Author: catstark

From Inside the Grey House:

Vincent let the argument drop, assigning Charlie as her bodyguard. That didn’t work since the next time she left was the day of the full moon, shortly before nightfall when Charlie was incapacitated. She returned once more after midnight, but less bruised than before, sporting a satisfied grin. Vincent rushed her into his study upon her return, thinking to lecture and yell. At the first opportunity, she knelt before him, pulled down his pants and sucked him dry. She dominated him that night, and he relished in her abilities, giving in to her every desire; showing her a few of his own.

From Inside the Grey House:

“Downstairs in his office.” Lilly stood, heading for the door. “He’s almost ready to see you.”

Natalia held her head high. As she didn’t feel dizzy, she walked at her normal pace to the door, reaching it before Lilly. “Well, I’m ready to see him. Let’s go.”

Lilly shook her head. She hoped for Vincent’s sake that he knew what kind of woman he was sharing his bed with. She also wondered, as she led the human downstairs, if Natalia knew the kind of creature she wanted to sleep with. Lilly came back to herself as she noticed Natalia pause, place a hand to her forehead and nearly fall. Lilly caught her before the woman fell too far. The healer cradled the human as all around her, doors were opened and slammed shut.

From Inside the Grey House:

“Revenge is better dealt out when you know your target, Natalia.” He moved her carefully away and walked around to the front of the desk. Taking his key ring out of his pocket, he selected a small brass one and unlocked one of the drawers. He reached inside, searched for a moment and pulled out a manila folder about an inch thick. “Donald Jenkins liked to use women. He finds a woman on his route and uses her for his pleasure, making her suffer every moment she was with him. There’s more, but perhaps you would like to read it yourself.”

Natalia stared at the manila folder he held out to her, walking to the edge of the desk. “When did you find this out?”

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia leaned against the stairwell wall, pausing for a moment to consider the events of the past year. Most of Vincent’s people accepted her. The wolves quicker than the vampires, but that was because of Charlie and Rebecca. She spent many days catching up with Charlie and learning about his lady. Natalia liked Rebecca and was glad Charlie found her. The pair also tried to help her find Donald, her mother’s killer, which was proving to be impossible. There were sightings of him every once and awhile, but nothing concrete. It seemed as if he had disappeared. Natalia believed he might have been killed but didn’t want to accept the possibility. She therefore continued to search, but never seemed to look too hard. The truth of the matter was that she was happy. Trying to find her mother’s killer brought up too many memories she was reluctant to deal with. She would be happier if Vincent let her train with his men, but that was her only real complaint.

From Inside the Grey House:

Charlie shook his head and shrugged, not sure of what to say. Instead of trying, he unbuckled and unzipped his pants, pulled off the ripped pair and started putting on the new pair. Natalia didn’t comment, deciding to pay attention to the road instead. She was able to reach Jeffery’s apartment quickly and without incident. Once there, she pulled out a new chloroform cloth from her backpack and placed it against his nose and mouth. She left it there for a few minutes, then put the cloth away.

From Inside the Grey House:

“What decides the attitude of a person when they are turned?” Her words sounded serious. This was apparently something she thought of often.

Vincent looked down into her eyes, finally understanding part of the hesitation he had always sensed in her. His hand went to her hair, tenderly caressing the nape of her neck. “A human’s darkest desires determine how devilish she is when she is turned. Her strong humanity acts as a counterbalance to even it out.” He paused as the words sank in. “In other words, nothing changes unless the human wants it to change.”

From Inside the Grey House:

“Would it be safer for you to take from me or them, sir?”

The men didn’t appear to notice the question. They were well trained. There were many times Vincent’s humans had been in a room with Vincent and Joseph. Sometimes Vincent fed from them; sometimes he fed from Joseph who then fed from the humans. It was a sign of good faith that Vincent knew when he was too hungry to feed safely from a human.

“You made a wise choice in bringing men. I’ll be fine drinking from them.”

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia caught the handkerchief, bringing it quickly to her now torn left breast. Vincent had bitten her on the side of her breast, leaving an ugly gash. She ripped her button-down shirt open, pressed the handkerchief to her wound, and let her bra hold the fabric in place. She tied the shirt in such a way as to stop her blood from flowing too much. She guessed correctly that Vincent knew exactly were to bite her in order to avoid major blood vessels. The handkerchief was stopping the blood quite well. Bastard.

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia relaxed back against the wall, looking at her lover coldly. She had wanted to be in bed with him by now. “Zechariah was part of a group of Slayers who’d passed information down from one Slayer to the next. Zechariah somehow gathered all the journals that his group found. Upon investigation, and after years of reading the journals, he found you. There are five journals within the sixty or so that he gathered that either have an entry about you or are all about you. You’ve been around a long time, Vincent; the Slayers wanted to take you down. They thought you were responsible for the increased killings and disappearances in the Bay Area. If not directly then indirectly by not stopping it.”

Vincent started to pace. “Slayers expected me to take care of the situation?”

From Inside the Grey House:

“You don’t sound like you’re done thinking about Natalia.”

“I’m not, but I have to report to Vincent about those two.”

“I found Morgan easily enough. He was born in San Jose. I found an article on him around the time he was changed, probably. His family reported him missing, and then there was an article saying he was found. He hasn’t been a vampire for long. I have everything I could find on him in a file, paper and computer.”