Richelle Mead

“Sorry, Ms. Terwilliger. I'm flattered that you think I'm such an upstanding person, but I'm already caught up in one epic battle of good versus evil. I don't need another.”

“I'll just love you whether you want me to or not.”

“But perhaps the best part of all was that I, Sydney Katherine Sage, guilty of constantly analyzing the world around me, well, I stopped thinking.”

“You're not as much of a lost cause as she was. I mean, with her, I had to overcome her deep, epic love with a Russian warlord. You and I just have to overcome hundreds of years' worth of deeply ingrained prejudice and taboo between our two races. Easy.”

“Isn’t it obvious, Sage? No, of course it isn’t. I did it so I’d have a reason to be around you — one I knew you couldn’t refuse.”

“The question was which spell did I make? Which did I have time to make?The answer was eerily simple.I had time to make all of them.”

“Cool',” said Adrian. “'Wind.’ I see what you did there, Sage. Pretty clever.”

“Hey, Volusian, you haven't been checking me out, have you?" He gave me his trademark bland stare. "I assure you, mistress, the only allure your bare flesh has for me is to remind me how easy it will be to slice open." I laughed. If not for the fact he was actually serious, he'd be so much fun.”

“But listen to me when I say this. You are an exceptional, talented, and brilliant young woman. Do not ever let anyone make you feel invisible. Do not let anyone - not even a teacher who constantly sends you for coffee - push you around.”

“I neither require nor desire your gratitude, mistress. I want nothing in these worlds save your death." Volusian to Eugenie”

“Blood doesn't lie”

“Why does it have to be so cut-and-dried? In your view, I either have to hate them or be in league with them. There’s a middle ground, you know. I can still be loyal to the Alchemists and on friendly terms with vampires and dhampirs.”

“Dimitri: Well, you and I will both be Lissa's guardians someday. I need to protect her at all costs. If a pack of Strigoi come, I need to throw my body between them and her.Rose: I know that. Of course that's what you have to do.Dimitri: No. If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you.”

“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth. You have no clue of how beautiful you are or how brightly you shine.”

“Well, if the excitement's over, I think I'll take a bath.''Wow. The harsh lifestyle of a succubus. I wish I had your job.''Hey, our side's always recruiting. You might need to be a little prettier to be an incubus, though. And a little more charming.''Untrue. Mortal women go for jerks. I see it all the time.''Touché.”

“Adrian looked over at me again. “Who knows more about male weakness: you or me?”“Go on.” I refused to directly answer the question.“Get a new dress. One that shows a lot of skin. Short. Strapless. Maybe a push-up bra too.” He actually had the audacity to do a quick assessment of my chest. “Eh, maybe not. But definitely some high heels.”“Adrian,” I exclaimed. “You’ve seen how Alchemists dress. Do you think I can really wear something like that?”He was unconcerned. “You’ll make it work. You’ll change clothes or something. But I’m telling you, if you want to get a guy to do something that might be difficult, then the best way is to distract him so that he can’t devote his full brainpower to the consequences.”“You don’t have a lot of faith in your own gender.”“Hey, I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been distracted by sexy dresses a lot.”I didn’t really know if that was a valid argument, seeing as Adrian was distracted by a lot of things. Fondue. T-shirts. Kittens. “And so, what then? I show some skin, and the world is mine?”“That’ll help.” Amazingly, I could tell he was dead serious. “And you’ve gotta act confident the whole time, like it’s already a done deal. Then make sure when you’re actually asking for what you want that you tell him you’d be ‘so, so grateful.’ But don’t elaborate. His imagination will do half the work for you. ”I shook my head, glad we’d almost reached our destination. I didn’t know how much more I could listen to. “This is the most ridiculous advice I’ve ever heard. It’s also kind of sexist too, but I can’t decide who it offends more, men or women.”“Look, Sage. I don’t know much about chemistry or computer hacking or photosynthery, but this is something I’ve got a lot of experience with.” I think he meant photosynthesis, but I didn’t correct him. “Use my knowledge. Don’t let it go to waste.”

“I'm telling you, I wanted to. But I was trapped. You of all people should know what it's like being caught between groups”

“Nothing he said could change what I think of you. I've had my mind made up about you for a long time... and it's all good.”

“The [bowling] ball flew out jerkily, sailed about four feet, hit the lane with a loud crack, and then promptly entered the gutter. Roman walked up beside me, and we silently watched the ball complete its journey.'Are you always that rough with balls?' he asked finally.'Most men don't complain.”

“[High angel] Carter's fucked-up sense of humor in action.'[The angel] Lucinda flushed deep crimson. 'How can you use such language so carelessly? You sound like you're… like you're in a locker room!"I smoothed down my tank top. 'No way. I'd never wear this in a locker room.''Yeah, it isn't even in school colors,' said Peter.I couldn't resist toying with the guardian. 'If i were in a locker room, i'd probably have on a short cheerleader skirt. And no underwear.'Peter continued playing off me. 'And you'd do that one cheer, right? The one with your hands splayed against the shower wall and ass sticking out?''That's me,' i agreed. 'Always ready to take one for the team.'Even Cody[, the other vampire] flushed at our crassness. Lucinda was practically purple.'You–you two have no sense of decency! None at all.”

“I saw something in his pretty green eyes that I had never seen before: Anger. They were like emerald fire”

“How is Angeline?” asked Dimitri. “Is she improving?” Eddie and I exchanged glances. So much for avoiding her indiscretions.“Improving how exactly?” I asked. “In combat, in following the dress code, or in keeping her hands to herself?”“Or in turning off caps-lock?” added Eddie.“You noticed that too?” I asked.“Hard not to,” he said.”

“Adrian looked away from me and down to where my hand covered his. I blushed and pulled away. “Sorry” I’d probably freaked him out”

“Never thought I’d see the day when you’d throw your arms around a vam - someone like me”

“Oh God. Why, oh why, did I have to be the one to deliver this news? Why couldn’t I be locked away in my room or the library doing something enjoyable, like homework?”

“I think it’s more like a shirt that says, ‘I’m going to have to end this date early so I can go prepare my Power Point presentation”

“Eddie was intensely dedicated too. Adrian sometimes called him mini-Dimitri”

“Right. Because there’s no bigger sign of commitment than a Halloween dance”

“He froze, and for one moment, we stood locked in time. I could feel the silk of his shirt against my skin and the warmth of his body. The lingering scent of the overpriced cologne he wore floated around me. No smoke for a change. I’d always told him the cologne couldn’t be worth what he spent, but suddenly, I reconsidered. It was amazing.”

“Well, I guess I can wait two weeks then." "for what?""to ask her out”

“I was astonished to see Adrian watching me, a look of contentment on his face. His eyes seemed to study my every feature. Seeing me notice him, he immediately looked away. His usual smirky expression replaced by a dreamy one. “The mechanic will wait,” he said. “Yeah, but I’m supposed to meet Brayden soon, I’ll be-” That’s when I got a good look at Adrian. “What have you done? Look at you! You shouldn’t be out here.” “It’s not that bad.” He was lying, and we both knew it.“Come on, we have to get you out of here before you get worse. What were you thinking?” His expression was astonishingly nonchalant for someone who looked like he would pass out. “It was worth it. You looked…happy”

“Sydney, this is the kind of shirt that says, ‘You’re never getting in here.”

“Lo más probable es que tuviera una hemorragia interna y una conmoción cerebral, eso sin duda, pero nunca llegamos a averiguarlo. No te preocupas por esas menudencias cuando tu mejor amiga es una maldita curandera.”

“She studied him for a few more seconds. “Youlook too pretty to be useful.”I gasped in spite of myself. Adrian chuckled andshook her hand.“Truer words were never spoken,” he said.”

“Georgina," He murmured, pulling me closer. "You are the world.”

“You can't," I murmured, swallowing the tears back with great effort. "You can't keep saving me, can't keep trying to. It's too late." "No," he said. His heart was in his eyes, and it was ripping mine apart. "Not for you. Never.”

“I felt the need to clarify we were there for the self defense class, in case he also taught about dog breeding or riding the high seas.”

“Some of his pieces were quite good. Others-especially when he'd been drinking-looked like he'd accidentally spilled paint on canvas.”

“Wow. You look…really nice today. Did you do something different?” Only a thirty-four-year-old virgin, I thought.”

“Poor Martin. Geek or no, committing his soul to eternal damnation was a helluva price to pay for six minutes.”

“I wrote back with a quick message: How do you know about 24601? I refuse to believe you read the book. You saw the musical, right?I hit send and received a response back from him almost immediately.SparkNotes.”

“As we grow and change, sometimes things we've experienced before take on new meaning. It'll happen for the rest of your life.”

“What doesn't kill me... Better start running!”

“I’d mentioned this odd wardrobe choice to Adrian a couple of weeks ago:“Isn’t Dimitri hot?”Adrian’s response hadn’t been entirely unexpected:“Well, yeah, according to most women, at least.”

“Really, Sage? A date?”I sighed. “Yes, Adrian. A date.”“A real date. Not, like, doing homework together,” he added. “I mean like where you go out to a movie or something. And a movie that’s not part of a school assignment. Or about something boring.”“A real date.”

“You'd give up drinking to go see your dad?""Well, not permanently," he said. "That'd be ridiculous. But maybe I could switch to something slightly cheaper for a while. Like...slushes. Do you know how much I love those? Cherry, especially.”

“Adrian ordered a martini, earning disapproving looks from his father and me.'It's barely noon,' said Nathan.'I know,' said Adrian. 'I'm surprised I held out that long too.”

“He shouldn't have said that," repeated Adrian, eerily serious. He leaned his face toward mine. "I don't care if he's not the emotional type or the complimentary type or what. No one can look at you in this dress, in all that fire and gold, and start talking about anachronisms. If I were him, I would have said, 'You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth.”

“You're in an awfully good mood," he observed. "Was there a sale at Khakis-R-Us?”

“Day 24. Situation is growing worse. My captors continue to find new and horrific ways to torture me. When not working, Agent Scarlet spends her days examining fabric swatches for bridesmaid dresses and going on about how in love she is. This usually causes Agent Boring Borscht to regale us with stories of Russian weddings that are even more boring than his usual ones. My attempts at escape have been thwarted thus far. Also, I am out of cigarettes. Any assistance or tobacco products you can send will be greatly appreciated.-Prisoner 24601”