Richelle Mead

“You're burned into my mind forever. There is nothing, nothing in this world that will ever change that.”

“Who else is going?" I asked.He shrugged. "Just you and me."My mood promptly shot up past 'cheerful' and went straight to 'estatic.' Me and Dimitri. Alone. In a car. This might very well be worth a surprise test."How far is it?" Silently, I begged for it to be a really long drive. Like, one that would take a week. And would involve us staying overnight in luxury hotels. Maybe we'd get stranded in a snowbank, and only body heat would keep us alive."Five hours""Oh."A bit less than I'd hoped for. Still, five hours was better than nothing. It didn't rule out the snowbank possibility, either.”

“I couldn't stop staring at the cave, back where Dimitri was, back where half of my soul was.”

“We studied our angels for a few moments more, looking at where we had lain side by side in that sweet, quiet moment. I wished what I’d said was true, that we had truly left our mark on the mountain. But I knew that after the next snowfall, our angels would disappear into the whiteness and be nothing more than a memory.”

“None of it seems real. Who knows? Maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s actually happening to someone else. Maybe it’s something I imagined. Maybe soon I’m going to wake up and find everything fixed with Lissa and Dimitri. We’ll all be together, and he’ll be there to smile and hold me and tell me everything ‘s going to be okay. Maybe all of this really has been a dream.But I don’t think so.”

“Life’s like that. As we grow and change, some things we’ve experienced before take on new meaning. It’ll happen for the rest of your life.”

“What happened? Did a house fall on your sister?" I asked. Maybe there was a benefit to our language barrier. She pursed her lips."You can't stay here much longer," she said.My mouth dropped open."You...you speak English?"She snorted. "Of course.”

“Abe shook his head, and now the smile was gone altogether. "That's not the reason either. Don't lie to me little girl." I felt my hackles going up. "And don't interrogate me, old man.”

“Knowing Lissa missed me hurt almost more than if she'd completely written me off. I'd never wanted to hurt her. Even when I'd resented her for feeling like she was controlling my life, I'd never hated her. I loved her like a sister and couldn't stand the thought of her suffering now on my behalf. How had things gotten so screwed up between us?”

“I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and tossed it across the other side of the room. There was a burning, agonizing pain in my chest, and I had no idea how it could ever be filled. It was one thing to accept that I couldn't have Dimitri. It was something entirely different to realize someone else could.”

“I didn't think my day could get any worse until my best friend told me she might be going crazy. Again.”

“You understand your responsibilities better than guardians twice your age. You'll do what you have to do to succeed.”

“I like him.""Like or like?"Oh, there's a difference?”

“And I thought the whole point of my education was that violence IS the answer.”

“Wild and disrespectful? Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?”

“If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just defended Christian's honor. Isn't he a pain in the ass?"Yes he is. But for the next 6 weeks he's MY pain in the ass.”

“But I didn't know about the other story.""What other story?”"About how you and Adrian Ivashkov are—""No, whatever you heard it’s not true.""But it was really romantic""Then it’s definitely not true.”

“Plus, you're the last Dragomir. You're always going to be in the spotlight. Who’s she? Just another Ivashkov. There are tons of them.''Probably because all the guys like Adrian and have all sorts of illegitimate children.''Adrian doesn’t have any children.''That we know of,' I said mysteriously.”

“You will lose what you value most, so treasure it while you can.”

“You can't fool me, comrade. You want to put on a cowboy hat and keep lawless bank robbers in line.''"No time. I have enough trouble keeping you in line.”

“I'd said it before and meant it: Alive or undead, the love of my life was a badass. -Rose, Blood PromiseDimitri:I'd do a lot of things to protect you Roza" Dimitri: "What i say in an entire paragraph you can say in three words" "I set off, off to kill the man I loved" - Rose Hathaway•We try to do what’s right, or rather, what others say is right. But sometimes, when that goes against who we are…you have to choose…. I realized how much you meant to me. It changed everything… And it became useless to try to act like I could ever put any Moroi life above yours. It’s not going to happen, no matter how wrong others say it is. And so I decided that’s something I have to deal with. Once I made that decision … there was nothing to hold us back. – Dimitri •You’re strong-you’re so, so strong. It’s why I love you. – Dimitri”

“Hey, if you'd wanted to avoid 'this,' you shouldn't have lured me last night. Now it's too late. You might as well avoid the long, drawn-out pain and get it over with quickly. Sort of like taking off a Band-Aid. Or cutting off a limb.""Wow, who says there's no romance left in the world?”

“He glanced over at me, a smile twisting his lips. "Hey, no advice, Ghost Girl. Guardians should be seen and not heard."I flipped him off for the "Ghost Girl" comment but he didn't notice because Lissa was talking to him again.”

“You have to protect her. The more she uses it, the worse it'll get. Stop her, Rose. Stop her before they notice, before they notice and take her away too. Get her out of here." [...] "Don't let her use the power!. . .Save her. Save her from herself!”

“Taking a deep breathe, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life.I walked away.”

“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 the internal pain go away. It was the only way she could control it.”

“We had been out in the woods near campus one evening, having skipped out on our last class. I’d traded a pair of cute, rhinestone-studded sandals to Abby Badica for a bottle of peach schnapps—desperate, yes, but you did what you had to in Montana—which she’d somehow gotten hold of. Lissa had shaken her head in disapproval when I suggested cutting class to go put the bottle out of it’s misery, but she’d come along anyway. Like always.We found a log to sit on near a scummy green marsh. A half-moon cast a tiny light on us, but it was more than enough for vampires and half-vampires to see by. Passing the bottle back and forth I’d grilled her on Aaron.I held up that bottle and glared at it. “I don’t think this stuff it working.”

“Screw you," I told him in a low voice."Are you offering?”"From what I've heard, there isn't much to screw," I shot back.”

“The guy’s smile faltered just a little, and I saw him blink in surprise. His eye’s didn’t glaze over in the same way Lissa’s victims did, but Christian had done enough to briefly enthrall him. Unfortunately, I could tell right then and there that it wouldn’t be enough to make him forget. Fortunately, I’d been trained to compel people without the use of magic. Sitting near his post was an enormous Maglite, two feet long and easily seven pounds. I grabbed the Maglite and clocked him on the back of the head. He grunted and crumpled to the ground. He’d barely seen me coming, and despite the horribleness of what I’d just done, I kind of wished one of my instructors had been there to grade me one my awesome performance.”

“You know what would help?" I asked, not meeting his eyes."Hmm?""If you turned off this crap music and put on something that came out after the Berlin Wall went down."Dimitri laughted. "Your worst class is history, yet somehow, you know everything about Eastern Europe.""Hey, gotta have material for my jokes, Comrade." Still smiling, he turned the radio dail. To a country station."Hey! This isn't what I had in mind," I exclaimed. I could tell he was on the verge of laughing again."Pick. It's one or the other."I sighed. "Go back to the 1980s stuff."He flipped the dail, and I crossed my arms over my chest as some vaguely European-sounding band sang about how video had killed the radio star. I wished someone would kill this radio.”

“People who are crazy rarely question whether they're crazy.”

“Can you ever get off for good behavior?" he joked.I gave him what I hoped was a seductive smile as I found my seat. "Sure," I called over my shoulder. "If I was ever good.”

“He watched as I slipped one of the shoes on. "You have a guardian angel.""I don't believe in angels," I told him. "I believe in what I can do for myself."Well then, you have an amazing body." I glanced up at him with a questioning look. "For healing, I mean. I heard about the accident...”

“Throughout history, people with new ideas—who think differently and try to change things—have always been called troublemakers.”

“And after a while...I mean how do you choose? Who gets to live? Part of life is that...well, some people have to die.”

“Those who have to ask if faith is true are opening up a discussion they may not be ready for.”

“But it's believed the soul can stay on earth for three to forty days after death. It eventually recieves temporary judgment that sends it on from this world to heaven or hell-although no one will truly experience either until the actual Judgment Day, when the soul and body are reunited to live out eternity as one.”

“No one had ever called me unnatural before, except for the time I put ketchup on a taco. But seriously, we'd been out of salsa, so what else was I supposed to do?”

“Little Dhampir”

“I have my sources." Somehow, saying I'd heard it from my mom sounded less cool. "You've decided, right? I mean, it sounds like a good deal, seeing as she's going to give you fringe benefits..."He gave me a level look. "What happens between her and me is none of your business," he replied crisply.... Dimitri arched an eyebrow, then jerked his head back where we'd come from. "You hang out in his room a lot?" Several retorts popped into my head, and then a golden one took precedence. "What happens between him and me is none of your business." I managed a tone very similar to he one he'd used on me when making a similar comment about him and Tasha.”

“But when the other end of the line picked up, it was his voicemail that answered, not the man himself. "I know how devastated you must be to miss me," his cheery voice said, "but leave a message, and I'll try to ease your agony as soon as possible.”

“What do you mean 'most of the damage happened to my face'?" She gestured to the mirror above the sink on the far side of the room. I ran over to it and looked at my reflection. "Son of a bitch!”

“There's a reason they say,"Pride goeth before a fall.”

“We can't stop living because other people are dead.”

“The spell. Victor said you had to want me... to care about me... for it to work." When he didn't say anything, I tried to grip his shirt, but my fingers were too weak. "Did you? Did you want me?"His words came out thickly. "Yes, Roza. I did want you. I still do. I wish... we could be together.""Then why did you lie to me?"We reached the clinic, and he managed to open the door while still holding me. As soon as he stepped inside, he began yelling for help. "Why did you lie?" I murmured again.Still holding me in his arms, he looked down at me. I could hear voices and footsteps getting closer."Because we can't be together.""Because of the age thing, right?" I asked. "Because you're my mentor?"His fingertip gently wiped away a tear that had escaped down my cheek. "That's part of it," he said. "But also... well, you and I will both be Lissa's gaurdians someday. I need to protect her at all cost. If a pack of Strogoi come, I need to throw my body between them and her."I know that. Of course that's what you have to do." The black sparkles were dancing in front of my eyes again. I was fading out."No. If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you.”

“Oh, so that's why you're up here. For a pity party.""This isn't a joke. I'm serious." I could tell Lissa was getting angry. It was trumping her earlier distress.He shrugged and leaned casually against the sloping wall. "So am I. I love pity parties. I wish I'd brought the hats. What do you want to mope about first? How it's going to take you a whole day to be popular and loved again? How you'll have to wait a couple weeks before Hollister can ship out some new clothes? If you spring for rush shipping, it might not be so long.”

“I crossed my arms over my chest. "Are you lost, little girl? The elementary school's over on west campus."A pink flush spread over her cheeks. "Don't you ever touch me again. You screw with me, I'll screw you right back."Oh man, what an opening that was.”

“The incident with Dawn hadn't been one of my finer moments. I honestly hadn't expected to break any bones when I shoved her into a tree. Still, the incident had given me a dangerous reputation. The story had gained legendary status, and I liked to imagine that it was still being told around campfires late at night. Judging by the look on the girl's face, it was.”

“You can't force love, I realized. It's there or it isn't. If it's not there, you've got to be able to admit it. If it is there, you've got to do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love.”

“But I couldn't help myself, couldn't help the way I felt as I recalled the bliss and rush of a vampire's bite.”