Damn it. What a cliffhanger. Katherine's and Imalia's friendship is one I am definitely shipping.

The prince is kind of an ass. I am rooting for a bad end for that guy.

I really like Valerie and the caitiff. They are really interesting and likable characters.

I know this is probably abandoned, but please update soon! This is amazing!

I don't remember if I did review you FF or not, I haven't come in this fandom in a while... Anyway.

I read ALL Schattenjäger and Schattenspiel, I found them incredibly detailed and the original NPC very in character. And believe me it's not a simple thing to accomplice... Most of the other that i've read make SL look and sound like a toy plushie rolled in sugar. Truth is: he's a bastard rolled in poison, coated with daggers.

At this point you'll be like: tell me something I don't already know sis!
Sooo... After this rumbling mess of a review that I'm writing now, I just wanted to ask you if you were going to continue posting or if you wanted to leave it incomplete.

(I'm not Eng motherlanguage sometimes I forget how to english. Sorry in advance.)

I hope you will considering continuing the story. This is one of the best fics in the fandom.

I know I reviewed some time ago (and FF won't let me write this review on chapter 21 because I already wrote a review for that chapter. WHUT?!), but I actually sat down and read both of your stories and I am truly hooked! I did not think I would be in the beginning, because I am not the biggest fan of LaCroix romances for a slew of reasons. Red and I often banter about those reasons, but what I will say is that I have thoroughly enjoyed this story and it's predecessor!

Though a crap ton of C4 would probably do away with any given Kindred, there is always something that irks me about the LaCroix ending. If the man hadn't wasted the time to melodramatically thrust his fists into the air to shout "Noooooo!", I bet you he could have hoofed it a reasonable distance away from the sarcophagus, plus using Fortitude (natural to a Venture), would have been mangled, but not ash. LaCroix's personality is too power hungry to just stand there and be blown to bits. I could easily see him throwing the neonate into the sarcophagus and racing to the elevator, only to be horribly injured by the resulting blast and debris. But enough of my displeasure! That to say, I like your explanation of his survival and the subsequent "shock" everyone experiences at his very-LaCroix-like entry to the stage.

The story from that point onward, and in this one, was very fun. There were bits and pieces that I wasn't extremely a fan of. Cecilia, forgive me, needs to be staked and thrown into the dawn. I, personally, can't see LaCroix embracing someone as vapid and empty-headed as she is. I think Katherine hits the nail on the head when she realizes how better suited to the life of a Toreador Cecilia is than that of a Ventrue. Ice her. Please. I beg you! While obviously not a central character, she borders Mary-Sue for me. Hence my murderous reaction to her. And maybe because my picture of LaCroix maintains a tundra-like temperature, I struggle to see how anyone embraced by LaCroix (even my own OCs!) would have reason to shout "I won't let you take Sebastian from me!". *resists urge to kill* I hope Katherine takes the Molotov chaos as an opportunity to shank that hussy! Though...the whole finding evidence that she called Tobias thing is cool too.

Katherine. Hm. I like this character and I like that she is from Germany, because many OCs created to fill the void of the PC from the game are US residents by default. I like her military background. I appreciate the complexity of the struggle she endures now that she bonded to LaCroix. And not just any LaCroix, mind you - no, no! - but a twice-surviving-Final Death LaCroix. There is nothing better to read than a natural struggle between one's physical desires and their better judgement. She knows LaCroix is no good for her, knows he is a Class A manipulator but can't shake the pleasure of that bite or blood. Curse the thrall! Such an intricate, almost forbidden, relationship it creates between binder and bonded, and I believe you capture that incredibly well time and again. Her kicking him in the junk...priceless! I would have reacted similarly too. Heck, I would have ran my behind to Sacramento. Or, to be even safer, maybe Las Vegas? At least she could have fun hiding from LaCroix while his manly bits recover.

And that scene! How creepy! There is nothing more cringe-provoking than a character dominating another without the use of discipline. There just isn't. If one character says "I don't like it when you touch me" or "I don't want you to (fill in the blank)" and another character does anyhow...ingredients for a cringe moment! And depending upon how the author handles those situations will determine the kind of cringe. My cringe was for poor Katherine. I felt anxious on her behalf at having a man - let's not beat around the bush, shall we? - have his way with her. And her reaction (beautiful!) wasn't even one that she planned. I liked that it came spontaneously, naturally and at the cost of LaCroix's guard being down. The subsequent punishment scene when she emerges from the sewers (ew ew ew! smelly!) Was hot!

Maybe I have a kinky side to myself, or prefer to believe LaCroix has one, but "punishment" is an appropriate word in Sebastian's vocabulary. I mean, if you choose to see Mercurio out in the game, his response is "suitable punishment" and I think we all know he ain't talkin' 'bout no hanky-panky-spanking.

Which leads me to your characterization of LaCroix. While no one's is in alignment, I think a theme we have all managed to capture is the push-button temper of this man. I mean, you set your glass on his 150 yr. old mahogany coffee table without a coaster and the man will give you a thirty minute lecture on etiquette. *Groans. Can see it happening now to each of our OCs* I think another aspect of his personality you and I (and others) have agreed on is this sense of forcefulness. LaCroix is not as popular as he assumes himself to be, even in Europe where he has greater ties. He has a knack at ticking people off. Therefore, I like how your styling of LaCroix maintains that forcing fight to establish himself in the eyes of his peers and subjects. I think he has to do that a little less in this story than in the first one, but the interactions with Jan prove he will never be able to escape that unless he does some serious introspective work (which Red and I agree would happen right after it snows in Jamaica). It's never his fault people don't like him, in his own mindset, and you do a good job of reinforcing this through his interactions with Katherine where he is seeking her opinion and she has to walk this tight-rope of being honest over appeasing his sensitive ego. One last thing I will say about him that I love and share with you is his possessive nature! Man tightens that leash whenever he can, doesn't he?! I love it! In the game, he demonstrates this with the sarcophagus and L.A (in conjunction with his lust for power). And in your story, Katherine becomes the obvious victim of his need to control something absolutely. And my dear - I want more of it! Again, probably my kinkier side, but I do enjoy those well-written moments where LaCroix yanks that collar to make her heel. Too bad he didn't take very good lessons from Pavlov. I'm surprised he doesn't shackle her up somewhere to make sure he only goes out when he wants.

Overall, fantastic tale that I truly hope you decide to continue, even though it has been some time since you updated! There are some minor problems, in my mind, with transitions from scenes to other scenes and pacing within chapters, but minor at best!

wow I just read about the blood bond after this chapter, It seems that they both drank out of each other's blood in the first part, so I guess that this means that they are both on level 1 ( both are regent and thrall as it was prophesied) :D I love how you pay attention to details so I wanted to tell you about a small grammar error: in LaCroix's nickname 'Le phénix rusé ' the word 'rusé' means that he was fooled or conned, the word cunning as in the one doing the fooling should either be 'malign' or 'ruse' without the acute over the e. I cannot wait for the next chapter, this is the second time i've read this since yesterday and I'm starting to form an addiction here!

Oh my God! I just read the first story and this one today, you are AMAZING! this is so good and I absolutely love it but I do hope that you would update soon since it appears that your last update was in 2011!

Wow, I've seen only now that is been two years since the last update... Bummer!.. It's like a drug! I love the way you write and describe the scenes! I need more3

I am addicted and as an addict, I demand more! Don't care that its been two years! More I say!

Hey, I just finished the entirety of both Schattenspiel and this in one sitting...wow, I really like your political intrigue and also the character of Katherine, who's believable due to her loyal, yet feisty personality and her background. It's sad to see there's no more left for me to read, (and due to the update date, it might be a forlorn hope to wish for more), but I'd still like to say that it was a wonderful read, and I'm glad to have found your work!

3 and cookies!

I just wanted to say I hope this story hasn't been abandoned (especially at such an interesting point!) because your characters are really enjoyable to read about. I especially like when Katherine goes on adventures with secondary characters (especially Imalia, those two together are a really fun team :) ).

I do have to say I'm kind of still recovering from the punishment in chapter 17... maybe I'm just too much of a softie, I actually feel kind of silly about how shocked I was! But doesn't he have at least a slight blood bond (even if he may deny it in his pov chapter) from drinking from her twice that would prevent him from doing that? Or does it just stop him from killing her? I know Katherine has made mistakes, but she's also saved his "unlife", helped him gain power, kept his secrets, lied for him, etc. So I guess I'm a bit puzzled as to why he's so unnecessarily cruel & unappreciative to her. Especially since such treatment pushed her towards the Sabbat, and he clearly does want her to stick around (as both a useful asset & due to his attraction). Maybe it's just been too long since I've played the game and I've forgotten how bad his character really was, lol. I kind of want her to re-assert herself, because at this point it seems strange she'd want to stick around and live in constant fear, but sadly I don't think that's likely from her thoughts of wanting to get back on his good side, her soldier/obedience mentality & fear of him (which is VERY understandable after what happened).

Anyway, I just wanted to say I've enjoyed the original story as well as this sequel, and I look forward to the next (hopefully soon) chapter update! :)

I love this story so much! Please continue it. It is wonderfully written and thrilling!

I really enjoyed your stories so far I've only just caught up and read the whole of the first one as well _.

The first thing I noticed was your chapters are much shorter than the previous one lol. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it does leave your readers wanting more. Well it does for me anyway XD.

Grammar and spelling is great. I dunno if your beta reader is back up yet but there were only a few typos that I noticed and these weren't very regular in occurrence so it doesn't really jolt the reader out of the story too much.

You have a good OC you demonstrate her weaknesses as much as her strengths which is great because even in fiction no one is perfect. It makes the reader able to connect with her far more than if she was perfect.

I love the fact that you've gone into more detail about the clans and such that the game only really seems to touch on and you manage to seamlessly add it into the story using your OC's lack of knowledge as a tool to weave it in.

I like the fact you write reasonable sized paragraphs, may sound strange but it bugs the hell out of me when there are lots of two lined paragraphs when they should be longer. Especially when there isn't anyone talking when you'd expect to see them.

One thing I have noticed recently is that you've stopped describing your environment a bit. For example you don't really describe her surroundings much in the chapter when she broke into the hospital and this latest one. There isn't much regarding what she can see. She is quite paranoid so I imagine her being very aware of her surroundings and for good reason being unaware will get her killed.

The characters you've added in aren't too shabby I must say lol. If someone was reading this and didn't play the game I don't think they'd know that they didn't belong there. You've padded them out really well, making them very believable and I find myself empathising with them as well.

One of the few things I can think of that did impede the flow of your story when I was reading was that I had to scroll to the bottom of the page to pick up the translations for the German and French bits; I ended up just putting them through a translator as I read (I am quite an impatient reader I'm sorry ; _ ;). You could put the translation in brackets next to it and not worry about it interfering with your story. But I have to admit having the actual German and French in does add a nice touch to your story it makes it feel far more authentic.

I hope you haven't taken offence to my review, I just don't like leaving short reviews saying yeah it was perfect when is the next chapter coming up? If you know what I mean? If you would like me to expand on my review at all please feel free to PM me and we can chat about it. I really love your story and I can't wait for the next chapter.

- eye x

I can't tell whether the title is a Gabriel Knight reference or simply coincidental.

Hi, I've just discovered your fics (Schattenspiel & Schattenjäger) and I can tell you, you totally amazed me with them. I love the way you portray your characters, and that chapter in Jäger with LaCroix's point of view was epic. :) Your fics helped me to kill time, so thank you. I'm lookig forward to the next chapters. :)