Lilith Saintcrow

“It truly sucks to doubt your friends when you only have one or two of them, I realized.”

“Who. Hit. You?”

“Touch me again, and it will be your last act in life - Blue Eyes.”

“First one's free.”

“He wiped away the tears, tenderly, and I forgot to weep as he told me silently everything I always wanted to hear. ”

“I pulled in a soft breath. My lungs were starving, crying out for air. I lay still, and a cough tickled at the back of my throat. It always happens when you're hiding, a cough, a sneeze, something. It's stupid. The body decides to screw around with you, even though it knows being quiet is the only way it's going to go on living.”

“That's the funny thing about old hurts- they just wait for new heartache to come along and then show up, just as sharp and horrible as the first day you woke up with the world changed all around you.”

“What you cannot escape, you must fight; what you cannot fight, you must endure.”

“Graves scooched a little closer to me, and I didn't even think about it. I put my arms around him and hugged. I didn't care if it hurt my arm and my ribs and my neck and pretty much every other part of me, my heart most of all. When you're wrecked, that's the only thing to do, right? Hold onto whatever you can. Hold on hard.”

“Besides, the normal people here wouldn’t see it. That was what “different” meant. It’s just another word for lonely.”

“Death did not play favorites—He loved all equally.What you cannot escape, you must fight; what you cannot fight, you must endure . The god's voice—not quite words, just a thread of meaning laid in my receptive mind—”

“Better to be strong than pretty and useless.”

“Sometimes, as much as writing saves one’s own life, you cannot imagine how it will save another’s. This is another reason why it is important to do the work, over and over again. It is food, the kind a soul needs.”

“Almost sure wasn't good enough. Almost sure, in my experience, is the shortest road to oh fuck.”

“And ordering me around is exactly the wrong way to make me do what you want.”

“I just . . . knew, the way you know how to breathe or to pull your hand back from a hot stove.”

“The only place their voices were left was in my head. It was better than being alone but it was so, so lonely.”

“I looked like a ghost.And I should know. I’ve seen a few.”

“Boys. Jeez.”

“He stared at his hot chocolate like it held the secret to the universe.”

“What you can't run away from, you have to face”

“What do you say when someone takes on a really bad ass, murdering sucker for you? There just aren't words for that.”

“He hadn't told me everything, but I'd left him for dead. I guess we were just about even.”

“Jesus, you've got a death wish.""Right now I have a bathroom-and-sleep-somewhere safe wish, kid.”

“I guess since the groin is the center of a guy's world, he rarely guesses it isn't the center of yours.”

“I thought wulfen howls were bad when I heard them in my own garage. Hearing the high, glassy cry in the middle of the woods at night is infinitely worse, because the howls sounds like it could be words if you just listen hard enough. The horrible thing is that it pulls on that deep hidden part in every person-the blind animal part.The part that knows you're the prey.But the worst thing about it?Is when it sounds right behind you, and something hits you from behind, tumbling you into another thorn-spiked mess of vines and branches, leaf mold and dirt filling your nose, and a huge, hot, hairy hand winds in your hair.”

“Don't worry about me," I finally said. "Really. I'm more worried about you." And even more worried about where Graves is."Are you?" A fey smile lit his face, and I caught my breath. It was a shock to see him look so happy. "Well, then.”

“I sensed him leaning forward. It's weird to feel someone's attention on you that way, like you're the only thing in the world they're listening to. Most of the time people are distracted, or just thinking about what they're going to say next.”

“He was the only boy I'd found worth dating in God knows how many schools. I mean, ever since he'd been bitten by a werwulf he'd been rock-steady. The best thing about this totally effed-up situation.”

“White and scrubbed, antique brass fixtures and a skylight letting in a flood of sunshine. Wow. You could get a tan standing around in the shower, for Christ's sake.”

“I got the idea she'd done her makeup up special for this. Not that she needed much. She was utterly and completely beautiful, except for the hate shining in her eyes.”

“Christophe's smile was a marvel of edged sweetness. When he grinned like that he looked handsomer than ever, the hint of danger just about threatening to stop a girl's heart.”

“I don't believe in getting clothes that just look pretty or that'll fall apart—they have to stand up to a lot of abuse.”

“Can I…I mean, do you mind if I sleep up here? If you don't, I, um, understand. I just—""Yes." The word bolted out of me. "Yes, please. Maybe I'll be able to sleep if you're here.”

“Well, duh. You're cuter than she is." He said it like he might say, Grass is green or, Gravity works.Something warm opened up inside my chest. It was a nice feeling.”

“There was Kir, red hair combed back and That Expression on his sharp face. Even his freckles looked serious. I'd given up wondering how a freckle-faced teenager could look so much like a disapproving granny.”

“Okay. I'll deal with Benjamin. You're safe, okay? Nothing's gonna happen." His mouth pulled tight against itself. And now I was having some sort of heart attack. Because when he looked at me like that, my chest started to feel like it was turned inside out. "Promise."And that—the promise, the way he said it with utter certainty—was enough to make me tear up again.”

“I caught the look Benjamin gave me. "What?""Nothing. We just thought a svetocha would be more, well, difficult." Leon's mouth twitched. "I do seriously want a slushie."I tried a tentative smile. I definitely liked him now. "I haven't had one in ages. Maybe the guys outside—the double blonds—would want one, too?"For some reason Leon found that utterly fricking hysterical. He snorted and chuckled all the way through Housewares to the Health and Beauty section, and even Benjamin unbent enough to grin.”

“It wasn't sarcasm." Graves blew out a cloud of acrid smoke. "It was pointing out a fallacy in your logic, babe."Anna's jaw actually dropped. For a moment, I wasn't sure if I should laugh or push him out of the room. Way to go, Graves.”

“Next to her, even the prettiest djamphir boys looked gawky.”

“I was feeling safe. Not the kind of safe where you know there are still bad things howling outside the door waiting to get in. No, it was the kind of safe where you sink down in your bed at the end of the day and know you can go to sleep and everything is going to be the same tomorrow.”

“Sometimes you meet a girl and it's like matter and antimatter. You just hate each other for no damn reason.”

“They all looked like a shampoo commercial, healthy and clear-skinned, perfectly proportioned, a group of handsome young men. Their clothes hung on them like they were glad to be gracing such supermodels.”

“I wasn't sure if the word boys should mean dim or incomprehensible. I was hovering between the two, with a healthy dose of testosterone-poisoned.”

“Some of the djamphir are so pretty it almost hurts to look at them. And it was hard to look without feeling rumpled and messy in comparison.”

“He laughed. The laugh could strip the skin off an elephant in seconds.”

“Dru Anderson: Thanks.Graves: No problem. First one’s free. Look, you really can’t go home? What happened.Dru Anderson: You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.Graves: Try me.Dru Anderson: I just can’t go home, not until tomorrow.Graves:Do you need a place to sleep?Dru Anderson: I’ll find somewhere.Graves: I know a place.Dru Anderson: Why is it there’s always a guy who thinks he can get something out of the new girl? Every goddamn town, it’s the same thing. Some guy thinks he’s God’s gift to the displaced.Graves: I just asked if you wanted a place to sleep, Jesus.Dru Anderson: Sorry.Graves: No problem. So, I’ll take you someplace you can sleep tonight. Someplace safe. Okay?Dru Anderson: How much?Graves: I keep telling you, first one’s free. You want to play some air hockey? Good way to get your mind off stuff.Dru Anderson: Sure.Graves: Cool. You finished?Dru Anderson: Yeah, I guess. Graves?Graves: Huh?Dru Anderson: Thanks. Nice gloves.Graves: Hey, you know. Chicks dig guys in gloves.”

“How had I managed to tie my boots? I didn’t even remember getting dressed. I was out here in public at the mall. What was I wearing? Jeans. I could feel socks. I had my boots on. I plucked at the edge of my t-shirt and saw it was red. I was wearing Dad’s spare Army jacket, and there was a heavy weight in the right pocket that had to be something deadly.”

“Hello, Officer? Can you help me? My dad got turned into a zombie. You know, we’ve been travelling around getting rid of things that aren’t real, and this time they hit back. I really need someplace to stay – but can you make sure I have some holy water or something wherever it is? And some silver-jacketed bullets? That’d be sweet. Yeah, that’d be totally cool. Thanks. And while you’re at it, can you tell the guys with the straitjackets that I’m really sane? That would help.”

“Zombies smell worse than anything you can imagine if you haven’t been hunting things on the dark side of the world. It’s a ripe, gassy odour, like rotting eggs and meat gone bad, crawling blind with maggots. It’s road kill and decayed food and body odour all rolled into one package and tied up with puke.”