Kelly Keaton

“He turned his head, a grin playing on his lips. Then he leaned over and kissed me on the mouth."What was that for?""Because you're a good person, Ari, one of the best. And because it sounds like we're about to get into trouble again."Which translated into: Whatever happened, we were in this together.”

“How's your scratch, Henri?" I asked.He snorted and leaned against the dresser. "You mean the shotgun blast in my side? It's wonderful. I have about eighty pellet-size scars to show for it.""Dude," Dub said, plopping down in one of the chairs, "Who gets shot with their own gun? Embarrassing, if you ask me."Henri gave Dub's chair a hard shove with his foot. Dub laughed, and Henri rolled his eyes.”

“Athena came into focus. She stood at my feet, looking down at me with a pleased expression. "He's mine now," she practically purred.I started laughing. "Grow up, Athena. Or get a therapist. Maybe there's a psychotic bitches support group you could join.”

“I find it very hard to believe she would simply send you both back unharmed," Josephine said."And I couldn't care less," I said tiredly, "about setting your mind at ease, Josephine.""Why, you belligerent little-”

“He's such a jerk," I said, wanting to rant. "If I'm going to go gaga for some guy, it'll be because I want to, not because some asshat is helping me along."God how lame was that? Just shut up, Ari. Before you embarrass yourself even more."Well, just for the record...forcing a girl to go all gaga for me isn't my style." He paused, his tone doing nothing to hide his amusement. "I like the gaga to be natural."I rolled my eyes and took off at a jog before he could see that my face had gone straight past hot to volcanic.”

“His interest in you is merely rebellion. You are different. Forbidden. Something he knows is wrong." Her dark eyes traveled over my features. "He sees beauty now, is lured by it, even though he knows what lies beneath is evil. So intriguing, this flirting with danger." She flicked a glance at the jar. "Pandora was the same way, you know? A deceptive package. The Greek writers called her Kalon Kakon, a beautiful evil. It won't be long before you destroy those around you, just like she did."My fists clenched hard. "And if that happens, Josephine, if I turn into a monster, I'll be coming for you first, and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop me.”

“The fact that students passed him by in uniform and he was standing there in torn jeans and faded old concert T-shirt made me smile. The rebel in me could totally relate.I stopped in front of him. "They're not going to let you stay in school dressed like that. I got a huge lecture for wearing a black shirt the other day."He glanced my outfit, which didn't really diverge from my normal fashion, and arched an eyebrow. Black cargo pants, white tank, grey zip-up hoodie, with a blade strapped to my thigh and a dagger in my boot."What? Pants are black. Shirt is white. Blade stays." I grinned wider. "Because I'm special.”

“Don't be afraid."And then we were gone.Weightless.The ground at my feet suddenly disappeared along with everything else.A scream lodged in my throat, coming out broken and pathetic.And then we were sitting on a wide ledge. High above Jackson Square. Christ, he'd blinked me to - I gazed above me.Not just a ledge. Oh God, oh God, oh God."It helps if you breathe.""I think I might kill you," I said in a near whisper.Sebastian's shoulder bumped mine as he tried to hide a smile. "Well, you've got time, because we'll be up here for an hour or so before I have enough power again to get us down. I didn't think you'd be afraid of heights."I glared at him. "I'm not afraid of heights. I am, apparently, afraid of disappearing from solid ground and then reappearing on a ledge.”

“You don't have to see me out," I told him as he came back to the table. "Unless you're going home too.""No. I have more training to do, but it's fine."Don't sound so enthused, I thought as I drew a deep breath, turned, and headed toward the gate.”

“I thought you were supposed to teach me, not try to kill me," I forced out through my sore throat."Semantics." He flicked a glance at the clock and smirked, telling me with a look exactly how much damage he could do in the next four minutes.”

“Yes, tell us, Ari. Tell us what you have seen."Athena.Dead flowers and flashing emerald beads threaded through her tangled, upswept hair. A hard swallow went down down my throat, followed by a tightening of every muscle I possessed. All the emotions of my vision boiled over, as fresh and furious as they'd been a few moments ago. "You should know, you petty piece of shit.”

“I don't know what you've been smoking, Henri, or what world you're living in, but no one tell us what to do.”

“I don't want blood to rule my life like it does some. Once you take it, it's like a drug." He stared out the window to the masked revelers in the courtyard. "Warm, rich, never enough."I nodded, fidgeting with my mask. "Kind of like chocolate." I tried to hold in my grin. Casey always said I had a weird sense of humour that came at the oddest times.He blinked before bursting into laughter. He had the nicest laugh and the most incredible smile I'd ever seen. It lit his grey eyes and sliced attractive little dimples into his cheeks. "Yeah. I guess it is like chocolate.”

“I laughed in disbelief, the sharp sound rebounding down the corridor, the echo eventually replaced by the flat, continuous drip of water against stone. First vampires, witches, and shape-shifters. And now this.This is what Alice must have felt like when she tumbled down the rabbit hole.”

“Finally, after we were soaked through, he lifted his head and stared down at me, his hands cupping my face. "I thought you'd tell me to f*** off, and you'd leave. I thought every word I spoke was the last time I'd see you.""Please. I can deal. Do you have any idea how screwed up I am?"His crooked smile transformed his face. "Yeah. I've got some idea."My belly went warm again. Sebastian kissed me, his lips wet from the rain.”

“Josephine shrugged like it was tomatoes or tom-ah-toes.”

“I was pretty sure I knew what I looked like: a cartoon hamster in the headlights.”

“Thanks to Bruce and Casey, I could operate six different firearms, drop a two-hundred-pound asshole to the floor in three seconds, and cuff a perp with one hand tied behind my back.And they called it "family time.”

“I thought you weren't supposed to open Pandora's Box."He shrugged. "Wouldn't know about that. Probably just a myth."I lifted an eyebrow. "Really. Just a myth," I said in a flat tone, and waved a hand at him. "Says the warlock vampire to the gorgon."A slow grin drew his lips apart. "I see your point.”

“You're a vampire." I laughed."Half," he came back, as if there was a huge difference. "My father wasn't a vampire. He was a Lamarliere. I'm not some three-hundred-year-old pervert who kisses teenage girls, okay? I'm the same age as you. Born just like you.”

“There is power within great sacrifice, within noble deeds. There are moments... brief, shining moments when the impossible becomes possible.”

“I’m not some three-hundred-year-old pervert who kisses teenage girls, okay?”

“Whatever it was, it was something you could dance to, or lie down on the floor, close your eyes, and weep to.”

“I wanted to stay... me.”

“Sebastian's eyes were the color of smoke and silver. His pale skin, raven hair, and naturally dark red lips, paired with a rebel attitude and a poet's soul, pulled me in like a dark, magnetic force.”

“Scared?" "You haven't lived until you go grave robbing.”

“I barely knew Sebastian. You knew him enough to suck face. ”

“I glanced up into round black eyes, ringed in yellow, but in some small part I saw humanity there. Sadness. It blinked. "Made," it said quietly, almost ashamed.”