Author: catstark

From Inside the Grey House:

“Did you expect to be treated differently?”

Natalia paused before answering, pondering the question. When she decided she wanted to join Vincent’s house, she knew how he operated. Knew that she would be killed quickly if she did something to harm his people. She turned the full force of her dark eyes on the vampire. “It would be an insult if you treated me differently. I appreciate that you did not and hope that this means that you feel I’m worthy to be a part of your house.”

From Inside the Grey House:

Ben turned to Natalia and indicated the couch he had been sitting on. “Care to sit?”

“Thank you. What’s going on with Bethany?”

“Charlie wanted to make sure you knew this, but he’s otherwise engaged at the moment. We had people looking out for her.” His eyes grew kind. “What you did worked. She seems to have, at least for the moment, forgotten about you.”

Natalia hung her head. “Good.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then looked back up to Ben. “How long will she be under surveillance?”

From Inside the Grey House:

Vincent saw Natalia leaning against the window when he finally came up an hour later. She had showered and changed. She was in her off white silk robe, and her hair was loose upon her shoulders. She looked as if she were waiting to be reprimanded. She looked beautiful. It had been a long night and was continuing as a long day. It was approaching noon. He and Natalia spent more time in the dungeon than he anticipated. He and Mierka drank enough blood from the remaining Slayers to be able to stay awake and take care of Dean. They threw his lifeless body into the oubliette. The ghul would take care of the remains.

From Inside the Grey House:

“Have you ever thought about what you would do if something were to happen to Vincent before he changed you?”

Natalia swallowed her bite of sandwich. It went down hard, as it was only half chewed. She put the sandwich down, took a swallow of orange juice and placed the glass down on the tray. She stared at Mierka. “No, I haven’t.”

Mierka unfolded her arms and languidly walked toward Natalia. She stood in front of her and leaned toward the human’s right ear. She placed her hands on Natalia’s shoulders to steady herself. She felt Natalia tense as she touched her.

“Remember this name: Jacqueline de la Fontaine. It was my first name.” She pulled back slightly, kissed both of Natalia’s cheeks, then pulled back to stand in front of her. “If anything happens to Vincent while you’re human, come to me and ask my protection using that name. You will always have a place with us, Natalia.”

From Inside the Grey House:

He looked to Joseph, who walked briskly to his boss. Vincent spoke to him quietly. “Fetch Lilly. Have the healer make sure there is no permanent damage, other than the mark on her breast. Make sure she keeps that one. When she is healed, make sure she understands why we didn’t heal the bite mark. I’ll be in my study. Bring me blood when you’re done.”

Joseph nodded, bent and picked Natalia up as Vincent left the room. She was out cold. He took her to the library, laid her down on the couch then left the library and headed for Lilly’s room. He told her what was going on and she wasn’t pleased.

“What does he think he’s doing? She can’t handle vampire strength!”“She does well enough in his bed.”

From Inside the Grey House:

“By harming me and lying to me?”

“Your friend was poisoning your mind! It looks like she succeeded.” He looked indignant.

She gave him a baffled look. “What are you talking about?”

“He was trying to keep you away from your demon friend, to stop her influence on you.” He stood taller as he spoke in Zechariah’s tone.

Natalia stood, her mouth agape. “He told you she was a demon? She’s human. Didn’t your voices ever tell you that? Oh, wait. You never heard the voices, did you?”

From Inside the Grey House:

Vincent continued to stare her down as murmurs erupted in the room. Most came from the werewolves. He spared them a glance and they quieted, except for Rebecca who seemed to be taking bets on how the fight would end. “I do what I have to, to keep me and mine safe.”

“So, I’m not one of yours?” Her anger was back, a hard knot in her stomach, but her voice didn’t betray her emotions.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. He had spoken without thinking, which happened a lot when he was near her. Vincent didn’t want to have this argument in front of all his people. It was none of their business. “You’re my woman, Natalia, which means you are one of mine.”

She stepped forward. Surprised, he stepped back. “Then why let me place myself in harm’s way Vincent? If I’m really one of yours, you would never let me fight Edwin’s men.”

“I had nothing to fear. I know what you can do.”

“You’re using me for more than your pleasure.”

He shrugged, pure triumph shining in his eyes. “You said you’d be an asset.”

From Inside the Grey House:

“Never. I wanted to show you I was worthy of fighting here, and I think I have. Do you agree?”

He could almost taste her blood but pushed her arm away. He slowly moved her other hand away from his neck and stood. Turning to face her, he held out his hand to help her up. “I concede. The second round goes to you, Natalia.” He grabbed her to him, twisting the hand holding the dagger behind her. There was not enough pressure to make her drop the blade, so she held onto it. “But the third will go to me.”

“If you’re so sure, let me go so we can finish.”

From Inside the Grey House:

He brightened somewhat. “What are you looking for?”

Natalia shook her head. “That’s the problem, I’m not too sure. Since Edwin’s Red Tie Affair last year, I’ve been finding pieces of information on a possible confrontation between the Slayers and Vincent’s people, but nothing concrete. There’s a Slayer in the city that may have something more, but I’m not sure. I’ve been tracking him for the past three months and I think I have his routine down. The past three weeks, he’s been prowling Golden Gate Park for vampires. I’m going to break into his apartment while he’s out and rummage around.”

Charlie could only give her a wide-eyed look.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t lecture me, Charlie. I know what I’m doing.”

He held his hands up in defeat. “I didn’t say anything.”

From Inside the Grey House:

“Vincent? Where are you going?”

“Don’t fret Natalia. I wouldn’t leave you chained in my dungeon unless you were the only one in it. But there’s something I must retrieve.”

He turned and left the room quickly. In his absence, she realized that Dean was repeating lines from the bible in a low voice. Something about the devil, she couldn’t make it out. The other two were staring at her with pure hate. She stared back, not feeling the least bit worried. Vincent waltzed back in, the grin still on his face. He was holding a flail in his right hand, slapping the thin leather strips in his left. Her heart and breath stopped for a nanosecond then started again, faster than before.