No–more a combination of “It’s our mess; it’s our duty to clean it up” combined with a realization that Huntsmen can’t afford to let the world know much about Hydes. Think of what anyone interested in breeding a super soldier would think of them. Think how quick that person would come hunting the children of Huntsmen.

Modern legal adoption is a bureaucratic nightmare, but de facto adoption, with a signed agreement to allow the quasi-adoptive parent to make all medical (and other) decisions for the child and take all tax deductions related to the child, is done all the time and takes no more time than hunting up a notary public.

What I am really going crazy trying to figure out is the result of all those studly young Huntsmen reaching sexual maturity in the heyday of the Zipless Fuch. How many young women are raising young twins with bad tempers and no idea who their fathers are? How many of those boys got adopted themselves? How many are in the military, in the penal system, in mental hospitals? How many have been discovered by the government or by privately funded geneticists? The questions are endless.

The genetic experimentation and social engineering going on in Germany and other countries has to play a role in the lives of Huntsmen in those areas. I am still working out all the permutations.

I am remiss, by the way, in not mentioning before now how much I appreciate your letting me preach in your pulpit like this. Thank you.

Maybe the next huntsman story will sufficiently clarify the situation.

When is the next book due?

What exactly are Hunstmen?
Guys with the genetic predisposition to become Hydes.

So it’s a “know what you hunt” kind of thing?

A huntsman who wants a daughter must adopt one because no woman can produce a daughter without some male donating an X chromosome.

Deciding how many girls to adopt is a balancing act. Girls raised in such families are prime candidates for marriage, but also for betrayal. Considering the high attrition rate among adolescent males, raising one girl for each two boys reduces the chance of a family producing “excessâ€? females. Also, this story opens pretty soon after the end of the Depression. Adopting one daughter for every son born might result in more children than the parents can afford to raise.

Okay, that makes sense. If you carry the series out a few generations, I wonder how modern adoption policies would affect this?

They've always been rare and secretive. Nobody who knows about them publicly admits they exist. (I'm still working out what's happening in various parts of Europe.)

Will WWII play into this any the way Lori Handeland used the monsters created by the Nazis in her “Nighthunter” series?

Before I get to your questions, I have to do the mea culpa bit: Don’t blame the editors. My editors wanted more explanation, but I resisted–I thought too much more would constitute talking down to the reader. Maybe the next huntsman story will sufficiently clarify the situation.

Who sprayed Tommy with the rum Lorie licked off him?
Because Tommy was wearing liquid rum after a period of sleep, it had to have been applied after his nightmare woke everyone up. Lorie didn’t apply it. Barring an Unseen Servant, either Jack or Tommy himself had to have applied it. You can check out the choreography to see who could/couldn’t do it, or you can just accept that Lorie doesn’t know for sure.

What exactly are Hunstmen?
Guys with the genetic predisposition to become Hydes.

And what's with Jack and Tommy's uncle?
The Guardian has the right and duty to defend his city from terrors of the night, particularly from Hydes. He has the right to call for help when he needs it, and he dispenses help when asked. He’s usually Old Money, and he’s pretty much lord of the manor, the capo if you prefer. After losing the last of his own sons, this Guardian selected Jack and Tommy to be his heirs, assuming they outlived him.

And why don't they have daughters?
Huntsmen are incapable of passing down a Y chromosome.

And why do they adopt one daughter to each set of twin boys?
A huntsman who wants a daughter must adopt one because no woman can produce a daughter without some male donating an X chromosome.
Raising females in their culture enhances any familys’ ability to pass down that culture to the next generation. Also, raising females in this particular culture provides the males with a population of boffable females who don’t need so many explanations during the … courting process.
Deciding how many girls to adopt is a balancing act. Girls raised in such families are prime candidates for marriage, but also for betrayal. Considering the high attrition rate among adolescent males, raising one girl for each two boys reduces the chance of a family producing “excess” females. Also, this story opens pretty soon after the end of the Depression. Adopting one daughter for every son born might result in more children than the parents can afford to raise.

And what happens if a Huntsman marries then crosses the line?
Whether he remembers her depends on how far he’s gone. If he avoids her until someone takes him out, he might not kill her. If he crosses the line during one of those screaming arguments where objects get throw into the wall, one of them is probably going to kill the other.

And if the monsters have existed in the past, why would anyone need to prove they still exist?
They’ve always been rare and secretive. Nobody who knows about them publicly admits they exist. (I’m still working out what’s happening in various parts of Europe.)