Jennifer Lynn Barnes

“We went to Mexico, had some tequlia, eloped with a pair of drug smugglers, and took part-time jobs as exotic dancers. You know, same old, same old.”

“At that point in time, there were three things in life that I knew for certain: (1) I was a girl who’d never met a site she couldn’t hack or a code she couldn’t break, (2) I had a roundhouse that could put a grown man in the hospital, and (3) I would without question chop off my own hands before I’d come within five feet of a pom-pom”

“Vote for Toby. Vote for Toby. Hey, baby. How you doin'?" Slight pause. "Vote for Toby.”

“For a moment, there was silnece, and then at Brooke's nod, the rest of the Squad, minus me, chimed in. "Yes, sir."I said nothing. For one thing, I wasn't exactly keen on speaking in unison, and for another, I wasn't about to make any promises I couldn't keep. "Toby."I jumped in my seat. The Voice actually knew my name. And somehow, he had the freaky ability to ascertain that of all of us, I was the one who hadn't responded. "Do you understand?"I contemplated telling him what I didn't understand was his familial relationshiops, but stayed momentarily silent, causing everyone within a three-foot radius to kick me under the table at once."Ow!" I cleared my throat. "I mean, yes." I didn't throw the sir on the end, but apparently, that was good enough for the Voice. "Excellent. Report in tonight, and we'll have more information for you all tomorrow. And girl?""Yes?""Congratulations on the homecoming nominations. We're all very proud.”

“To my surprise, Brooke smiled, and I realized that even though two of the other teams had managed to bug their marks' cell phones, the information Tara and I had received might just prove it self to be even more useful.Take that Chloe!”

“After getting dressed at warp speed, I actually managed to drive all the way to high school before I realized I'd forgotten my morning coffee. Mystery, intrigue, and naked dreams aside, that didn't bode well for my chances at making it through the morning without killing myself. Or someone else.”

“Second thoughts? About the Squad?"She nodded. "I'm starting to think the CIA is seriously deranged for letting us do this," I told her, "but that doesn't mean I don't want to do it." I paused. "Actually, the fact that we probably shouldn't be doing this kind of makes me want to do it more."Zee snorted. "Adrenaline junkie," she accused.”

“I am everything. I am nothing. I am powerful. I am forgotten.”

“There was nothing left. Nothing of him, and nothing of me.”

“Rather than sleeping myself, I practiced. I practiced taking everything I'd seen in the last few days-every horror, every drop of blood-and locking it away, so deep in my mind that I could pretend that nothing had happened.And then I practiced letting it out.This time, I didn't start with a specific memory. I didn't walk myself step by step through a scene. Instead, I built a room inside my head-a tiny room with white walls and no windows and no doors. No way out.In that room, I put the sound of screams, tearing flesh, and heavy breathing, the smell of rancid blood. Everything I'd been holding back, everything threatening to devour me whole was there-in the ceiling of that room, the corners, the floor.”

“For a few seconds, I thought I might actually cry. That was so unlike me, I wasn't sure how to respond. Bronwyn Alessia St. Vincent Clare didn't get sad. She got mad. Or better, she got even.”

“from Tattoo- "Push-up Bra Barbie over there wanted to smack you around a little to wake you up”

“If I had a nickel for every time I almost died, I would have been driving to school in a Ferrari and flying off to Bora-Bora on the weekends.”

“You can't tell me I matter and then leave like I don't.”

“I wondered and I prayed and I Googled.”

“Little-known fact about cheerleaders: They keep schedules that would make grown marines cry.”

“I'd sold my soul to get out of detention.”

“I have a plan. Boys, it's hunting season. Weapon up”

“Caroline: 'You know Sora. I don't. It will hurt you. It won't hurt me. Nothing hurts me.'Lake: 'Liar. Just breathing hurts you so bad, you want to beat the snot out of something.”

“Two psychics, two werewolves, and a psychic human alpha walk up to a crime scene...”

“We were getting ready to cross into another pack's territory, and my second-in-command was making spirit fingers.”

“In the end,” Callum said, his voice soft, gentle, “it all comes back to you. You protect them [your pack], you love them, you live for them, and someday, you die. That’s what it means, Bryn-girl, to be what we are [to be Alpha]. It’s lonely. It’s impossible. It’s all-consuming.” It is what it is.”

“less than an hour ago, all I'd wanted was detention. Now, I was nominated for homecoming court and going to the big dance with the hottest guy in school. Somewhere out there, God was laughing at me. I was sure of it.”

“Being raised by a psychopath will do that to you.”

“Ouch!'' The cry escaped before I could stop it, and on either side of me, Chase and Devon leapt to their feet.''Problem?'' Ali asked mildly, amusement dancing in the corners of her eyes. Given the whole Casey thing, I didn't think she had to call to be in such a good mood, but what did I know?''No problem,'' I said darkly, rubbing my shin ''Somebody just accidentally kicked me under the table.'' I narrowed my eyes at lake, and she helped herself to another T-bone And smothered it in stake sauce. ''Wasn’t an accident'' She said cheerfully. ''Lake'' Mitch didn’t say any more than his daughters name and she rolled her eyes. ''It’s not like I shot her''.”

“This however, wasn't an ideal world, and no matter how hard I tried to think of an answer, I had nothing.”

“Show of hands," Devon said, breaking the silence. "Who thinks we're screwed?”

“So," I said climbing to my feet and changing the subject ASAP, "I had a dream last night someone tried to burn me alive, and I'm not entirely sure it was a dream."Devon stiffened. Chase's pupils pulsed.Subject successfully changed."Now who's ready to eat?”

“Blend in. don't make waves. Don't look up.' That was the mantra I lived by. But not today.”

“I sunk into velvety nothingness. It caressed my skin, lapped at my temples, the nape of my neck. It circled me like smoke, its touch light, but all consuming. And just as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard the voice. 'Hello, Kali. I'm Zev.”

“I did a quick injury check on my organs and bones. The routine was familiar, one I paced my way through every other morning as I went from dispassionately watching my body heal to wondering if this time, I might have pushed things too far.”

“This is why you don't call the police. Or Preternatural Control. No matter what. Ever. If I'd doubted that rule--and I was fairly sure I never had--I certainly never would have again. My skin itched just talking to the authorities....The police department had more than a few open cases with my name on them--figuratively, and I had no desire to make that literal [where they connected me to] the vigilante responsible for dozens of area beastie slayings....”

“The problem was that there was no treatment. No cure. There was nothing that...any medical professional could do. If I'd been fully human, I would have been a dead girl walking....”

“She'd let me in, and for the first time, I actually wanted to do the same, to tell someone the truth. That I wasn't normal. That I wasn't human.”

“I heard the telltale sound of scales scraping against metal--a light swoosh, a tongue flickering out to taste the stale and humid air. Whatever it was, my prey was tasting for me.”

“My dad was a different person when he lectured: his eyes sparkled, his lips turned upward.... 'Think what it must have been like for Darwin, two hundred years ago. He took that voyage on the Beagle [1831] expecting to document the natural world and he stumbled across something impossible. A creature who could defy the laws of physics--straight out of the pages of mythology...In that one moment, the entire landscape of scientific investigation was drastically and irrevocably changed. The impossible became a widespread scientific reality, as omnipresent as gravity and in some cases, nearly as hard to see.”

“You're a very pretty girl...Did you know? Once upon a time, I had a pretty, pretty boy.' She reached forward and touched my cheek with one manicured hand.”

“I had my knife in hand before I realized I'd reached for it and had kicked open the...front door before it ever occurred to me that it might have already been unlocked.”

“I had no weapons. No plan. Nothing but my blood and my hands. They were coming, and there were more of them than I'd realized.”

“It figured--the almost invincible girl gets hurt, and they call a vet.”

“Right. You're Kali. Of course you're planning a rescue mission. Stupid self-sacrifice is kind of your thing.”

“If one thing was perfectly, crystalline clear, it was that I could take care of myself. I just kept coming and coming and coming. I was what I was.”

“These days, it seems like you can't throw a fish in a bookstore without hitting a high-stakes love triangle--not that I recommend the throwing of fish in bookstores, mind you, as it certainly annoys the booksellers, not to mention the fish...”

“I wasn't built for running away from monsters. I wanted desperately to run toward them--track them down, kill them. Luckily, I was used to restraining myself, used to acting human even when I wasn't, and the human part of my brain reminded me that right now, preternatural beasties weren't exactly my primary concern. Someone had made a strong attempt at killing me this morning....”

“I'd spent my whole human life not making waves, hiding what I was, trying not to be noticed.Until now.”

“The werewolf Senate hadn't been happy with the idea of a human alpha, and there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about the fact that I had something most male Weres wanted very, very badly...Maddy. Lake. Lily, Katie, Sloane, Avie, Sophie...”

“I wasn't entirely sure how to reply. Blow me and Screw you both seemed like strong contenders, but the peanut gallery in my head appeared to be favoring castration.”

“Hierarchy was like breathing: the only time you thought about it was when something went wrong.”

“She'd been taught all her life not to attack humans, but knocking them unconscious with tranquilizer guns was more of a gray area.”

“Did you follow me here?" I asked.Lake shrugged. "The word follow seems to suggest you got here first.”