Author: catstark

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent shook his head, leaned into her neck, nuzzled her skin, and tried hard not to bite into her jugular. He knew how easy it would be to simply sink his teeth into her supple body and change her. When he took her blood earlier, he fought not to continue past the three swallows. It was why he flipped back and forth between possessing her immediately and waiting until he could take her slowly. He wanted her skin burn from his touch. He knew the consequences of changing her before she desired it. He caught her eye in the mirror and closed his eyes quickly, to stop her from seeing his thoughts.

Natalia stood carefully in his hold. Though it was not always easy to read her lover, she saw in his eyes what he wanted. Vincent wanted to change her; she was not ready. Natalia knew she couldn’t fight him without a weapon. The closest thing to a weapon within reach was the hairdryer, which sat on the counter, cord wrapped around the nozzle. It was hefty enough, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to knock him out with it. Natalia groaned and leaned into her vampire as his hand ran down her side and he growled into her neck. Her breath caught as she realized she almost wanted him to do it.

Her hand found his hair, tangled in the short soft mane. “Vincent. Please.”

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Tell me another, weaver of tales.” He growled into her neck, to chill her jugular. She shivered in anticipation, and desired his bite. She cried out in frustration when he pulled away and sat back down on the seat. She glowered at him as she propped herself up on her arms.

“Which is it, Vincent? You act as if you’re going to ravish me despite my predilections against it at this time. Then warn me against enticing you.”

He gave her a hyena smile from his seat. She shivered: prey caught in a predator’s lair. “I plan on worshipping you, love, but I still would prefer waiting until we were in our bedroom, as there is more space.”

She glared at him. “You’re toying with me.”

From Protector of the Grey House:

“She’s headed to the room again.”

Vincent, Joseph and Mierka turned and ran for the stairs. In their haste and urgency, they used their vampiric speed and were in the secret room in seconds. The scene made all three open their eyes wide. All the closets were open, either by a crack, or thrown wide open. No items had been taken out, but there was broken glass at Natalia’s feet. She had broken the fifth case in. Vincent knew what was there and was ready to thrash Natalia for her insolence. She had gone too far. He started toward her, but Mierka moved quickly and stepped in his way.

“Stop. Look at the situation better.” Mierka held him back as he appraised the room. Natalia stood in front of the case, hand out. She stared at her outstretched hand, which shook noticeably. Her face showed strain and deep concentration, and her teeth were clenched. The look on her face indicated she fought with herself.

“Natalia.” He was able to control his voice enough to sound pleasant.

Her head turned minutely as her hand reached forward. She turned back to her hand and it came back. She strained a little more and managed to talk, but each word was broken into its own sentence as she struggled with her will.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent’s eyes moved from her lovely features to Charlie’s frantic one. He caught the werewolf’s eyes, which stilled the ramble of words. Charlie’s expression went from anxious to confused to frightened understanding to acceptance. He bowed his head and fell to one knee.

“She still owns my life. If mine is necessary to save hers, I gladly give it.”

“Not your life: your blood.” He looked back at Natalia. “Possibly.”

Charlie stood, then went to lean against the nearby wall. “When?”

“If Rebecca can’t find ropes soon.”

“What will she do to you?” He remembered his own attempt to change Natalia.

“I don’t care. I will not allow her life to end this way.”

Charlie stared up at the large vampire as he stood almost in the center of the low light, and held Natalia as if she were weightless. He had the idea that Vincent would stand there contemplating her life for an eternity without thought to anything else around him. Commotion above them broke the picture.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Natalia. Lilly is leaving us. She wishes to return to New York. I have granted her permission. She will be leaving with me. Diana is coming too. Her skills will be tested to see if she is worthy of being your healer.”

Natalia looked at Lilly, a little hurt. “You didn’t tell me.”

“I was going to. This trip came up before I could tell you.”

Natalia stood and went to Lilly, who stood when the human was by her side. Natalia embraced Lilly, as tears threatened behind her eyes. She had connected with Lilly on a deeper level than any other person, as Lilly had to get inside her head on many occasions to heal her. They also spent many mornings talking over breakfast. She sobbed and heard Lilly sob in return. The tears ran unchecked.

“I’ll miss you.”

“You will see me again.”

“When?”

Their silence gave the answer. Lilly could come out here if she wanted, but family might keep her from doing so. And Natalia had no desire to leave the west coast before she found Donald. The hug became tighter, then the women let go; there was nothing else to do.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“And then you would return.” He paused. “I know the nature of a life led by revenge, Natalia and would be worried if all you had was revenge.” His hand covered the stone hanging around her neck. “If you didn’t have something greater holding you to my house, I would not have given you rank. You are loyal to your mother and wish to kill one monster, but you are still here in this limousine, allowing a vampire to hold you close enough to drain your blood…”

He pulled her arm to his mouth, bit into her wrist, and made her gasp. He drew three swallows of blood, pulled away, and staunched the flow of blood with his handkerchief. “…with no fear for your life. I have no doubt that if you left my house to find Donald, you would return to me. You are loyal to me and to my house. You will return when you leave to find him.”

“You sound so sure that I’ll win.” A bit of doubt crept into her voice.

“You have the sword. And if you didn’t have that you would have your intelligence, and your determination. Nothing will stop you from winning, Natalia.”

“What will stop me from dying in the process?”

“Your will and determination, and the knowledge that you might come to me and live forever, should he try and kill you.”

I recently read two books from the same author and wanted to review them. In case you weren’t aware, reviewing books you read can help others find them. The books I read were in the Smoke and Magic series of which only two are out. The author is AE McKenna.

I’ve known the author a long, long time. We used to game together. D&D, Cyberpunk, WhiteWolf, probably others as well. When I decided to read a book by someone I know, the biggest issue I have is: will I like it. I want to like everything my friends write, and for the most part, I have. Which is good. That is true with Bad Luck Genie and Death Rite Genie.

The books are in first person, which I used to hate reading. Turns out if the writing is bad, I hate it. If the writing it good, I don’t have a problem with it. (I am rolling my eyes at this.)

The books take place in our world, but have magic, djinnis and fae and I’m sure more things will come along as the books progress. Overall, I enjoyed the books. There is no ‘but’ to that. They are decent books. Go purchase them!

Bad Luck Genie

The main character finds out fairly quickly that she is, in fact, a djinni. Her parents hid this fact from her for reasons revealed in the book. The way she finds out is rough and heartbreaking. It’s also not a way I’ve ever head of, therefore I’m chalking that up to the writer’s mind. It’s cool even though it’s heartbreaking.

After finding out she’s a djinni, Lucy is thrown into the world of the fae and stumbles on the man that will be her love interest. Hijinks ensue. I don’t want to give away too much. A lot happens, but not enough to be overwhelming. The book has a good pace and kept me interested throughout.

Death Rite Genie

The adventures continue! Lucy is worried as her mother and grandmother are missing. She and her best friend Malware try to find them and get attacked by her house, essentially. I liked what happened. Again, not trying to tell spoilers. When they find out what happened, they get themselves into more hijinks! The book sets a good pace and has a good amount of action without being overwhelming. AE McKenna does well with details and allows the story to tell itself. I look forward to the next one.

Overall, the books are easy to read and have a nice pace. Though I have read some fantasy, the way magic, djinnis and fae are used throughout these novels are new to me. That does not mean they will be new to you, but the books are still worth a read. I included the links to the books in the titles of each. Go pick them up!

I’m sharing something from my work in progress today. It also has vampires, witches and werecreatures, but is not in the same world as “The Grey House”. These are creatures of my own imaginings, with rules I created. Some cobbled together from other writes, some I have never heard before. I came up with an idea for different rules on necromancy once and haven’t had a chance to use it. When I realized it fit in well in this universe, I decided to make one of the characters a necromancer. I hope only to be able to showcase the rules I created in the book(s). Let me know what you think of the little I reveal!

From (current working title): Burton Mayoria:

Confusion clouded his thoughts as his will returned. Burton frowned severely. “You’ve never said you weren’t. Your will is as strong, perhaps stronger than mine. I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t a vampire who could bond me as you just did. And well…”

Mr. Garcia allowed the pause to lengthen and finally finished Burton’s thought. “I smell like a vampire. I reek of the dead and decaying.” He nearly laughed as he looked away. He looked positively jovial. “But thankfully only to Dynamics.” He looked back to Mr. Mayoria. “Despite the scent, I am not a vampire.”

“But…” his hand flew to his mouth as his eyes went wide. “Soul sucker.”

“We prefer the term ‘necromancer’. We do not ‘suck souls’ out of the dead. Nor do we take babes from their mother’s wombs before they are born to sacrifice for rituals either.” He sounded hurt. “I would have thought you of all people would stay away from such names.”

Burton looked remorseful. “I am…” he shook his head as he stood. “I try not to use such words, but necromancers are, well…”

“Misunderstood.”

The vampire started to pace to calm his nerves. “Necromancers are also the only Dynamics who can control vampires. Not only bond, which takes a strong will, but control with spells.”

“Though that is true, we are not able to control vampires who know our secrets.”

Burton looked confused. “I have never heard that.”

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent drummed his fingers on his desk and narrowed his eyes at the look on his friend’s face. “It’s obvious you enjoyed yourself with Natalia last night. Don’t let it happen again while she’s mine.”

“You enjoy Mierka when you will.” Joseph’s voice was pleasant, with just a tinge of irony.

Vincent’s fingers drummed quicker, annoyed at the truth in Joseph’s simple words, and at his own jealousy. His thoughts stopped as he understood he had made a decision regarding Natalia. He looked away from Joseph, toward the door, then looked back. He stood.

“We’re done.”

From Protector of the Grey House:

“I will fight both of you! Step aside and let her speak!”

“You wouldn’t listen to us, which leads me to believe you would not listen to her either.”

Anthony watched from the sidelines as Mierka, and Joseph protected Natalia. He did not like this in the least. He had seen it before a few days ago. It didn’t sit well then and it didn’t sit well now. But, as Vincent’s entire demeanor changed to one of deadly calm, Anthony became terrified for the human. Vincent anger showed itself in different stages. The first was calm, then demonstrative, then back to calm. The second calm was deadly. In those moments of calm, he pretended to himself that he thought of his actions. He did not. He merely acted, and killed indiscriminately.

All this happened in a second. Anthony knew Vincent well. As Vincent’s jaw twitched to reveal he was about to move, Anthony shouted.

“Enough!” Those in the foyer looked to Anthony. Anthony looked to Vincent. “I was asked here to reveal a betrayer. I mean to complete my task.” He looked to Natalia. “I will start with your story. Please come with me. I believe Vincent’s study will do for an interrogation room.”