Those Who Hunt... - Plot hole or did I miss something? - Spoilers

[Cindy]

I'm a little confused about a plot point in TWHTN. At the beginning, Ysidro makes quite the effort to prove to Asher that once glammed, he has quite the psychic control over his victims. (If I'm understanding the mechanics of this correctly.) That is, he can summon the human from great distances if he needs to. This was all to convince Asher that Ysidro could have this same power over Lydia.

Ok, so much later Asher confesses to Ysidro that Lydia has been in London all this time, but she is now missing. Did Ysidro use his summoning powers to see if he could convince Lydia to come to him?

Of course, at that point they didn't realize that she was actually far away and in no position to escape. Either I don't remember this or it was missing, but it seems like the obvious first step to finding her.

Anyway, if you could help me fill in the gap, I'd be grateful. :)

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I don't think he did, but I also think that by the time Asher had told Ysidro that Lydia was missing, they already knew who the bad guy was, and had to go find him anyway.

But, now that you mention it, it would sort of made sense, once they got to the house, to at least have tried that instead of wandering around blindy, as it were, looking for her.

Of course, I'm also not entirely sure why Ysidro couldn't just tell where she was in the house, either.

[Cindy]

blackrose wrote: "But, now that you mention it, it would sort of made sense, once they got to the house, to at least have tried that instead of wandering around blindy, as it were, looking for her.

Of course, I'm also not entirely sure why Ysidro couldn't just tell where she was in the house, either. "

Yes, you are totally right, blackrose! Unless a pantry door has magical anti-vampire-sensing blocking powers. Asher could have just shoved his beloved in a pantry from the beginning, then just ignore Ysidro's request!

Thanks for responding - I'm glad I didn't just miss that.

It's really frustrating and odd when authors make a huge point of some concept or action (i.e. vampire sensing abilities), then just abandon it at the end.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Heck, he could've put her anywhere where she didn't have the key. Have the maid lock her in the bedroom at night, and hang some silver chains on the windows. (Especially in the beginning when they thought the killer was human and they were safe during the day.)

I wonder, too, if, perhaps, Ysidro wasn't lying a bit or, at least, exagerrating his powers.

Or you could argue that he was injured when they got to the house. Yes it was just his hands that were blistered, but maybe that affected him in other ways, too. Of course, this is all just rationalization on my part, and nothing eplicitly stated in the book.

[Hank]

I convinced myself that Ysidro was exagerrating and then went blithly along but it would have been better if Hambly would have had Asher note the exagerration since he noted every other vampire weakness/strength

[Sarah]

I didn't think this was even a plot hole. He said that he could call her, not trace the result back to her. They knew she had been abducted so it follows that she was restrained and could not have responded to the call.

[Michael]

That is an interesting idea. I, too, got the impression that Ysidro was overboasting, but at the same time, he clearly has serious powers and I was never confident that Lydia was "hidden" in London. Calling her does seem like a natural idea to have proposed, although I wonder if Asher would have been desperate enough to propose it, since it would mean Lydia under Ysidro's power. I was actually surprised he admitted she was missing at all, although i guess he had to because it could have been a vampire in Grippen's gang that had taken her.