Chloe Neill

“He clearly wasn’t dissuaded, and stroked my jawline with his thumb. “You can run. You can keep running to the ends of the earth. But I won’t be far behind you.”

“Give me something to go on, here. What kind of black magic are we talking? Elphaba,Wicked Witch of the West-type stuff or Slytherin-type stuff?”

“If only we could have picked our family...”

“Friends in high places definitely helped- especially if you had enemies in even higher spots.”

“Sometimes hanging out in pajamas with a good book sounded like a phenomenal idea.”

“Vampires were hardly the monsters we were made out to be in fairy tales and television shows. We were hardly different from humans, but for the genetic mutation, fangs, silvering eyes, and periodic penchant for blood. What? I said hardly different.”

“I'm really about as good at relaitionships as I am at being a vampire. I'm kind of a smart but surprisingly inept kind of girl.”

“I am beginning to remember what it means to need things. Laughter. Companionship. Love. "He leant forward and pressed his forehead to mine. "And I need you, Merit.”

“I stepped back, pivoted on a heel, and swivelled my hip for a side kick. It probably seemed, to a casual observer, that I was warming up, taking a few well-aimed kicks at an inanimate object.But in my mind, THWACK, I was kicking, THWACK, a certain Master vampire, THWACK, in the face.”

“You have to call Darth Sullivan your 'Liege'?"I grinned. "Only if I expect him to answer.”

“You've got better boobs," I acknowledged. And just as we'd done each time we'd had this boobs-versus-legs conversation, we looked down at our chests. Ogled. Compared.”

“And maybe leprechauns will poop rainbows on your pillow.”

“You can tell a lot by the size of a mans library”

“Les heures passèrent. Même si la défense et la guerre n'avaient jamais été mon dada, la sécurité des vampires était hautement contextuelle et donc incroyablement intéressante. Il y avait des liens avec l'histoire (les vampires s'étaient fait baiser par le passé!), la politique (La Maison X nous avait baisé par le passé!), la philosophie (pourquoi croyez-vous qu'on nous avait baisé par le passé?) l'éthique (si nous ne buvions pas le sang des humains, nous serions-nous fait baiser par le passé?) et, bien-sûr, la stratégie (comment nous avait-on baisé? Comment pouvait-on éviter de nous faire baiser de nouveau ou, mieux encore, comment pouvions-nous les baiser en premier?)”

“Magic is overrated. Courage is what matters.”

“And our safe word?""Wonderwall."Lindsey turned around and cast Luc a sardonic look. " Your safe word is the name of an Oasis song?""Blondie, I am the arbiter of all things fashionable in this House. Why not music?""Spoken by a man wearing cowboy boots. I mean, seriously. Who wears cowboy boots ?”

“So that you don't forget the world isn't black or white," he said. "It's grey and someone tells you otherwise, they're lying".”

“You cannot seriously think you’re going to fight this guy. He could kick your ass with one arm tied behind his back, much less with all his voluminous vampire powers. He’s probably stronger than you, faster than you. He can probably jump higher. Hell, he can probably glamour you into making out with him right there on the mats.”We simultaneously looked over to where Ethan, half naked, was toeing off his black leather loafers. The muscles in his abdomen clenched as he moved. So did the lines of corded muscle across his shoulders.God, but he was beautiful.I narrowed my gaze.Beautiful but evil. Wicked. The repugnant dregs of foul malevolence. Or something.“Jesus,” Mallory whispered. “I want to support your quest for revenge and all, but maybe you should just let him glamour you.” She looked at me, and I could tell she was trying not to laugh. “Either you’re fucked, or you’re fucked, right?”

“Ladies and...ladies" Luc said "since the sexual harassment has already started I assume you've recognized that we have a special guest.”

“You need to stop flirting with me Shepherd or we're never going to get anything done.”

“That's our cue to depart." "They know something " I pointed out. "I know something too. I know we're going to attract a lot of unwanted attention if they keep screaming. And then we have to make up some ridiculous explanation about how we heard screaming through the vents in our rooms and we followed the sound back to the basement and we found these girls lying on the ground and pretending to be tied up by invisible rope because they're practicing for the regional mime championships." I blinked at her. "Is that explanation more or less believable than we woke up because two girls who are actually evil magicians tripped a magical alarm wired to a door in the basement we aren't supposed to know about " Scout paused for a minute then nodded. "Point made.”

“I'm afraid,' I finally confessed.'I know.' His voice was quiet. 'I know, and it kills me that I put that fear into your eyes.”

“Seriously, I’m totally weirded out by the girly nature of this conversation. And yet, it’s kinda like you’re growing up. Do you think Judy Blume made a book about adolescent vampires? Are You There God, It’s Me, Merit?” Mallory snorted, obviously pleased with herself.”

“Top Gun,” I whispered to Lindsey. We’d started pointing out Luc’s ubiquitous pop culture references, having decided that because he cut his fangs in the Wild West, he’d been entranced by movies and television. You know, because living in a society of magically enhanced vampires didn’t require enough willing suspension of disbelief.-Merit in Chloe Neill’s Friday Night Bites”

“Was this for real? Were these two magically oriented, problem-fixing, ass-kicking guys talking about what their kids would look like?”

“And so, on a night in late May, I found myself standing on the lawn of a Hyde Park mansion of vampires, staring up at the stone-framed visage of a boy in Armani, an enemy who’d become an ally. Ironic, I thought, that I’d given up one ally today but gained another.Ethan ran a hand through his hair.“What are you thinking about?” I whispered up, knowing he couldn’t hear me.Where was a boom box when you needed one?”

“And that’s why we’re sending Boobs McGee.”I slowly swiveled my head to glare at Catcher. “Seriously. You’re, what, twelve now?”***“Then I guess that settles that,” I agreed. “My boobs and I will go.”

“Jonah and Catcher shared one of those manly, “It’s nice to meet you, but I’m going to barely acknowledge your existence with a small nod because that’s the manly thing to do” gestures.”

“Lils, you've barely even planned Sneak yet. Give it time. He'll get there.""He did ask me out on Saturday.""OMG, you two are totally getting married and having a litter of babies. Ooh, what if that's literally true?"-Scout and Lily about werewolf Jason”

“You look like the cat that ate the canary.""As a vegetarian, I object to that metaphor."Scout grinned teethily at me. "As a carnivore, I object to your pickines. Now spill the goods."-Scout and Lily”

“Asking about someone’s animal is the shifter equivalent of pulling a ruler and asking a guy to whip it out.”

“Much to my dismay”—and that rang clear in the irritably flat tone of his voice—“I find I have a sudden taste for stubborn, lithe brunettes with horrible fashion sense.”

“I tried to tune out the sensation and, embarassed at the silvering of my eyes-I have to admit, I had a sudden, new sympathy for men faced with hiding their arousal-I squeezed them shut.”

“Luc : It's time for our annual review of Rules You Disrespectful Bastards Never Follow.”

“Chapter Four : The things that go bump in the night...are probably registered voters in Cook County”

“Learn to be a vampire, to be a warrior, to be the soldier you are capable of being. But consider the possibility that I made a mistake I regret—and that I’ll continue to regret that mistake and try to convince you to give me another chance until the earth stops turning.”

“I wouldn’t let you leave the House if I didn’t—there’s too much at stake.” “At stake. Ha-ha.” At his frown, I winced. “Sorry. I kid when I’m nervous.”

“I mean, who does that? Who touches someone’s hair and pronounces they have magic?” “Darth Sullivan.” “Darth goddamned Sullivan.”

“Get to the Point: Vampire Contributions in Western Architecture. Fangs and Balances: Vampire Politicians in History. To Drink or Not to Drink: A Vampire Dialectic. Blood Sausage, Blood Stew, Blood Orange: Food for All Seasons. And the awfully named Plasmatlas, which contained maps of important vampire locales.”

“Are we ready?” “You have your dagger?” “I rarely leave home without it.” “Then to the Batcave, Sentinel.”

“It was my TBR-my TO Be Read stack. The usual subjects were there. Chick lit. Action. A Pulitzer Prize winner. A romance novel about a pirate and a damsel in a low-cut blouse (What? Even vampire enjoys a little bodice ripping now and again.)”

“Irresistible force. Immovable object. Choose the one you want to be, and do it.”

“A friend once told me the hurt that came with the end of a relationship was painful because it was the death of a dream—the future you’d imagined with a lover, a loved one, a child, or a friend. That loss was its own painful, nearly tangible thing. You had to reimagine your future, perhaps in a different place, with different people, doing different things than you might have first imagined.”

“If ‘just’ is all you can give me now, then ‘just’ is what we’ll do.”

“Ethan sighed, then put a hand on my cheek. “I don’t tell you this enough, but I am incredibly proud of the vampire you’ve become. I want you to know that.”

“My job is to ensure the sanctity of this House. Ensuring the sanity of its Master seemed like a good start.”

“Sullivan may have a heart of coal, but I bet he looks really good in orange. And stripes. Rawr. - Lindsey”

“Who are they?” I whispered, as we took seats opposite each other.Scout glanced up as she pulled notebooks and books from her bag. “The dragon ladies. They monitor lights-out, watch us while we study, and generally make sure that nothing fun occurs on their watch.”“Awesome,” I said, flipping open my trig book. “I’m a fun hater myself.”

“There was a time,” he finally said, “when I would have acknowledged your reticence and given you time and space to reach your own decision.” He tipped my head down again and slid his fingers to the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. Then he lowered his lips to my ear.“This is not that time, Merit.” And then his mouth was on mine, and he took my breath away again. He kissed me like a man possessed, like a man with nothing more on his mind but the taste and feel of me. Like a man returned to life.”

“There are nights when the world is completely askew because he’s gone.”