So Many Questions: Hard Bitten Part Two

Here I am again, with Part Two of my questions after my re-read of Hard Bitten. You can find Part One here. Let's not waste any time and dive right in. My questions and, obviously, spoilers after the break!






Do all vampires have fast metabolisms?

On the other hand, I was a vampire. They couldn't hurt me. Whatever criticisms you might level against Ethan for making me a vampire, I had a crazy-fast metabolism and no obvious means of weight gain.

Do all vampires have "crazy-fast metabolisms?" Or, is just Merit's crazy-fast and other vampires are just fast? Was Merit's already fast metabolism enhanced by the change? What about other things like hair growth and nail growth? Did those speed up or slow down? In other vampire universes, sometimes hair growth stops and you are stuck with the same hair forever. Is that the case in this world?

Why is Catcher suspicious in this scene?

"You know Jonah?""I do now," I said, my stomach clenching at the lie. "He's the Grey House captain.""So I've heard." He stared at me for a moment."What," I asked, my own curiosity aroused. Did he suspect I knew Jonah? Did he suspect Jonah knew more than he was admitting?But Catcher stayed silent, keeping whatever suspicions he might have had to himself.

Why did Merit think Catcher was suspicious of her? Why does he act like this in this scene? Is it because he thinks she's "cheating" on Ethan, even though they weren't in a relationship? Does he suspect her of joining the Red Guard or at least being asked to join? Does Catcher even KNOW about the Red Guard? Or, was he just being his grouchy, asshole self and she's nervous about her connection to Jonah so she's projecting that into him being suspicious? What is going on here?! Is he suspicious of Jonah's intentions or Merit's actions? Does he just not like Jonah?

Was V spread into the Navarre bar, Red, as well?

"...Apparently it spread from Benson's to Grey House to Temple Bar, where Cadogan vamps were stupid enough to try it."

Were vamps in Navarre exposed to V also? Or did Celina/Tate give Paulie specific orders to keep it away from Celina's precious vampires? Or, were the Navarre vamps just able to conceal their use better than Grey and Cadogan vamps? I'd be willing to bet that she specifically did not push it at Red or any other places Navarre vamps gather.






Did Dominic make Seth a better politician?

Tate strode toward us, both sympathy and irritation in his expression. I figured the irritation was offered up by his strategic half, the political leader anticipating nasty commercials about the "vampire problem." The sympathy was probably offered up by his baby-kissing half.

We know now that Seth's evil twin, Dominic, is sharing his body. Is Dominic's influence what made Tate a good politician? That mix of empathy and practicality, dark and light, good and evil. Did Dominic exert more influence over Seth than he admits to? Is Seth even aware of Dominic's possible influence? Could Dominic take complete control over Seth and he wouldn't even realize it, Supernatural possession style? Or, was Dominic just along for the ride and all of Seth's actions were his own?

Why is Darius so against an alliance with the Packs?

It would be bad for the Chicago Houses to completely alienate the Packs. But in Darius's mind, it would be altogether worse to become too cozy with them.

Why would this be worse than alienating the Packs? Why would forming an alliance with the

second most powerful (at least in vampire reckoning) supernatural group in the city a terrible thing? I understand that the Clearings happened and shifters did nothing. But, now, they are out too and if humans revolt against vampires, they'll be revolting against shifters too. An alliance between Cadogan and the NAC can only bring good things for vampires. It's a step to getting shifters and vamps to band together, if necessary. To help each other when needed. I guess my real question here is, why is Darius such a dick?

​How does Luc get away with his own personal uniform?

Luc, in a faded denim shirt and jeans, was an interesting contrast to the rest of the guards, who were all dressed in black.

I don't know why this didn't occur to me until now, but why does he get to wear whatever he wants? Are he and Ethan just that close, that Ethan lets him get away with this? Was this part of his promotion, he gets to dress like the cowboy that he is if he takes the job of guard captain? Helen doesn't wear Cadogan black either, though she does still dress nicely. Do all of the senior staff get exemptions from the standard Cadogan uniform or is it just Luc and Helen?​ Obviously, Margot, as House chef, gets a practicality exemption. Are there any other senior staff that we don't know about? Does Luc even own a suit? Maybe there's something in the upcoming books I'm not remembering. But, I don't recall a time where he is actually dressed in nice, not made of denim, clothes. You're welcome for that gif, by the way.

Does Grey House have different styles of jerseys for people to choose from?

Five vampires rushed in, some in black street clothes, but a couple wearing blue and yellow hockey-style jerseys with GREY HOUSE in capital letters across the front.

When you are initiated into the House do you get to choose which style of jersey you want?

Is everyone given every style? Do they wear them according to sports season? Football jerseys and hockey jerseys in the winter, baseball in the spring and summer, etc? Or, is it just wear whichever one you like? Are there home and away game versions? Does each jersey have it's own number? Or, do they all have the same number, like the year the House was founded or something? If they do all have their own numbers, what do the numbers signify? Also, what are they going to do when they run out of numbers? Or, can there be duplicate numbers? I think I'd prefer to live in Grey House, so, I have a lot of questions about this jersey situation. 

Who was Celina expecting to meet that night at Street Fest?

I assumed she meant Paulie, but if she hadn't been expecting me..."Who did you think you were meeting?"Her expression went haughty. "As you are well aware, and as the GP has reminded you, my life is none of your concern."

If she wasn't expecting to meet Merit, who did she think she was meeting? I have no earthly idea. Did Paulie arrange this just to be proactive, in the hopes that Merit would kill Celina and he could break out from Tate's rule? Or to cut her out of the profits? Did he say she was meeting Ethan or Morgan or some unknown third party that was also in on this drug running business? What was Paulie's game here? This could have gone badly in so many different ways, for Merit, for Celina, for Paulie, for the unsuspecting humans. Everyone was very luck that day. Also, I wonder if Tate was nearby directing Celina's actions. 

This scene is tainted now.

For seven nights, Mallory slept on the floor of my room, loath to leave my side. I was hardly capable of acknowledging her existence, much less anything else. But on the eighth night, she'd apparently had enough.

Mallory and her shitty addiction has ruined this scene. I touched on this in part one, but I'm going to take it a step further. Was this even for Merit's benefit or was she using Merit's grief to get to the Maleficum and Ethan's ashes? I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's how addicts operate. They use their family and friends as a means to enable their addiction. Now, I'm going to move on before I get too angry and work up into a full on rant about Mallory and how shitty a friend she is to Merit throughout the whole series.



What would Merit have been like if she had been made into Navarre instead of Cadogan?

"When Ethan said no, you talked to Celina. You offered to pay Celina to make me a vampire."

Obviously, changing to a vampire wouldn't have altered Merit's personality. And, Joshua didn't actually ask Celina to do it. But, what kind of vampire would she have become if Joshua had asked her? She, obviously, would not have been named Navarre Sentinel. Would she and Morgan have dated? Would Merit be with Morgan long term? Would Merit have even lasted as a Navarre vamp? I think Merit might have gone Rogue or, if possible, transferred to another House. She's not the type of personality they are looking for in Navarre. What would her position have been in Navarre? Would she have made any friends? How long would she have lasted before breaking free of them? That's her worst nightmare, spending an eternity with a house full of vampires who are just like her parents. An eternity of the life she spent trying to run from.


That concludes the Hard Bitten portion of the Chicagoland Vampires question series. Did I miss anything you wanted to know from this book? Let me know below and stay tuned for the Drink Deep questions, coming soon!