Hannah’s Comments (group member since Apr 11, 2015)

Hannah’s comments from the Playing With Fire Q&A group.

Regarding the Inheritance, is there a limit as to how far into the future the visions can show a mage? Could a mage see a scene from their life 20 years from now, or are they all within a few years?

Monica wrote: "I have another question. So how does this vision/dream thing work again? Elementals get them when they come into their powers? If so, did Kyran have these kind of dreams like Aaron is having? How l..."

I'm curious about if Kyran had them of Aaron too. Particularly Aaron's recurring one that gets longer each time he dreams it, the one with Kyran and the cave.

Also, the separate battle Aaron has to fight (which is going to be harder now that he's a central part of the fight with Hadrian), will we learn what that is in book 3 or 4?

S.F. wrote: "Last day of the Q&A folks! If you have any more questions, now is the time to ask.

I've got one for all of you. It may sound weird but trust me, I ask for a reason. You've seen a few deaths alread..."

I would save Aaron. Not because I necessary like him more (I love both of them), but because I feel like he is much more likely to sacrifice himself if it means saving ALL members of his family. I get the feeling from Aaron that if he honestly thought it would bring about peace and protect all of his loved ones, he would give the legacy to Hadrian. Or he would give up his life in order to use the Influence to end the war. In any case, I would choose to protect Aaron, mostly from himself.

Speaking of the Influence, are we going to learn more about it?

I think Kyran thinks he can and will kill Aaron, but I don't think he will actually be able to do it. I can see him subconsciously stopping himself by flinching at the last minute or something. The dream Aaron had about Kyran saying he'll kill Aaron proves that because Kyran is just sitting there telling Aaron that, not actually killing him.

I think Layla is an interesting character and I feel like she's going to be the one to reveal to Hadrian that Kyran has feelings for Rose. I can't wait to see Layla and Rose meet. That'll be a fun interaction.

Question: has it ever occurred to the mages to use humans in their realm to fight against Hadrian and the vamages? They could actually kill them since they aren't mages and I bet there are many like Sam and Rose who lost everything to the vamages and would be willing to fight.

S.F. wrote: "Hadrian won't tolerate Kyran falling for a human..."

I didn't think he would and I'm excited to see that conversation. It could potentially create a rift between Hadrian and Kyran. I know Hadrian is one of the "bad guys" (at least as far as the mages are concerned), but I find it hard to completely hate him because of how he treats Kyran (he truly does love him as a son) and that when he started this it wasn't for power, but for Neriah. It became about power after everyone turned on him (or at least that's what it seems like so far).

Will we find out what Alex was keeping from Chris but Hadrian knew about in the next book? I'm really curious to know what the secret was. It seems important if Aaron saw the conversation.

S.F. wrote: "My turn to ask a question.

What are your predictions for Kyran and Rose?"

I also think they will end up together, but it will be a long and difficult process. Right now I feel like Rose is in a dark place when it comes to her feelings for Kyran, especially since she thinks he dropped the Salvador's gate and therefore had a role in the deaths of many people, including Armana. This is only going to get worse if he tries to kill Aaron, because she views him as a little brother. It's going to take a lot for her to forgive and trust him again, including the full truth coming out. Hopefully, the mages and vamages will put their civil war on hold in order to team up and take out Raoul. We've already see them do some serious damage to the Lycans when they work together. If that were to happen (which it probably won't), it would go a long way towards helping Rose forgive Kyran.

Kyran's biggest obstacle is that I don't think Hadrian would approve of him falling for a human. While Hadrian does seem to want to protect the human realm, like most mages (and vamages) he probably views them as beneath Kyran. I would love to see a father-son chat between Hadrian and Kyran discussing how Kyran can win over Rose. I feel like it would be a funny conversation.

S.F. wrote: "Monica wrote: "Kyran won't kill Aaron...he just can't. If he did, I am pretty sure he would not be my favorite character anymore and I would cry a thousand tears."

Monica wrote: "I am glad that Ha..."

I also don't think that Kyran will kill Aaron, I don't think he's capable of doing so. His instinct seems to be to protect Aaron, so I think he'd be trying to protect him while trying to kill him. I'm curious to know how Hadrian is going to get the legacies without killing Kyran, though that doesn't surprise me. He seems to genuinely love Kyran and I couldn't see him being okay with Kyran dying.

I can't wait to find out why Kyran can feel his parents and they can't feel him. I hope Hadrian didn't have anything to do with it, that it was Raoul or something. I feel like Raoul is the biggest threat either Hadrian or the mages are facing right now, but they're so focused on killing each other that they've forgotten about him, which is probably what he wants.

I really like learning more about Hadrian and seeing that he's not pure evil. Yes, the vamages are drinking from the mages, but Hadrian is trying to protect both realms from the demons. Or at least, he is if what Kyran believes is the truth.

Also, will we find out more about what the little girl meant when she called Aaron a "web" in the next book? Or will we discover that in the last?

S.F. wrote: "Hannah wrote: "So I have a few different questions, and I apologize for putting them all in one comment. I have been dying to discuss this book with someone else who has read it (freaking out to yo..."

I guessed Kyran wrapped the house in vines after rereading Playing With Fire the second time. Remembering his anger and hurt towards his parents, and then seeing how Aaron viewed the vines wrapping around the house, the menacing feeling coming from them, made me think it might be Kyran. Plus, it took a lot of effort to remove them, meaning whoever put them there was powerful.

I think I'm most curious about the identity of the Lurker. He seems to want to protect Kyran and fight against the vamages. The fact that he won't reveal his identity and is protecting Kyran, makes me think he knows who exactly Kyran is, so I feel like he's not on Neriah's side or he would have told someone. In any case, I'm looking forward to learning more about him in the next book.

So I have a few different questions, and I apologize for putting them all in one comment. I have been dying to discuss this book with someone else who has read it (freaking out to your roommates who don't know what you're talking about is not very satisfying). Before I start though, I just wanted to say that I absolutely loved Playing With Fire.

First, questions regarding Ben/Kyran:

1) When they're talking about the night Ben "died", they mention they went to the festival for his birthday. Does that mean Kyran/Ben's birthday is the day before Aaron's?

2) Kyran's bike is named "Lexi", is that supposed to be after his Uncle Alex, who he called "Lex"?

3) The rules regarding legacies are that if you give one up you die. Since Kyran holds multiple, does that mean if he gives one of them up, he dies? Or would the fact that there would still be other legacies in him keep him alive?

4) The vines on the house in Marwa: did the other residents put them up, or did Kyran?

Regarding Alex:

This is really a question, just a theory that I'm curious to see if anyone else agrees with:

Did Alex survive? And if so, is he the Lurker following Kyran around, protecting him and such? After all, he was hiding something from Chris that only Hadrian knew. Could it be possible that he is a vamage or something? That would explain why he didn't return to his family.

Also, whoever the Lurker is (which I am assuming we will find out in a later book), will we find out why he seems to be able to create portals on his own?

Regarding Neriah:

1) Will we find out more about his and Hadrian's relationship? Right now, there's a part of me that's thinking they viewed each other as more than brothers. After all, Hadrian said he did everything to fulfill Neriah's dream.

2) At what point did Neriah decide to give Aaron his legacy? Was he planning it all along, or did he only decide after the attack on Salvador? After all, I feel like he had to know he wouldn't be able to get the Hub back from Hadrian, so was his plan when they went to retrieve it, simply to give Aaron his legacy in front of Kyran? Was that the real reason behind the final battle of the book?

Sorry for the long note and multiple questions, these have been on notes in my book for over a month now and I just wanted to get them out. Feel free to answer whichever ones you want and in whatever order or format you want. I can't wait until Thicker Than Water comes out!