The trek from the anchor chamber to the gate was short. So short, I nearly cried. Only a few dozen yards on the other side of the anchor chamber the ground sloped downhill into a wide tunnel that led pretty much straight to the gate. I had wandered through the tunnels for days. I must’ve crossed above this tunnel several times, never finding access to it.
After the first few minutes I started running. Jovo kept up with me and we bounded through the passage, with Bear in the lead. The way was clear. All the monsters were either dead or too scared to get in our way.
We’d crossed the killing site of Malcolm’s team. I stopped long enough to pick up some aetherium charges. I didn’t look at the bodies.
The assault team had marked their path with white arrows painted on the walls. Following their route was easy.
We’d been running for what felt like a couple of hours, when I saw an orange arrow on the wall. I remembered when Hotchkins drew it. We had reached the turn off to the mining site.
Finding London’s cave-in took no time at all. Two aetherium detonations later, we blasted a hole through the rubble. With my new strength, I could’ve dug through it, but I was in a hurry, and when I flexed, my talent conveniently marked the best place for an explosion.
We made it into the mining site. The bodies lay where they fell. Nothing fed on them, nothing touched them. They had been decomposing for a week and some were beginning to bloat. The four gress, however, had shrunk as the shroud leeched off the last of their body fluids. I set off the remaining amulets one by one, until the dead gress became ash.
My mother was decomposing too, although much slower than the humans around her. I wrapped her in her robe, carried her into a side tunnel, to one of the dead ends, and placed her on the bottom of a shallow pool while Jovo stood guard. I used the last aetherium charge to collapse the passageway. Cold Chaos had no reason to go this way and with luck, her body would remain undiscovered.
I stood there by her tomb in silence for a long moment.
Thank you for your gift. I promise I won’t squander it.
The secret of the breach was hidden. It was time to go home.
#
Main blade, backup blade, four aetherium grenades…
Elias turned away from the table filled with his gear. Something was going on outside. He headed to the library’s entrance. Outside the window, the sunrise barely began, the street and the gate awash in the early dawn light.
Elias stopped by the tinted window. The gate was on his left. In front of it, Leo stood with his arms crossed. Kovalenko was on Leo’s right, lean, dark-haired, holding his bow. The cryo ranger was poised on his toes, the bow casually hanging in his hand. Kovalenko summoned energy projectiles, which his mind shaped into arrows. Contrary to the misleading name of his talent, they didn’t encase things in ice. When one of Kovalenko’s arrows struck, his target seized up, frozen in their tracks for a couple of moments, as if tased. The bow wasn’t strictly necessary, but it helped him aim.
To the right, at the mouth of the street, ten people had disembarked from a personnel carrier, grouping themselves around their leader. Tall and broad-shouldered, he towered over his team, and his bulky tactical armor, reinforced with adamant, only made him look larger. Anton Sokolov, a bastion Talent, a good solid tank with just the right amount of aggression. The woman next to him was older and willowy, her dark blond hair pulled back into a French braid. JoAnne Wright, otherwise known as the Bloodmist. For some reason, a lot of women awakened as pulse carvers, high burst damage dealers who used bladed weapons and diced their opponents into pieces in a controlled frenzy. JoAnne was one of the best.
Elias recognized a few other faces. All ten had the same charcoal and white patch on their gear: a dark square showing a shield with two stylized wings spreading from its sides. A faceless human bust rose out of the shield with a sharp corona of triangular rays stabbing outward from its head. It was meant to evoke guardian angels and general badassery, but to him it looked like some faceless winged crash dummy thrust its head through the shield and was now stuck wearing it like a yoke.
The ten people on the street wore it proudly. The Guardian Guild had sent their A team to claim the Elmwood gate.
He didn’t hold it against Graham. It wasn’t personal. Graham was like a shark: always hungry and looking for something to sink his teeth into.
Krista walked out of the library’s depths and stopped next to Elias. A faint red glow traced her long dark fingers, a precursor to an inferno.
“Look at them all dressed up. Bless their hearts.”
“Are we ready?” Elias asked.
“We’re good.”
“London?”
“Geared and armed. If he isn’t happy about it, he’s keeping it to himself.”
“I’ll need you to watch him in the breach.”
She smiled. “No worries. If he sneezes the wrong way, I’ll be on him like a hawk.”
On the street Anton shrugged his massive shoulders. “You’re standing between me and my gate, Leonard.”
“Funny, I thought I was standing between you and our gate.”
Anton sighed. “Don’t be fucking difficult. We both know the DDC is going to announce the gate change.”
“If they reassign it and if the Guardians get that assignment, we’ll revisit the issue.” Leo’s voice was cold and light. “Until then, you are trespassing. This is your only warning: turn around, sashay back to your soccer dad minivan, and get the fuck out of here.”
“Your healer is stuck in Hong Kong,” Anton boomed. “And the old man isn’t here to pull your ass out of the fire.”
The old man, huh?
“We know he left for HQ last night.”
Elias’s eyebrows crept up. Last night he and Leo returned to HQ. It was late but he wanted to speak to Ada’s children one more time before the news broke. Leo came with him for that conversation and then went back to the site in the Cold Chaos vehicle. Elias stayed for another hour, finishing up some last-minute things. He’d taken a ride-share back, had it drop him off several streets away, then ran the last couple of miles to clear his head. It worked – he’d slept well for the first time in a week.
Someone from the Guardians must’ve been watching the site and noted Leo coming back without him.
“We all know you can’t go in,” Anton continued. “There are ten of us here and we’re ready to enter. Why don’t you step aside and let us fix your mess?”
“He did just say that there were ten of them?” Leo asked.
“Yes,” Kovalenko confirmed. “He learned to count.”
“Did that sound like a threat to you?” Leo wondered.
“It did.”
Leo’s eyes blazed with white. Two huge dark wings thrust from his back, ethereal as if woven from a thunderstorm. Lightning crackled and danced across the phantom contour feathers.
A pulse of deep green shot from Anton and contracted back into an aura that sheathed the big man like second armor.
“Persistent,” Krista said. “What do they know that I don’t?”
“There is a big adamantite vein in that breach,” Elias said.
“Someone has been talking.”
“Mhm.”
And he had a very good idea who. The pool of suspects was limited to four. Wagner was too pessimistic, Drishya was too young and inexperienced, and Melissa thought the guild completely had her back, thanks to Leo’s gentle style of interrogating. Only one person’s future was in doubt. London had taken an opportunity to open another door for himself.
“They aren’t normally that aggressive.” Krista frowned.
“This is being recorded,” Elias said. “They are hoping to provoke us and then splatter it all over the media.”
“You are in violation of Article 3 of the Gate Regulation Act.” Leo’s voice was an eerie, unnaturally loud whisper underscored by the roar of a distant storm. “Retreat or we will be forced to remove you for your safety.”
Anton took a step forward. The team behind him fanned out into a battle formation. Anton took another step. A third.
“That’s my cue.” Elias picked up his coffee mug and stepped out the door.
JoAnne was the first to see him. She put her hand on Anton’s arm and when he didn’t react, she said something under her breath. Anton stopped walking.
For a moment nobody moved.
Elias sipped his coffee and started forward. Behind him, Jackson came out of the library and leaned on the wall.
Elias reached the middle of the street, took a deeper breath, and let go. Power roared out of him, snapping into an invisible half-sphere. Twenty yards ahead of him a mining cart slid out of the way.
Anton glanced at the cart and back at Elias.
Elias kept walking. His forcefield moved with him. The two heavy trailers just ahead of the Guardian group slid to the sides, gouging the pavement, pushed out of Elias’s path.
The rival guild group backed away. Anton remained and pulled a sword off his back. The seventy-five-inch-long blade was solid black. Pure adamant. Nice.
The forward edge of Elias’ shield touched the rival tank.
Anton gripped his sword, and the oversized blade burst into purple glow. The big man swung. The sword smashed into the forcefield and bounced off.
Elias kept walking.
Anton took a step back and slashed again. The sword rebounded.
Anton slid backward. Two feet. Three. Four. The tank reversed his sword and raised it above the pavement, about to stab it into the ground to anchor himself.
“It will break,” Leo called out.
“I’d listen to him.” Elias said, pausing. “It’s a good sword.”
Anton stared at them for a long second.
Elias drank his coffee.
The Guardian tank sheathed his sword. Elias dropped the shield. Another moment and it would be tapped out anyway.
The Guardians eyed him, wary.
Elias took the final swallow of his coffee. “Tell Graham that if he feels some way about this, he’s welcome to give me a call after I’m done with this gate.”
Anton turned his back to him and went back to the van. His team followed.
Elias watched them go, then turned around. “Alright people, I want us in that breach in ten minutes!”
#
The gate loomed before me, huge and dark. I turned to Jovo and pointed at it.
“Home.”
He grinned.
I opened my arms and hugged him.
He hugged me back and said something in his language. If my gem was awake, I might have understood it, but it was still dormant.
Jovo tinkered with his bracelet. A pale hole formed in the middle of the tunnel, with a fiery rim that spun like a pinwheel, throwing long trails of sparks. I glimpsed a strange city of sand-colored stone poised against a purple sky with a huge, shattered planet hanging above it.
Jovo pointed at the portal. “Baha-char. Kiar sae Baha-char.”
I had no idea what baha-char was.
He grabbed my hands, looking into my eyes, and pronounced the words slowly.
“Baha-char, Ada. Kiar sae Baha-char.”
This seemed vitally important. “Kiar sae Baha-char.”
He nodded.
“I’ll remember,” I promised.
Jovo grinned, let go of my hands, bowed to me, and dove into the portal. It snapped closed behind him, vanishing into thin air.
The tunnel lay dark and silent.
I took a deep breath and pulled my phone out of the pocket of my coveralls. I had carried it with me all this time, in a military grade shatterproof and water-tight case. I had turned it off when I entered the breach and hadn’t fired it back up even once. Even when turned off, phones still lost charge, and I needed it to power on now. My life literally depended on it.
I pushed the power button.
#
Elias surveyed the nine-member assault team in full battle gear. The best Cold Chaos had to offer. They looked ready. Everyone was rested. The sun was up. It was time.
He turned back to the black hole of the gate. “Alright. Let’s do this.”
#
The electric glow of the phone screen lit up the tunnel. Only 2% of the charge left, but it was enough. Just enough.
The camera wouldn’t work and I couldn’t waste any charge on it. I couldn’t see myself. I didn’t know what I looked like now or if I had enough humanity left in me to exit. My hands shook from the pressure.
I scrolled through my contacts, found the right name, and tugged the sleeve of my coveralls over my sword bracelet. Here is hoping I won’t need it.
I was still me. I was Ada Moore. It had to let me out.
There was only one way to find out.
“Come, Bear.”
My dog wagged her tail, and we strode into the gate.
Thank you for joining us for this weekly serial. It was so much fun watching you read the Inheritance. So many feels, so many theories. We are so grateful you chose to spend this time with us.
If you would like to know how the story ends, join us on Monday, when we will talk about projected release dates and reveal the cover.
First
Certified 😀
First?
First?
Thanks! Really looking forward to the finalized book (and hopefully sequels come)
💃🏻💃🏻🤓! Thank you House Andrew.
TGI Friday BDH.
Photo finish!
I know! I hope Ada goes through first, ends up right in front of London, and punches him right in the nose. She’ll have to pull her strength a bit so she doesn’t push the fragments into his brain and kill him, but she could at least break his nose.
Oh yes, that would be so awesome! He deserves it so much, on top of legal charges.
Punches him in the nose? Yeah, I can see that. I was thinking Ada kneeing London in a soft spot, so he can double over in front of everyone. 😀
So long as pain is involved, I’m good with either or both of these ideas. And more! Don’t hold back, Ada!
Why not both? I’ve learned from House IA that once they double over from the first kick the second one can get the nose more easily.
Oh yes, chef’s kiss for that idea.
the soft spot is less likely to result in damages that would result in coma or death – especially with the upgrades. Better for subsequent legal actions agains him. And equally as satisfying.
A woman needs to be practical about such things
+1,000
I’d love for London to try to kill her and for Bear to defend her so she doesn’t have to reveal anything about her capabilities (and doesn’t have to deal with pesky assault charges.)
omg. love this, what a cliffhanger!!
Yay!!! Happy Friday!
Thanks for the new chapter
top 5?
Not first, but sooo happy!
Happy weekend 🙂
happy friday….
thanks for the installment
Top 10?
YAY!!!!
AAArrgghh!!! Thank you … can’t wait until the book is released!!
+1000
I can’t believe we have to wait until Monday! I’m ready for the whole book now.
+1!!!!!!!!! Love it so much! Really looking forward to the final bit! (Don’t want it to be over, but want to see the ending.) 🤗
Amazing, I cannot wait for Monday!
I’ve now set with it for a minute, and I love Ada. She rescued herself, and kicks major a. Absolutely amazing, and can’t wait to see who she calls as she walks out to make sure she doesn’t disappear!
Thank you so much for sharing The Inheritance with us, I’ll be buying it as soon as it is available, loved it!
Woo hoo!
Yes!
Wait, noooooo!
*pouting*
Obviously I’ll be buying it as soon as it’s released.
+100000
Thank you for another phenomenal serial. I can’t wait to purchase the ebook the moment it releases.
Top twenty! WOO HOO
If this is what I suspect it might be, it’s going to bring a happy end to a looooong week. Thanks.
hello!🤗
Dang! That was good. Can’t wait for release.
So Ada and Elias are going to finally meet at the GATE? in the LAST CHAPTER?
HA, you’re killing me.
I know, right? I didn’t expect it to happen that way.
I LOVE that Ada saves herself. She is not a damsel in distress waiting for some prince to rescue her.
This is absolutely enthralling. I am completely hooked. Thank you very much for sharing your talents with the BDH.
I hope you and ModR have a wonderful weekend.
CAN I PLEASE JUST BUY IT NOW???
I would pay extra for the unedited, coverless book (although the illustrations really are fantastic)
P*tience, young Hordawan! The extra content will be worth it, I *promise*.
And we take our promises seriously around here 😀
Now you’ve done it, ModR. Now I want a tumbler that says “P*tience, young Hordawan”. With the *. Two BDH jokes in one sentence. Or maybe…
“P*tience, young Hordawan. Practice your chalantness.”
3 jokes in 2 sentences.
The Traditional Skillset of the BDH 😀
I love that and need such a tumbler as well!
Might I humbly suggest that we add hordevalanche to our lexicon as well?
That is when one of the BDH inquires innocently about some snippet or story they wish to read and can’t find OR when one of us mentions something that could theoretically be written (like an Augustine novel with a certain animal mage lady as the love interest) and then that triggers every BDH member who now immediately needs this as well or we will all surely die. 🙂
In all seriousness, I’m glad House Andrews loves us because we can be… a lot.
Let’s get them all in there,
“P*tience, young Hordawan.
Practice your chalantness.
Remember, not all cushions are Ripper Cushions”
Along with all of those, here is one more. “Remember, we must practice waiting (or w*iting)”. Then, only then we can buy the book. 🤣
Love this! Is it okay to put this on carry bags by hand? Since the store will probably remain closed, our heroes are too busy writing, besides they never make the mugs big enough for me, I NEED 24 oz mugs. 🤔
I’ll buy that.
I don’t mean to give you or House Andrews a hard time. I just want to express my gratitude by giving them my money ASAP.
I would buy both versions!
Patience and devouring aren’t very compatible attributes unfortunately. The serial format is such a delicious agonizing trial.
You and House Andrews do qualify for sainthood putting up with the BDH.
Brilliant!
Hordawan!! Love it! I’m so using that in the future!
wasn’t Graham the Guardians guild master part of the Original Cold Chaos team?
I’m excited to see how Bear reacts to the cold chaos team (maybe he knows some of them)? I’m kind of hoping he takes out London. ans I wonder how Ada is going to claim him.
I think she can make a case for compensation for pain and suffering plus the emotional trauma of her children, that giving up Bear is a good start.
Oh, and she can also sue London (at least) and maybe also Melissa. They won’t need their money in prison.
Or Bear isn’t Bear. Maybe he’s so changed she can pretend it’s not the same dog that died with the mining team. 🙂
Maybe Bear can walk up and pee on London after Ada hits him?
🤣🤣🤣
😀 My first reaction was “He’s not good enough to pee on”
Given how much “meat” Bear has consumed, he probably needs to go potty and I can’t think of a better spot…
Very good. I’m excited to read 5he full book.
omg.. I so want Ada to walk out and stab London
No, no. Don’t want to go to prison. I suggested breaking his nose, but I’ll also accept breaking his jaw. At most she’d get community service.
In the leg, or an arm? Pretty please? This demands blood be spilled.
Happy Friday!
London will attack her. He has no other choice to protect his story, It will be self defense .
That’s an interesting take on self defence 😅
I think Norbert’s talking about Ada killing London in self defense because London attacked her not London defending himself.
Exactly
I could see that or running away for some reason. Or immediately blaming Melissa. He might even put on a show of surprise. Then celebrate her return. He seems like a chameleon that adjusts quickly. Attacking survivors would be a bad look.
Wonderful almost last chapter! This member of the BDH eagerly anticipates the finale of Ada’s reunion with her children when the book is released which will be soon ( we hope).
Okay. Wonderful combination of Ada & company POV with Elias & crew. Love the B-C tie-in.
BUT last snippet before release?🫣🤪
Yep, it is 🙂
Jovo had a ‘Marvel Sparkle Circle’ to Baha Char! 😆
WOOHOO
Can’t wait for the book!
Thank you for a great saga’s beginning; I’ll be here Monday, and eagerly awaiting all news.
Yay she made it!!!! Can’t wait to read it again!
Oh thank you!! I have always expected they will meet somewhere inside the breach 🙂 But this is so much better 🙂
Thanks so much! I can’t wait to get the ebook and see how it ends.
I cannot wait to read the end! This has been awesome! Thanks so much!
What a hook! Looking forward to reading in its entirety and the following sequels *grin*.
baha char! I have been there! thank
you for this, I’ll be waiting for the book! so good!
YES! Baha-char. I have images of Ada setting up shop just down the row from Wilmos. If she’s too changed to stay on earth, Baha-char is the perfect solution.
That made my Friday – THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Baha-char!
Meeting at the gate right after the Guardian Guild lost their challenge for it is going to be amazing and I can’t wait to see how London responds as he sees Ada. I’m glad she didn’t have to go way out of her way; I guess I was thinking she wouldn’t have ammunition to blast back in to the mining site.
I’m sad her kids are going through grief and worry but glad she’s coming soon.
I can’t wait to shower money on House Andrews. <3
I usually don't try to play the first game because my sleep schedule varies. But I was awake and then when I got the chance I was so nervous my fingers kept fumbling the keys.
Thank you.
waaaaaaaaah! total ciffhanger.
I both love it and hate it. I’m very excited for the full story. 😍
Thank you I have never looked so forward to a Monday LOL! I have loved this story!
Ooooo jakie to było dobre !Chcę tę książkę w jakimkolwiek języku się ukaże . Ludu BHD , dawaj znaki gdzie można będzie nabyć ebook 🙂 Muszę go mieć 😀
Oh. My. God.
I may die of anticipation before I get to read the end!! I cannot chalant here!
This was SO good and there are so many great stories that could be anchored in this world, I’m super-excited to read all of them!
Thank you, Beloved House Andrews! This was such a gift and made Mondays seem better!
Also full-challant here!
Woohoo, looking forward to Baha-Char and clan Kiar in the sequel! I wonder how they’ll reward her and what Jovo was doing in the breach at first.
Hope it doesn’t take long for the book to be available. So where do we go from here? Has Dina talked to Maude to tell here there is a door now to come for a visit? How Huge doing after the Harvest festival? How’s the construction of Fort in the woods? How about Derek and Julie, what’s happening there?
Can you put all the posts pertaining to Huge in one place? Would like to read it again. Helps to pass the time.
The Hugh chapters were archived when The Inheritance started and are no longer available 🙂
Magnificent!
Thank you for these snippets. I yearn for the whole story right now, of course. I’m on B&N epub library.
Will I be able to pre-order on Monday?
We’ll hear more details about the order on Monday but it’s not likely to be up yet 🙂
Wheee! or is it Squee!? Awesome, Baha Char level awesome even. See you Monday
We squee, you squee, we all squee for Cookie!
Dang it, I wanted something generic for HA, but Cookie was the only thing that fit the rhyme. Anyone else have a better ending? It could be our new rallying cry.
I squee, you squee, we all squee, please, take our money 🤑
Lol much as I adore sweet fluffy Cookie. I like this battle cry so much.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Jovo lives at Baha Char? Or something like that? And, that means, Ada can get / go there? Now, who did she call on her way out? And boyo its going to be they step in she steps out… 🙂 And there’s a rivalry for the Gate… AND… Oh the places we can go. Chiiii! I wonder what the BDH will come up with 🙂
That was my thought too. Who did she pull up to contact? I would say her kids but she indicated this was vital for her safe re-entry into her human dimension. So I’m between the DDC and Elias.
My guess for all the chocolate in candy-land, or for £100 fake monopoly money, is……drum toll please…….. her daughter!
Family first, BDH.
Anyone else willing to make this leap with me?
Reply to RJ
I thought the first person she would Call would be her daughter also.
But after rereading, it occurred to me that Ada last talked to her daughter before entering the gate. No contact list would be needed. Just tapped the most recent Call.
I’d guess she is calling to notify whoever watches the gate that a friendly is coming thru. So no one shoots her, thinking that she is an invading monster. This is clearly a preset procedure in case someone gets separated from their crew. I’d imagine there’s something like a light near the gate that turns green or something. Hopefully something better, since something like 9% of the population is red-green colorblind.( 1% is blue-yellow colorblind.) But some obvious indicator near the gate that shows an authorized signal has been received. Since she doesn’t pause for confirmation, must b automated.
Given that she’s worried the gate won’t let her thru, she would never call her daughter until she is safe. Imagine if she called her kid, then stepped thru and was killed. Shudder. Nope.
Wasn’t there something in the Clean Sweep series that all inns lead to Ba~Ha Char? It’s like the intergalactic airport, so to speak lol. So Jovo was probably telling her if she can get to Ba~Ha, they can meet there
what if her gem helps her find an inn?
how great would it be if she says, I don’t need a room, just a door to baha-char?
there’s got to be an Inn in Chicago or at least the Midwest
Release day here we come!
Wow. way to set it up.
thank you so much!
It is sooo good. I am so happy to be part of the BDH. We are blessed.
Patiently waiting for the release date 💗
*takes a deep breath*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
I am not chalant! I AM NOT CHALANT RIGHT NOW.
+1-infinity!!!
I knew someone would react just like me when I finished reading! Deeeeep breaths. Om….I am chalant…..I am chalant….I AM NOT chalant!!!!!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thank you. That was a scream of “oh noes! I have to wait until I can buy the book!”
Noooo🤯. What a cliffhanger! So good though👏, thanks IA.
Now we will w*it chalantly for the ebook 😶🌫️.
And audiobook and paperback, before someone asks 😀
You know us so well!
It’s like you know us…..
😉
soooo good!! thank you
Whooo! Action! Yay! So close to release!!!
Fantastic!🥳
And
Oh dang, the story cut off before we saw what happened when London sees Ada and Bear emerge from the gate!!!
Looking forward to Monday! 😊
I think the story cutting off just *after* London sees Ada and Bear would be worse!
Amazing!!! Thank you this wonderful story. Your ability to create characters and worlds of such depth is a testament to your skill and hard work. Thank you❤️
+1
So ready to buy this book and get to the ending!
Ahhhh! The pain! I absolutely cannot wait! Excellent story. Thanks.
Big sigh of contentment. Can’ wait to get the book and see how it all turns out. I’ve really enjoyed the serial. Thank you!
Also… Baha char!
Perfect! Can’t wait for the release!
Thank you!
OMG. So wonderful. Thank you!
Loved this so much. With the promise of more …Jovo can’t have made her say Baha Char for no reason. She has to go there and meet the Space Chickens and Bear should meet Wilmos’ dog.
Also — Hordawan. 💀
who did she call? Melissa? 🤣
can’t wait for the book release! Love the illustrations too and I hope they are part of the book!
Pretty sure Melissa is not on her list of trusted people (if she ever was – she was a friendly work drinking partner more than anything)… She knows letting Melissa know she’s alive would lower rather than raise her chances of survival.
Wow that was great! I am looking forward to getting to read the whole book Than you!
Hah! London is going to have a real hard time jumping ship to Guardian when not only do they not get the chance to get the treasure he snitched to them about, but also they get shown proof that he is a dirty liar about there being no survivors and can’t be trusted to keep their people safe. I don’t want him to die; I want him to live with his ruined reputation for decades. I hope he gets blacklisted!
I wonder how Ada is going to hide the dial from Cold Chaos and the government. I assume that she will be brought to the hospital to be assessed after her ordeal. Won’t there be chances for them to look through her stuff? I assume in general that guilds and the government don’t want people smuggling things in and out of breaches, so they probably would do searches…
Wonder if that aspect of the story will be addressed in this book or the sequel(s)?
Thank you! Can’t wait for the release info.
my brain is finally processing.
Maybe Ada’s ultimate revenge against London isn’t letting Bear get him (wouldn’t want Bear hurt! or put down as too aggressive).
it’s that she destroyed all the evidence of humanoid combatants. And she doesn’t want to let that cat out of the bag so she’s going to deny London and Melissa’s story completely. The miners and escorts killed by London’s charge will be obvious. could she pin the gress killings on London? for trying to hog the Adamantite? IDK motive.
My guess is she’s calling the DDC hotline.
London and Cold Chaos may think that the alien combatants just fought through the mining site and continued down one of the other tunnels.
The evidence of the bodies at both the mining and the assault team sites support the existence of the deadly fighters.
Not to forget that all the monsters around the anchor have been slaughtered as well.
Even without the Grees bodies, there is lots of clear evidence that something was on a killing spree in the breach. The fact that many predators have inexplicably been eliminated, makes Ada‘s survival alone in the breach, despite being a non-combatant, plausible.
London is exposed and finished as soon as Ada walks out alive. She doesn‘t need to lay a finger on him to decimate him.
Hmm, hadn’t thought about Melissa and London both having seen the Kress and possibly the inheritance gem giver in all the chaos. Ada doesn’t know what they would have told Cold Chaos. Her best bet is to keep it simple: combatants came through the cave, London looked her in the eye and set off the charges, killing the rest of the team that weren’t already killed by the combatants, she took 10 days to find her way out.
she might call the local news station. nothing like a television news crew bear witness to her aliveness.
Maybe a lawyer or union rep?
Oh My goodness, that was fantastic!!
Thank you sooo much, have a great weekend and see you all on Monday!!
Wooooo Hooooo!!
Oh this was awesome! I can’t wait for Ada to confront London – it will be epic I’m sure!
Also excited to know the “s” word was used by HA, whether or not it comes out as a serial or fully formed. 😄
ah!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I cannot wait for next week *wails, gnashing of teeth*
Best way ever to return from multiple medical tests and appointments. Thank you for the Friday treat
Thank you very much. I really enjoyed this story. I am looking forward to purchasing the book and hopefully more in this world.
OMG
Thanks HA. This has been an epically bad week- we needed this
Thank you for a lovely last blog installment.
Hopefully once its recharged the gem will show her how to get to Baha-char.
Still so much to come now and in the sequel.
Most importantly, now, how will Ada get to keep Bear? Will Ada hit Landon or be content with the finger? Who did she call?
Chalantly waiting for monday.
I’m guessing Bear herself might have something to say about it too…
Thanks a lot. I really enjoyed this story.
Now looking forward to the full release – not patiently 🙂
Oh, I cannot wait to order this! Ada and Bear are awesome, I loved Jovo’s character too. Elias, wowza. My imagination has him looking like a modern Viking…no, no, don’t discourage me! I have so enjoyed this series. Thank you!!
Outstanding!!
Oh boy…now I have to wait for the rest of the story. That’s cool. I’m fine. Everything is okay.
I usually read in the evening. A dangerous practice because this is the point in a story where I typically decide sleep is for the weak, and I’m going to keep reading until I get to the end.
But now I have to wa*t.
Oh. My. Gosh! Thank you for this snippet.
Leo and Elias…whoa to their powers. Baha-char! Maybe there is a way for Ada and her kids to go to Baha-char, and Jovo was letting Ada know. Hmm…
Oooo, London is going to get his very, very soon! I can see it now. Bear sitting on London, and growling, after Ada knees him in his soft spots and punches him.
Bring on Monday! 🥳
Yay! Thank you for a really fun read.
I will check Monday and hope for a buy link…
The horde is always open to post-epilog snippets. I could see Bear protecting Ada’s children in some odd circumstance. Or maybe a tidbit from Bear’s POV.
That said, we bow to your wisdom in the timing and voluminous of any forthcoming snippets on any storyline.
Ok, wonderful chapter, but this is a huge cliffhanger!
My heart is POUNDING. Thank you!!
Wowza! Can’t wait for publication day
I just realized that the Cold Chaos team still needs to destroy the anchor before the DDC takes the gate away from them. Wonder how Ada’s and Bear’s arrival will affect the time-line.
This is fantastic. I can see how the story will end for this breech in a few more chapters, but the world has so much going on, and Ada has so many loose ends. The two of you world-build too well to stop at a single story like this.
Is the whole BDH going to ship Ada and Elias? It seems like they both deserve a HEA.
Getting to go home in mostly one piece to kids and dog is nice, of course.
And cat. As said before hope Bear likes cats.
That was great! Thank you.
I can’t wait for the release I’m very excited.
What a great “final” chapter! Jovo going home via Bahachar, the set up for Ada to confront London and his cataclysmic downfall, Elias getting rid of the Guardian team in an epic showdown in front of the gate. Ya know, London keeps making it harder for himself…
The setting for this next scene/epilogue has the same feel of two different scenes in “Shards of Honor” (Lois McMaster Bujold) when Aral arrives to save Cordelia – but she’s already saved herself. While I’m sure Elias and Leo will be thrilled that they haven’t totally lost access the breach and the team (go Ada and Bear!) it’ll be kind of deflating to find out they just have to go do some clean up – no monsters to kill since Ada already did that (or they’ve mysteriously disappeared). “A day late and a dollar short” is how I think he put it.
My guesses for the epilogue:
– Ada gets a chance to break London’s nose or something as satisfying. Her being alive has ruined his career. And there will be LOTS of witnesses as she exits the gate. (Are there cameras on it? So much the better)
– She has her phone set to dial either Elias, Leo, or possibly the government office, who are the most likely parties to want to know that she – or at least her phone – is still alive as of this point in time. Her phone has got to be tracked by CC and the government, or at least they would recognize her phone number. (If she weren’t able to get through the gate, was she planning to press “call” then throw the phone through?)
– Bear and she get to stick together.
– Not sure how she’ll hide her new “bracelet”, and the Inheritance, since she has to have physicals for work.
So, so excited about this serial. This last chapter was amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your gift with us. I’ll be waiting to purchase as soon as its available.
Oh! and I loved Elias’ description of Guardian’s logo…
“…a dark square showing a shield with two stylized wings spreading from its sides. A faceless human bust rose out of the shield with a sharp corona of triangular rays stabbing outward from its head. It was meant to evoke guardian angels and general badassery, but to him it looked like some faceless winged crash dummy thrust its head through the shield and was now stuck wearing it like a yoke.”
She needs physicals for work…assuming she continues doing the same work, that is… Seems like she has a new job now – defeating the Rakalan. A minor task, shouldn’t take too long.
AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!
That is all.
No, wait, *singing* London’s gonna get his behind kicked
Now that is all
+100! 😀
“My dog wagged her tail, and we strode into the gate.”
….and absolutely NONE of us screamed “NNNOOOooooooo” when we realized there was no next line.
OK, maybe a few of us.
One or two.
Definitely me.
OK, backing up and reading all of it.
Hey, it helps with the whole “Holding my breath until Publication Day
AUTO CORRECT IS NOT OUR FRIEND!
wagged her tail!
sheesh!
Fixed 😉
Omg! Ada rescues herself! I can’t wait to order this! You are best! Thank you!
This is such a satisfying chapter! I had a great time reading and rereading the postings each week. I am happy the conclusion is coming but sad that Mondays and Fridays will be a little more sedate now. Oh well – that’s life. I will just have to wait for the next time we are graced with a serial. 🙂 Have a great weekend.
Nooooooo. Why end there??!?! I need to know.
So the the physical aspects of breach divers are tracked fairly closely? That would include dogs like Bear also then. So we know that Bear has grown in the week that he’s been in the breach. So it seems that there are two issues here. The first is how or why Bear has gained in stature. The second is how has Ada survived in the time she’s been in the breach? An assesor (don’t remember her job title) wouldn’t, or shouldn’t be a bad ass. CC is at least aware that the life in the breach aren’t fluffy bunnys that need only be wacked on the head to be dispatched as a food source. Ada wouldn’t have advanced weapons, but would have access to edged weapons for hunting food animals. So it seems to me that she needs to explain what she’s used for food, and how she’s evaded the more savage breach dwellers. I would also think that she would immediately be rushed to a medical facility to be evaluated. Somehow she will need to conceal her magical weapons better than just pulling her sleeve over it. The w*it to get those details explained will be painful.
Well Monday is the announcement on release.
It occurred to me after posting this that Ada’s coveralls would have the slash from her fight, and she and the coveralls would be bloody. As far as I can tell Ada rushed back to the mining site, did she take the time to wash the blood away, even if she couldn’t do anything about the slashed coverall? Also I wonder about the angry red welt that was all that was showing after her compound fracture had miraculously healed would still be showing. That seems like it would be hard to conceal or explain in a medical evaluation.
😳O-M-G😳
thank you so much for the chapter but this cliffhanger will kill me well before Monday!
I hope I will get to know how the story ends from the great beyond 😂
I need one of those bracelets.
AAAHHHHH we have to W*IT. It’s too much!
Thank you!
Woo hoo! Now I will more or less (I’m)patiently await the release!
Thrilling, absolutely thrilling. So ready for the audiobook!
Thank you for your generosity!!! It is so incredibly fun and amazing to experience a book being written, as well as enjoying the story as it unfolds.
This has been so much fun! Thank you, House Andrews.
Oh, I will be there on Monday with bells on!
Yay!!!!!
Enough to say “Phew!” in relief and plenty of curiosity to make sure I buy this book!
Thank you again.
Wow, just WOW. Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us.
I will be waiting for the release of the entire book, I can’t say I will do it patiently, but I will definitely be doing it. Have a wonderful weekend.
CANT WAIT! WOO!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhrrrghhh!!! Just take my money and give me the rest, I’m begging you 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
I loved this so much. I cried like a baby when Jovo said, “Home.”
thank you so very much, it has been an amazing ride, and we will be so happy to purchase and read the editing and final chapter…..
Ohh Dang….cliff hanger…. love the story line, well done, can I pre-order everything you will write for the rest of your very very long lives….. Please.
Thank you House Andrews 😭 so good! I can’t wait for Monday.
I loved every minute of it! Will there be an audio book?
There will be audio, ebook and paper formats 🙂
Who needs the weekend? Bring on Monday!
How can I be expected to rest and sleep with the anticipation looming?
Fabulous story so far and I cannot wait to buy the book/series!
Fantastic! I’m bouncing off the walls, my inner voice gibbering OMG OMG OMG on repeat.
“P*tience, young Hordawan!” Heh.
“P*tience? We ain’t got no p*tience.”
I knew it!!! I knew Ada would get herself out by herself! Well, with Bear and Jovo’s help…. 🙂
Baha-char! Whoop!
Can. Not. Wa…… OK, yea, I can wa*t if I have to. Gonna be so much fun to start from the beginning and read all the way thru.
This has been wonderful and I am so bless to be part of the BDH to such the amazing House Andrews. THANK YOU!
Loved this series! Thank you so much for it!
Thanks! Really looking forward to the finalized book (and hopefully sequels come)
UGH! (but in a good way, kinda sorta . . . .)
I missed the first few serials of The Innkeeper series due to my ignorance of this blog, so I read those books in their entirety. I only started reading the serials when Sweep of the Blade started. Now, I’m addicted but I’m torn between being a steady Devour-er or bingeing all in one go.
Patience? GTFOH!
Aahhhhhh!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome!!! Can’t wait to read how if all ends!!!! Thank you!
ahhhhhhhhhhhh…. I need more!
Thanks House Andrews!
Thank you!!
Another amazing story. I can’t wait to buy the book!
Whoohoo! Thank you for this gift. Something wonderful to look forward to.
What a place to end! Arggg! And reading it a second time did not bring me closer to the resolution.
I wait impatiently for the release. Thanks.
😱🤯😭😵💫
Uuuuu, so good!! Can’t w*it for the book!! Another best seller! Thank you HA for making Fridays and Mondays so much fun especially during this disgusting humid heat wave we have been having for over a month. I guess I’m not wicked enough to melt but does sweating buckets count? LOL
I shall up the a/c while I fluffully attempt to be chalant about the book release. Kiar sae Baha-char, kiar sae Baha-char, kiar sae Baha-char……
Perfect!
What a way to end! Though I would have liked the meeting to be inside the gate, where Ada could give London the punch he deserved without revealing just how strong she has become to the people she fears will take away her freedom.
I have no favorites in the IA universe. How can you pick one above the others? They are all great and wonderful reads. And re-reads.
I have really enjoyed not only the story, but the many comments and thoughts on what is and what could be in the story. I especially enjoyed the many theories on the gates and what they could be, where they could go, and what they could do. Maybe a fun short story would be what would happen if one of the gates mistakenly opened in Roland’s little pocket reality. It would be fun to see the gress or other released monsters have to run from what would seem to be, to them, a harmless old man. I doubt they would get far before he took them all out. And it would give him a bit of fun and excitement.
I really hope that Elias steps up and helps shield Ada from the problems that could come from her re-entering her home world. She has changed so much internally, but I hope she looks the same so she can reconnect with her children and protect them. I also am curious about Leo’s abilities. Him releasing wings and the lightning playing across them is intriguing.
Most of the powers that people had that Ada thought about seemed to be physical combat based. Leo make me wonder just what other powers were unleashed. Though to be fair, in most games, the special abilities do seem to be based on physical rather than magical or psionics (mind driven powers). So maybe in a world based on like being in a game, mostly the physical powers would manifest.
I liked Jovo and laughed at his opinion of the Nuan clan. We’ve seen them in action in the Innkeeper books, and they are not the easy pushovers he thinks them to be. Maybe his clan doesn’t like the assassin types, but prefers the more direct fighting methods.
I look forward to buying this book, and any others that the wonderful authors want to share with all of us. It doesn’t matter to me which series gets the next story; they will all be excellent and enjoyable reads.
I’m guessing Leo is something like a thunderbird? With the wings and lightning…
Leo is a Stormsurge, we found out in Chapter 5 🙂 https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/the-inheritance-chapter-5-part-1/
Woohoo!!! What a great story! I’m eager to see the released book and the Epilogue wrap up. Thanks HA for such wonderful entertainment. You guys really are the best!
I am thanking you in advance for giving me the best birthday present on Monday! I was so hoping that the last installment would come out on the 28th 🥳
Oh I misread. This is the last installment before publication. I guess my bday present on Monday will be publication and other assorted info. I’m good with that.
Thank you (as always) for sharing your fertile imagination, vivid imagery, and wonderful words with us.
AAHHHHH! So good!
Cant wait for Monday, this story has kept me going through some awful events.
Thank you!
SQUEEEEEEEEEEÊ!
Can’t wait for the release!!!!
sooooo good. thank you thank you.
Awesome place to stop and what a ride!!!
However, has you not said that Bear would not die, I’m not sure I could have stayed on the ride (stupid, I know, but…dogs rule – lol).
I look forward to the cover and will definitely get the book. Again, what a ride!
OMG THE GLIFF HANGERS!!! SO GOOD! GIVEME THE BUY BUTTON NOW!
Haha my inner BDH is coming out. Thank you so much House Andrews this was brilliant and so needed right now.
Monday! I have to wait until Monday???
Thank you so much for this, I love this story and characters.
Ooooooo cliffhanger! Aaaaaaaaa! Of course we want to know what happens!! I really want to see London get his just desserts. Cue the evil chuckle. Thanks so much for all the fun so far and I’ll be here in Mon for further info😁🥂
This is the best. Thank you.
yesssss she saves herself, love it. thank you. can’t wait to buy the full story.
I see Ada punching London in the nose, kneeling him in the groin, then hammer punch to the back of his neck and stepping on him as she walks over to Elias to say hi, just my violent dream. Of course she has to pull her punches so as not to kill him.
Hmmm, phone call to news team so her escape can’t be covered up and she will be harder to disappear, luckily there’s already a news crew filming just outside.
Deep breaths, HA will write it so much better than I, and I am still shipping Ada and Elias, he visits her kids!
Can’t wait to buy the e book and the paperback, I am not chalant enough to wait for paper to read the story and also must have a hard copy, and a second one to share, I have learned that if I loan out my favorite books I can’t find them when I need to reread, and wind up ordering multiple copies anyway, might as well start out ready. Please, take my money! 😊
Omg.. I need more.. my chalantness is gone and I’m desperate for the end! I can’t wait for the release of the full story. Thank you for sharing this world with us, I love it. You guys are the best 😊.
I really liked the serial ^^
This gave me all the happy feels — which is good because this has been a DAY.
Was there a collective squeal at Baha-char? Do we all have undying love for Elias and his awesomeness? I’m going to go with yes.
Ada and Bear continue to be the best.
Can’t wait to buy it! Thank you VERY much!
Noooooooooooooooooo!
Hehehe… yes, I will be here Monday. I want to pre-order ASAP. You said you were going to keep the climax for the published version so I was warned. I can’t wait for when London sees her. His face should be… interesting.
O.M.G!!! The hot XO has wings!! *fans self*
Yay for further details on Monday re: release date!! Firing up the plastic for a purchase!! 📚
Insanely great story. Thank you so much House Andrews!!!
Thank you.
Oh man…. I’m panting!!!
Oooooo, I’m getting Drifan vibes from Ada’s new powers. Would she be chosen by the planet? And she takes Bear and her kids saying Tah Tah to Earth and its breaches, guilds and government?!?
Love it! can hardly wait for more❣️
Gahhh!
You know I have no patience!
Shit!
How many exclamation points did I just use?
As a serial with cliff hangers, this is the best regular serial so far by HA. We know the ending will be a HEA but we have no idea how the climax will be presented.
Great writing!
I get so immersed in the story it’s always disconcerting when a chapter ends and my reality snaps back to the here and now.
‘Elias picked up his coffee mug and stepped out the door.’
Why does this sound so familiar… 🤔😁
Yes! Only needs to float it in the air next to him, occasionally
Inking it up for a sip then putting it back!
Oops, “picking it up”, not “Inking it up”!
Ahhhhhhh
Noooooo
O M G
Worst cliffhanger EVER
You are mean to me!
Ahhh
I’m dying here!!
Just take my money!
So excited. I wish it went on for months longer, but all good things have their endings! This has been an amazing journey. Can’t wait to see the cover reveal and order the full enchilada! Thank you both, and Mod R too, for this summer gift!
Oooh Elias and Ada finally meet after the cliff hanger – nice bait authorlords.
Thank you, House Andrews, for giving us such an enjoyable read. I love the concept of a serialized book because it gives me something to look forward to every week. Of course, I also love binge-reading, and definitely remember more details when I read in one go, rather than a little every week. The nice thing is that you guys are giving us both experiences. I am grateful for your generosity. This story was a wonderful form of escapism. I look forward to seeing the details about the complete version.
+1! Perfectly said. Thank you so much for this serial, we love your serials so much. Great ever since the first Innkeeper and still going strong 🙂
So good!!! Eeeeeee! It’ll be so hard to wait for the release ><
there are 227 comments already and it’s only 3 pm friday.. so sorry if I’m repeating a question, but will Monday be a blog also -with the information or what is the contact method…. I’m with Ada up to where we are at – hide the “mother” and open the way to recover the lost. And yes, for his sake – Jovo had to be gone also.
I’m so invested in this adventure. I can’t wait to hear on the release date!!
I am so appreciative of IA and these wonderful installments!! Can’t wait to read the book 🙂
Ohhhh Baha-char. That was so good. Thank you so much for this serial. Can’t wait for the book to come out.
Amazing!!!! Happy Friday to meeee!
OK, people. I am still stuck on the 75 inch sword blade. That’s 6’3″ of sharp steel (or whatever material was used to make the blade). That’s longer than I am tall. How does he even carry it?
Combat Talents are no joke 💪🏻
I think Ada is calling a neutral party, like the lawyer Elias hired to take care of her kids. Some who would have her interests at heart. Elias would, but she does not know that and I would not trust the government, any other guild or the press. That is my take anyway. Practicing patience and chalant, gripping them by my fingernails.
Everyone have a good weekend.
If I had read this before posting my comment I might have skipped posting! Exactly what I am thinking!
I just broke my brain.
Haven’t read any comments yet so sorry if covered above….
The imagery and emotions generated by the above artistry is truly appreciated – Thank you!
Realize Innkeeper tie-ins but enjoyed the Hidden Legacy shoutouts.
Catalina siren vibes and Michael vibes
Mad Rogan vibes
A sword that long? Exactly how tall is Anton? Dang….
Faithful Lees companion who could have gone home after the battle at the anchor.
What a glorious ride!
Sending peace, health and safety to you all!
That was AWESOME 👏 Where do I send my money? I must have more……..
Ugh I’m dying here, need more words, more woords barsa barsa barsa…..fade to black, from dirth of words….. sigh….(the height or low of my fiction addiction drama)
Wow, interstellar war on the event horizon and humanity leveled up just before engaging with the aggressors.
On the small scale, cannot wait to see London get his comeuppance for the murders, and the book goblin in the back of my head is spinning in circles chanting “Baha-Char, Baha-Char!!”
Thank you so much! I‘m so chalant I might burst 😂.
This was a great snippet. I can’t wait to buy the book and read it all again. HA is so generous to share these serials.
I am about to go listen to the GA version of Magic Bites. I have the normal audible for all of the Kate Daniels but I want to try the GA version. I need to make a baby quilt for a great niece that was born last week. Three weeks early but mom and baby are healthy which is a blessing. But now I need to get the baby quilt completed. I moved this spring and that is my excuse for not having completed it earlier. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I just finished listening to the main KD series via the Graphic Audio adaptations. They were so good! Enjoy the many hours of entertainment ahead!
they’re not even going to meet until the finale… how’d you guys think this was gonna end here? I mean if you hadn’t brought Elias into it then it’s a good sifi short story. With him we’re missing alot.
Please I would like to buy this about nine weeks ago!
No no no! No Monday, just put up on Amazon and take my money.
This is torture!!! Like overtime at the final of the World Cup!!
Well. I was hoping for more!!! before the book!!! because I am not a patient person!!!
But I really jazzed by what we got.
Theory on who Ada called: She had to look through her contacts, so not someone she knows well/contacts often. It has to be someone with enough clout to keep her from being disappeared (we can’t be sure she *would* be – she’s got some significant and justified paranoia going on). She suspects Cold Chaos of possibly being willing to disappear her, so not Elias or any other member of the Guild. Not anyone in the government – most likely to be willing to disappear/make use of her. I’m thinking a lawyer. And conveniently, we already have a high powered lawyer, non-government and non-guild, present in the story looking out for Ada’s kids. (This could also efficiently notify her kids, assuming the lawyer wants to give them unconfirmed information.)
I, too, have a great desire to see Ada punch London in the throat. Or nose. And knock him down in front of everyone.
Ok, I have now digested this chapter and I think I finally understood the layout of the place:
There is the short route to the anchor and the scenic route. The short route passes by the mining sites entry one (that was blocked off) and the scenic route connects the mining sites exit two to the anchor.
Malcolm’s crew died on the short route. The killers and mother entered the mining sites from the scenic route. That probably means Malcolm‘s crew was killed by the remaining killer and his overgrown murdercat.
That also means, whatever story Ada concocts, Elias won“t buy it.
So Ada has to admit she went the long route to the anchor and the short route back. This leaves some rather big inconsistencies Elias will no doubt recognize:
– Where did the killers go and why did they let Ada and Bear live?They and Ada only had the scenic route available, so Ada would have to get past them somehow.
– Why did Ada blast open the the entrance to the mining sites instead of proceeding straight to the exit?
Things won‘t add up for Elias and he will keep digging to get to the truth.
Also: AAAAH! I NEED TO READ THE CONCLUSION! I am completely out of chalance and p*tience!
If I were Ada, I would claim I stayed in the mining site the whole time, surviving on the food the other guilds members brought with them while I slowly dug myself out. Bear would come and go through the other tunnels to hunt. But the grenade and whatever blur killed the escort team must have scared off any other monsters.
So excited to purchase this story!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
So excited!!!
Thank you HA ! Second read, here’s my guess:
She’s going to call her lawyer, and it will be the same one that Elias called, so she’s already with the kids…
I wondered about that too!
SOGOOD. thank you!!
thank you for this story!
can’t wait to see how it ends!
I assumed there is another chapter, but what will be the end word count and how do we classify it? short novel, novel, novella?🤔
We’re definitely and firmly in novel territory 🙂 .
Last time I saw the manuscript it was Magic Clams length and it got at least 3 new scenes since, so the Horde shall eat well!
That’s fantastic!! Thank you so much for the extra scenes!! 🙏
Wow! Another amazing installment! I had wondered if this would be the last one.
Thank you for such an amazing story. I can’t wait for the release. Really looking forward to reading it.
Thanks for the Dr. Strange reference:
A pale hole formed in the middle of the tunnel, with a fiery rim that spun like a pinwheel, throwing long trails of sparks.
It made me smile.
I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to learning more about the release on Monday.
Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhrrgh!!! Ending on a cliffhanger?!?!!? I’m about to have a Book Goblin meltdown!!
gonna have to go re-read all the Innkeepers just to recover…
I’m praying to the gods that this book comes out next week🤞🙏
thank you for another intriguing story
Weekend cliff hangar. -_- Monday can’t get here soon enough.
Thanks so much for the ride!
I absolutely loved every moment. Can’t wait to read the book in its entirety. Thank you for all of it.
Arrrrgggghhhhh! You guys really know how to keep us if the Hoard on our toes!!!!
Great bit…. Bit with me being completely rockbottom psychologically… not going into details, I really need the reuinon…
Still on the other hand HA has kept me from selfinfliction and worse for many years!
🥰
Sorry for the writing mistakes… emotions don’t help with spelling
Please stick with us! The book is coming soon and there are so many stories and beloveds to read about *big hug*.
Good luck with your breach!
I am chalant! Can’t wait for the book release. After reading many comments, I had to look up nonchalant to make sure I understand how we are using chalant (as the opposite of nonchalant)
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages ·
adjective: nonchalant
(of a person or manner) feeling or appearing casually calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm.
“she gave a nonchalant shrug”
Similar:
calm
cool
unconcerned
collected
and collected
cool as a cucumber
composed
airy
indifferent
unemotional
blasé
dispassionate
detached
apathetic
casual
offhand
insouciant
laid-back
Opposite:
anxious
concerned
Oh, I so want the rest of the story. I look forward to Monday. Thank you.
I can’t find words for the awesomeness of the authors. I am waiting to order …
Thank you!
While I‘ve enjoyed past serials, I can‘t remember ever having been as invested and hooked as I have been on this ride. Complex characters, rich world-building, unforeseen narrative threads: this „little side project“ has it all.
I‘m off to re-read this wonderful diamond in the rough before it takes on its final cut and polished book form. Thanks HA for giving us months of reading joy and a glimpse into your craft in process!
Ah. Damn. So close. The ending is going to be epic!!! I seriously love you two! ❤️
Oh My. Yes I need to know so I can spend some money.
Thank you once again!!! You never disappoint!!! Your stories make my life better!!
I can’t wait for the book, but also I really hope we get the continued series about Ada (and Bear) because I’m super invested. I really like how she is older and more experienced and a badass mom. So awesome.
Arggggggg!
This is so AWESOME!! Can’t wait for the release.
I was kind of hoping we’d get to see Ada walk out of the gate before Elias even went it. She be like: “You’re too SLOW!”
Please get a firm date for release of the complete story that you can share on Monday–and that we can obtain a copy within 30 days.
Waiting any longer will cause great distress.
I saved to read late in the day. Can’t wait for Ada & Bear to meet Elias, and for Ada to see her kids. Yes, and for London to get his ass kicked! I hope Bear bites him!
Loved seeing Leo and Elias’s powers! Can’t wait for the rest of it!
So good, this has been amazing!
Oh, Ada, how far you’ve come! Kiar sae Baha-Char… 🤔 I’ll have to remember that. And Elias is about to enter the gate! Wow! And at the same time Ada is going out! Are they meeting at the threshold? OMG! Wait, a live chat Monday? At what time? OMG!
Hey Soccoro, it won’t be a live chat, but a blog post 🙂
That is an illegal cliffhanger!
Thank you House Andrews and Mod R, I can’t wait to purchase the book and hope for sequels! We have so many questions since we can get to Baha-char and there appear to be no Innkeepers to protect this Earth from being invaded.
So good! Thank you! I can’t wait to hear about options to buy!
Thank you!! I enjoyed this serial so much. I can’t wait for the book release 💕
Noooooo! I want pre order today!!!!
ahhhhhh! Cliff hanger!!
I’ll be squeeing for awhile on this one! Love it!
What a spectacular read! Thank you so much for taking the time to do these serials – it is such a wonderful gift to your readers. I found myself jumping on the blog first thing in the morning to devour the latest chapter. I am so looking forward to the book release, and can’t wait for the further adventures of Ada and Bear. Thank you!
I can’t wait for the BDH to make this in the top 20 books when the preorder goes out.
Thank you for an amazing serial. The cliffhangers were brutal as usual but so worth it each week.
Thank you so much for this magnificent gift of a story. I’m really looking forward to reading the final chapters.
Thank you😊
Wow!
Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!! Thank you, waiting for the end is going to kill me, but thank you.
And now I want a whole series set in this world that’s tied into the Innkeeper stories. So good.
eeeep. Thank you.
so looking forward to the release 🤗
Thank you! I’ve enjoyed this journey so much and will be buying the book. Can’t wait!
I hope you all get to go on a lovely holiday sometime soon!
ALWAYS so much fun
Woohoo! What a sublime reading-rolleride! Yay for you House Andrews and Team 💕 You are the Best, and I mean all of your works, not just this latest awesome addition.
Hard to believe its the end of July already! Looking forward to the rest of the book!
Great jumpin’ Jehosophat! Can’t wait until Monday.
Thanks so much to House Andrews for sharing this story with us! I’m looking forward to reading the entire finished version as soon as possible.
Amazing as always! Looking forward to buying the book and reading the rest! ❤️
I was just thinking, you know how these gates are thought to be made of little pieces of existing places that were ripped away and deposited in a separate dimension, it sounds a bit like what happened to Dina’s parents. Maybe that was done with the same technology or involved the Tsuun and the Mukama somehow? Just some thoughts. . .
Ooooh I did not predict this plot line at all. I desperately need to know what happens next. Thank you for the lovely adventure!
Gahhh, I need more ASAP! I love that she’s leaving the tunnel herself and before Cold Chaos enters. I originally thought that there would be like an odd cat-and-mouse thing after CC went in. No matter, I can’t wait to finish the story!
Also, I know most things are probably hammered out for the publishing and whatnot, but what are the chances of a special edition for this book? I mean we already have a BA artist, it would be a shame not to have it on the physical copies, right? *makes big puppy dog eyes*
Aww! I’m sad to see the weekly serial ending! I can’t wait for the full release though!
My favorite line from this section is the one about women being more likely to become pulse carvers. It made me giggle. 🙂
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! I can’t wait until Monday! I just need more of this amazing story. I want to see their interactions and how she finally gets him on board (or roped into) helping her save Earth. We need a conclusion!!!! You two are so amazing. Every story you create is phenomenal and unique. Thank you for putting your hard work out into the world for us to devour and fall in love with. 🩷
Eeeeeeehh!! Can’t wait! Totally chalant here!
Woot, woot!! so dang good!! I can’t wait to buy the book and re-read the whole thing in one go!!
And let me just say, I adore Jovo! I know the Lees are deadly and dangerous but I love them!!
Yes!
Okay, this feels like a good place to stop. Maybe. I mean, I guess. Look, I’m not disappointed, per se, but just sorry the story is ending so soon. It feels like there is so much more just waiting to be added.
Will there be at least 1 more chapter before the Epilog?
I know you are busy, busy, busy! But… there is so much to explore before we bid Ada adieu!
Okay, alright, another book/serial perhaps. (This is kinda how the Innkeeper Chronicles started, or so it seems…)
Well, I will say, “Until we read again,” instead of goodbye. Really, never say goodbye, that is too much like an ending.
A finale.
A last view from the deck of the Titanic.
Take care and be well.
Toodles!
Seated, eyes closed, meditation position. Mentally “I am chalant.” Breath and hold, “I am chalant.” And exhale, “I am…” Jumping up, waving arms, doing my craziest happy dance, “I am NOT chalant!” It’s so good! I am trying to keep from triggering the neighborhood dogs with my ecstatic SQEEEEEEEing!
Ada definitely has to wait for London to attack, so her knee to the groin followed by her elbow to the back of his head when he doubles over is obvious self-defense. As to Ada’s choice of phone contacts, in Chapter 9, Part 2 she runs through her options if she makes it out. She can’t rely on anyone in the Government; they’ll ‘disappear’ her. She won’t be able to trust anyone in the guild either; they left her behind. My guess, either a lawyer or a reporter.
Looking for Ada’s thoughts on her employers I skimmed several chapters. As always, HA is generous with their written gifts:
“Stalker. It’s what’s for dinner.”
Sigh, more “SQUEEEEEing” and happy dancing.
And Mod R, “Hordewan?” My husband is convinced I’ve lost my mind as I can’t seem to stop repeating it between fits of giggles.
To Ilona and Gordon, many thanks. Your imaginations and writing skills have gotten me over many dark spots.
Oh my gosh – so good!!! I love it. This definitely needs a s* word. ♥️
Thank you!
Thanks so much for this serial. It helped get me through some tough months. Can’t wait to buy the book.
❤️
Wow! Thank you.
Release Date Soon, Soon, Soon, Soon, Please! This is so good I am on the edge of my seat.
Thank You!
Aaaaa!! This has been so exciting! I am equally eager to find out how things wrap up and sad to see it end. Ada and Bear kick ass! I hope they & Ada’s kids get to visit Baha Char and meet up with Jovo at some point.
Thank you from my heart for sharing your imaginations with all of us.
Thank You! Thank You for this exciting ride into wondrous creation of Your great minds
I will miss my weekly escapes
Thank You.
Now, chalantly waiting for the novell…
OMG! ty ty! so excited for the completed book!
Afggvgghhhhhdjdidjebejdj!!!! ….well played…lol
OK. Now we w*it. We can do it can’t we Hoard………..?
Aaaarg!! Nope!! Take my money!!!