QUESTION 1: Do you have a title for the new book yet?
My editor suggested Fury’s Kiss for the next Dory, but I haven’t heard yet whether or not it has been approved.
QUESTION 2: In Touch the Dark, they tested out some holy water on Pritkin to make sure it was just that and nothing else. How come it didn’t affect him in any visible way? (or did it?) Was it because his human heritage shielded him from that particular demon-harming substance? Are there any other things that harm demons specifically that can hurt Pritkin?
The term “demon” in the Cassie books refers to a wide variety of creatures, not all of which are affected by the same things. That is why Pritkin’s potions arsenal is so extensive, and why you saw in ETN that not every substance Cassie used on Rosier had any effect. In any case, Pritkin is a half demon, not a full one, and so has protection from that sort of thing from his human side.
QUESTION 3: At the start of Hunt the Moon, is Pritkin back as a member of the war mage corps? He has a locker at the new HQ (built after the demise of MAGIC, I presume), and he reports in to Marsden and takes direction from him. What is his status with the corps and the silver circle?
His status was only in question because of his defiance of Saunder’s orders in CBS through CTD. But after the coup, Jonas resumed control and agreed that Pritkin had no choice but to support the Pythia. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing, what he had taken an oath to do, in helping Cassie. Obviously, he was not going to be punished for that. And Jonas has every reason to like having one of his people as close to Cassie as Pritkin has become, so why try to change his assignment?
QUESTION 4: Cassie said a few times that only normal humans leave ghosts behind. But her father’s ghost was captured and he is clearly not a normal human. And in CTD she sees the ghost of the rogue mage who attacked her. Are mages normal humans and every human should be able to perform magic? Or is there a difference between ghost, soul and spirit? Why did we never meet a ghost of a mage?
Where did Cassie say that mages don’t leave ghosts? Because from TTD on you’ve known about her father, a human mage, and the fact that his ghost is trapped. So clearly, mages do leave ghosts. Any humans can, although it’s quite rare. But other creatures are a different story. As Cassie asks Billy in HTM, how many non-human ghosts have you seen? He admits that he’s never seen any and she agrees with him. So if other types of creatures can leave ghosts, Cassie either hasn’t encountered them or can’t see them.
As for why you haven’t met a mage ghost, you’ve seen one, as you mentioned in your question, and you’ve heard of another. Considering how rare ghosts are, and how few magical humans there are overall, that’s a pretty good number.
QUESTION 5: Is the necklace gone now as in destroyed? I did not know if someone was holding it when they and everything they were touching disintegrated.
I assume you mean the necklace that can retrieve the Pythia? And yes, it was destroyed with the Spartoi.
QUESTION 6: Why did Pritkin immigrate to the US in the first place? It was prior to all the drama or so it seemed.
Saunders had him transferred, along with a lot of Jonas’s old supporters, to get them out of Britain (where the Circle has its HQ). He didn’t want anybody he didn’t trust near his power base.
QUESTION 7: This is the first time the readers have seen Pritkin give energy but we did not learn of the aftermath. Does he suffer any negative effects from donating like Cassie does (especially given he was damaged at the time)?
It’s exhausting, unless there is a feedback loop. And, of course, Cassie was too drained in that instance to give him back any power before Rosier’s spell pulled him away. So it’s safe to assume that he arrived at court in pretty poor shape. But Rosier has good reason to take care of his investment, so Pritkin’s physical health isn’t likely to be in danger. His mental state is another matter.
QUESTION 8: How much can the folks in hell see of earth? Is it like watching a webcam or total cutoff unless you are a higher up?
They see nothing, unless they are there or they’re one of the demon lords. It’s to cut down on plotting/alliance making before they take their turn, and thereby save the lords some headaches.
QUESTION 9: In the final fight scene in HTM, how did Pritkin know Cassie’s soul was out of her body? He cannot see spirits so I thought her body would either appear simply unconscious or dead to him rather than simply unoccupied. He seemed to know exactly what the situation was and what needed to be done.
He arrived in time to see the Spartoi dust away to nothing, and given the way the guy died and Cassie’s recent out of body experience with the vampires at Dante’s, he was pretty sure he knew who was responsible. But when she didn’t quickly return to her body, he realized something must be wrong, and started trying to guide her back.
QUESTION 10: I’m confused, is Cassie a Goddess now? I mean her mother was a Goddess, and her father was what? I thought her father was her mother’s companion that she had forever, so is he God? Immortal? Does that make Cassie a Goddess or half a Goddess?
Cassie’s father is an interesting individual with a very unusual back-story. But no, he isn’t a god. He is a magical human, like Jonas or Caleb or any of the other mages you’ve seen. Rag (or Garm as his name is translated in Old Norse) was a protector of the goddess Hel, and that is the function Cassie’s father served in this book. As Jonas said, the old legends contain truth, but have to be interpreted. This is my interpretation of that part of the story. You’ll learn more about him in future books.
So Cassie is what she always was, a demigoddess; she just knows about it now. But there were always clues to that in the series: the Graea’s fondness for her, things she shouldn’t have been able to do (like springing them from their trap), the fact that she pulled the Pythian power away from the designated heir, her facility with some aspects of it despite zero training…