Jeaniene Frost

“We had to play the hand we were dealt, all of us. Fighting the battles we could win.”

“Some things are worth the cost of their consequences.”

“With nothing more than thin spandex covering my chest, even the blind would notice that my nipples were so hard, they could cut glass”

“Is it impossible to believe that I think a day will come where I’ll be held accountable for each life I’ve taken, every drop of blood I’ve spilled . . . and yet I continue to do whatever is necessary to keep my people?”

“I forgive you, but only because you said 'please.'"Smartass, I thought. Then I groaned at the instant chorus of "Please!" mixed with cries for release from Vlad's prisoners. No wonder he got so sick of the word."I'm only merciful to one person a day," he threw over his shoulder. "As the saying goes, today isn't your day and tomorrow doesn't look good, either.”

“For some, vampires are still firmly in the 'evil, scary' column. However, in recent decades, vampires also run the gamut from evil to morally ambiguous all the way to fangless and vegetarian. I think part of their appeal lies in their versatility. Vampires can be the villain, the hero, and everything in between, all depending on the writer's whim. You'll also never hear me say that anyone is doing vampires 'wrong' because unless a real vampire stands up and sets the record straight, it's anyone's game as a far as defining them in fiction.”

“Then he leaned down, breath warm on my neck as he whispered his next words. "You've wondered if I felt differently about you since your abilities diminished. Let this serve as your answer.”

“Hallo, Kitten”

“Dass eine Dame etwas tun kann, bedeutet nicht, dass sie es auch tun sollte.”

“Then my father's features hardened. "You can't expect my blessings on this disastrous mistake."The words were directed at me, but Vlad responded."I wouldn't insult you by asking. We both know you disapprove and we both know I don't care. Leila's opinion is the only one that matters, and she said yes.”

“It only takes one person to love, but it takes two to make a relationship work.”

“He’d wanted all of me and that’s what I’d given him. Did it mean I had nothing left? “No,” he muttered, voice thick with passion. “You have me, and I love you.”

“You’ll never get rid of me, either… No matter which side of the grave we’re on. I’ll haunt you, chase you all around eternity, whatever it takes, but it’s you and me until the stars burn out.”

“I’d want our wedding to be special. I don’t have a dress, you don’t have a best man, and instead of flowers, we have corpses on poles decorating the front of the house.”“Flowers are on the way, as is my best man, three seamstresses are ready to make any dress you desire, and I’ll have the corpses taken down,” he replied without missing a beat.”

“The dungeon image helped. "You need to let Maximus go," I stated, my voice stronger now."No. Wine?”

“Maximus grunted. "Some days you remind me of Vlad.""Meaning?" I said sharply."Your obsession with revenge. Next you'll want to drive a pole through that vampire once you find her."The thought was appealing, but...”

“The servants must wait like ninjas for me to leave so they could render this place spotless again.”

“Family is always irreplaceable, even when they’re also irreconcilable.”

“When we entered the first chamber of the dungeon, the stench made me recoil. It smelled like someone had mixed together kerosene, rotten fruit, stale blood, urine, and dog shit, then blown it up. How had I not noticed this before? I wasn't even breathing, but the rancid odor found its way into my nose anyway."This place stink.""Did the guards forget to spray Febreze?" Vlad asked in mock indignation. Then he gave me a jaded look. "It s a dungeon, Leila. They re supposed to smell."Mission accomplished. The stench might have actually killed my new appetite. If Hell could fart, it would smell like this.”

“Fourteen hundred and thirty-one.” I blinked. “What's that?” “The year I was born, which is not, as you'll note, yesterday.”

“He was impolite while making a point? This is Vlad the Impaler. His points usually come at the end of a long pole.”

“If you introduce yourself to anyone as Mrs. Dracula, I'll bite you in a manner you won't enjoy.”

“You can have all of me, I silently told him, but I'm taking all of you in return.”

“I dare because I want no misunderstanding between us. I am everything you think I am, but I love your daughter, and what I love, I protect with all of the violence in me, which, as you've guessed, is considerable.”

“Survival first, then heartbreak.”

“When I heard the ghouls coming for you, all I cared about was reaching you in time. How often must I tell you that you mean more to me than vengeance? I can live without defeating my enemies, but I cannot live without you.”

“You might be the cruelest person I’ve ever met,” he said in a conversational tone.“What?” I gasped.“My first wife killed herself. Took me centuries to get over it and love again, yet you weren’t going to mention that you might be compelled to slay yourself in front of me.”

“I despise flowery speech since those who use it are usually guilty of the worst betrayals later. That and the type of life I’ve lived have made me incapable of saying the pretty words you deserve to hear, yet if I made you a vampire, you’d feel my emotions as clearly as I hear your thoughts now.”Then he drew my hand to his chest, placing it over his heart.“I never turned any of my previous lovers because I didn’t want them to feel how little I cared. You I loved, yet you left me because I wouldn’t verbalize my emotions. That will probably happen again, but if you could feel what you mean to me, Leila” —his voice deepened— “words wouldn’t matter.”

“Do you know what happened the last time I loved someone?”Growled against my skin with such tempered violence that my shiver turned into a shudder. I nodded.“No you don’t.” Another lethal growl. “You only know how she died. Let me tell you how she lived— in fear. My actions horrified her, as they horrify you. My enemies exploited her, as they exploit you, so it was more than an advancing army that made her throw herself from our roof. It was me.”

“You see, you don’t want me to love you. You want the version you’ve made up. The knight, even though I’m the dragon and I always will be.”

“No one feels like you do, so every brush of your skin is a cruel reminder of what I’ve lost. I can barely stand the sight of you because you’re more beautiful than I’ve allowed myself to remember, and when I cut that wire off Maximus and smelled you all over him, I wanted to kill him more than I’ve wanted to kill anyone in my life, yet I couldn’t because of my promise to you.”Slow tears continued to trickle down my cheeks, but for a different reason this time.“You care.”The words were whispered with a despairing sort of wonder. He wasn’t willing to rescind his loveless vow, clearly, but I was wrong about the apathy I’d thought he felt. That he admitted all the above was surprising enough; the fact he’d done it within earshot of his pilots was no less than shocking.Vlad grunted. “Don’t worry. I intend to kill them as soon as we land.”

“Words.” His tone sharpened. “I shared my house, my bed, and my blood with you, as well as offered you a place in my life forever. What are words compared to that?”I sighed, my anger dissipating as quickly as his flames had. “Oh, Vlad, if you believed that, you would’ve told me what I wanted to hear to just appease me. You didn’t, which proves saying ‘I love you’ means more to you than everything else.”

“I am offering you a real commitment— a place in my life forever. Even if our relationship ended, our tie to each other never would. Let me make you a vampire, Leila, and watch decades slide by like days while you’re by my side.”

“You should be afraid. Very afraid. Before, I told you if you wanted to end things between us, I would let you go, but, Leila"--his voice deepened--"I lied.”

“Have your boyfriend add therapy bills to my expense tab.”

“Gretchen shrugged. "After seeing how he acted when she almost died, I'm starting to get why she's with him." Then her voice hardened. "And really, Leila. That's twice now.”

“Vlad made a sound too harsh to be a growl. "You won't be satisfied until you've brought me to my knees, is that it?""Why not?" It shot out of me with all the recklessness of my still-broken heart. "You brought me to mine.”

“Hearing that I'd come so close to dying should've terrified me, but all I could muster up was a weary "This day sucks.”

“Only fools pity survivors their scars and you should never kowtow to fools”

“It's a dungeon, Leila. They're Supposed to smell."Mission accomplished. The stench might have actually killed my new appetite. If hell could fart, it would smell like this.”

“No matter what I think about this, Leila, you're my daughter, so you are not walking down that aisle alone.”

“This wasn't the first time I'd woken up as a captive. It wasn't even the second. I so needed to reevaluate my life choices.”

“My gaze flew to him once more,noting the cigarette he set down even as he exhaled a long plume of white."Why are you lying there smoking while I'm chained to a wall?"I demanded.The look he gave me was a mixture of relief and cynicism."Since it seems you don't remember anything about the past two days,let me assure you,luv-I earned that smoke.”

“Sweet bleedin’ Christ,” Bones interrupted. “Try not to let this turn you into a Ghost Whisperer, hmm? Adopting Fabian is one thing, but we’realready turning away spooks by the dozen. If you want another pet, we’ll get you more cats.”

“There’s less violence in my world compared to yours,” she insisted. Spade sighed. “No, darling. There are only different reasons for it.”

“You eat the room service employees every time?” Denise asked, shocked. “Of course. But don’t fret on their behalf. I always tip well.”

“A vampire private investigator?” he repeated. “You’re putting me on, right?” “I know you have vampire hit men, so why wouldn’t you have vampire private investigators, too?” she flared back. “I can’t just run an ad with Nathanial’s description on it titled ‘Have you seen this soul welsher?”

“Sixteen vampires you took out yourself with nothing but a stake and your cleavage? Makes me ashamed of my kind, it does.”

“I'm sorry I can't give you the normal life you wanted, but I promise to adore you every day for the rest of your new one.”

“When you conquer something, it means you fought for it.”