Author: catstark

I love this scene. I also hope I didn’t keep anything that would spoil any part of this paragraph.

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.

People are told to ‘go home’ when they are no longer wanted/needed, for good or bad reasons. After reading this short passage, do you believe Vincent means well or ill for Anthony?

From Protector of the Grey House:

“With all due respect sir, will you allow her the blood she demands?” Anthony was wondering how far Vincent would go to keep the human here, and 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 and I don’t enjoy taking blood from my people when all they’ve done is the job, I assigned them to. As for not telling me, I believe Wayne’s death is punishment enough. Calm yourself, have a drink. Go home. We’re done.”

Later, I may say something about the difficult political times we are facing (again) but for now, I want to stand by my creative posts. Please have a good weekend.

From Protector of the Grey House:

The doors were closed but he could hear voices. Joseph was standing in front of one door; hand on the knob waiting for his master to compose himself. Vincent stood for a moment staring at the mirrored door. He had not yet eaten, so his reflection was slightly ghostly. A smile floated to his lips as he thought of the many vampires that had been unprepared for the mirrors. Not many of his kind had them in their homes. Vincent thought mirrors a useful tool against his enemies. He could tell if they had eaten or not depending on their reflection. Those who trusted him usually didn’t arrive at full blood. They knew Vincent would offer them blood. Those who did not trust him, almost always showed up full. Vincent felt they either didn’t trust the blood or didn’t trust him not to kill them. It made him smile.

When I write about bathrooms, I envision my perfect bathroom. Hence, glass stall shower. My freaking dream. One of my aunts used to have my ideal shower: glass on two sides, and HUGE shower head that had the option of switching to an even larger shower head that made it feel like you were showering in a rainfall. Gimme.

From Protector of the Grey House:

The glass shower door shattered when she slammed it. She was at the secret entrance and entering the code in seconds. Natalia was through it and into the maze before Vincent could be alerted to her actions. She followed the same trail of blood, nearly running to the next door. She was through it and up the stairs with more speed than a human could normally attempt.

At the top of the steps, she paused, finally feeling calm. She walked to the first door and opened it. She was confronted by a glass case. In the case was her sword. It was in an open wooden box. She surmised Charlie had placed it in the box, allowing the vampires to handle it without touching it. She admired the sleek beauty of the blade, remembering her desire to see it in full daylight. Now that she knew where it was, she might have to take it out of its case and see it in the sunlight.

I do wonder how it would be to train with a vampire to fight better. They are faster and stronger. Humans would not really stand a chance if we had to fight vampires without the right tools.

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, making sure to kill them one at a time, when they were by themselves, instead of going against them all at once. Still, she had started training for the inevitable. She was fighting his vampires two or three at a time. Vincent didn’t care for these sessions, but allowed it, knowing 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.

“fists” shows up 19 times in this novel. I thought it would show up more.

From Protector of the Grey House:

She ground her teeth and her hands formed into fists. “They spent the next few hours stripping his skin off in thin strips. When he wouldn’t talk, they fed him my blood.” Vincent’s hand tightened on her shoulder. Anthony glanced away from her to watch Vincent’s reaction. Seeing no emotion, he once again captured Natalia’s gaze and listened to her story, trying to find the holes.

“He healed himself and they pulled his skin off again. Halfway through, he broke. Told them I was sleeping with Vincent but that his own boss didn’t trust me. He had been sent to spy on me to reveal my betrayal so that I could be exposed. His words helped my story, but then he told them what I had done in order to try and convince Vincent of my loyalty. The Slayers weren’t pleased to learn that I killed their kind. They had stopped interrogating him at that point. There was no reason for Wayne to keep talking. So why did he? Did you tell him to sell me out? Do you want to get rid of me that badly? Or is it just that your man was poorly trained?”

The blood control trick has been an interesting one to play with. There is a scene in this book that I wrote one way, then changed completely as time went on. Maybe I’ll discuss the scene after the books are all published. Spoilers aren’t that much fun.

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 drinking the blood then the blood but were still 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 very much under the Captain’s control. Joseph nodded to himself. Natalia would do anything Vincent wanted because she was under his control.

Today, I don’t want to adult. I wanted to stay in bed until I had to get up due to reasons other than my day job.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Leave it.”

It was such a simple command, such a simple action. There was more there than what she had previously assumed. Why he wanted her to leave her hair alone was still beyond her scope of understanding, but she knew it wasn’t a control factor as she had originally thought. He did that at times, asked her not to do something to test his dominance. If she felt like playing along, she would obey. If she didn’t, she would laugh and tease him with her own dominance. They both enjoyed the game. The look in his eye and the tone of his voice did not suggest dominance; it suggested subservience, which was far more intriguing.

“What do you wish to do?” Her hands relaxed in her lap, and his hand rested over hers.

There are a few creatures in this trilogy that work for Vincent due to being indebted to him. Thing is, I’m not sure WHY they are indebted. At some point, I may explore the reasons why.

From Protector of the Grey House

“When it’s appropriate. Now leave. I find your presence distasteful.”

“As you wish, sir.”

Torin left to flirt with one of the human guests and Vincent stared after him, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure why Torin was here but felt it had little to do with helping the girls to safety. Torin had his own agenda and never helped unless profit was involved. Vincent didn’t think Edwin had hired Torin, even though the Incubus’ loyalty was suspect. He had always known the Incubus was not to be trusted, but the demon owed him a great deal, and would stand by Vincent’s side until the debt was paid, mostly because his life depended on it.

Some days are harder than others to come up with something to say. I like letting my creative writing speak for me, as that is so much easier for me.
Though I am sharing from book 3, I am doing my best not to have huge spoilers. I hope you enjoy what I’m sharing! Have a great weekend.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Natalia woke in stages, realizing slowly that Vincent was not in bed. She sighed as she rolled to the edge of the bed. The curtains and windows were open, revealing the night sky and city to the south. She felt the cool breeze on her warm skin and sighed again as she sat up then stood. Images of last night kept wafting through her mind. Vincent only allowed his hunger to show in his begging voice; every other part of his body had shown a tenderness they rarely used with one another. After he fed, taking more than usual, he took over and made her feel as if nothing else in the world mattered but her pleasure.

She sighed again as she took her robe and went to shower. There was business she had to attend to. After she showered, she dressed in a long flowing red dress and ate the simple breakfast someone brought up for her. She then went downstairs to find Vincent. From the loud voices, she judged that Vincent and Anthony were in the study. She knocked on the door quietly, waiting for permission before entering.