From The Grey House:
“Crap.” Charlie gave up the stealth and shoved the door open. He turned on the light as he walked in and then stopped. Something crunched under his boot. Backing up carefully, he looked down and became angry and scared. He had stepped on her already broken cell phone. He knelt and touched the broken pieces. Had she tried to call for help? Her phone was completely dead; he couldn’t even turn it on.
From The Grey House:
Natalia stood looking at him, then started twirling her necklace. “I’ll give you more courtesy than you gave me. My name is Natalia Mirela Liliana Dveski. My first name comes from my mother’s mother. It means ‘born on Christmas Day’. Mirela Liliana was the name of my mother’s grandmother. Mirela means ‘to admire’.” Her voice was slowing down; becoming melodious. Anthony was caught in the reflection of the dancing silver beads. As he was not yet hers, she continued. “Liliana is pure simplicity. The meaning there will not be a surprise. Can you guess? It means lily. Put them all together and you see that my name means: ‘To admire the lily born on Christmas Day.’ Do you think that is a fitting name? Am I a lily to be admired?”
From The Grey House:
Her heart pounded in her chest as he passed from view. She hated herself for being drawn to someone who should be her enemy but could do nothing about it. She noticed him the moment she walked through the door and in one way or another, kept him in her sights while trying to deter the questions of the other, less intriguing party quests. She wanted to follow him but knew that was out of the question. She had a job to do and wondered if Vincent’s man would be the right patsy. She caught his eye as he continued to advance toward her.
From The Grey House:
Most humans, like Bethany, were unaware of the creatures in the shadows. Natalia felt it best to keep Bethany and other humans unaware of the creatures. She learned herself, at too early an age, that monsters existed. Not all were non-humans like vampires or werewolves, either. Some of the worst monsters she’d met were humans. Still, the human ones could be contained in jails, prisons and hospitals. No one could contain a werewolf in jail. Not for long anyway.
From The Grey House:
Vincent watched as the look in her eyes changed. Where before there had been some turmoil, now there was acceptance. Then her determination came through and she started to stand. Vincent helped her up. Once on her feet, she stood tall and seemed unhurt. Other than holding her right arm folded in front of her torso, and the small amount of blood where the bullet grazed her, she hid her signs of injury. She somehow managed not to feel her pain in order to fight for him, to help him win. He cocked his head slightly and squinted, as if trying to peer into her thoughts. Even now, she was standing defiantly, trying to stare him down. He finally identified her look.
From The Grey House:
She didn’t know what to do anymore. For the past seven years she had desperately tried to be a Slayer in the hopes of being able to redeem herself in the name of her mother’s memory. But now there was Vincent. Her first encounter with him had left her desiring more. Since their encounter, she had hoped to spot him here but regrettably had not. She had applied to The Ocean’s Edge a year ago. Zechariah wanted a spy in the vampire’s network, and since she had experience, and the vampire didn’t know her face, she was the perfect candidate. It had been easy to get a job here; Richard was very susceptible to hypnosis.
Natalia had been instructed to keep an eye on Vincent’s movements in the restaurant: how often did he eat there? How often did his people stop by? Anything that would help Zechariah and the others plot. It turned out that Vincent did not spend enough time at the restaurant, and there were too many human lives at risk. Most of the people who came to The Ocean’s Edge were humans. Most of the members of The Red Thread were Hellspawn.
It took a long time to convince the Slayers that The Red Thread was a better target. Zechariah, for some reason, was convinced The Ocean’s Edge needed to be destroyed. Natalia thought perhaps Zechariah wanted to make the headlines instead of killing Hellspawn. She was finally able to convince Zechariah a few months ago to use The Red Thread, and now Zechariah knew what to do there. Natalia didn’t know what he was planning. She could guess though, and the guesses weren’t very pleasant.
From The Grey House:
Natalia looked around the bar from her perch on the second floor. The bar, Lava, wasn’t too large. There was room for about three hundred people in the two-level establishment. It was a long room, with a well-stocked bar on the wall opposite the door. Stools were lined up along the bar. A stage sat to the right, in front of floor to ceiling windows. There were tall tables with bar stools along the walls, but not many. The downstairs was meant for mingling. The upstairs was meant for people watching.
Lava’s upstairs was not a full floor. The middle of the floor was cut out, with waist high railings along the edge. There were tall tables with bar stools along the railings to allow guests to observe friends and strangers downstairs. If intimacy was desired, comfortable couches were scattered around the wall. The upstairs was dimly lit and most of the light came from downstairs.
From The Grey House:
“What does he farm?”
“Humans. And sheep.”
Natalia gave him a look. “For food?”
“Yep. Good cash crop and occasionally, the farmers herd the sheep out where we can get them. Doesn’t happen much as that would kill the crop. Every two weeks, 20 humans from the farms cycle through the house.”
“The vampires farm the humans; the humans farm the sheep and you chase fresh meat every once in a while.”
From The Grey House:
As she raised the gun to him, Dean lurched forward. He grabbed madly at the gun, hoping to get it out of her hands. By sheer miracle, he pulled it away from her. He took a step back, and they started at each other. She scowled, and Dean lurched forward again. He brought the stock of the gun down on Judith’s head. He was taller than her and it worked. She grunted and fell to the roof. Without hesitating, Dean ran for the rooftop door. In a moment, he was on the third floor. He slipped into an apartment he and Judith had acquired an hour ago.
From The Grey House:
It wasn’t hard to find her; she was returning to the house. The scent of blood was all about her. She had probably caught and eaten a rabbit. They were rampant in these mountains but challenging to catch. He greeted her playfully, allowed her to show her dominance over him then licked her jaw where she had missed a spot of blood. She let him up and instinct almost took over. The buzzing in his head stopped him from running off to find a hare of his own. He stopped and howled at his alpha. She stopped, and cocked her shaggy gray head at her mate, wondering at his game. He concentrated then turned back into a human. Charlie shifted uncomfortably on the rocky ground and waited.
Cat Stark 