Lindsay Buroker

“Friendship is as selfish as any other relationship, perhaps more so because it masquerades as something noble. I am more comfortable with those who approach me with blades drawn.”

“I didn’t faint, I passed out in a manly way,” Sespian muttered.”

“Sitting in the shadows, with a killer, in an empty building, gazing at the corpse of another killer. When had her life grown so strange?”

“Sespian opened his mouth, paused, closed it, then shook his head ruefully. "It's very easy to be drawn into what you're saying, and I catch myself wanting to nod and agree. Maybe I should take notes on your technique."Amaranthe blushed and felt like she should stutter an apology, but she hadn't done anything to be embarrassed about, had she?"It's her eyes", Sicarius said, startling her..Yara glanced over her shoulder at him, apparently, surprised to hear him speak, but soon turned her attention back to the tracks. She seemed to be believe she should remain silent for the discussion.Sespian scratched his jaw. "Yes, maybe so. They're like a doe's. Warm and earnest and...""Wholesome. Sicarius's eyes glinted, and Amaranthe scowled at him.”

“You better not be dead. This team is already overflowing with ankle spankers. I was looking forward to having more women around." Yara's eyelids fluttered open. She blinked a few times, focused on him, and frowned."Ankle spanker? The only thing you've got that'll reach that far is your ego.”

“You can only fight one man at a time with a sword, but, with a pen, you can compose a lecture to bore legions of enemy troops to death.”

“I reckon if you care for someone and you can't have their love, you can either be a spiteful bastard about it or you can try your damnedest to make sure they're going to find some happiness in the world.”

“Sicarius, as usual, regarded her with the blandness of a particularly featureless rock, then walked away.”

“Sicarius had the personality of a particularly bland, pointy stick.”

“Why, Sicarius, is it possible you have a playful side beneath your razor-edged knives, severe black clothing and humourless glares?”

“Sicarius wore his usual guess-my-thoughts-if-you-can-mask, though she sensed he did not approve.”

“Just so I'm clear...you thought a brothel would be a suitable place to host a birthday party for a woman?”

“My father used to say some families are made by shared blood and some families are made by spilled blood”

“Nobody wants to be interrogated in his brothel suit”

“Before noon, they would be back in the city, the night's events like a dream. No, she though, too real for that. A memory.”

“Trust me, I never underestimate my charm or any of my other magnificent attributes. They work great on women. Alas, men tend to see me as an unwelcome rival. You, he might listen to. You're good at talking people into things.""What makes you say that?""Because I'm perched in the rafters of a cannery, at risk from a man-slaying magical creature, and spending time with a drunk, a gangster, and an assassin at . . . what time is it?”

“Waiting for the right people isn't going to get us where we want; we need to go out and find..." She groped for the right word. A mission? A project? A job?"Trouble?" Sicarius suggested."An endeavor that will help the city and prove to the emperor that we're undeserving of the bounties on our heads and we're invaluable resources to his regime.""Trouble," Sicarius said.”

“Sicarius,” Amaranthe said quietly.He bent low, eyes toward her face.With the men laughing and talking up front, and the lorry clacking and chugging as the stack billowed black smoke into the air, this was scarcely a romantic spot. But maybe it did not matter. His response would not likely be to wrap her in his arms and kiss her. Whatever response he gave — if he gave one at all — she anticipated it would sting.“I…uhm…” Amaranthe forced herself to meet his gaze. “I love you.”A long moment passed. She did not remember breathing.Sicarius nodded infinitesimally. “I know.”