Author: catstark

From Protector of the Grey House:

He growled. “Twice.”

She handed the stake off to Joseph and looked to Vincent. “The first time was to stop you from killing Natalia. The second was to stop you from killing me. I will take my usual punishment.”

“You do not dictate my actions.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

“No, I don’t. But you have set the precedence on this.” She still spoke mildly and didn’t look at all worried about her actions or his.

He bared his fangs and turned his anger on Joseph. “She skates on thin ice.”

“She speaks the truth.” Joseph’s voice was also calm. Both had been around Vincent enough to understand if they stayed calm, he would as well. Or relatively so.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Natalia woke as a harsh scent invaded her nostrils. She pulled her head away as her eyes threatened to open. The unpleasant tang came again, and she tried to breathe through her mouth. A hand pressed against her mouth, and forced her to breathe through her nose. She inhaled deeply, and brought a sharp scent into her nostrils. Her eyes flew open wide, but her lids and head drooped back down when the smelling salts were taken away from her nose.

She was still dreadfully tired but woke up as she almost cried out in pain. Her arms sizzled with needle pricks as blood rushed back into her veins. Her stomach threatened to empty itself of the raw acid which rolled around inside. Natalia tried not to panic for herself and the others in the household as the men near her spoke.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Natalia blushed a bit as she regarded the petite woman in front of her. She wasn’t opposed to the suggestion, but Mierka had never made any indication there was an attraction. The human thought about it for a moment, then decided. She gave Mierka a smirk.

“All right. Sounds fun. Let’s see what you can do.”

Mierka mirrored the smirk, then slipped one hand behind Natalia’s neck. She drew the woman down for a kiss. Natalia returned it and slipped one arm around Mierka’s waist. Natalia reached out to Vincent with her other hand as the kiss grew aggressive. He took her hand and watched as the women kissed. Joseph made a pleasured noise as Mierka finally broke away from Natalia.

“I will have you.” She breathed quietly to Natalia.

“We’ll see.” Natalia stated with a smirk.

The woman laughed and Mierka let Natalia go completely.

From Protector of the Grey House:

The apartment was filled with odd smells and sights. The walls were covered in archaic symbols, too old to be recognized by a non-witch. Incense and candles burned in every corner of the room and in various places throughout. Ten books were open in the center of the room and in the middle of the circle was a woman of about sixty. She had long greasy gray hair and was much too thin to be healthy. She sat on the floor naked and rocked back and forth, as she chanted.

“Who is she?”

“His witch. She’s so wrapped up in the spells she’s chanting that she can’t perceive anything beyond the circle.”

I am one step closer to finally releasing book 2 and 3. Now to figure out what I’m going to work on next.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Joseph stopped walking, placed his hand on Anthony’s arm, looked around, then pulled Anthony to the side a bit. Once out of the way of the rest of the group, he gave Anthony a stern look. “Vincent might appreciate it if you did. Or did your observant eyes not notice how agitated he is acting?”

“I thought he was worried about his human.”

“Yes, but with all she can do and all Mierka and the wolves are capable of, why would he be worried?”

Anthony stood in thoughtful silence for a moment. “I’ll send my humans to the house.”

“Send no one. Make calls first. Assess the situation, then act.”

Oubliettes are no place for the living. Especially if a ghul resides in it.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Natalia landed easily in a crouched position. She looked around, tried to see the creature, and couldn’t. The light from above didn’t penetrate deep into the dark dank cave. She could see enough to realize there were no bones on the floor, just dust. As she assessed the situation, she took deep slow breaths, to try not to gag. The smell was awful: as if rotten meat fermented in its own juices. She breathed through her mouth, and regretted it immediately. Sweat, fear, and pain were palpable on her tongue. Natalia turned to find the ghul. Nothing peered at her from the darkness, but she knew something watched her.

Then she felt it. A cold whiff of wind swept past her ear, brushed some hair back. Or rather, pulled it back. Her eyes flew open wide; she stood, and to spin around to face her attacker. There was nothing there. Natalia felt the tug in her hair again and turned again. Still nothing. This happened another time and Natalia felt panic rise. She clamped a mental door on her panic, and stopped her thoughts. If she were thinking too much, then her warrior side would not come forward. Calmed, Natalia turned in the opposite direction from the tug and saw something in the shadows.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“With all due respect sir, will you allow her the blood she demands?” Anthony wondered how far Vincent would go to keep the human here. She had demanded his blood earlier.

Vincent went to Anthony and placed his hands on the man’s tight shoulders. “You fret too much over her, Anthony. As I said earlier, you were doing your job. I’m upset about the way things turned out, but you did nothing against your nature or position. Natalia can’t take your blood. I don’t enjoy taking blood from my people when all they’ve done is the job I’ve assigned them to do. As for not telling me, I believe Wayne’s death is punishment enough. Calm yourself, have a drink. We’re done.”

From Protector of the Grey House:

Anthony unclenched his teeth and stated angrily, “I don’t give consent! I don’t trust her and still believe she’s out to harm you!”

“This is why I am making you my First Lieutenant. I trust your judgment, even when I do not agree.” He sighed deeply, startling some of those present. “Since I don’t have your consent, I won’t change her. Order must be maintained. Now if you’ll excuse me, I wish to be with Natalia. This may be our last night together.”

He was quiet for a moment then turned toward Natalia and Joseph.

“Sir, let me change her.” The quiet voice crept up his skin and pierced Vincent’s eardrums.

From Protector of the Grey House:

She took his head in her hands and forced him to pay attention. “That would be foolish. The sword must be kept secret. And if any of Lorraine’s vampires touched the sword, they would be dead. I will not go as your protector.”

“Then come as my lover.”

“What about Lorraine?” She caressed his cheeks again, loving the feel of him against her fingers.

“What about my sire?” He was tired of talking. She was distracting him too much. He contemplated biting her neck to quiet her words but couldn’t reach her neck from his lower position.

“Will she seduce you?”

“Yes.” He didn’t seem to want the questions to continue.

“Will you let her?”

He looked in her eyes, to ensure she saw he told the truth. “Yes.”

“Even if I’m there?”

He was quiet as he stared into her trusting, loving eyes. He closed his eyes then stood and sat her on the table. He started to pace to avoid answering. He felt her hand on his arm and turn to look at her.

“Your answer, vampire.”

The word that helped me find this passage was actually ‘brand’ which found ‘brandy’. I read the passage and realized I wanted to share the ‘bastard’ part on Twitter, as I love that exchange. If you’re not aware, you can only post so many words on Twitter.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Without another word, she left the room. He went to the door and watched as she walked upstairs. A moment later, Vincent appeared from around the corner, from the direction of the security room. The men nodded to each other as Vincent went to sit behind his desk. Anthony closed the door then took his seat again. He picked up his glass of brandy and took a sip.

“Well?”

“You’re a bastard.” He looked Vincent in the eyes as he stated the fact.

“You knew that already.”

“You let…” his voice trailed off as a memory consumed him. His eyes opened wide, and his mouth dropped open. “She hypnotized Edwin.”

“Perhaps.” The look in his eyes indicated he would say no more on the subject. “Why are you more affected by that than the fact that she was able to hypnotize you?”