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From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent watched as his lady handed off the sword then walked to Orlando’s body. She knelt beside the corpse and carefully tried to remove him from the demon’s remnants. He watched also, as Rebecca came and helped to pick the headless body up and lay it carefully on the floor. Doug went for the head and laid it at the top of Orlando’s severed neck. Vincent thought it strange that though the body was human, the head was still Blitzkrieg. The wolves didn’t seem bothered by this and Natalia appeared not to notice as she picked the glass bits out of Orlando’s human body. Vincent also saw how the others reacted to her and wondered why. He handed the short sword to Joseph and hurried to Natalia.

Vincent placed his hand on her shoulder and waited until she turned the full force of that look upon him. He understood what the others had seen. She stood and faced him as his equal. He wondered if she realized how she looked. Vincent wiped her tears away and knew that later, much later, she would lie in his arms and cry for the loss of life. But now, as she removed the traces of the demon from Orlando’s skin, she would show nothing but her warrior’s face. It was something a leader would do. The others had seen that and responded to it.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Then she felt it. A cold whiff of wind swept past her ear, brushed some hair back. Or rather, pulled it back. Her eyes flew open wide; she stood, and to spin around to face her attacker. There was nothing there. Natalia felt the tug in her hair again and turned again. Still nothing. This happened another time and Natalia felt panic rise. She clamped a mental door on her panic, and stopped her thoughts. If she were thinking too much, then her warrior side would not come forward. Calmed, Natalia turned in the opposite direction from the tug and saw something in the shadows.

To say the creature was gaunt was an understatement. Its skin clung to it, grey and yellow with age, dirt, and dust. There was a smear of something dark across its face. It hissed at Natalia, and showed off sharp, long teeth. It was as if the creature’s teeth were all fangs instead of just two. Its arms were bent at the elbow; its hands were bent at the wrist, long claws hanging down. Natalia started to get into position, but the ghul moved. The human found herself facing a wall with the thing behind her. Natalia tried to fight and couldn’t as the creature sank its teeth into her neck. Pain took over and Natalia nearly passed out.

Did you know I used “continue” and “continued” 103 times in my book? Now you do.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Did you need something?” She looked at him sidelong, barley turning toward him.

“I have to speak with you.”

“About what?” She took the hair dryer and plugged it in. She turned it on low to continue talking undisturbed. She felt sleepy, and calm, and wanted nothing more than to lie on her bed and drift in her thoughts.

“I just finished a conversation with Lorraine.” His eyes traced Natalia’s body, as he wished he had time.

“Your sire?” She sighed and turned off the dryer. She finally faced him, her calm still fully intact. “What’s going on?”

“I have to go. She needs my help.”

Not sure if this will stay in the book, as I don’t like it. I think his actions would be vastly different.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Mierka brought the stake to her mouth and licked the blood that coated it. Vincent growled at her actions. She gave him a smirk. “You usually like when I lick the stake.”

He growled. “Twice.”

She handed the stake off to Joseph and looked to Vincent. “The first time was to stop you from killing Natalia. The second was to stop you from killing me. I will take my usual punishment.”

“You do not dictate my actions.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

“No, I don’t. But you have set the precedence on this.” She still spoke mildly and didn’t look at all worried about her actions or his.

He bared his fangs and turned his anger on Joseph. “She skates on thin ice.”

“She speaks the truth.” Joseph’s voice was also calm. Both had been around Vincent enough to understand if they stayed calm, he would as well. Or relatively so.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Lorraine stepped close to her, as she knew it would drive her child mad. She positioned herself to stare into Vincent’s eyes as she sank her teeth into his human’s flesh. The vampire drank four slow swallows of the human’s blood. Natalia inhaled with the pain but did nothing to stop the vampire. When Lorraine pulled away Natalia used the over long shirt to stop the blood flow and watched as Lorraine walked quickly to Vincent and kissed him.

Vincent almost fell to his knees as the taste of his woman’s blood on his sire’s tongue nearly released the beast within him. He crushed Lorraine to him and lifted her off the ground. He kissed her deeply, as he tried to suck the taste of Natalia out of Lorraine. Not satisfied, he nearly dropped her and turned to Natalia.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Her nails dug into his flesh as she considered his proposition. Vincent had refrained from drinking her blood for the past month, to allow her to be at full strength for the experiments. She grudgingly accepted his explanation, as she knew it was probably for the best. But now, as Joseph scraped his fangs against her tender skin, she wondered if it had been a mistake. Her nails dug in deeper as he bit her ever so gently on her neck. He retracted his fangs as he bit, as he knew better than to draw blood without permission. Instead, he pulled his wrist to her mouth and beckoned her to drink the salty liquid that poured from his wound. She drank more than she meant to as he whispered dark ideas into her ear.

Vincent watched the spectacle, hands forming into fists. Mierka sat at his desk, fascinated by the look on Natalia’s face. Her expression kept changing from a pained expression to one of desire. Mierka guessed the human did not want to enjoy being in Joseph’s arms. When Joseph let the human go, Natalia staggered, and tried to catch her balance. She looked around nervously, as if unsure of those around her. Vincent reached forward and lifted her chin to look in her eyes. The glazed look she had faked with Anthony threatened to come into her eyes.

From Protector of the Grey House:

All this information ran through the large vampire’s head as the man came closer. Satisfied with the situation, Vincent used his full speed and ran at the human. The man didn’t even notice. When Vincent slammed into him hard, the man screamed, but it was cut short. Vincent banged the human against a nearby tree which knocked the air out his lungs. As the man gulped for breath, Vincent laid his hand over the man’s mouth. The man tried to scream again, but Vincent grinned, elongated his fangs, and hissed.

The man screamed through Vincent’s hand, but the sounded didn’t carry. In seconds, Vincent had his mouth wrapped around the man’s neck, his teeth buried deep in the human’s flesh. He ripped open the jugular and drank the coppery liquid that bled free. The man didn’t have time to struggle before all his blood was gone. Vincent pulled back from the corpse and dropped it to the ground.

“Did that satisfy you?” Lorraine’s voice called softly from the shadows.

From Protector of the Grey House:

Vincent stood to turn her around and played with the laces that held the corset together. It had been a long time since he had the pleasure of unlacing a lady. Natalia had no idea how much she enticed him with the corset. He pulled the laces free of the knots, then wrapped the laces around his hand and pulled the laces tighter. She inhaled sharply as the garment bit into her skin and squeezed her ribs closer together. He let go of the lace tips, grasped the lowest and highest lace crossing, and pulled until the laces were taunt. He worked his way to the middle of the corset slowly and watched his lover’s face in the mirror. She moaned as the metal boning constricted her lungs and inhibited her breath.

“The next time you wear one of these, you’ll have to let me help you.” He pulled the middle-crossed lace, and leaned into her ear. “Breathe out, love. Let me tie this proper.”

“Can’t breathe.”

Oh, the desire in her voice. He growled into her ear and pulled the lace hard. She cried out as the metal boning pressed further into her skin.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“Even after seven years?”

“She’s hunting a vampire and is still human. She will one day catch the vampire, but what happens when she does? Will she stay with us, ask to be turned, or will she leave and turn Slayer? None of us know and we won’t know until her quest is finished.”

“Is that why you haven’t shown her your actual bedroom?”

“Among other reasons, as well you know.” He gave Joseph a pointed look.

Joseph raised his eyebrows. “You could remove those items.”

“They would cause more trouble elsewhere.”

From Protector of the Grey House:

Mierka greeted her in the garage. “Hello.”

“For some reason, I almost expected Joseph.” She gave Mierka a weary smile as she closed the car door.

“Am I a good stand in?” There was a smirk on the woman’s face.

Natalia laughed nervously as she rounded the car. “Yes, but he was keeping me up to date during all this.”

“I was taking care of Vincent. As he is not here yet, I choose to be where you are.”

“Thank you.” She stood next to Mierka now. “When will he be back?”

“Couple more hours. Did you find an answer to Joseph’s question?”

“No, but this is home.”

Mierka nodded and pointed the way to the stairs. “You still sound off.”

“I left here to find a safe place to sleep. Though I did sleep, it was fitful.”

They were in front of the door to the stairs. Mierka placed her hand on Natalia’s arm. “Are you sure you should be here? You’ll need your wits about you with Vincent.”

Natalia looked down as she folded her arms close. She rubbed her upper arms as if nervous. “This entire situation has me feeling out of sorts. Why did I go into that room, Mierka? Why did I look for it? I was always told I couldn’t be possessed, but Vincent was able to control me, as was that ring.”

“You feel as if your entire existence hangs by a thread?”

Natalia nodded.

“I’ve felt that way many times in my life, until I was turned. After I was turned, I threw all my doubt away and did as I pleased.”

Natalia laughed. “Of course, you did.”