Fangirl Friday--Night Huntress Secondary Characters

I first read Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress around two years ago, and for whatever reason, didn't really get into the books as much as some of the other Wenches. (I must have been on some weird shit!) Rewind to about a week ago, and Wench Barb had successfully persuaded me to give them another go before it all ended in Up From The Grave.

Now, I absolutely ADORE the series. While Cat will never be my favorite heroine, I still love aspects of her, admire just how kick-ass and resilient she is, and her internal dialogue can still make me chuckle out loud. Bones is absolutely fucking perfection, and there is no point in me trying to put that into words when others will do it better (look for Barb to fangirl over him next Friday).

The one thing that remained constant between my ill-fated first read, and my second read, is the fact that I LOVE Jeaniene Frost's secondary characters. It amazes me how intriguing and well-rounded they are. Even when I hate em, I love to hate em. She also has a gift for doing wonderful things I don't expect, like writing THE best novellas and short stories, and writing secondary characters that ALMOST, but not quite, steal the show.

(I will use ANY excuse to add Cumberporn to a post.
I am not sorry.)

So click through to see a list of my favorite, very awesome secondary characters from the world of Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress, in no particular order.

Spade :

I have loved Spade from the very first time I met him in Halfway To The Grave. Bones's best friend, gentlemanly, and kick ass? What's not to love? Spade is IRRESISTIBLE. I mean, from his old school charm, gallantry and chivalry, to his constant amusement of things Cat says or does, he's impossible not to love! (It also helps that we picture the smoking hot Henry Cavill as Spade.) 

Is it hot in here or is it just... oh, no, it's him.
Definitely him.

And then there was this scene in First Drop Of Crimson :

The light in the shower illuminated Spade's bare, gorgeous flesh. The glass wasn't fogged. It didn't even look like it was there, giving her an uninterrupted view of him under the cascade of water. The sight made her lick her lips before she could stop herself.

{{snip}}

She opened her eyes again. Spade's back was to her, suds sluicing down his broad shoulders like sea foam. His hair was so black against the paleness of his skin, long strands separating under the streams of water. Those suds slid farther down his back, chased by spray, gathering at his waist and then dragging down the hard globes of his ass. Denise snapped her eyes shut.Took a deep breath and promised that she would not open them again. This wasn't right. It was an invasion of Spade's privacy, a violation of his trust, a - 

She opened her eyes, smothering a gasp. Spade's hands caressed down his chest, more of those suds covering them. His head was back, eyes closed, water splashing onto his face and sluicing down to clear away the suds even as he lathered more across his skin.

She'd seen a few attractive naked men in her life, but none of them came close to Spade. Every inch of his body was taut with perfectly proportioned muscles, like he'd been carved by an expert sculptor and then magically transformed into life. His height only emphasized his stunning physique with those long, powerful legs, rippled sinews crisscrossing his back, arms and chest flexing as he shampooed his hair next.

Stop looking. Right now.

PRETTY PLEASE!

Ian :

How can one NOT love Ian? (Other than Cat.....) Honestly, is that even possible? Ian is incorrigible. He sparked my interest in One Foot In The Grave as Liam, and I've only grown to love him since! He is playful, funny, SEXY as all hell, kick ass, and more importantly, so fucking loyal. I honestly live to see him on page. It doesn't hurt that we totally see the very sexy, smirky Joseph Morgan as an incredibly convincing Ian.

Perfetto!

I know everyone talks about how funny, sexy and naughty Ian is. But my favorite scenes are the ones where you can tell how deep his love for his friends is :

“I know I’m a rotten bastard, but there are four people in the world I’d never see come to harm, even at the cost of my own life,” Ian said in a steady voice, turquoise gaze clear. “Two of them are here, yet neither of them trusts me. Believe me, even ruthless sods like me can be hurt by that.”

“Yet you do lie, Ian, and you do manipulate, even the two of us,” Crispin said quietly.

“Over little, insignificant things. Never over something that could mean your lives. Blimey, Crispin, you humiliated me over Cat, yet did I seek revenge? No. I went to bloody war for you less than a year later. I’ll own what I am, but don’t label me what I’m not when it comes to either of you.”

*tears*

Mencheres :

Wench Care has already talked about why we love Mencheres here at the Wenches in her Fangirl Friday post, but I have to mention him here, too. I love Mencheres. His quiet dignity, his completely inappropriate timing when it comes to saying hilarious things ("the shit's gonna splatter, start bugging yo.") and his immense power. Power is very, very sexy. Not to mention his vibrating tongue. *sigh* 

Source
(I came across this while searching for fan art! Mencheres anyone?)

Everyone gave Mencheres a hard time for a lot of stuff during the series, but honestly, I don't know why. Those visions of the future must be a pain in the ass, and everyone always being on his case about it... if I were that old and powerful, I wouldn't be that patient! 

“The future is like water. All our actions ripple over it, changing its reflection. If I had told either you or Cat what was to come, you would have altered your actions, making the reflections of who you are different than who you were meant to be. We would all like to change our future to the simplest path, the straightest line, the road of least regrets”—

Mencheres paused to smile sardonically—“but then the final outcome wouldn’t be the same.”

“Easy to say when you’re the bloke who could see that final outcome in advance,” Bones replied with an edge to his tone. “The rest of us had to wonder if those we loved would suffer or die because of our actions.”

“We all wonder,” Mencheres said quietly. “Even if we know, we still wonder.”

*sigh* He's so wise.

Vlad : 

Vlad... sigh... Vlad is my absolute favorite Jeaniene Frost character. And it is going to be hard to tell you why (hopefully I'll be able to put it into words in a Fangirl Friday post about him one day!) I have absolutely adored Vlad from our very first introduction to him. I adored him as Bones's reluctant ally, and Cat's friend. I'm going to stick to the Night Huntress series (because there is soooo much awesome in the Night Prince trilogy that I would be going on about him forever.) but just the fact that he is ALWAYS there for Cat in whatever way possible is the most beautiful thing. We could all use a friend like that.

(It also helps that Beta and I TOTALLY
 see this perfect being as Vlad)

I love how he tries to rile Bones up all the time with his "What? Did Anne Rice not return your calls, mate?" but more than that, I love his straightforwardness. And one of my absolute favorite scenes is the "slumber party" that he and Cat have in Destined For An Early Grave.

His lips curved. “I already told you, my feelings for you aren’t romantic. I’m here

because you are a friend, and for me friends are much harder to come by than a fuck.”

What I felt for him didn’t have to do with attraction either, even though Vlad was certainly attractive. No, I felt an odd sort of kinship with him instead.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I said. It was true. I couldn’t handle this being around

Mencheres, or Spade, or anyone else who would have taken me on out of a pitying sense of responsibility.

{{snip}}

“Ahem.” I cleared my throat. “Didn’t we just agree that we were only friends?”

“Sex isn’t what I’m after. It’s just been a long time since I’ve slept next to a woman who meant something to me.”

“Oh. Well.” A slumber party with Dracula? All things considered, why not? “Okay, but I snore.”

He grinned. “I have been under the same roof with you for a week, so I already know that.”

I gave him a dirty look but then stretched in bed as I normally would.

Vlad put his arms around me and rested his head on my pillow. I should have been embarrassed to be in bed with him, especially since he was bare‐chested, and I only had on a long sleep shirt over my underwear, but I wasn’t. It felt nice to fall asleep with someone again, even if he wasn’t the someone I’d been missing.

“Good night, Cat,” he said, though it was almost dawn.

I yawned and closed my eyes.

“Good night, Vlad.”

Sigh.
(Any excuse for some Hiddlesporn, I'm afraid)

Marie LaVeau :

I know she's not technically an "original" character, but I absolutely LOVE this version of the Voodoo queen (second only to Angela Bassett's AMAZING version on AHS:Coven). I love everything about her. Even the fact that she ALWAYS has her own agenda when it comes to everything. Not to mention her insane power. She is truly one of the most kick ass characters I have ever read! 

But one of the things that made me love her almost instantly, was her sense of humor! And her easy banter with Cat. Not to mention the fact that she loved the Matrix almost as much as I did! (And when she got an actual headless chicken for their next meeting!)

“Oracle?”

It came out of my mouth before I could snatch it back. No wonder Bones had wanted to come with me. I’d piss her off before even introducing myself.

Hazelnut eyes that were way too alert raked me from boots to brow. The needlework shifted when a long finger pointed at me.

“Bingo.”

That dessert drawl again, Southern Creole and sweet. If ears could digest verbal calories, my ass would’ve been getting fat just listening to her. And with that single word, she’d just recited the next part of the movie Matrix, which I’d quoted.

{{snip}}

"...What on earth were you talking about?”

Relief washed over me. “Movies. Drinks. Headless chickens. You know, girl stuff.”

Annette :

I'm usually not a fan of women getting petty, catty,or  jealous with each other, so I was pretty surprised that I actually ended up liking Annette. I won't lie, I love her snobby, bitchy, vibe. And the fact that she's had sex with some seriously hot men, plus her attempts at arranging threesomes! I definitely want to be friends with her! But more than that, I have to admire how selflessly she loves Bones. It's not something you read about in most stories. And how very loyal she is to him and his causes. Even swearing fealty to Cat when she thinks he's dead (Head Wench note: that moment makes me tear up EVERY time!).

She paused on her way to the door. "Because I love him. Even though I can't have him anymore, I still want him to be happy."

 I found her history with Bones pretty compelling too. He's lucky to have this family of misfits who have stood by him for so long! She carved a place on my favorites list after how she "became a blur of cleaning motion, like Martha Stewart on crack cocaine" after she and Cat got into the Godawful fight over Bones. That is a useful skill to have in a friend! 

Honestly,
 she probably won't have to get me drunk ;)

Gregor :

It takes a crazy amount of talent to write a villain who can almost tempt you for a second, and then repulse you to your very core. I definitely don't love Gregor, but he is a pretty epic villain! Kramer from One Grave At A Time is rather horrific, but you're never even slightly seduced by him. Gregor is evil in a very pretty package. He is THE worst. But, I would be lying if I said he wasn't a character I absolutely LOVED to hate, and I enjoyed every page he was on--the lying, scheming, scumbag! And seriously man, trying to get a woman away from Bones? Ha! 

So, Saucy readers, who are some of your favorite characters from the Night Huntress series? Share with us in the comments below!