So Many Questions: High Stakes and Howling for You Edition

Hello Saucy Readers! We are edging ever closer to the release of the very last Chicagoland Vampires book, Blade Bound. I'm here today to continue my questions series. Today, I'll be focusing on the first two CLV world books, High Stakes from the anthology Kicking It, featuring Lindsey and Luc, and Howling for You, featuring Jeff and Fallon. These are shorties, so I combined them. Keep reading after the break to see what questions I had about these!

Do any of the other older vamps still have relatives they keep in contact with?

Ray hugged me fiercely, enough to make me worry about whatever brought her here. “Aunt Lindsey. Thank God.”
I wasn’t actually her aunt; I’d been a vampire much too long for that. She was my great-great-niece—my sister’s great-granddaughter.

Lindsey is only 115 or there abouts. So, in the grand scheme of vampires, not too old. Her

descendants would be easy to trace. But, what about the other old timers? Luc, Malik, Ethan, etc? Do any of them have relatives they can trace to modern times? If they do have relatives, do they keep track of them? Do their relatives know they exist? I wonder how many people are discovering that long ago relatives didn't actually disappear or die, they became vampires and fled the area. I think it would be fascinating to discover some long lost relation of Ethan's.

Personnel files?

"That’s all well and good, sunshine, but I’ve got a glossy, paint-spattered magazine that says otherwise. Explain, or I’ll have to call Helen and ask for your personnel file and get all the gory details. And you know she’ll give it to me.”

What personnel files? What exactly is in these files? Does everyone have a file? How detailed are these files? Is there some sort of interview process novitiates go through where they have to give minute details of their entire life? Is it just public record stuff? Who complies these files? Helen obviously has access to them, but does she compile them as well? How big is Ethan's file, since he's so old? Does the file go back that far? If someone transfers does their file transfer? What if they defect, like Amber? Is her file just in storage somewhere?


What is Helen's taste in vampires?

Helen was Cadogan’s warden, a woman who had very specific taste in vamps. Luc was on her good side; I never had been.

We know it's not Merit, and apparently, it's not Lindsey either. We know Ethan is a favorite of
Helen's. So, my first thought would be well-dressed, sophisticated vampires, but, Luc doesn't fit that mold at all. Is it just male vampires that Helen is fond of? Are there any females Helen is fond of? What about Lacey? It seems like Helen would have been fond of Lacey.

Has Lindsey been in the same room in Cadogan for her entire time in the House?

I crouched, flipped back the rug that covered the hardwood floor, and pulled up a board I'd loosened many years ago.

That and the psychic abilities would explain the mass amounts of stuff in her room. But, that's a REALLY long time to live in, essentially, a dorm room. The same dorm room....for a hundred years. I'm not sure I could survive living in the same small room for years on end. Also, I wonder if Luc and Lindsey will ever move into a bigger room together. Luc probably has a bigger room, right? He's basically third in command. That has to warrant a bigger room.

How do vampires travel long distances by air?

I made it onto the plane-- the last one out of Midway for the night-- just before they closed the doors, and slid into my seat in first class.

For example, my father in law travels to Singapore for business. That is twenty four hours of travel

time. Are there vampire safe planes? That would be a lucrative business now that vampires are out in the open. Would they take the Cadogan jet? For that matter, how do vampires travel to hotels? Is there a work around for the sunlight thing? Do vampires travel with shutters or giant black out curtains? Also, how do vampires in other time zones talk to each other? They are potentially not awake at the same time, depending on where they are. They would have to do everything via humans or via email or phone messages. That would take a long time to manage, if it was a business transaction or some sort of negotiation.

 

How many female Apexes have there been?

The Pack believed every Apex needed a companion, a man or woman strong enough to help the Apex hold the Pack. Since I could one day be that Apex, it fell to my family to identify potential mates. A doomsday plan in dating form.

Fallon says she would be the first female of the NAC, but what about the other packs? Have any of them had a female Apex? If there have been female Apexes, which packs were the in charge of? Was it a family line thing like the Keenes or were they so badass they fought their way to the top? Would Fallon become a proxy Apex until Connor came of age, if something happened to Gabriel? Or, would Tanya help him rule until he was old enough? Also, if the Apex's mate must be strong enough to help them keep the pack, I have a new found respect for Tanya. Not that I didn't respect her before, but knowing this, my respect has increased.

Gabriel is afraid of spiders.

"Seems the best place for it,” Gabe said, returning it to its cushion and closing the box again. “Although there are spiders downstairs. I do not like spiders Gabe had faced pissed-off shifters, irritated vampires, and worse. But spiders were his mortal enemies. To be fair, the basement’s spiders were large and in charge.

Big, tough, motorcycle riding, Apex of the NAC, Gabriel Keene is afraid of spiders. I mean, I guess everyone is afraid of something. I just expected Gabriel's fear to be a little less......silly. 

Did you really expect her to be a debutante? Seriously?

He looked at me with curiosity. “You are not at all what I expected.” I wasn’t sure how to take that. “What did you expect?” “A debutante, I guess.” He looked me over, took in hair and clothes. “Less serious. More giggly.”

Seriously? What exactly do you know about being an Apex? Apparently nothing. If it's standard shifter knowledge that the Apex's mate helps them hold the pack, why on earth would you expect the possible first female Apex of the NAC to be a silly, giggly, debutante? What is wrong with you? Also, growing up with that many brothers, there's no way someone is turning out like that. You just took yourself out of the running for potential mate right there. I'm going to move on before I go on a rant about sexism.

Does Jeff have a side business installing security systems?

There’s a camera?” Eli asked. “It’s part of my standard security package,” Jeff said, eyes on the tablet.

Is this just something Jeff does when the Ombuddies are on a case and/or for his family and friends? Or, is this a legit side business with clients and what not? Is this how Jeff affords his expensive downtown apartment? What else is in the standard security package? Does Jeff do security packages for humans too or just supernaturals? What's in the deluxe package? How much do Jeff's services cost? How does he have time to do things like this with his Ombudsman responsibilities?

What happened to their parents?

"I love you, Fallon. And so do your other brothers. And so did Mom, and so did Pop. You are exactly who you’re supposed to be. No more, no less. And you always will be, whether the coronet is yours or not.”

Obviously, they are dead, but what happened? Did they die at the same time? Did one die before the other? Were they killed in an attempted coup? Or, did they just die of old age? Can shifters die of old age? What is the most common cause of death in shifters? Why do I have a feeling the answer is violence? Can shifters get cancer? Does traditional medicine work on them?

Well, that's all I've got, Saucy Readers. Did I miss any questions you had about these books? I wish we could see more of Fallon and Jeff. I like them. Keep watch for the next installment, Wild Things, coming soon!