Chloe Neill

“He turned on his heel and began down the hall, then called back, “And we’ll need to chat about your running off campus and into the arms of shifters without so much as a telephone call.” Sometimes, he was so predictable.”

“He paused, then tapped a finger against the box. “This is a wish,” he said quietly, “that even after four hundred years of existence, a man can be strong enough to accept the gifts he’s given.” “Ethan—,” I began, but he shook his head. “I’m prepared to wait for a positive response.” “That’s going to take a while.” Ethan lifted a single eyebrow, a grin lifting one corner of his mouth. “Sentinel, I am immortal.”

“Dear God,”“It should be illegal for smug vampires to look that good,” Lindsey said, clucking her tongue. “That is so true,” I agreed, thinking a little less hotness would make my relationship with Ethan a lot simpler.”

“Food that good deserved undisturbed digestion”

“Well?”“Well, what?” I waved a hand at the room.“Start genuflecting. Let’s see some knee action.”“You’re serious.” I lifted my brows. He responded in kind, but finally nodded his head, then walked between the couches. He dropped to one knee, then held out his hands.“I’m monumentally sorry for the pain and humiliation that I caused you and your—”“Both knees.” “Pardon?” “I’d prefer to see both knees on the ground. I mean, if you’re going to grovel, be the best groveler you can, right?”

“The Constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment,” I told him when he stepped down from the podium. “What?” he innocently asked. “Getting you out of the library? I believe it’s due time, Sentinel.” “Now that I’m a real, live vampire?” “Something like that,”

“You drugged me,”“I didn’t want you to feel it, Merit.” His voice was soft. “You’d been attacked; you hadn’t consented. I didn’t want you to have to go through it. I didn’t want you to have to remember it.”

“The room fell heavily silent. After a minute of continuing to flay Morgan with that narrowed gaze—and Morgan staring back defiantly—Ethan slowly lifted green eyes to me, and I saw something different there. Respect.”

“I kissed him, let him kiss me, let him clutch my hips, curl his fingers into the fabric of my shirt, slide his hands around my waist and splay them against my back, pull me infinitesimally closer. He made a sound, a growl or purr, some predatory noise that rumbled in his throat, then said my name. And this time, it wasn’t a question but a sound of victory, a claim on his prize.”

“Jeff, I have a problem.” “I’m glad you’ve finally realized I’m your answer, Merit.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this.” “Why,” he asked, “should we not be dancing?” “It’s not real.” “It could be.”

“The best revenge is a life well lived.”

“Darth Sullivan”

“Whenever he began to see me as something more than a liability or a weapon, whenever we spoke to each other without the barrier of rank and history between us, he backed away, more often than not insulting me to force the distance." Merit - Chicagoland Vampires”

“Morgan and Catcher said their manly hellos - consisting of a symbolic head bob from Catcher (of the "You're in my lair now" variety) and a responding nod from Morgan (of the "You are clearly the king of this castle" variety).”

“I’m not your father, you know.”It took me a moment to find words. “Excuse me?”“I’m capable of giving you a compliment and being completely sincere about it.”

“Did she watch Newsies? Tell me she watched Newsies.Twice.”

“Oh , I do like you Merit.I like your ...Moxie.”

“Oh nookie in the stacks.Figures you're the type to have that fantasy, grad school and all.”

“Where was a boom box when you needed one?”

“It's either food or blood, Ethan.And given thats it's just me and you in this car right now, food would be considerably less complicated, don't you think?”

“Well, " I began,"I've been roped into shenanigans."Without preface, Catcher muttered a curse ,then leaned over slipped his wallet from his jeans, and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, which he handed to Mallory.”

“I stood there for a moment, playing emotional catch-up.He drove down from the Navarre House just to surprise me with flowers.And not It's -Valentines's Day-and-I-feel-olbligated flowers.These were just-because flowers.”

“Who’s Baumgartner?” I asked.President of the 155.” At my blank stare, Catcher clarified, “My former union, Local 155 of the Union of Amalgamated Sorcerers and Spellcasters.”I nearly choked on chicken, and when I was done with the coughing fit, asked, “The acronym for the Order of sorcerers is ‘U-ASS’?”A, seriously appropriate,” Mallory commented, giving Catcher a sideways grin. “B, explains why they call it ‘the Order.”

“Ethan opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “That’s an interesting analysis.”Dynasty reruns have been rolling nonstop on cable,” Luc said.Huh.That was an interesting bit of information about our guard captain.”

“Awkwardness, thy name is vampire.”

“I'd heard someone say that bravery was doing the thing you were afraid to do, despite your fear. If that was true I was the bravest person I knew”

“Although security and warfare had never been my gig, vampire security was highly contextual and thus incredibly interesting. There were links to history (Vampires were screwed over yesterday!) and politics (House X screwed us over yesterday!), philosophy (Why do you think they screwed us over yesterday?) and ethics (If we didn’t bite, would they have screwed us over yesterday?), and, of course, strategy (How did they screw us over? How can we keep them from screwing us over again or, better yet, screw them over first?).”

“I slid Mallory a glance. “He’s (Jeff) your test? He thinks anything with breasts looks good.” "Since you don’t qualify, that’s why I asked him over.”

“As we left the kitchen, I asked, “Can I hold your sword today?” Catcher glanced back over his shoulder and lifted a brow. “The sword,” I corrected. “The sword.” We’ll see.”

“But there was a cost. Being near Ethan was just... incendiary. Part animosity, part ridiculous chemistry, neither conducive to a peaceful home environment. And this was only my first night under his thumb. Not a good sign of things to come.”

“Scout released me, then wiped tears from beneath her eyes. Catharsis, I guessed. “I’ve said itbefore and I’ll say it again—you seriously rock, Parker.”"Tell me again, Green,” I said as we switched on flashlights and headed through the tunnel.“Seriously, you rock.”“One more time.”“Don’t press your luck.”

“So you’re now an official member of Enclave Three. You weirdo.”I snorted. “I’m a weirdo? You’re a werewolf.”“I suggest you say that with respect, Parker.”“Or what?”“Or I’ll have to bite you.” His lips widened into a grin of heart-stopping proportions. I guessed itwould have been pretty effective on him in werewolf form, too.”

“You’re crude.” "I’m crude?”"You just offered to make me your whore.”"To be the Consort of a Master vampire is an honor, Initiate, not an insult.”"It’s an insult to me. I’m not going to be your—anyone’s—sexual outlet. When that . . . happens for me, when I meet him, I want partnership. Love. You don’t trust me enough for the former, and I’m not even sure you’re capable of the latter.”

“Do you understand what I’m offering you?""Do you understand that it’s not 1815?""It’s not unusual for Masters to have Consorts.""Yes, and your current Consort’s in my kitchen right now. If you need . . . relieving, talk to her.""As much as it pains me to say it, Amber isn’t you.""I don’t even know what that means. Should I—What? Be flattered that while you don’t like me, you’re willing to sacrifice just to get into my pants?”

“Stop. That was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened." "No?""No." "I could offer you more.” "What?” "Power. Access. Rewards. You’d need be available only to me.” "Are you asking me to be your mistress?” "Yes.” "Oh, my God.” "Is that a yes?” "No, Ethan, Jesus. Definitely not.”

“Can you at least pretend to be professional today?”Lindsey stopped, glanced back at Luc. “You show me professional, and I’llshow you professional.”Luc snorted, but his expression was gleeful. “Sweetheart, you wouldn’t knowprofessional if it bit you on the ass.”“I prefer my bites in other places.”“Is that an invitation?”“If only you were so lucky, cowboy.”“Lucky? Hooking up with me would be the luckiest day of your life, Blondie.”

“Have you ever had a moment where you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you were in the right place? That you were on the right journey? Maybe the sense that you’d crossed a boundary, jumped a hurdle, and somehow, after facing some unconquerable mountain, found yourself suddenly on the other side of it? When the night was warm and the wind was cool, and a song carried through the quiet streets around you. When you felt the entire world around you, and you were part of it—of the hum of it—and everything was good.Contentment, I suppose, is the simple explanation for it. But it seems more than that, thicker than that, some unity of purpose, some sense of being truly, honestly, for that moment, at home.Those moments never seem to last long enough. The song ends, the breeze stills, the worries and fears creep in again and you’re left trying to move forward, but glancing back at the mountain behind you, wondering how you managed to cross it, afraid you really didn’t—that the bulk and shadow over your shoulder might evaporate and re-form before you, and you’d be faced with the burden of crossing it again.The song ends, and you stare at the quiet, dark house in front of you, and you grasp the doorknob, and walk back into your life.”

“And then he smiled, kind of a quirky half smile that tipped up only the right corner of his mouth. Because of that smile, that goddamn human smile, I had to swallow down a burst of affection that nearly brought tears to my eyes. Instead, I looked away, and hated myself - for my inability to hate him despite the things he said, the things he did, the things he expected.”

“Mallory!" Catcher's voice boomed down the stairs.Mallory fixed her mouth into a tight line and walked me into the kitchen. "Ignore it," she advised. "Much like the bubonic plague, it'll go away if you give it enough time.""Mallory! You weren't finished! Get back in here!"I glanced up the stairway. "You didn't leave him handcuffed to the bed or something, did you?""Jesus, no." I incrementally relaxed, until she continued. "My headboard's a single piece of wood. There's nothing to handcuff him to.”

“Supernatural healing was a handy trick for an absentminded vampire, although it would make my enemies harder to kill. Tit for tat, I guess.”

“That took all of three minutes," he pointed out, sprinkling red pepper across his noodles."And was kind of anticlimactic," Mal said, "since you just stared at the microwave the entire time. I figured you'd at least give some kind of invocation, maybe some gnawing the plastic. Growling." She ate another forkful of spaghetti, then offered, "Clawing the ground. Barking.""I'm a vampire, not a corgie.”

“Imagine a landscape of nothing but astrology references and naughty limericks. That's what you're going to reduce me to.”

“Catcher shrugged, refolded the paper, and stuffed it back into his pocket. "Anyone wanna dance?""Oh, Jesus," Mallory muttered."Dance?" I asked. "I could dance. I need to change, but I can dance." I could always dance. My hips didn't lie.Mallory tucked her tongue into her cheek, then gave Catcher a look of mock irritation. "Nice going, Gandalf. You'll rile her up, and I'll never get her tucked in. You wanna give her candy and caffeine while you're at it?”

“Well, shifters aren't. Shifters are happy. They're people; then they're animals; then they're people again. What's not to be happy about? They live with their friends. They drink. They ride their Harleys. They party in Alaska. They have hot shifter sex."At that revelation, Jeff winged up his eyebrows at me, an invitation in his eyes. I bit down on a grin and shook my head sternly in response. Apparently unruffled, he shrugged and turned back to his computer. Happily.”

“So as I shivered, naked and damp, in front of the bathroom mirror, I raised my eyes skyward. "I hope we're still okay."I got no answer, but then, I didn't really expect one. Answer or not, it didn't matter. That's the thing about faith, I guess.”

“It's stupid, I know. I have this thing, this idea. This bullshit 'Mr. Darcy' idea, about the one that changes his mind. That comes back for me. And I'll look up some night, and he'll be there in front of me. And he'll stare at me and say, "It was you. It was always you.”

“Oh please," Scout said."Don't take that tone with me. You know you'd love to have a minion. Someone at your beck and call. Someone to do your bidding. How many times have you said to yourself," Self, I need a unicorn to run errands and such?”

“Avoidance helped settle the emotions. Considerably.”

“A slap wouldn’t have pulled me out of the trance any faster.”