Lily Crozier

They don't exist.

Guys, stop talking about the vampires.

They're not real.

And so that's like vaguely alluded to in the book.

There's a moment where like Raleigh explicitly talks about it, but it's all kind of just hinted at.

And yeah, that was like a really interesting moment.

set dressing, I suppose.

No.

And I think because it was just mostly, I guess it was a peasant like folklore vibe.

So it was like someone died on a farm and then a bunch of other people died and they went, oh, he's drinking their blood.

But, yeah, it's a fascinating thing to stumble across.

I think it's a really good question.

I actually don't remember the exact moment I decided on it.

I think it was partly me exploring like the –

there's a huge thread of a consent dynamic between Clara and Riley through the book.

And I knew I wanted to have a conversation between them where he made it really clear that he was never going to do anything to like hurt her and her body that she was unhappy with.

And so there always needed to be a conversation about children.

And I think the character like on Rake the Damp is like he was always going to be in it.

But the fact that he was half vampire and not just a vampire that had that tied in with the

necessary conversations Clara and Raleigh had to have.