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From The Grey House:

“Fine. Be there in a moment.” Vincent looked at Natalia. “I’m not done with you yet. Stay where you are.”

Vincent turned from her, walking quickly to the door. He threw open the door and stepped outside, keeping the door ajar. Natalia tried to watch but couldn’t; the vampires were just out of sight. Natalia removed the gauze from her shoulder and tossed it into the trash. She pulled her shirt back on as she strolled to the window, checking things out. The windows in the room opened out and were tall enough for her plan. The second floor of the club was an add on and wasn’t the same dimensions as the first floor. It was a seven-foot drop to the roof. No problem. The drop from that roof to the street was a little bit harrowing. That was probably about twenty feet. She could jump to the wood awning covering the entrance way, then to the street. Natalia nodded. It would have to do.

Natalia turned and strolled to the opposite wall. The door was close enough that she could hear the two vampires speaking. Anthony was reporting on something involving Edwin, but she couldn’t hear what. Looking through the open door, she could now see Vincent’s ear. She stared at it for a few seconds, closed her eyes and breathed deep. She turned to face the window.

“Vincent? Don’t take too long.” And she ran.

From The Grey House:

Natalia shook her head as she continued to unbutton her shirt. “Charlie and I were done a long time ago. I think about him and worry about him. Since I was the one who demanded he stay out of my life, I didn’t know if I should get in touch with him.”

“I trust Charlie not to do anything stupid with his ex around, but I don’t know you well enough to trust you. If there’s ever a problem, I’ll blame you and we’ll settle things like the warriors we are.”

Natalia stopped again and turned to Rebecca, giving the woman a very steady look. “Even when I was dating Charlie I knew I would step out of the picture if he found his wolf. We knew then and we know now that he and I weren’t meant to be. It was fun while it lasted and there are no lingering feelings that I feel like exploring. He has his wolf and I have my vampire.”

“Then we shouldn’t have a problem.”

“No, we shouldn’t.”

From The Grey House:

“Good. I’m rather hungry. Bring one up here.”

“Yes, sir.” Mierka left but was back within minutes with a human female. The woman was taller than Mierka and very muscular. Most of the humans on Vincent’s land were. She looked at Vincent steadily with her hazel eyes but ran a shaky hand through her short mousy brown hair.

Vincent regarded her over his tented fingers from the recliner he was sitting in. “Have you been fed on recently?”

“No, sir.”

“Good.” He stood slowly, and heard her breath catch as he drew himself to his full height. “Angela, correct?”

“Yes.” Her heart was beating faster, but it was due to Mierka’s continued presence, not Vincent’s daunting form.

“Come to me, Angela.” She did so willingly.

From The Grey House:

Dean sobbed as he realized he didn’t even know what path he was to take. For the moment, he knew he had to give the vampire’s people time to leave, and then he would need to leave as well. This room had the fire escape. He would use it to leave and then he would leave the city as well. Maybe somewhere out there was something that would help him fight the vampires. He had researched a lot of artifacts for Zechariah. Maybe he could find one of them.

If nothing else, Dean knew he needed to learn how to fight. He couldn’t count on anyone else to hit the right target, apparently. Sighing deeply, Dean waited until it was safe to leave.

From The Grey House:

She looked out the window at the passing trees. “I think part of me knew I wasn’t supposed to be a Slayer; I never told Zechariah about my training. I let him think I was a researcher. Every so often I would track a vampire on my own to practice and train. Every so often I would offer them their life in exchange for a fight. If they could kill me, they’d be free.”

“A little dangerous, don’t you think?” His voice told her what kind of fool he thought she was.

“I’m still here aren’t I?” There was pride in her voice.

From The Grey House:

“If it means Bethany’s safety, yes.”

He traced the line of her jaw with his cool fingers, helping to relieve her pains. “So much pain, Natalia, for what? A human? Is she worth it? Would she do this for you?”

“No, but I wouldn’t expect her to.” Natalia’s determined look was back. “She doesn’t know what the world is really like.”

“Why do this for her then, if she doesn’t know the truth?”
She sagged, letting her head rest in his hand. “She’s the last tie to a normal life that I have. I wasn’t ready to let her go until I realized she might die because of me.”

“And now?” His hand was caressing her neck.

“I want her to live a normal life, and that’s impossible with me in it. I want her freed and sent on her way. And I don’t want her to know what really happened.” She sat a little straighter, a little taller, looking him in the eye. “Will you do it then? Will you free her?”

From The Grey House:

“Then it wasn’t wasted.” He stood and walked to the other side of the desk. “How long has your family been in my debt Carlos?”

“Five generations.” There was a tinge of disbelief in his voice, of something said so often, it couldn’t possibly be the truth.

“Five generations is a long time for a family to be in debt to a vampire. Yet here you are. You have proven yourself a worthy mage, and a worthy ally. I have always found that mages make good allies, and have considered your family’s debt to me quite an asset. I feel it would be a shame to lose you. You’ve paid off your family’s debt to me, but I would like to retain you. That’s why I’m offering you a permanent place on my payroll. My resources would be open to you and you would be able to improve your skills beyond your knowing. What do you say?”

From The Grey House:

“Anything interesting?”

“We won’t know until we look through it. We’ll need a translator for the books. The ones I looked at weren’t in English.”

Vincent picked up a book, turning the pages carefully by the corners. He didn’t want the brittle pages to crumble. He put the book down once he recognized the language. Although he could identify Russian, he could not read it. “What are we doing with the remains and the cabin?”

“We can’t burn it; the woods will catch. Who owns the land?”

Vincent stared at Rebecca for a moment then gave her a sly smile. He took out his cell phone. By the time Rebecca and Charlie finished searching the house and gathering all the books and artifacts, Vincent’s people were well on the way to purchasing the cabin and the land around it for five square miles. Still on the phone, he left the cabin with his wolves, and arranged for some of his people to come and occupy the land. They would take care of the bodies well before the land was his. Though he was certain he would be able to acquire the lands, they needed to be cleared if anyone came to check. He used code words with his people, knowing it was safer than talking about bodies on a cell phone.

From The Grey House:

“How big is this place?”

“Top floor has 20 bedrooms. There are eight vampires, and about 20 humans who sleep in the house. Rebecca and I are the only werewolves who sleep in the house. The others live in the guest house.”

“How much land?”

From The Grey House:

“We met when she saved my life.” He continued the story from there, being as thorough as Vincent asked. He wanted to avoid telling him too much but had no choice but to tell Vincent Natalia’s story as well. There was an uncomfortable moment when he told his boss about biting her to make Natalia his permanently.

“She kicked you out of her life for that?”

“She saw it as a betrayal.”

“As do I. Was that the last time you saw her?”

“No. We said goodbye after she found out she wasn’t a werewolf.” He looked away from Vincent’s steady gaze.