Author: catstark

From Protector of the Grey House:

Natalia told him that she often had to infiltrate groups of Slayers. Before, it was one at a time. Now she often spoke with three or four at a time. She told Vincent she took care of the Slayers cautiously and made sure to kill them one at a time, when they were by themselves. She avoided going against Slayers groups all at once. Still, she started training for the inevitable. She fought his vampires two or three at a time. Vincent didn’t care for these sessions but allowed it, as she needed the training. It didn’t help that Joseph and Mierka both thought she was doing a worthy job and helped to push the human to her limit and beyond. Joseph fought her often and Mierka gave her pointers on stealth tactics.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Take more, Natalia. Drink your fill. Don’t you dare allow Vincent to take you from me.”

Natalia whimpered and continued to take the blood her mistress offered. Merika pulled her arm away and healed the wound. Natalia turned to her mistress and smiled.

Mierka caressed her cheek. “Are you well, my dear?”

Natalia nodded.

“Tell me who you want to be with tonight. Tell me you want to be with me.”

Soft confusion caressed the human’s featured. Natalia looked to Mierka for confirmation, saw the smile on Mierka’s face and gave her a similar smile. The vampire’s blood control won, and Natalia answered her mistress. “I want to be with you.”

Though the word ‘bus’ does not appear in the current trilogy, it appeared plenty in the first draft. Natalia’s story doesn’t start in a bar, it starts with her mother, a few months before Natalia’s birth. I then wrote about her childhood and her teenage year. She meets Charlie for the first time during her teenage years. I hope to one day flesh out more of Charlie’s backstory and hope to include the following in that story, but I’m not sure that’ll happen. My muse does not always show me the complete story. But, for the moment, here is a little bit of what happened to Natalia after she met Charlie.

From The Grey House (original):

The overpowering stench of werewolf and blood rushed into her nostrils, knocking any calm she encountered. Blindly, she searched for the cool metal doorknob, yanking open the door, hoping the outside world would remove the image from her mind. The blaring sun, low now on the horizon, fought hard to burn the image more fully into her retinas. Stifling a cry, Natalia stumbled across the street to the bus shelter, falling against the glass and sliding into the hard unyielding seat.

Moments later the bus pulled up, barging through Charlie and Lucas, killing the after image, then becoming the backdrop to their horrid dance. The pneumatic hiss that came before the doors opened failed to drive the picture from her mind. The sound mirrored the soft sigh of pleasure Charlie had hidden in his growls.

A desperate quiet cry escaped her. The sound was masked by the squeal of the automatic doors parting to invite her in. Charlie and Lucas still before her, she reached into her jeans pocket, gauze catching on the edge, causing sharp pain. Natalia yanked out her slim wallet, stumbled onto the bus and flashed her Fast Pass at the driver, avoiding his disinterested eyes. She braced herself against the available poles as the bus made departing noises, taking a careful seat at the back of the bus.

From Protector of the Grey House:

In minutes, his people were out the door, in the cars and headed back home. The sun was starting to show itself in the east. Humans drove the limos and moved dividers up as soon as they could. Vincent and Natalia were in the back of the medium sized limo and the rest of his people had found their way into the large limo. He had not planned on this arrangement, but knew his people made it happen to give their leaders some privacy. Natalia was leaning against him, sighing as battle instinct left and his lover returned. He turned his head and kissed the top of her head, inhaling her scent.

I had a hard time finding something for today. Therefore I grabbed a few lines from a random chapter.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent sat at his desk, staring at his smartphone, an inscrutable expression on his face. He sighed then switched to staring out at the darkness beyond his study’s window. Joseph moved from his corner to sit in the far chair in front of Vincent’s desk. He made sure to cut in front of Vincent’s line of sight to break his master’s concentration.

“She needs you?”

“Yes.”

“Is it serious?”

“She doesn’t call unless it is. You’re coming with me.”

Joseph raised an eyebrow. “Where else would I be?”

Vincent gave his friend a bored look. “You didn’t last time.”

Though there were many rules I had to follow for the creatures in this trilogy, the creator of the gaming world allowed me some leeway. Being hypnotized by a vampire’s blood is not in the gaming books, but it was a fun modification to work with.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Anthony had researched Edwin’s nightly ritual of giving his people his blood. Edwin would feed humans and vampires his blood every night. With humans, it almost always seemed to negate their will power. With vampires, it depended on their age. Anthony and Joseph seemed to think it had more to do with the person who drank, but were unsure how it worked. Some who drank Edwin’s blood were affected in a similar manner as Natalia. The mayor of San Francisco drank Edwin’s blood and was under the Captain’s control. Joseph nodded to himself. Natalia would do anything Vincent wanted because she was under his control. He continued to assess the situation. Charlie struggled on the ground with Natalia. Vincent strained against Joseph’s hold.

It’s hard sharing as a lot happens in this book. I don’t want to share spoilers.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent stared into the monitor at Natalia, who was sitting against the wall in her cell, staring straight ahead. She had slept for almost twenty hours. Upon awakening three hours ago, she was brought some food, and informed she was to be punished for her treacherous adventure. She didn’t speak to the human who brought her food, simply nodded with a grave look on her face.

After Mierka pulled the stake from Vincent’s heart, they had had a long and drawn out fight. Mierka won in the end; she and Joseph were the only ones in his household who could beat him. There were rumors that Joseph could out fight him; Mierka, Joseph and Vincent were the only ones that knew Mierka could out fight him as well.

I love the scene this is taken from. I think I mentioned already, that I love Charlie and he’s my favorite character in this trilogy.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Though she was prepared, she didn’t have any weapons, except her brains, determination and her boots. And Charlie. Charlie was a weapon. Currently he was a gun without bullets, impotent with his concern for her. He could change and kill everyone in this room, then jump down to help her. Should he Blitzkrieg in the small room he would hurt her. No maybes about it. He wouldn’t unleash his rage until she was safe. There was no way to escape out the door; Edwin was blocking the door on this side. There were two men on the other side, standing side by side. She didn’t want to rush Edwin, in case he decided to use the gun on her.

From Protector of the Grey House:

The spot on the floor was staring back up at her when she opened her eyes. She frowned, knelt and touched the spot. Dried blood. She glanced further up the walkway and realized the irregular blood trail would lead the way. Natalia wondered whose blood it was as she started down the hall. She heard her name being called through the wall as she followed the trail. She ignored it and jogged through the maze sure the voice was Joseph’s. Natalia knew he would be able to follow her through here. Probably created it with Vincent or for Vincent. Not wanting to hurry and lose her way, she simply followed the trail.

The people who stormed the Capitol yesterday need to be arrested. And now for what you came here for.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Vincent! Give me what I want!”

Her tone of voice made him growl. There was sheer determination: she would not be denied. His mind was made up; he would not be turned from his current actions. Vincent straightened and slid her dress off her body completely, letting it slide down and pool onto the floor. He growled at what he exposed. She was wearing a corset. He fell to his knees before her, grabbed her by her hips and bit her inner thigh. He bit her just to the right of the garter belt strap that was holding up her now ripped nylons. He used his teeth to undo the snaps as her hands continued to pull in his hair.