it sounds like a variation on the same idea.
Report them actually! ?
They’re impossible to track down. They use one of those voip fake number apps or something because every single time they call, it’s a diff number. And the number never lasts long either because I tried calling back a few times to bitch at them but the number wasn’t in service. These jackasses are scaring old Chinese people into forking over all their money.
You pressed 1? That was a mistake. You should have pressed 4 repeatedly. (Language joke – the number 4 sounds like “die” in Mandarin)
Bwahahahha
Or 555. Which is pronouced as “Hahaha” in Thai.
Thank you!
“I thought we agreed that you will drop this”… And now I wonder what “this” are they talking about 😆 Nice teaser. And aditionally it’s nice to read about Cat & Runa as a team.
Now I’m singing Just You Wait Henry Higgins, just you wait. And I now am picturing Catalina looking like Audrey Hepburn.
Was going to comment that the only thing missing was the “‘Enry ‘Iggins” part. Thank you for beating me to it.
Awesome thanks for the sneak peak. Have a wonderful Christmas
I’m really curious who Arabella ends up with. Just saying.
?? LOL- thank you- made me smile and giggle just a little here at work.
***snickers***
I adore Catalina ???
I look forward to reading the new book.
That is Kate Daniels level snark. I am impressed!
Thank you for making my night so enjoyable.
Beyond excited for their story!!! Thank you!!!!
?????
Thank you!
I am so excited for this book!!! Thank you for the tease!
Yay!!! Snippet to make a long day better!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
So much fun!
Stuck at work and thought…hmmm…haven’t checked today. OK, so I’m addicted to IA, and at least I’ve found a support group!
Same here. Thanks Ilona and Gordon!!
Thank you for the snippet, are you sure it won’t be out till August?
Hope you and the family have a wondrous Christmas, New Year & Birthday!!
Love these little nuggets!
Fabulous!
Thank you. It’s gonna be epic.
Yes, this is exactly what I needed today! ? Thank you!
Yazzz!!!!! Thank you 🙂
I wonder if I have all kinds of sense? Probably not if I’m wondering about it 😉
I can tell this one is going to be a blast!! I just finished rereading “Diamond Fire” and these snippets just fit perfectly. Does Alessandro seem to have a bit of an ego? *LOL* Sounds like Catalina is going to cut him down to size.
+1! Happy Holidays
I see you got it together, lol !
I can’t wait for this book to come out !!!!
Ohhhh!!!!
I can’t wait (doing my happy dance)
Ooooo, arrogance, sparks slash chemistry, and plotting for revenge! Hee hee hehehe hee hee! Go Catalina!?
I blame the AL for now gaving thus song stuck in my head.
?
Just you wait Alessandra just you wait.
You’ll be sorry but your tears ‘ll be to late
You’ll be broke and I’ll have money
Will I help you? Don’t be funny
Just you wait, Alessandra just you wait.
?
great, now its stuck in my head too…
Henry Higgins is the Disney equivalent of Mr. Collins
Squeeeeeeee!
That is all.
Thank you for the snippet! Loved the part about where she says “I have all kinds of sense”. Seem so life like, I don’t know how many times I couldn’t think of a comeback.
?
I just finished Burn for Me and I am reading White Hot. This snippet is perfect timing.? Thank you
Thank you! Love it! ;o)
Snippet, Snippet Snippet!!!
They keep whetting the appetite and the saliva runs down my chin in anticipation of the final product..
CAN.NOT.WAIT…
For some reason I thought it was a regular blog post at first, until the “You’re tracking me” part lol
Thank you for the wonderful snippet ❤️ Much appreciated
I though that too hahaha
The “You’re tracking me” made me go “Wait. Whaaat?”
+1
O-0ooh,
just you wait.
That’s just mean! We’re talking August of 2019 ooooh
Glad you got your groove back … even if you need to torment us?
Reading good
??? Thank you! I needed that laugh. I’m still cackling. And this is more proof of why it’s a very good thing I do not have magic powers bc I would be deeply tempting to shamelessly abuse the privilege. LOL
I missed out on who Runa is….
In “Diamond Fire” Runs is the poison-sniffer mage. She advances the plot, but I don’t want to put in any spoilers if you haven’t read it.
Runa NOT Runs. Blast that Autocorrupt!
Go Catalina!
She’s going to be so cool- can’t wait to see what that dance will look like and what danger that conversation was all about in the first place.
Coral isn’t the colour of the year for 2019- Sapphire is!
Love the snippet so much, thank you.
Let’s just call it “Padparadscha Sapphire” instead of Coral 😉
Hahaha! Love it! Thank you very much, it has brightened the currently sick me !
Have a nice day ! :))
He has no idea what is heading for him….LOL .
Thanks, ya’ll.
You claim you are having problems, and then you post this. (There’s a shrug emoji, but I can’t remember the keystrokes; use your imagination.)
Best wishes,
your loving fan/book-devouring demon. 😉
Thank you for the snippet!
I was all excited to see something Hamilton… and then was not at all disappointed to get a snippet.
There’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait!
~Alexander Hamilton
? Thank you, I needed that.
Oooooo I can hardly wait myself!
Thank you thank you for the snippets. It’s helping me keep me together until this book is out.
I can spend stupid amounts of time carefully crafting the sharp, witty/cutting things I should have said, but of course didn’t at the time. My mother would rehearse what she might say, just in case… Ah well. Thanks for the snippet – I’m re-reading Gunmetal Magic for the nth time – just past the purple carpet bit!
I really love all the snippets. Thank you for them. They leave me smiling all day. I have pre-ordered the book on Amazon and can’t wait for it to come out. Happy Holidays to All.
Love how he throws her words back at her so she can see how frustrating it is when someone doubts your motivations.
Oh, Catalina! I can hardly wait!
I envy her that capability…
Lurf! As in, I lurf this. It is beyond love. English fails at describing love and depends on adjectives. So, yeah. Lurf.
Ooooh can’t wait …
I am being an ungrateful brat here. I KNOW IT. I apologize in advance. But…
WHINE, WHINE, WHINE…. why AUGUST!!! I.WANT.IT.NOW!
Okay, I know all the reasons I can’t have it now. Ungrateful brat time over, I am happy to wait for your books. I’m just really looking forward to this one. I love Catalina and Alessandro already.
August!? Oh lordy what am I gonna do? I’ve already listened to the series four times. I guess I’ll start over again. Loved the snippet!!!
I keep coming back just for the last paragraph. That is the best revenge I’ve ever heard, and now I WISH I had the power to do that to my enemies. Oh, the blackmail.