Author: catstark

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia stood tall, staring down the end of the blade at her opponent, willing her hand to stop shaking. She took three deep slow breaths until the shaking stopped, then bowed. “Ready.”

The room hushed as Joseph advanced slowly. He started circling. She let him. He and Vincent had similar fighting styles. They liked to circle their prey, waiting for the weaker challenger to show fear. Knowing she had to take him down with smart tactics and some trickery, she dipped her sword down. Natalia let the sword shake and changed her blank expression to show her true feelings. Joseph simply laughed. He knew her ploys. As his eyes closed for a second, she lunged forward and slashed at his extended arm. It killed his laughter. He didn’t know all her ploys.

From Inside the Grey House:

“You don’t think it means Christopher is coming back?”

The agitated vampire shook his head. “No.” He paused in thought. “Edwin enjoys pretending to be Captain because it means no one can touch him, but he’s been Acting Captain for almost five years. I have to wonder how long a vampire like him can stand only being the Acting Captain. There are limits to what he can do. There are still too many in the Bay Area who won’t listen to him. It may be that he wants to show his power, show that he has power. We need to be there.”

From Inside the Grey House:

Joseph understood what Natalia was doing before Vincent did and headed for the private corner. She had recognized someone. He didn’t know whom, but he needed to gather the troops. As he slipped by the crowd he pulled out his cell and sent Mierka a text, who in turn called the werewolves, who were waiting a block away with Lilly in another club. As he put his phone away, he heard Natalia yell a name he had not heard since the night they freed her.

Natalia recognized the man and hurriedly looked at the other faces. She locked eyes with the man again. “Dean? Dean! SLAYERS!”

The crowd scattered.

From Inside the Grey House:

“Kari is a different matter altogether.”

He frowned. “Oh?”

“I can’t find anything on her, but then, I don’t know what her original name is. If she was changed before she came to this area, we may not be able to find much on her. Maybe if we got her fingerprints?”

From Inside the Grey House:

Markus lunged at her, wanting to knock her to the ground. Natalia jumped up, trying to leap over him. Thinking to land on his back and drive her heels into his flesh, she forced herself down, sinking all her weight to her feet. She misjudged his intentions and missed him as he dove to the right. Natalia landed hard on her feet and she felt her left foot threatening to slip out from under her. She stumbled forward in an effort not to twist her ankle. It didn’t work. Her right foot caught in a crack in the floor and her already unstable left finally slipped and she fell hard on her rump. Her eyes grew wide as she heard the snap.

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia rearranged the books according to fiction and non-fiction, to make it easier to find the ones she considered useful. She integrated the Slayer journals as well, placing them in order by year started, showing Vincent the ones written about him. He enjoyed her company and found himself wanting to integrate her into his business life. First, he had to stop her from fighting. He was also annoyed that Natalia never apologized for her actions and her words. She simply went about doing her best to aggravate him.

Vincent was brought back to the present when he heard the door to the garage open and close, then heard as Mierka approached his woman. He crossed his arms and waited. Joseph signaled to Anthony and Kimberly to stop the sparring match they barely started.

Mierka’s voice came through the open ballroom doors. She was speaking louder for Vincent’s benefit. “He’s not happy with you.”

From Inside the Grey House:

“Do you think me and mine are monsters?” Her answer didn’t bother him; most humans answered in this fashion.

“No…” But there was some doubt on her face. It made Vincent smile.

“Why the hesitation?”

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

From Inside the Grey House:

She had the run of the house, two cars, one for going out and the junker for days like this and could mostly do as she pleased. Vincent even gave her a business credit card with her name on it, but she didn’t like spending his money. When she needed money, she used her own. Most of it was invested, but it was there if she needed it. She didn’t see any reason to spend her lover’s money. It wasn’t like she went anywhere. The people she interacted with all lived in Vincent’s house, and Bethany was no longer in her life. Since hypnotizing her best friend, there had been no contact.

From Inside the Grey House:

Natalia’s eyes were closed and her hands were gripping Vincent’s arm as she did her best to hold on to consciousness. The scream was still threatening to rupture from her throat and burst through her teeth. She breathed deep trying not to think of the pain. Her ankle was broken, no doubt about it, but Lilly would heal her quickly and she would be all right. She felt herself being picked up and someone pulled her good leg out from under her. She was told to brace herself as someone placed warm hands on her calf and slowly brought her left leg straight out in front of her. She closed her eyes, knowing if she saw the break she would pass out. The gasps from onlookers made her understand how bad it looked.

From Inside the Grey House:

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

“Not the hard-core ones, like Zechariah, but Dean and Miguel thought you might be a better choice; might be able to control things better. They knew your reputation; knew that although you aren’t against killing humans, you aren’t going to kill or hurt a child. The current vampire in charge seems to think it’s fun to do so.”

Vincent smirked. He was amused. “Slayers thought well of me?”