Author: catstark

What’s on my mind today? Getting used to bifocals. Oh boy. I don’t mind that I have bifocals. I need them. I like to see. But wow. Getting used to how to hold my head so I see is a bit tiring.

From Protector of the Grey House:

She was a mess. Her clothes were torn although she had no wounds. It was clear from her hungry attitude she had sustained massive damage and used a great deal of blood to heal herself. She was ghul.

Joseph released her slightly and allowed her to turn and sink her teeth into his flesh. He knew he could sustain the blood loss it would require to bring his woman back to sanity. Vincent beckoned to one of the humans and indicated he should remain at the ready when more blood was needed. The human nodded, handed off his weapon and bravely walked into the security room.

In the beginning of the third book, House LeGris finds out that Natalia (and other humans) are susceptible to vampire control, if the human drinks vampire blood. This is scene is part of that experiment.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Her nails dug into his flesh as she considered his proposition. Vincent had refrained from drinking her blood for the past month, allowing her to heal and be at full strength for the experiments. She grudgingly accepted his explanation, knowing it was probably the best idea. But now, as Joseph scraped his fangs against her tender skin, she wondered if it had been a mistake. Her nails dug in deeper as he bit her ever so gently on her neck. He retracted his fangs as he bit, knowing better than to draw blood without permission. Instead, he pulled his wrist to her mouth and beckoned her to drink the salty liquid that poured from his wound. She drank more than she meant to as he whispered dark ideas into her ear.

Vincent watched the spectacle, hands forming into fists. Mierka sat at his desk, fascinated by the look on Natalia’s face. Her expression kept changing from a pained expression to one of desire. Mierka guessed the human did not want to enjoy being in Joseph’s arms. When Joseph let the human go, Natalia staggered, trying to catch her balance. She was looking around nervously, as if unsure of those around her. Vincent reached forward and lifted her chin to look in her eyes. The glazed look she had faked with Anthony was threatening to come into her eyes.

“Natalia.” Both were surprised by Joseph’s quiet voice. “Come to me. Your blood is mine tonight.”

I started sharing snipets of Inside the Grey House (book 2 of The Grey House trilogy) about a year ago. I am now going to share snippets of book 3 Protector of the Grey House. I started that yesterday, but I am making it official. I hope to have book 2 & book 3 published soon. I had thought to have book 2 out before October of this year, but covid and other issues has delayed the publication. For that I am sorry. Please hang in there. Book 2 & 3 will be published with far less time in between.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Natalia watched through binoculars from across the street as yet another Slayer walked nonchalantly into the corner café. She sighed and hung her head, wondering how many she would have to kill to get out. She was currently on the roof of the apartment building kitty corner to the arranged meeting place. She told Ashley that she needed to get her some information. She had asked the girl not to bring anyone else. Ashley, or someone she knew, decided to disobey her wishes. Natalia sighed again and slung her backpack across her shoulders. She left the roof the way she came, by the back wooden steps that at one point had been a fire escape.

It took her two months to decide whom to tell about the demons Edwin summoned. It took three months to convince Ashley to meet her, and another month to plot the best place to meet. Natalia had been spying on the place for the past two weeks, finding as many ways out as possible. There were two conventional ways: front entrance and back kitchen door. The two walls facing the street were beautiful picture windows. She was pretty sure the windows were regular glass and could be busted with a diner chair or Slayer if necessary. She also noticed who were regulars and who were not. Half of the people frequenting the small café today were not regulars. She was ready for the battle she hoped she wouldn’t have to fight.

Today, I am sharing fro the third book: Protector of the Grey House. Because reasons.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent was staring out the window of his study, trying to peer into the darkness beyond the limits of his sight. Natalia was gone. She had been missing for three days now, and he was worried. His men were starting to notice, as he was yelling more; getting short even with the delicate humans who ran his house.

Two years ago, after she killed Dean, she started hunting for confirmation of the information he gave her. In order to get any information, she came into contact with more and more Slayers. Consequently, she was fighting them and coming home with bruises. She was also coming home with names, locations and sometimes, items that would otherwise be used against him and his people. He didn’t want to tell her to stop, since she was protecting his house, but she was getting herself into more and more dangerous situations.

Currently, both the second and third book are being edited. I plan on releasing the third book MUCH quicker after the second than I am the second after the first. Rookie lesson learned. If you have a series, and you are having friends/other authors read over the books, let them read all the books at once. It helps with release dates. I am forever grateful to the people who are reading my books as readers, and those who are helping edit. Can’t afford to pay them yet, so it’s all done because they love me and my writing. Which is beyond amazing.

From Inside the Grey House:

“You owe me blood, Natalia.” His voice whispered into her neck, traveling up her jaw line. He watched her reaction as he exposed his fangs to her.

“I do.” A low whisper. “When will you collect your payment?”

He turned her around, so her back was to his chest. Vincent lowered his head to her neck, letting her feel his fangs on her flesh. Each time he pressed the tips into her skin, her breath caught in anticipation and a touch of fear. “Tonight wouldn’t be wise, as you fainted on my steps not more than six hours ago.”

Not sure if I should use residents or tenants here. What do you think?

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia went inside the building, acting as if she belonged there. The back door didn’t have a lock. Inside the building, Natalia went right for the stairs. She didn’t want to get stuck talking with an overly curious passenger in the elevator. Though this was a large apartment complex there were only four stories and only eight apartments per floor. In her other visits, it seemed as if the residents knew each other. Taking the elevator was never a good idea. Jeffery Tathers lived on the third floor; using the stairs didn’t prove much of a problem. On the third floor, she headed down the hall toward his apartment, digging out keys as if she were headed to her own apartment. In front of his door, she quickly took a look around, making sure no one was in the hall. She used her lock picking tools to unlock his door then slipped into his apartment and shut and locked the door.

October 17th, from 1pm to 3pm Central Standard Time, I will be promoting my books on a Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Bookiesfan
I will post more about it as it comes closer. There will be a giveaway!

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia stood facing Vincent, watching him. She was waiting for a signal. He could move faster than she could see, but there was always that twitch in his jaw. She saw it, lunged to the right for Joseph’s sword. She pulled it out of the scabbard, continuing up and across to the left. She felt the sword contact with Vincent’s body, dove to the ground and under his reach. She rolled to a sitting position behind him and swung the sword at the back of his legs. She sliced his calf muscles and Achilles heels open, making him fall to the ground as his legs gave out. Natalia stood quickly; ready to continue as Vincent turned over to sit on the floor. The first swing sliced his shirt and chest open in a diagonal line, from left waist to right shoulder. Blood was pouring from the wound. She watched as he ripped off his shirt and closed the wound.

From Inside the Grey House:

There was a sound of fingers hitting keyboard as Mierka brought up the camera views that would replay Joseph’s interaction with Natalia. Vincent stood impatiently. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Yes, boss.”

By the time he was in the surveillance room, the playbacks were ready. Vincent watched Joseph punish Natalia, nodding at the end. He felt she would think twice before disobeying his orders.

“So, what are you going to do with her now?”

Vincent gave Mierka a sideways glare. “Is that any of your business?”

She smirked, leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the desk. Giving a loud sigh, she placed her hands behind her head, then gave Vincent a large grin. “Anything I see on the screens is my business.”

Sometimes I feel I should just publish the damn book here on line to get it done with. But, as I am trying to make it as a published writer (and make enough money to quit my day job) I’ll wait until my editors are ready with it. Until then, enjoy the snippets.

From Inside the Grey House:

Charlie, not really sure of Natalia’s wishes, carefully grasped the hilt, hoping the enchanted sword wouldn’t hurt him. When his hand felt normal, he tightened his grasp, nodded to Lilly and pulled the sword out. He and Lilly were sprayed with her blood. Charlie, seeing Vincent eyeing the sword, called his pack to him. The wolves surrounded him and as a unit, the pack left the room.

Lilly tried to concentrate on the energies around her, trying to gather them. She was worried, as she couldn’t feel anything. She shook her head as she tried once more. It was no good. There were too many dark and empty spots for her to gather the energies.

While I’ve been working toward getting the rest of this trilogy edited and out to you all, I’ve also been writing another book. I’m at over 85,000 words on a book currently called Mayoria. It too, has humans, vampires, werewolves and mages, but it is not from the same world. So far, I’m really happy with it.

From Inside the Grey House:

Vincent stepped forward again, grasped her shoulders and kissed both her cheeks as a Frenchman would. He let her go, turned to Charlie and gave the werewolf a slight bow. “You may both leave when your affairs are in order. For now, let’s join the others. Natalia has won the first round.”

He left the room, expecting the men to follow. Rebecca stayed behind to watch the monitors. She tuned the screens to all have different camera views but kept the main one focused on the fight. As the three men walked down the hallway, a tiny Natalia and a tiny Joseph squared off again. Rebecca winced in empathetic pain as the blur that was Joseph slammed the human against the wall. When Vincent entered the ballroom, Joseph had her pinned to the wall, her sword arm behind her, his hand wrapped around her throat. Each had now won one round. Rebecca settled back in the comfortable chair to watch the next match, which she suspected would be between Vincent and Joseph.