Shannon Delany

“Do you want to hurt yourself?''No. I'm trying to get a grip. Have a more normal life.' Scribble, scribble.'The number of suicides in the area has recently escalated,' she commented.'The train track suicides. Yes, I know. And yet, here I am. Thrilled to be in counseling. Weren't we supposed to be focusing on a healthy expression of my grief?'Scribble. 'You seem disoriented. Have you been drinking?''I have too few brain cells naturally to waste any on a temporary buzz.'Scribble. 'Drugs?''Just write See Above-the same philosophy applies. Look, I had a really lousy lunch. Food poisoning of epic proportions. Its messed me up.''I'd like to get a urine sample.''Give me your coffee cup.'Scribble, scribble, scribble.”

“Great party, Max!' Amy congratulated. Marvin hung back, watching their exchange.'Anything for Jessie,' Max muttered, but his eyes were completely on Amy.Amy dressed as...'Little Red Riding Hood?' I gulped. Uh-oh.'The same.' She laughed, doing a little spin so her head fell back, her short cape ruffled and her brilliant red hair whipped loose. A low cut blouse did double duty, exposing the thinnest hint of both cleavage and midriff. Max gaped. 'You even have'—he stuttered—'a—an amazingly well-packed basket of goodies.' Ohhh...I looked. Thank God. Amy was actually carrying a basket.”

“I thrust Sophie into a corner, blocking her with my body. She panted and snagged her lower lip in her teeth. “This is not my life,” she insisted.I looked at her solemnly. “I’m afraid it is. But it doesn’t have to be for long. Let’s just get through this. Then things go back to normal for you.”“Like they keep going back to normal for you?” Sophie hissed. “Ghost of your mother, psycho ex-best friend, company agent dating your dad, psychic vampire ex-boyfriend, werewolf current boyfriend—by the way, I can’t blame you for that one,” she confessed, eyes round as she mouthed the word whoa before continuing with her list, “Trip to the asylum, attempts against your life, vigilante father…”“Hey, the last ones are brand new. And the vigilante father thing? He’ll revert.”“Anyhow, I’m not so keen on your concept of normal.” I caught her staring at me.”

“He rrraped herrr,” the beast within him shrieked from deep in his gut, shaking everything but my resolve.Pietr stepped back, putting his hands up. “Tear him apart,” he agreed.“Shit, Pietr!” I snapped. “It’s murder!”“Justifiable homicide,” Pietr returned.”

“He leaned forward and plucked something out of my hair. 'What—?' He held the dead leaf before me.'Must have gotten that rolling around with Alexi in the backyard.' I blinked and looked at him. 'That sounded so wrong.'He nodded, eyebrow quirked. Waiting.'I’m trying to learn a few things from your more experienced brother so I’m ready for our big event.'His expression didn’t change.'Yee-ahhh. Not any better, huh?' I laughed. Our big event could mean two vastly different things to Pietr. 'Lemme just run through the other ways I could get this wrong: Alexi’s teaching me some moves. He’s trying to put the hurt on me. He was putting me into some positions I’ve never tried before...I snorted. I couldn’t help myself.A muscle near Pietr’s left eye twitched.'He’s teaching me to fight!' I laughed, grabbing his wrists.”

“Free will. It sucks because it means we're responsible for our actions. There is no destiny, just difficult decisions.”

“Just because you're damaged doesn't mean you must damage others. You have choices. We all make them every day.”

“Stupid heart, Stupid Girl!”

“Time was short, as Pietr so frequently reminded me. Maybe we all needed to live fiercely.And love courageously.”

“... I don't think we get too many choices in life.... I like knowing - and I like you knowing - I chose you.”

“And what do you leave behind? .... Who do you leave with only memories of you? How many hearts do you break when you risk too much and die too young?”

“Sometimes we do not know what role we play until it is thrust upon us and we can only then do our best to carry it off.”

“I'm a werewolf, not a cretin. We have Blockbuster cards.”

“Get the Girl," he demanded. "She knows too much!"Dammit. Why did people keep presuming that, and if it was true, why the hell couldn't my GPA reflect the fact?”

“Holy Hell! That was totally badass”

“You sure are quick to strip, boy,” Dad said, clearlydisapproving. “Lemme get this straight.”

“There is so little time. We need to make every moment count.”

“What makes a man a man are his deeds, his responsibilities, and his reactions... These things are also what makes a man a monster.”

“Max,' I said, looking up at him, 'I love the Russian heritage you guys are so willing to share, but I'm not so thrilled with the French.''What?' His brows lowered. 'We're not French.''Great. So the next time you feel the need to kiss me, keep your tongue out of my mouth!”

“They're monsters.""That's what Edward thought.""Oh, yeah? He a friend of yours?""No, Miss Librarian. Just a main character in a wildly popular vampire series.”

“Some moments I believed Max could've easily been Red Riding Hood's wolf. But she probably would have liked it.”

“Now, though, I must rent a movie.""You're going to do that?""Of course. I'm a werewolf, not a cretin. We have Blockbuster cards."It blew my mind. Werewolfs rented DVDs. At my local Blockbuster.”

“Yes. Da,' I corrected.'Say it again.''What?"'His voice grew husky as he repeated his request. 'Say yes—in Russian—again.'I blushed. 'Da,' I whispered. 'Will you teach me more Russian, Pietr?''Mmm, only the important words,' he promised.I bit back my request for the three most important words to me. 'What words would you teach me?''Pocelujte menyah.''What's that mean?'He groaned. 'Repeat it tonight and perhaps I will show you.”

“Imprinting."I heard the smile disappear from Cat's face. "Next."I repeated myself."Are you referring to Stephenie Meyer's books?""Yes," I said. A little unwillingly.Cat chuckled. "There's no shame in reading enjoyable books. But this topic is better discussed later.""Got it.”

“I sighed, sinking back, head filling with pleasant images; pictures Pietr floated to the surface. Kisses scorched along my face and neck. "Pietr...."There was a growl, and I felt fingers at the waistband of my jeans. The button opened and a hand traced along the top of my underpants."No," I said. The kissing resumed, harder. "Jessica." The word rumbled in someone's throat. Not Pietr's. To him, I was Jess."No," I insisted, trying to pry my eyes open. Something was wrong....Not Pietr... I pushed at the chest above me, my eyelids stinging as I willed them apart."Relax..." a voice said, lips dragging along the cornerof my jaw, filling my head with honey, sticky and sweet....”

“I couldn't handle more railing against Alexi. He'd been a wreck recently. Before I could stop myself I blurted out the rumor running through school: " Max is having sex with multiple partners!" Oh. Crap. ~ Jess”

“Watching you two frustrate each other cracks me up," he snorted, putting the car into gear. "Don't do it and I'm guaranteed lots of laughs! How crazy is it: a werewolfrevving high and the human who wants him watches him date her friend!" ~ Max”

“Beauty's only skin deep.Everybody has ugly days.We're all made of the same stuff underneath.Acting right is better than looking right.Realize what make you special beyond looks.Evil can look pretty on the outside.”

“Snagging the ball from Pietr, Derek leaned in and snapped, “What? Youthink you’re a bad-ass because you’ve got a tattoo?”Derek body-checked Pietr with a force that would have sent anybody else onto the floor. Pietr wobbled but didn’t even move his feet to compensate. A minute later Derek skidded across the gym floor. Pietr was methodically dribbled and passed the ball between them. I saw him mouth the phrase “That’s why I’m a bad-ass!”

“You know, considering your IQ, you're really socially retarded sometimes.”