Do not read if you haven’t read WHITE HOT.
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spoiler space
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The family sat at the dining table. I took the head spot this time. A stack of papers sat on my right, covered with a folder. I’d printed out the contents of the USB drive.
My two sisters had taken the chairs next to me, Catalina on my right, Arabella on my left. Catalina, who was a week shy of turning eighteen, was dark- haired, serious, and calm. She liked math, because it made sense to her, and would do just about anything to not be the center of attention. Arabella, still fifteen, was blond, athletic, with bigger boobs and a curvier butt, and calm wasn’t even in her vocabulary. She liked forensics and humanities. “Calling people out” was her preferred method of dealing with issues. The high school debate club, which made the fatal mistake of snubbing her because she was a freshman at the time and their roster was full, lived in mortal terror of her.
Bernard, the oldest of our two cousins, sat next to Catalina. Over six feet tall, with shoulders that had trouble fitting through narrow doorways, Bern was built like he broke people for a living. He had wrestled in high school and still went to judo a few times a week, which he claimed he was doing to balance long hours spent writing computer code. When he was a kid, his hair had been the color of straw and curly. The curls were all gone now. His hair had turned dark blond, and he kept it cut short and messy.
His brother Leon was just about his exact opposite. Lean, dark, and fast, Leon alternated between sarcasm, excitement, and total gloom as quickly as his sixteen- year- old body could produce the hormones. He hero- worshipped his brother. He also thought he himself was a dud without any magic. I knew he wasn’t, and I was doing my best to keep that knowledge to myself, because there was only one type of job open to someone with Leon’s magical talent, and it wasn’t a job any of us would’ve liked him to have. Right now, only Bug, who was Rogan’s surveillance expert, my mother, and I knew what he was capable of, and the only reason I told Mom was because his talent would explode into light sooner or later, and if I wasn’t around, someone else would have to handle it. Sooner or later I would have to tell Leon.
My mother sat at the other end of the table. She used to be a soldier, but her time as a POW left her with a permanent limp. She was softer now, her brown hair braided and pinned at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were brown like mine. When Dad got sick and after his death, Mom kept us together. I was just now beginning to understand how much it had cost her.
Grandma Frida sat beside Mom. One of my earliest memories was playing on the floor of the motor pool with little model cars, and Grandma Frida, who still had some blond in her hair back then, humming softly as she worked on some giant vehicle. Most people smelled engine oil and rubber and thought mechanic. I thought Grandma.
Family.
I loved them all so much. I had to do everything I could to keep them safe. This would be a Christmas we’d never forget.
“Victoria Tremaine knows who we are,” I said.
The words hit the table like a pile of bricks. Arabella paled. Catalina bit her lip. Bern became very still. Leon, oblivious, frowned at the pinched expressions he saw. Nobody spoke. Truthseeker talents like mine were very rare. There were only three truthseeker Houses in the United States. House Tremaine was the smallest and the most feared. It had only one member— Victoria Tremaine. And she was coming for us.
“How sure are you?” Mom finally asked.
“She tried to purchase our mortgage.”
Mom swore.
“I thought House Montgomery owned our mortgage,” Leon said.
“House Montgomery owns the mortgage on our business,” Bernard said patiently. “The mortgage on the warehouse was held by a private bank until Rogan bought it.”
“To bring everyone up to speed,” I said before they could go off on a tangent, “Dad was Victoria’s only child. He was born without magic, and she hated him for it. He ran away after high school, met Mom, and lived quietly, so she never found him. But now she knows. She’s the only member of her family. Once she dies, House Tremaine will die with her.”
“How did I not know this?” Leon asked. “Am I the only one who didn’t know this? You guys knew and didn’t tell me?”
Part 2 will be available later in the week.
Thank you!
Authorities, you are truly rocking those devil horns right now.
Authorlords. Spellcheck, humph.
Authorlords are the authorities when it comes to anything in their universe. 😀
They have canons and everything.
Including a delete button.
Cannons and canons. They are da bomb!
Thank you.
*THANK YOU*. It was an amazing surprise to see the words “Wildfire” and “snippet” together ? I stared, afraid that it was going to be a few words… and jackpot!
Besides, I have read (and still read ?) other series and the introduction of information I already remember feels too repetitive sometimes. But you’ve got the gift to make it interesting *every single time*. That’s magical indeed! ?
Finding a snippet in my inbox is seriously the best way to start a day. Thank you – this was awesome!!! 🙂
Thank you! Part two you say… later this week!! Yes please!!!!
Thank you, thank you. 60 days seems like forever. White Hot was fabulous.
wow. 49 days never seemed so long….
Just a little niggle here. In BFM Grandma Frida is described as having dark hair and now she’s described as having had blonde hair among the gray. Did she have a medium brown where strands looked blonder among the white or did something get changed?
Grandma Frida’s parents came to the US from Germany. She was dark haired and light skinned naturally.
Andrews, Ilona. Burn for Me: A Hidden Legacy Novel (pp. 81-82). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Naturally being the key word.
Thanks, that was bugging me last night as I was trying to sleep.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Does Leon’s question come next? 😀
I really like how you manage to get any theoretical new readers up to speed without making it boring for the rest of the Horde.
Squeee – can’t wait until July! Thank you!
I am so glad this book is coming out soon! Can you mention if sales of White Hot are going well enough for there to be a book 4 or will you have to self publish?
Thank goodness we only have to wait 2 months!!
Thank you!!!!
Thank you!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I loved White Hot and cannot wait for Wildfire. Hopefully there are more in this series.
Thank you.
7 weeks from today, it can’t pass fast enough.
This was a total treat. Thank you!
does bern have dirty blond hair or light brown hair? I think i’ve seen both?? Are they the same?
ps. sorry for my bad english
thank you very much also,.
The latest is dark blond, which may be called dirty blond. They are different, but I just figure he has lightish hair.
Your English is fine. And dirty blond and light brown are very similar. Well done for asking!
Squee! Happy dancing in my office chair. Thank you!
Loved Burn For Me ❤ Loved White Hot ❤ and loving Wildfire ❤❤❤
Thank you guys xxx
Ahh thank you!! I have a final examination tomorrow so this really made my day.
A wonderful surprise, so unexpected (oops that’s redundant, oh well).
..she was coming for us…..MOLON LABE attributed to king Leonidas of Sparta.
YEAH! Thank you Author Overlords! We are not worthy. I have to pace myself now, because I am on my third read of White Hot and I am trying to arrange to have the day off when Wild Fire comes out so I can re read the entire series all at once. It’s just that good.
I have my tongue firmly planted in cheek.
But what’s up with that cover. It looks like Kate is cheating on Curran with Rogan.
I know. I know. I’ll sit down now and shut up. 😉
At least Rogan finally got a shirt. Poor guy. He might have caught a cold.
I just realized Rogan’s dog tags are on the cover. Weren’t they melted or dematerialized or whatever during the teleportation in White Hot? Afterward, once she learned the story behind them, Nevada said Rogan would have to find a new way to remind himself he’s alive now.
(I’m sorry, Authorlords. I know corrections like this, seven weeks before release, are nearly impossible. The book is probably already at the printers. Please don’t hate me.)
They have no control over the covers.
Obviously Nevada doesn’t have control over her hands, either. Just look where her right hand is.
It’s a cover. It is a symbolic representation of the book. The dog tags communicate military background.
So grateful, it is pitiful.
I was frantic and since I rea dithered was an extra excerpt not on my audible version of white hot. Agh
I was debating waiting or spending $6.99 for the snook to red the excerpt.
Talk about true love for your work!
Excuse the crazy post. Vision is poor. I Read there was an except. Spending for the Book to Read the excerpt.
Sigh.
Six more weeks of waiting? Or is it even seven?! I re-read White Hot today. I WANT MORE! ME ME ME ME ME!
Simmah down nao.
THANK YOU!! What a happy surprise! I read WH, then re-read BFM and WH *again*.
I. CAN’T. WAIT!
Thanks for the snippet. I saw that it was Chapter 2 so I scrolled back thru the blog to see if I missed Chapter 1. sheesh. I finished White Hot and have listened to the Innkeeper series. Then I’ll start on KateDaniels…
Chapter 1 is at the end of White Hot.
How the bloody heck do you (even though “you” are actually two people) manage to write so much? And keep it interesting. It’s not a formula. It’s not predictable. I feel rather like the puzzling Grinch up on Mount Crumpet on Christmas day. “It came without presents. It came without bows.” Quite amazing really. And thank you very much.
What to do for 7 weeks? Very thankful it’s not a year tho. 🙂 Thank you for the chapters
You can make a reading plan: week 1: reread the inkeeper books with the kinsmen books as an extra , week 2: the edge Series, week 3-4 Kate Daniels omnibus, week 5: white hot and Burn for me plus those Rogan pov thingies. If you’ve done that, time’s nearly up.
Thank you
Thank you!
What a great distraction. You have no idea how much I need one right now.
Thank you so much. What a delightful treat.
Thank you soooo much!Love your work and really appreciate these snippets!! Yaaay! Not long to go now!