Jennifer L. Armentrout

“Kat tipped her head back, meeting my stare. Her throat worked on her next words. "I think I might love you."Air punched out of my lungs. I held her tight, and I knew right then I would burn down the whole universe for her if I had to.I would do anything to keep her safe. Kill. Heal. Die. Anything. Because she was my everything.”

“I can help Katy," Blake wheezed. "Good enough for you?""What?" I demanded, dropping my hands."Yeah, see, you saying her name alone makes me want to kill you. So, no, not good enough for me.”

“I grinned at Daemon and held up a bulb that was so green it almost matched his eyes. I decided it was going to be his bulb.”

“"Something on a line, it's discord and rhyme - whatever, whatever, la la la - Mouth is alive, all running inside, and I'm hungry like the -" Warmth spread down my neck."It's actually,'I howl and I whine. I'm after you,' and not blah or whatever.”

“I'm not drunk,' I said indignantly.You were just dancing like some wood nymph five minutes ago. You took your shirt off and now you're latched onto me like a little monkey. So don't tell me you're in complete control of yourself.”

“I can be a dickhead and I do it on purpose. I tend to bully people into doing what I want. And I let everything that had happened with Dawson amplify those…uh, personality traits. But—” He removed his finger, and his grin spread into a smile. “But you…you make me want to be different. That’s why I didn’t kill Blake. It’s why I don’t want you making those decisions or for you to be around me if I am choosing those things.”

“The guy just stood there. Hello. There’re zombies everywhere. Try looking behind you, douche canoe.”

“It took me about a half an hour to weasel Daemon away from my mom.Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about her and Will. Maybe I needed to worry about her and Daemon. Cougar.”

“I felt like I needed to crawl under my blankets.And I did for about an hour. My self-pity always had a time limit because I usually got annoyed with myself.”

“I sighed. “Mom, it’s not like we’re going to have sex with you home.”“Well, honey, it’s good to know that you only have sex when I’m not home.”Daemon coughed as he fought a smile. “We can stay—”

“You’re speechless.” He chuckled. “I like that. And I also like you all feisty. Want to hit me again?”

“All right, the alien testosterone right now is a little too much, and I really don’t want to have an alien brawl in my house on top of the broken window and the dead body that came through it.” I took a breath. “But if you two don’t knock it off, I’ll kick both of your asses.”

“You can hate me forever, but it won’t change how I feel.”

“But next time, we need to kind of...oh, I don't know, talk first and then throw people through windows later." Daemon crossed his arms. "Can we try that?”

“The gods wanted war?They were about to get it.”

“There is the heart, Aiden. There is love, which means there is always hope.”

“Love is such a wild and reckless creature. It cannot be planned or threaded. It cannot be controlled. Love can coexist with Fate, or it can undo it. Love is the only thing more powerful than Fate.”

“Did you know me then?” she asked sleepily.“No.” I held her closer, as if I could somehow pull her inside me and keep her safe. “But I knew, in that moment, you were amazing.”

“Can I stay with you?”“Always.”

“Saint Delphi my ass.”

“What is your name?” I asked, voice hoarse.“Alexandria,” she repeated in a soft voice I’d never heard Alex use in real life.“And who am I?”“Aiden.” She smiled, and I flinched. “You are my Master.”

“Need is not love.”

“Alex, you have to be in there. I know you. Myheart would not be beating if you were truly gone.”

“Now, I bought us a movie to watch, the one that has sparkly vampires in it.”

“Neden bu kadar dangalaksın?" Sözcükler, iyice düşünmeden ağzımdan dökülüvermişti."Herkes bir konuda uzmanlaşmalı, değil mi?""Şey, harika bir iş çıkarıyorsun.”

“Blog'una baktım."Ah. Tanrım. Bebeğim. Yüce İsa. Nasıl Bulmuştu? Bir dakika. Önemli olan bulmuş olmasıydı. Blog'um artık Google'da çıkıyor muydu? Bu muhteşemdi işte. "Yine beni takip ediyorsun, anlıyorum. Yasaklama emri çıkarmama gerek var mı?""Rüyanda görürsün Kedicik." Pişmiş kelle gibi sırıttı. "Ah, bekle, rüyalarında zaten başroldeyim, değil mi?”

“Bu kasabada sadece bir tane trafik lambası olduğunun farkındasın, değil mi?" Şimdi sanki nasıl bu kadar ahmak olduğumu sorguluyormuşçasına her iki kaşını da kaldırdı ve ben o zaman gözlerinde ki pırıltının anlamını çözdüm. aşağılarcasına gülüyordu bana.Bir an için tek yapabildiğim ona bakmak oldu. Muhtemelen, gerçek hayatta gördüğüm en seksi erkekti ve tam bir öküzdü”

“Karın kasları feci gelişmişti. Mükemmeldi. Tamamen dokunulasıydı. On yedi yaşındaki bir erkekte (tahminimce yaşı buydu) görmeyi beklediğim türden bir karın değildi bu ama evet, şikâyetim yoktu. Konuşamıyordum. Öylece bakakalmıştım.”

“Seeing her, well, it did things I hadn’t been ready to delve into before. Hell, I really didn’t even know at what point I had become ready.Probably happened somewhere between when I thought she was dead and when she wasn’t.”

“And if you don’t agree, I’ll tie you up—and not in the fun way—and lock you in your bedroom.”My mouth dropped open.“Okay, maybe in the fun way. Like later, after everything is done, I’ll come back and—”I cut him off. “I’d like to see you try to tie me up.”His eyebrow arched. “I bet you would.”“Shut up,” I growled. “I’m being serious.”“So am I. You’re wearing the opal.”I scowled. “This makes no sense.”“It makes perfect sense.”

“He wanted to kill us. With what? His evil-eye power?Will pulled a gun out from underneath his loose shirt.Oh, yeah, that would do it.”

“I thought the whole thing with Blake would ruin this afternoon, but I had underestimated the magnetism of Daemon and his kisses.”

“Daemon snatched the yellow packages from my hands. “Oh! Books! You have books!”I laughed as several people waiting in line looked over their shoulders. “Hand them over.”He clutched them to his chest, making moony eyes. “My life is now complete.”“My life would be complete if I could actually post a review on something other than the school library computers.”I did that about twice a week since my latest laptop went to the big computer heaven in the sky.”

“Hey there, sleeping beauty…”Over his shoulder, the sky had deepened to a denim blue. “Did you kiss me awake?”“I did.” Daemon was propped on his side, using his arm to support his head. He placed his hand on my stomach and my chest fluttered in response. “Told you, my lips have mystical powers.”My shoulders moved in a silent laugh. “How long have you been here?”“Not long.” His eyes searched mine. “I found Blake sulking around the woods. He didn’t want to leave while you were out here.”I rolled my eyes.“As much as it bothers me, I’m glad he didn’t.”“Wow. Pigs are flying.”

“It can’t be that bad. I have to try it.”I bit back a mad grin. I was so not going to stop her.“Uh, Ash, I really wouldn’t suggest doing that,” Daemon began.Party pooper, I thought, but Ash was a determined little alien.”

“Hey!” Dawson yelled from the front door. “I think Dee caught the microwave on fire. Again. And I tried popping some popcorn with my hands and it kind of went wrong. Like really, really wrong.”Daemon pressed his forehead against mine and growled. “Dammit.”

“And no one will kill Bill.”I laughed softly as I unbuckled the seat belt. “Blake. His name is Blake.”Daemon pulled the keys out and leaned back, his eyes glimmering with amusement. “He’s whatever I decide to call him.”

“Oh, for the love of backwoods babies everywhere-Katy”

“If he made one more comment about the length of my skirt, I was going to hurt him.And if Blake did, Daemon was going to maim him.”

“My heart cracked. Daemon never begged.”

“What’s wrong with you?”“I don’t know. I probably got alien cooties.”

“There were several packages waiting for me at the post officeand I only barely squealed. They were advanced reader copiesfrom other bloggers passing them along for review. And I was,like, whatever. Sure evidence I was coming down with mad cowdisease.”

“I checked out your blog.'Oh. Dear. Baby. Jesus. How did he find it? Wait. More importantly was the fact he HAD found it. Was my blog now googleable? That was awesomesauce with an extra heaping of sauce.”

“Humans were so ridiculously fragile. They could die tripping over a damn chair leg. Car accidents could kill them. Colds turned into pneumonia and killed people. Mental note: pick up Vitamin C before school tomorrow and force it down Kat's throat.”

“Breaking the cookie in two, he handed me the larger piece. I snatched it away, half tempted to throw it back in his face, but it was...it was chocolate chip. So I ate it and loved it.”

“- My little brother craps himself."I laughed. "- Well, maybe it's because he's, like, only one?""- Whatever, it's still gross.”

“Is this a scavenger hunt? I so do love them.”

“You know where your head and your ass are? Well they're about to become well acquainted with each other”

“Humping my leg like a dog in heat everytime I'm around you doesn't prove you like me”

“Oh holy alien babies everywhere!”