Rachel Hawkins

“You know, Take Your Demon To Work Day.”

“You hate him for what he did, but you miss him.”

“I did want to spend the ball with you.”

“The "Holy-crap-that's-a-lot-of-pink" zone would have been a more accurate description.”

“Yeah, it's beautiful. For a prison.”

“I tugged at the hem of my brand-new Hecate Hall issue blue plaid skirt (Kilt? Some sort of bizarre skirt/kilt hybrid? A skilt?)”

“It sucks that we miss people like that. You think you've accepted that someone is out of your life, that you've grieved and it's over, and then bam. One little thing, and you feel like you've lost that person all over again.”

“Mom always liked to say that we hardly ever know the decisions we make that change our lives, mostly because they are little ones. You took this bus instead of that one and ended up meeting your soul mate, that kind of thing. But there was no doubt in my mind that this was one of those life-changing moments.”

“Anyway, even if Archer was insane enough to have a thing for Sophie, after the All Hallow’s Eve Ball, he won’t even think about looking at another girl.”“Why?”“I’ve decided to give myself to him.”Oh, gross. Who says stuff like that? Why didn’t she just say “delicate flower” or “carnal treasure” or something equally stupid?”

“So if you can heal with your touch, why are you working here as like, Hagrid, or whatever?”

“He ran his thumb over my lower lip, sending a flurry of sparks through me. "Good-bye, Sophie." -Cal”

“Last semester was intense,” I said to Dad. “Intense?” he echoed, picking up my file. “Let’s see. On your first day at Hecate, you were attacked by a werewolf. You insulted a teacher, which resulted in semester-long cellar duty with one Archer Cross. According to the notes, the two of you became ‘close.’ Apparently close enough for you to see the mark of L’Occhio di Dio on his chest. I flushed at that, and felt Mom’s arm tighten around me. Over the past six months, I’d filled her in on a lot of the story with Archer, but not all of it. Specifically, the whole me-making-out-in-the-cellar-with-a-murderous-warlock-working-with-the-Eye-part.”

“I expected him to do his usual thing of "Oh, Sophie, but that is impossible b/c of this big word, and that big word, and also this abstract concept.”

“Dad, she's just going to freak. And probably come here and get me, and then you guys will start yelling at each other, and I'll have to act out by wearing lots of eyeliner and doing the drugs”

“Cryptic Dad is cryptic,' I muttered ... We'd hung out all day today. Was there no time in there he could have said, 'Oh, hey, meet me at the magical bookcase at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow, cool?”

“I [dad] spent hours on the phone. Do you know with whom?' 'One of those psychic hotlines?' Dad gritted his teeth. 'If only...”

“Irish girls, red hair,' I replied, remembering a picture of them from Mrs. Casnoff's 'People Who Want to Kill Us All' lecture at Hex Hall last year.”

“face touchage" "lame-sauce" "Sulky McSulkerton”

“The long flight from Georgia to England had been pretty uneventful. Exceept that Cal had sat next to me. Which was fine. Really. It wasn't like I'd been hyperaware of his presence and jumped the three times his knee bumped mine. And adter that third time, he definitely hadn't shot me a kind of disgusted look and said, "Chill out, will you?" And when Jenna gave us both a quizzical look, we hadn't snapped, in unison, "Nothing!" Because all of that would have been weird, and Cal and I weren't weird. We were cool.”

“I should say upfront that I have never been in a cellar in my life. In fact, I can see no reason why anyone should ever go into a cellar unless there is wine involved.”

“I was literally seeing stars, and every ragged breath I took felt like I was trying to breathe through broken glass.On the upside, my crush on Archer was totally gone. Over. Once a boy has slammed his kneecap into your rib cage, I think any romantic feeling should naturally go the way of the ghost.”

“Sophia Mercer," Elodie intoned, "we have come to induct you into our sisterhood. Say the five words to begin the ritual."I blinked at her. "Are you freaking kidding me?"Anna gave an exasperated sigh. "No, the five words are 'I accept you offer, sisters.”

“Let's just say you may regret that second piece of cake.' Oh my God. Regret cake? Whatever was about to happen must be truly evil.”

“Archer! Let us fetch a spot of tea, old boy!”

“I felt electrified from the top of my head to my toes, and somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Alice saying that love had a power all its own. She was right: this was magic.”

“Don't worry about it," I said."Hey werewolves gotta drool, vampires gotta eat..”

“Good luck explaining to God that you used to spank one of his heavenly beings."Mom gave a startled laugh. "Sophie!""What? You did. I hope you like hot weather, Mom, that's all I'm saying.”

“But this room looked like it had been decorated by the unholy lovechild of Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake.”

“When someone tells you somebody’s been murdered, laughing is probably not the best response. You know, for future reference.But laughing is exactly what I did.”

“I don't know what I was expecting a vampire's room to look like. Maybe lots of black, a bunch of books by Camus... oh, and a sensitive portrait of the only human the vamp ever loved, who had no doubt died of something beautiful and tragic, thus dooming the vamp to an eternity of moping and sighing dramatically.What can I say? I read a lot of books.”

“I'd been harboring this secret fantasy that he was only pretending to like her so that he could publicly dump her in the most embarrassing way possible, preferably on national television.”

“Archer isn't hot anymore.... He tried to kill me, and his girlfriend is Satan.”

“You can't do a blocking spell, and you've never heard of L'Occhio di Dio? Man, what kind of witch are you?"I had an incredibly nasty retort ready that involved his mother and the U.S. Navy, but before I could get it out....”

“Both of us widened our eyes and said, "Woah."Then I immediately blushed. Oh my God, had I just looked at Archer and said, "Whoa"?But...wait a minute. Had Archer just looked at me and said "Whoa"?”

“...Highly secretive, L'Occhio di Dio is an elite group of assassins with only one goal - the total destruction of all Prodigium."Well, that's nice," I murmured to myself.”

“Now, Sophia, would you care to tell me why you're here by the pond instead of reporting to your next class?''I'm experiencing some teenage angst, Mrs. Casnoff,' I answered. 'I need to, like, write in my journal or something.”

“She plunged her snout into my hair and took a deep shuddering breath.A warm string of drool dripped from her open maw onto my bare shoulder.I forced myself to stay very calm, and after a moment, she released me.Giving a bashful shrug, she said, "Sorry. Werewolf thing.""Hey, no problem," I said, even though all I could think was, Slobber! Werewolf slobber! On my skin!”