So Many Questions: Biting Bad Edition

​Hello again, Saucy Readers! I'm back again! This time with Biting Bad. It seems that, as we get closer to the end of the series, I have fewer questions and more observations. Biting Bad is actually only one part this time, unlike most of the others that have been two parts. It is a bit longer than some of the others, but it wasn't enough to break into two parts. Hit up our Chicagoland Vampires tag if you need to catch up!

Keep reading, and know that spoilers abound, to see what I'd like to know from Biting Bad after the break!





Jonah has never been hotter in the entire series, than he is in this scene.

I couldn’t help but give him a look. It wasn’t that I’d expected my RG partner would be an easygoing instructor. He was responsible for keeping the Grey House guards ready for action, after all. But nor had I expected him to be a total hard-ass.                              “Reset,” Jonah repeated, a little more firmly.                    “Should I remind him I’m a Master?” Ethan quietly asked beside me, rolling the swords in his hands and bouncing on the balls of his feet as he prepared to spar again.                              Jonah’s hearing must have been acute. “You’re Master of Cadogan House,” he said, “not dual swords. Reset.”

I don't know what it is about this scene, but I was enthralled. I love this side of Jonah and I

would love nothing more than to see him fight with two katanas. I'm really hoping he and Merit straighten out their issues in Blade Bound and we continue to see him in the spin-off series. I would actually squeal like a little girl if the spinoff series featured Jonah as the love interest. But, alas, I don't think that is what's going to happen with the spin-off. I do hope they work out their issues, though. Anyway, hard-ass trainer Jonah is super fucking hot and I wish we could see him commanding his guards sometime. I think I might die.

I would really like to see some stuff from the early days of Mallory and Merit's friendship.

Saul’s eyes narrowed. This was always dangerous territory. “Cool Hand Luke is a classic piece of American cinema, Ms. Know It All. It was nominated for five—”    “Academy Awards, I know.” I smiled at him—it was nice to hear that familiar nickname again and listen to the familiar argument—and gestured toward the dining room. “Is Ms. Blue Hair in?”                            “She’s at your booth,” he said, then checked the old Schlitz clock on the wall behind him.

We know Mallory rented Merit an extra room in her house after they met on the El. But, what did they really bond over? What similar interests do they have? How long did it take them to go from just roommates to best friends? Does Merit have other friends in Chicago besides Mallory and Nick? She grew up here, where are her high school friends, her PhD friends, etc? She should have plenty of circles to run in, regardless of her introvert status. I'm as introverted as they come, with social anxiety to boot and I have friends. Anyway, what were the early days of Mallory and Merit's friendship like? Did Mallory have to force Merit into interactions? Did Merit stay at school or in her room the whole time? How much time did Merit really spend at the house? Between doctoral school and commuting to the U of C is quite a hike from Wicker Park, why choose that one? Why not look for something closer to campus? 

You can't just leave us hanging like that!

Molotovs are a hell-raiser’s best friend,” Luc said. “Not that I have any experience with anything like that.”                              “Chicago ’twenty-four?” Ethan asked dryly.                    “That was a long time ago,” Luc said, “if I was to admit I did anything in 1924, which I am not so admitting.”

Chloe!! You can't just leave us hanging like that! I need to know that story! Why was Luc

using molotov cocktails in 1924? Who was he with? What were they doing? Was he just wreaking havoc or was he acting in official guard capacity? Was there some bad guy they were dealing with? Was Luc the Guard Captain yet? Was he causing a diversion to help people escape from a speakeasy, since this was prohibition times? What is the story here!? I need to know!

How do vampires, especially, and sups in general, not already have a lobbyist?

It may be time to discuss lobbyists and our friends in Washington,” Luc said.       Ethan nodded. “Let’s put that on the agenda.” He put his hands flat on the tabletop. “I think that’s it for now, unless anyone has anything else?”

Vampires are so political already, how do they not have a lobbyist in place? I know Celina's announcement was a surprise to everyone, vampires included, but it's been a while. How do they not have someone in place already? The AMA should get on this ASAP. I'm generally anti-lobbyists, but in this case, I think it's necessary to prevent discrimination and registration acts and other things of that nature. Really though, with all of their compound interest money, vampires should be crawling in lobbyists and lawyers and such. How did they not have people banging down their doors to get their feet in the door of supernatural law?

I 100% agree on Luc's declaration of movie night.

"That's a damn shame," Luc said, then looked at me. "Sentinel, I command you to host a movie night during which we educate this man on cinema classics--"

Luc is absolutely right. If Ethan is going to stick with Merit forever, he's going to need a film

education to keep up with her, Luc and Mallory's references. Movies don't really seem like Ethan's thing, mostly since he is so old, he remembers the first movie, I'm sure. But, that is no excuse for a lack of pop culture knowledge! Merit and Luc need to get on this ASAP. I would love to see some of Ethan's reactions to some movie classics, especially some of the weirder ones from Merit's childhood (assuming it was like my own, since we are of similar ages). Labyrinth is the big one that springs to mind. Can you imagine Ethan watching David Bowie in that movie? That is a hilarious thought. I wonder if there are movies about events that he's lived through. I'd like him to watch those too. He could tell us the real story. Come on, Merit, Cadogan movie night... get on it!

What kind of wound leaves a scar on a vampire?

As quickly as we healed, some scars remained. The pucker on his chest where a stake had punctured his heart was evidence of that.

I get the stake leaving a scar. It killed him, of course it will leave a scar. But, what other

wounds leave a scar on a vampire? If they were stabbed with Aspen somewhere else on their body, an arm or a leg or what have you, would that leave a scar? Does it have to be some sort of catastrophic injury? An injury that would kill a human? Or, does it have to do with the method of injury? Would a third degree burn leave a scar? Also, later in the book, they mention illnesses that vampires are susceptible to. What illnesses are those? Do they get colds or is it a serious illness? We know about aspen extract. What else is there? Are there vampiric STDs? How do you cure a vampire's illness if drugs don't have the same effect on them? Is anyone researching this?

What is Helen's backstory?

 Seriously, Helen did an amazing job getting everything arranged so quickly. You should give her a raise.” Ethan snorted. “Trust me, Sentinel, she doesn’t need one. We had to double her salary after your transition to vampire.”I slugged him gently in the arm, but I suspected he wasn’t teasing.

We know that Ethan stole her from one of our Presidents. She was his social secretary. But,

which President was it? Was he still the President at the time? How do you approach someone like that? "Hey do you want to quite your awesome, prestigious job and come be a vampire? BTW, vampires are real!" I would imagine it took a lot of convincing. What does Helen do day to day? Obviously when prepping for new Initiates, she's very busy, but what does she do the rest of the year? Is she in charge of housekeeping? Is she in charge of public relations or inter-house relations? What does she do? Also, was Ethan serious about giving Helen a raise after Merit? Because, I think she deserves a raise if he didn't give her one.

How is Cadogan House perceived among Grey and the other Houses?

A few of the Grey House guards looked around at one another in surprise at Ethan's magnanimity, which made me wonder how they'd perceived Cadogan House.

How much are the other House's Novitiates privy to regarding Cadogan and Chicago

shenanigans? What exactly did they expect from Ethan when he invited them to stay at the House until they could find other arrangements? Do they see Cadogan as trouble makers or as Chicago's saviors? Or, does it depend on the House? I would bet Nicole painted Cadogan as rule breakers and trouble makers. Lacey paints Ethan as a saint and Merit as the one causing all of the trouble. Navarre, obviously, has their collective heads in the sand. I would have thought Scott would have kept his ranks informed of the issues in Chicago, but maybe he's been shielding them from it, given his guards' surprise at Ethan's hospitality.

And so begins Chloe's torture of us.....

"Just a spot of dust,” he explained, rising again and grinning wickedly at me. “Did you think I was on one knee for some other reason, Sentinel?”My heart began to beat again. “You are a cruel, cruel man.”

We've done nothing but love you, Chloe Neill. Why do you torture us so? Oh...that's right. Because we love it.

How many vampires are there in the Midwest?

"We supply the vampires of Chicago and much of the upper Midwest. We’re one of the largest facilities in the country.” She smiled at us and stepped forward.

I've asked a similar question before, about how many vampires there are. I really am curious though. Are there Rogues all over or do they tend to stay in the major cities? Are there any Houses close to Chicago? Madison, St. Louis, Indianapolis? What' the next closest House, Kansas City is the only one I can think of and that's not that close. Also, how did companies like this one get started? Who's job is it to approach a human company an solicit work for vampires? Especially before they came out. Did they go through their lawyers? Do they have human employees that take care of this for them? In a similar vein, who does the grocery shopping for Cadogan? Do they get deliveries? If so, who handles that? All of the delivery companies I know only deliver during the day.

Stupid prophecies! What does this mean?

Blood,” she said, eyes closed, magic swirling in the room like an invisible twister and raising goose bumps on my arms. “The alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. The fount of life and harbinger of darkness.”         She sucked in a breath, and a rush of words poured out in a string. “All is waiting. All is forever. All is before.”

What does that even mean? Is this just nonsense? How often do sorcerers make prophecies? Do all of them come to pass or are some of them just worthless? Is there a record of them somewhere, like Harry Potter? Can all sorcerers make prophecies or is it only sorcerers of a certain strength or skill level? Are there different skill levels in sorcery? Are there advanced studies or do you just get what you get and that's it?

Thank God for the First Response family mentality.

The house was surrounded by vehicles—fire trucks, police interceptors, two ambulances. Their blue, red, and white lights shined across the yard, which was full of debris thrown out by the explosion.

In case you weren't aware, when there's an emergency call placed for someone who is a cop,

firefighter, paramedic, etc, everyone pulls out all of the stops. They all come together to make sure that person gets the best and fastest response possible. They consider themselves a big family. So, even though they may not know this particular person, they know that they are one of their own. For someone like Chuck, that everyone knows, every cop and firefighter in the vicinity is going to drop what they're doing and come to his aid. And, thank god for that. We can't lose Chuck!

It's ok to be heartbroken about the house, Merit.

I glanced around, refusing to look at the house, not ready to face the destruction or the loss of a place where I’d spent so much time as a child. A place where I’d grown up.

I was fortunate enough to have three out of four of my grandparents into my mid 20s. I had both of my grandmothers until that bitch of a year, 2016. This scene just guts me every time. I wasn't as close to my grandfather as Merit was to hers, but he and my grandma lived two blocks away from the house I grew up in. And, my uncle lives there now. My siblings and I spent a lot of time there growing up. I'd be devastated if it burned.

Ethan Sullivan takes one step closer to being the perfect man.

“I can cook, Sentinel.”I looked at him, obviously suspicious. “You’ve never cooked for me.” “I’ve not yet done a number of things for you. That doesn’t mean I’m not capable of doing them.”

Seriously, he can cook too? This is just not fair to the rest of us. Assuming, of course, he means really cook and not just he knows enough to not starve to death. I'd really like to see him cook something for Merit. I think she would really enjoy that. That's very much her style of date. And, because he's the perfect man, Ethan probably knows that. Can we get another vacation short story where Ethan cooks for Merit?

Where did Catcher learn his interrogation techniques?

But I think we can have the CPD pick Alan up. I’ve only met him the once, but he strikes me as the type to flip easily. Maybe we can get something useful.”Ethan nodded authoritatively. “Thank you, Catcher. We appreciate it.”

Catcher seems to know quite a bit about interrogation techniques, not just in this scene but throughout the series. Where did he learn these techniques? Watching Chuck? Watching shitty Lifetime movies? He also seems fairly well versed in......enhanced interrogation. Where does he get these skills? Did that come with his weapons training with the Order? I don't think he would have had the time between leaving home and coming to Chicago, but was Catcher in the military? Was someone in his family in the military? Is that where he learned things like this? Catcher's whole backstory is a mystery that I would like to unravel.

How many vampires don't make it too far into their immortal life?

“My father died,” she said, looking back at Jonah again. “Three days ago. My father died, and my mother is gone. I don’t want to be here alone forever. I’m not strong enough for that.” She swallowed thickly. “I don’t want to be a vampire anymore. I don’t want to be an orphan, here when my entire family is gone. I made a mistake. And I thought I could fix it.”

How many vampires change their minds when all of their family starts to grow old and die off and they are still the same? How many die only years or decades into their immortal lives because they can't handle their family dying off? Is this one of the benefits of the House system? You have a new family and a support system when your own family starts to die? I would think this is one reason behind vampires moving away from their families. They don't have to watch them grow old. It would be horrible. I don't know that I could handle being a vampire. It would take a lot of courage or some serious family strife to not be affected by this.

Well, that's all from me this time, Saucy Readers! Stay tuned for a double feature of High Stakes and Howling for You questions! Did I miss any Biting Bad questions you had? Let me know below!!