Richelle Mead

“Hope implies that you think you have a chance at something.”

“Now get some clothes on before the women around here are driven into a frenzy."He gave me a mournful look. "I'm afraid that'll happen with or without clothes, my dear.”

“None of you appreciate me. Why is it so hard to believe that I could make a real contribution in these dark rimes?”

“My heart shattered. My world shattered”

“While part of my mind puzzled that out, I watched my mother with fascination. I'd listened to her tell her stories. I'd seen and felt her fight. But really, truly, I'd never seen her in action in a real-life crisis. She showed every bit of that hard control she did around me, but here, I could see how necessary it was. A situation like this created panic. Even among the guardians, I could sense those who were so keyed up that they wanted to do something drastic. My mother was a voice of reason, a reminder that they had to stay focused and fully assess the situation. Her composure calmed everybody; her strong manner inspired them. This, I realized, was how a leader behaved.”

“Books were a lot less messy than orgasms.”

“Being charming is my hobby.”

“I don't think most people take honest well. They prefer the games. They want to believe the pretty lies.”

“If the other person says "Fuck Off," well, then, deal. Move on.”

“She felt so much emotionally, she would say, that a physical outlet - physical pain - was the only way to make her internal pain go away. It was the only way she could control it.”

“and afterward, after it was done, it was too much, and I felt like I was going to... I don't know.... explode, and it was just too much, I had to let it out you know? I had to-I interrupted her hysteria It's okay, I understand.That was a lie. I didn't get her cutting at all. She'd done it sporadically, ever since the accident and it scared me each time. She'd try to explain it to me, how she didn't want to die - she just needed to get it out somehow. She felt so much emotionally, she would say, that a physical outlet - physical pain - was the only way to make her internal pain go away. It was the only way she could control it.”

“I stopped. She was bleeding after all. Perfect lines crossed her wrists, not near any crucial veins, but enough to leave wet red tracks across her skin. She hadn;t hit her veins when she did this; death hadn't been her goal.”

“Hell if I know. That's for smart people like you to figure out. I'm just trying to get college guys to speed up their blow jobs.”

“Fucking angels”

“Not me. Give me honesty anytime.”

“It does. This is how it should have been anyway.' I caught my breath as he kissed my neck, teeth grating my skin. 'And I'll take back what's mine.”

“That's what humanity is: a series of successes and failures, a testing of one's own nature and aptitude. Neither the body nor the soul can sustain such a state. Eventually it consumes a person”

“It's Dana! She's back early." He ran his hand frantically over Mitch's neat, blonde hair. "What's she want? What's she doing here?"Maybe she wants Reese's pot back""This is my chance! She's here alone. She wants me. Quick." He yanks my arm and dragged me to the stairs. I cried out in suprise."Get out of sight. Throw that away.""I'm not throwing this away! Besides, you don't think she'll notice that your whole fucking house smells like this? Jesus. Your pupils are the size of her granny panties. Virtuous or not, she isn't stupid.”

“He's also pretty good looking. Okay more than good looking. He's hot-like, the kind of hot that makes you stop walking in the street and get hit by traffic.”

“Dimitri: "You're burned in my mind forever. There's nothing, nothing in this world that could ever change that'" Rose: "And it was memories like that that made it hard to even comprehend this quest to kill him, even if he is a Strigoi. Yet . . at the same time, it was exactly memories like that that...i had to destroy him. I needed to remember him as the man who'd love me and held me in bed. I needed to remember that that man would'nt want to stay a monster.”

“Rose: "Wow. You beat up your dad. I mean, that's really horrible... what happened. But, wow. You really are a god."... Dimitri: "What?" Rose: "Uh, nothing.”

“Rosemarie you are out of line”

“It was one thing to accept I couldn't have Dimitri. It was something entirely different to realize someone else could.”

“When I talked to him earlier, he said he had to work tonight,” Peter explained, “but that we should go ahead and draw for him.” “Draw?” I asked uneasily. “Oh Lord. Tell me it’s not Pictionary night too.”Peter sighed wearily. “Draw for secret Santas. Do you even read the e-mails I send?”“Secret Santas? Seems like we just did that,” I said.“Yeah, a year ago,” said Peter. “Just like we do very Christmas.”

“Doug returned five minutes later and shook his head. "Sorry kid. She's single, but she doesn't think you're her type. She's into the Goth and vampire scene. You're too mainstream for her." I was sipping a glass of water and nearly choked on it."That," said Peter, as soon as Doug was gone, "is what we call irony.""How is that possible?" exclaimed Cody. "I am a vampire. I should be exactly what she wants.""Yeah, but you don't look like one," I said. If Gabrielle had been a Trekkie, he might have had a shot tonight.”

“We all stared at the scoreboard in stunned silence. Only Carter was able to get anything out."That," he told Robert exuberantly, "is how a bird in the hand gets up before the early worm.""That doesn't make any sense," said Roger.Carter pointed at the scoreboard. "Neither does that, but there you have it.”

“And sometimes, if I was really, really lucky, he’d smile at me. A real smile, too—not the dry one that accompanied the sarcasm we tossed around so often. I didn’t want to admit it to anyone—not to Lissa, not even to myself—but some days, I lived for those smiles.”

“No, but ..." But I had felt something from another person. Someone who spent time with Alec. The last card in my head flipped over. "I know who it is. It's him. That guy." "Of course," said Carter dryly. "I knew it was that guy. It's always that guy.”

“Seth moved behind me, his presence steady and reassuring. Waiting to catch me, even though I refused to fall just yet.”

“Eugenie, you’re a woman without equal, and no matter how much you annoy the hell out of me and no matter how much I try to get you out of my head—and believe me, both occur regularly—I can’t stay away from you. Even if you were barren, I’d take you as my consort in an instant and spend the rest of my life with you — childless, so long as it meant you’d be by my side. I would gladly bring you to my bed with no other thoughts than taking joy from your body. It would be enough.”- Dorian”

“Nothing happened here, okay? None of this did.”His eyebrows rose. “Really? Because I could have sworn that something happened when my hand was between your—”“No!”- Dorian and Eugenie”

“Tradition or not, I sometimes thought putting children on an old guy’s lap was already creepy enough. We didn’t need to mix alcohol into it.”

“A girl just asked for SAT scores good enough to get her into Yale. I think she was nine.”

“Don't beat yourself up over what you could have or should have done. The past is gone. Move on to the future.”

“the kind of kiss that said, I want to consume every inch of you and hear you scream my name.”

“Next time I will do things to you that will make you lose controll in seconds" -Dimitri.”

“Wanting and needing are two different things.”

“For every bad thing in life, there are more good things to tip the balance.”

“Jerome sighed and set down his fork. "Are you still doing that, Georgie? Don't I suffer enough without having to endure the humiliation of a succubus who moonlights as a Christmas elf?" "You always said I should quit the bookstore and find something else to do," I reminded him."Yes, but that was because I thought you'd go on to do something respectable. Like become a stripper or the Mayor's mistress.”

“Was Deirdre right about me purposely wanting relationships that were impossible?”

“She has very strong ideas about family - ideas that probably sound kind of sexist to you. She believes all dhampirs should train and put in time as guardians, but that the women should eventually return home to raise their children together.But not the men?No, he said wryly. She thinks men still need to stay out there and kill Strigoi.”

“Jesse: " Hey Rose, welcome back. Still breaking hearts?"Rose: " Are you volunteering?”

“Is he having a party?" "Dorian is a sociable king. He likes keeping people around him, mostly so he can mock them.”

“Georgina, I need your help''Reaching into her purse, she pulled out two pages torn from magazines.''With wha-oh'' My stomach twisted uncomfotably, and I hoped I wouldn't be joining Doug in the bathroom. The pages showed photos of wedding dresses.”

“Dont worry, Roza, I'm not afraid. I'll take whatever heat they give me over being with you. It's worth it.”

“Some rules are bigger than the universe.”

“Do you know anythingabout silent films?”“Sure,” I said. “The first ones were developed in the latenineteenth century and sometimes had live musicalaccompaniment, though it wasn’t until the 1920s that soundbecome truly incorporated into films, eventually makingsilent ones obsolete in cinema.”Bryan gaped, as though that was more than he’d beenexpecting. “Oh. Okay. Well, um, there’s a silent film festivaldowntown next week. Do you think you’d want to go?”I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. I respect it as anart form but really don’t get much out of watching them.”“Huh. Okay.” He smoothed his hair back again, and Icould almost see him groping for thoughts. Why on earthwas he asking me about silent films? “What about Starship30? It opens Friday. Do you want to see that?”“I don’t really like sci-fi either,” I said. It was true, I found itcompletely implausible.Bryan looked ready to rip that shaggy hair out. “Is thereany movie out there you want to see?”I ran through a mental list of current entertainment. “No.Not really.” The bell rang, and with a shake of his head,Bryan slunk back to his desk. “That was weird,” I muttered.“He has bad taste in movies.” Glancing beside me, I wasstartled to see Julia with her head down on her desk whileshe shook with silent laughter. “What?”“That,” she gasped. “That was hilarious.”“What?” I said again. “Why?”“Sydney, he was asking you out!”I replayed the conversation. “No, he wasn’t. He wasasking me about cinema.”She was laughing so hard that she had to wipe away atear. “So he could find out what you wanted to see and takeyou out!”“Well, why didn’t he just say that?”“You are so adorably oblivious,” she said. “I hope I’maround the day you actually notice someone is interested inyou.” I continued to be mystified, and she spent the rest ofclass bursting out with spontaneous giggles.”

“As far as we know, everyone’s right—Strigoi don’t want to hang out in Palm Springs.”Eddie became about one percent less tense.”

“Micah showed up shortly thereafter and was happy to meet our other “brother.” He shook Adrian’s hand and smiled. “Now I see some family resemblance. I was starting to wonder if Jill was adopted, but you two kind of look like each other.”“So does our mailman back in North Dakota,” said Adrian.“South,” I corrected. Fortunately, Micah didn’t seem to think there was anything weird about the slip.“Right,” said Adrian. He studied Micah thoughtfully. “There’s something familiar about you. Have we met?”Micah shook his head. “I’ve never been to South Dakota.”I was pretty sure I heard Adrian murmur, “That makes two of us.”

“But I can say you’re okay for an irreverent party boy with occasional moments of brilliance.”“Brilliant? You think I’m brilliant?” He threw his hands skyward. “You hear that, world? Sage says I’m brilliant.”“That’s not what I said!”...“Come on, Sage. You understand how my mind works. You said I was brilliant, remember?”Eddie glanced at me in surprise. “You did?”“No! I never said that.” Adrian’s smile was infuriating. “Stop telling people that.”