Author: catstark

From Inside the Grey House:

Vincent watched as Jesse did as he ordered. The vampire thought that with Natalia distracting the Slayer, Jesse could tackle Dean. He watched as Jesse ran, heard Natalia’s warning and watched as the Slayer turned slowly, lifted his sword and beheaded Jesse with the sword he held lightly in his hand. It was a large sword, but the way the Slayer was holding it, it was obviously very light. Too late he noticed these things as Jesse turned to dust. His eyes grew wide. Jesse had fed; they had all fed, before coming here tonight. He didn’t know how old Jesse was, but had known the shy vampire for over one hundred years. A beheading would not kill him.

Natalia’s blood grew cold as she read the symbols on the blade. She hadn’t thought the sword was real. But here it was, threatening the life she led. The warrior took over, calculating and cold. She understood his last statement: he probably believed her a vampire. It was to her advantage. As long as he didn’t run the blade through her neck or heart, she would be fine. She heard Charlie behind her growling. Other growls joined his. She could let the wolves take him, but she wanted to do this herself: for Vincent and their men. And she wasn’t sure the sword wouldn’t kill the wolves, too. She glanced back at the wolves and silenced them with a look, repeating her order.

“Keep our men back, lover. Let me take care of things.” There was no emotion in her voice.

Today, back to Inside the Grey House:

Natalia stood to greet him when he reached the desk. He was dressed to train in black shirt and black tight workout pants. He wasn’t wearing shoes. She shifted uneasily in her ill-fitting borrowed jeans and loose t-shirt. He looked her up and down, a small smile threatening the corners of his mouth. Still unsure of her lover’s next move, she nevertheless understood she would be sharing his bed again.

“Hello, Vincent.”

“How are you, Natalia?”

“I’m…” she was going to lie, but why bother? If she lied to him, he might think she could take him on. Natalia allowed herself to slump a little and let her unease show on her face. “Terrible. I’m terrible. I didn’t sleep and I’m still not sure where I stand with you.”

The word today made me think of a passage from one of my other books. The working title is Evelyn of Kambria. It has good dragons, a woman born into a farm family, who joins the army and becomes one of their realms’ best soldiers. It also has a kind Prince. Here is one of my favorite passages from that book:

In the study, she closed the door, and went to sit behind her desk, sighing as she looked at the paperwork in front of her. She shook her head, turned her chair and opened the window wide. Evelyn stared out into the night, watching the stars grow brighter, letting her thoughts depart as the moon slowly lit her fields. She smiled and sent her thoughts to Draigone, letting him know the Prince was staying the night. She asked him to send word to Eisian, and therefore the King, to let the King know the Prince was safe. Draigone heard and passed the message along, then settled in for the night, staying connected with Evelyn to help her quiet her thoughts.

They talked of many things but not the Prince, as Evelyn didn’t want to explore her thoughts for him for the moment. Once she was feeling better he bid her good night. Evelyn smiled but didn’t turn back to her paperwork. The night was too beautiful to ignore. The wind picked up again, rustling the leaves in the trees and bringing the scent of the earth to her. She sighed and stood to get a better look out the window.

From Inside the Grey House:

“Can we get them out?” He took a sip of the brandy, wishing he were drinking Natalia’s blood.

“Possibly, but we need a distraction.” Joseph was still swirling the glass in his hands, fruitlessly trying to warm the liquid.

“What do you suggest?” Vincent drained the glass, knowing what was coming.

Joseph drained his glass, set it on the bar, faced Vincent and simply raised his eyebrow, as if to suggest there was only one true distraction.

Vincent growled low in his throat. He had wanted to keep her out of this, but knew she was the only option. Giving Joseph a disgruntled look, he pulled out his cell and sent Natalia a text.

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia checked in on Bethany every once in a while, discreetly. Bethany never saw her. It was best. Bethany deserved to continue living the lie all humans lived. Natalia knew that humans were willing to accept a lie when the truth would prove too alarming. She didn’t have Bethany’s phone number anymore, and Bethany didn’t have hers, or even know where she lived. She told herself it was better for her friend, and it was, but Natalia missed her. She missed the simplicity of hanging out with her but didn’t want to endanger Bethany’s life anymore. She let the relationship go and tried not to think of her friend too much.

It had been the same with her job at The Ocean’s Edge. No longer needing her waitress job, she called Richard and let him know there was a family emergency. She apologized for not giving two weeks and he wouldn’t let her, stating she could return at any time and have her job back. She thanked him and never called him again. He had been too eager to accept the lies as well. The lies people accepted in order to continue their deceptive existence, made her uneasy.

From Inside the Grey House:

He smiled at her as his tension momentarily melted away. His wife knew him very well. He sat at the counter as she started gathering food. “Happened after Natalia hypnotized her friend. I wasn’t paying too much attention to my surroundings.”

He continued the story as she made breakfast. Though she listened, part of her mind was on the fact that Natalia had a human friend. Rebecca knew it was dangerous to have human friends. She had none herself. Never had. She grew up knowing what she would become and had been warned against making any unnecessary bonds. Her only friends growing up were the adult werewolves her parents knew and Vincent’s crew. Her parents worked for Vincent until Rebecca was old enough to take over. Vincent convinced her great-grandfather to work for him, and her family had been working for the vampire ever since.

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.

“I need to move her.”

Vincent moved forward and knelt beside his woman. “Where?”

Lilly looked around, eyes closed, trying to find…and there it was. “Your office.”

From Inside the Grey House:

Mierka cocked her head in surprise. She didn’t think the human had it in her to watch a torture. “The men will break faster if we question the woman first.”

Natalia lowered the tie from her nose in surprise. “Why?”

“A grand show of chivalry, usually. Think women can’t take it.” She gave Natalia a sisterly smile. “Which we know to be incorrect, don’t we?”

Natalia locked eyes with Mierka and returned the smile. She nodded in agreement but let her features still. “Is Dean down here?”

“The one with the sword? Barely.”

“I was wondering if I could try something?”

Vincent and Mierka both gave her quizzical looks.

“What do you have in mind?” His voice was soft, inquisitive.

From Inside the Grey House:

Joseph knew that every room in the house was wired with cameras and microphones. Vincent liked to make sure guests weren’t plotting against him. Joseph reached into his pants pocket and took out a small remote control he always carried with him. Vincent gave him the device when the surveillance equipment had been installed, in case Joseph wanted to have some privacy with Mierka. The device also came in handy when he and Vincent needed to have private conversations. Though now a days, they could control there were apps to control such things, but apps and phones could be hacked. This remote could not be.

Though Joseph used the device sparingly, he needed to have a private conversation with Natalia. The sequence of numbers he entered into the device controlled the microphones and cameras for this room only. He knew the code for every room, had programmed them with Vincent. When the code was entered, it turned off the recording devices. In the security room the only thing the guard would notice was the video screen changing to a different room. Rebecca was there now watching the screen intently. She had convinced the on-duty guard to take a break. Joseph ordered her to the security room to distract the guard; she decided to take over the watch.

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia nodded and waited for the woman to leave. She went back to looking herself over. She looked to her thigh and to her arm where the graze had been. There was no bullet hole, no evidence she had ever been shot, not even a scar. She set the glass down and brought a shaking hand to the unmarred skin. It was the first wound that hadn’t left a scar. Lilly mentioned healing her of the poison; Natalia hadn’t thought to consider everything else would be healed as well.

Natalia move her hand to her shoulder and felt Charlie’s bite mark. Her hand covered the old scar and her eyes closed. The memory flooded her mind as a shudder claimed her body. That encounter with Charlie had left her hurt and wanting. She hated the bite, had craved his touch. She remembered the look in his eye as he had approached her those many years ago. Another shudder wracked her body as a newer memory took over. The look in Vincent’s eyes when he goaded her at the restaurant had mirrored Charlie’s from the night he bit her.