So Many Questions: Drink Deep Edition Part Two

Here I am again with Part Two of my Drink Deep questions. You can catch Part One here! Let's just jump right into it. Spoilers and questions aplenty after the break!



Why was Simon so nervous during this exchange?

"They are, but it's still weird, don't you think?"He looked nervously down at his watch. "I'm sorry to be rude, but I need to go. I have an appointment. Good seeing you again." He hustled down the sidewalk toward a German sports car parked on the street.

What is up with Simon right now? Why did he so callously brush off the blackening of the

water? I know the Order takes a serious hands-off approach to everything, but come on. You have to be at least a little curious about it, as a practitioner of magic. Why isn't he at least curious about it? How good of a sorcerer is Simon? He doesn't come off as that great, what with his total lack of concern over a Lake Michigan sized magical vacuum. Also, what was his "appointment?" Where was he going after leaving Mallory? Is that what he was nervous about? Did he have a meeting with Order officials or a date, or a late night doctor's visit? What is going on, Simon?

What did Catcher do for work before the Ombud's office job came along?

"I called Ethan, gave him a heads-up. He invited me over. We talked about Chicago, the Order, the Houses. We talked for hours. And at the end of that conversation, he offered to let me stay in Cadogan House until I got situated in Chicago." {sic} "That was years ago," he finally said. "Years before you became a vampire, years before you met Mallory. Years before you moved back to Chicago. Years before the city turned on it's own."

How long did Catcher live at Cadogan? What did he do for money before he worked for Chuck? Did he do sorcerer-y things, like Annabelle the necromancer, outside the Orders purview? Or, did he have a normal, civilian job? Did Ethan give him a job within the House? How did the Cadogan vamps at the time feel about having a sorcerer living with them? What did the GP think of this little arrangement? What about the gym that he trained Merit in? Did he own that gym or just rent space from it? If he did own it, where did he get that money from? Who are you, Catcher?

What else isn't included in the Canon?

That was a trick no one had warned me about-- and it certainly hadn't been mentioned in the Canon. There was a siren in Lake Michigan, Tate had some sort of ancient power, and fairies could read minds.

What other vital things, like fairy blood being intoxicating to vampires and all of the other things mentioned above, aren't included in the Canon? And, more importantly, WHY aren't they included in the Canon? Are vampires that self-centered that they don't think that information is necessary? Or, do they think it would just never come up because vampire and fairies have such a contemptuous relationship? What else is missing that might be of vital importance to Merit and the other Chicago sups? There doesn't seem to be anything about the Tates and the other Messengers. What other ancient beings aren't included? Is there somewhere to submit information to the Canon? Would non-vampire info even be included in as much depth as Merit seems to always need?

What would have happened if Merit had started dating Jonah?

Jonah kissed me with the intimacy of a lover and the confidence of a challenger to the throne, daring me to think outside the box I'd walled around me.And for a moment, I let him.It felt good to be wanted, to be needed, to be desired by someone again. It hadn't been that long since Ethan had been gone, but Ethan and I hadn't been together long, if at all. And the kiss was just....toe curling. Jonah wasn't a novice, and he used every part of his body to his advantage, his fingers at my jaw, his tongue teasing mine, his body moving closer and closer, a suggestion of things he could offer: warmth; the solace of touch; another kind of intimacy.

I know, I know....she's not ready. She's still mourning Ethan. How dare Jonah do this so soon. I get it. I do. But, seriously, what if she had been ready? What if they had taken this relationship further than just this kiss? First of all, how does inter-House dating work? Is that allowed? Second, what would have happened if Jonah patiently waited while Merit mourned and she came to him when she was ready to start something new? Then, after all of that, Ethan was brought back? Yes, she loved Ethan. But, what would happen if she fell in love with Jonah too? Or, in a possibly worse scenario, what if she had given in to Jonah now and slept with him? And, then, just days from now, Ethan was brought back? What wrath would Ethan unleash on them both, but particularly Jonah, if he found out? Would she have said yes to the RG, still, if she and Jonah had slept together and then Ethan came back? How different would the remainder of the series be, if Merit had given in to this?

Does Catcher really think the Order is that dangerous?

"I wanted to protect her from this. I didn't want her dealing with Order bullshit, dealing with Order politics, dealing with Order flunkies. She is freaking out, and we are both exhausted, and he is in there with her--down there with her-- every single day. God only knows what he's putting into her brain.""Mallory would never be unfaithful," I quietly said."Unfaithful to our relationship? No, she wouldn't," he agreed. "But, there are lots of ways to be turned against someone, Merit. if someone you loved was being brainwashed, what would you do about it?"

Is Catcher just being a little bit over-dramatic? Or, is the Order really that dangerous in his

mind? I know the Order has some problems, some major problems even. But, does he really think Simon is brainwashing Mallory? He didn't seem that concerned when she was going to have to go to Detroit for three months. Why all of the concern now? Obviously, it's valid concern, but why wasn't he this freaked out when she was going to Detroit? What did the Order say to Catcher to make him so, so against them? And, why all of a sudden like this? Is it Simon? Does he just not like Simon? Does he suspect him of something nefarious, besides this?

How do Catcher and Mallory have any money?

"On the way to your grandfather's house," he said."Still officing unofficially?""Unless we hear something different from the city, which seems extraordinarily unlikely, 'unofficial' is our permanent gig."

Mallory is an out of work ad exec training to be a sorceress. Catcher is no longer officially employed by the city. How do they have any money at all? Mallory must have had some savings from her old job. The house is probably paid off, since it was her aunt's or her

great aunt's, but they would still have to pay for utilities and taxes and food and gas. Where is this money coming from? Do one or both of them have some sort of inheritance that we don't know about? Does Mallory get a stipend of some sort from the Order? Do they have any money coming in? For that matter, what about Jeff and Chuck and Marjorie? How are they paying for things? How does Chuck keep everything operational during McKetrick's reign of terror? He can't be paying everyone's salaries from his cop pension. Are there grants? Do the sups from the city pay into some sort of fund to keep the office afloat? What's the deal here?

There are some a few mistakes in this series in regards to living in Chicago.

"I'll be there in five," I told him, then flipped the phone closed and slid it back into my pocket. I grabbed my jacket, gave Kelley a heads-up, and headed out. Benson's was housed in a narrow building that faced the back of Wrigley Field.

This is my favorite one. The only way Merit could get from Hyde Park to Wrigley Field is if

she sprouted wings and flew at Quicksilver speed. Even in the middle of the night, with less traffic, you couldn't possibly make it to Wrigleyville in five minutes. You can't even make it a few blocks in Wrigleyville in five minutes. In reality, a trip in the car from Hyde Park to Wrigleyville would take you about half an hour, with no traffic. However, if it's rush hour, or there's a Cubs game, or it's raining or, god forbid, snowing, it could easily take you up to an hour or more. There are a few things like this sprinkled throughout the series and they are always amusing to me. I'm sure this happens to everyone reading a book or watching a TV show or movie that takes place in their home town. Sometimes, they are terribly egregious errors. Most of the time, you hardly notice. Chloe Neill does a great job at keeping these errors to a minimum. I'm sure her lovely assistant Krista has a lot to do with that. Anyway, this one was particularly amusing to me because Wrigleyville is a nightmare for traffic no matter what time of day or night.

Internment?!

"...The Rogues always get nervous when the Houses are in trouble. They fear GP retaliation against them, or internment, if that's the way it goes."

Um........has the GP interned Rogues before? No wonder the RG exists and there are so many Rogues that are members. If the GP has done this in the past, when was it and why? Was Darius the head of the GP then? Was this when the Conseil Rouge was still in power, or was it after the GP had come into power? Do Rogues outnumber Housed vampires? If so, I'm shocked there hasn't been a rogue uprising.

Why is the Order the worst?

"The Order's taken a hard line," Simon said, leaning forward conspiratorially, and there was no mistaking the fear in his eyes. "They think there's old magic involved-- magic that existed before the Order was even organized. That's not their territory, and they don't want anything to do with it."

What the hell is wrong with them? The GP and the Order should get together and just form

one giant coalition of supernaturals living with their heads up their asses. Why do both of them insist on ignoring the problems facing the world? And, especially in this case, when not only straight magic is involved, but one of their own is doing it! What is wrong with them. They really should go by their true acronym, U-ASS. It's much more fitting. How dare they back out of this and say not my problem. It is absolutely your fucking problem, you assholes. ::deep breath:: Ok. I'm sorry, I'm done. Let's move on....

Who else knew where the Maleficium is stored?

"We are the guardians," Malik agreed, holding up a hand to silence Frank. "It is always passed from one guardian to another in secrecy. McDonald House had it last. We have it now."

How did Mallory discover where it was being kept? It is supposed to be such a closely guarded secret, but obviously, someone told her or, for some reason, left the information lying around. Obviously, Malik, Ethan, Frank, and the Librarian knew, as well as the Master and Second at McDonald House, at least. None of them would have told Mallory where it was. How did she find it? Just random snooping? I doubt that. She had to, at least, have had an idea that it was in one of the Chicago Houses. Was it Simon? In his teaching, did he let the location of the book slip? Why would Simon even know where it was to begin with? Do the sorcerers give that up as part of their trainees magical education? "So, there's this super powerful, super evil, book of black magic. But, don't touch it. It's bad. Oh, by the way, it's stored in the Cadogan House vault. But, don't go there. And don't tell anyone. Its location is super secret, ok?" I might be exaggerating a little, but seriously, how did Mallory find out where the book was?

How does Jonah leave Grey House so often?

For the second time in a year, my best friend in the world knocked me out cold. I sat up just in time to see Jonah running toward me.

He is the captain of the Grey House guards, but it seems like he is almost never actually in the House. Is Luc just a homebody and/or a control freak? Does Grey have that many guards that they get a lot of time off? Does Jonah have a co-captain or an assistant or something that he leaves in charge when he runs off to RG or Cadogan shenanigans? Is this normal for guards and the Cadogan guards are the anomaly, because they are short-staffed? Neither Luc nor Kelly leaves the House, except for on a rare occasion. Is that the norm or is Jonah the norm?

Could Mallory be right about the magicks?

"You'll kill us all!" "Not when the spell is done," she called back. "You'll see. The world will feel so much better when good and evil are joined again. The world will be whole."

I know Mallory is an addict and this is the addiction talking. But, what if she's right? What if the world would be better with good and evil aligned again? The early sorcerers locked away the evil magic because the Messengers of Justice were getting out of hand and no one really understood the black magic in the world. Was that the right thing to do? Maybe, if the Order was more useful, they could study the black magic and learn more about it. Or, ask vampire or shifters to study it, instead of just locking it away. Fairy Tales have taught us that that isn't always the right thing to do.

Well, that's it for Drink Deep, Readers! Did I miss any questions you had about this book? Let me know below! Keep an eye out for my Biting Cold questions, coming soon!