Sherrilyn Kenyon

“Princess, you could never be that. You are unique to me. (Zarek)Am I your rose? (Astrid)Yes, you are my rose. There is only one of you in all the millions of planets and stars. (Zarek)”

“I just want to be warm. Just once let me be warm. Is there no star capable of sharing its fire with me? (Zarek)”

“I swear, Z. I was hoping you’d use this time here to show Artemis that you can mingle with people again. (Acheron)Sure you were. Why don’t you cover me in shit and tell me it’s mud while you’re at it? (Zarek)”

“We all have choices. (Astrid)No we don’t, princess. Only people with money and influence have choices. For the rest of us, basic necessity dictates what we have to do to survive. (Zarek)”

“Then why haven’t you killed yourself? (Astrid)Why should I? The only enjoyment I have in my life is knowing I piss off everyone around me. If I were dead, it would make them all happy. God forbid I should ever do that. (Zarek)”

“You don’t like people who have money, do you? (Astrid)I’m not prejudiced against anyone, princess. I hate everyone equally. (Zarek)”

“My friend died. (Astrid)Died how? (Zarek)Mmm, he had parvo. (Astrid)Isn’t that a dog’s disease? (Zarek)Yes. It was tragic. (Astrid)Hey! I resent that. (Sasha)Behave or I will give you parvo. (Astrid)”

“And I don’t want his body touching something I wear. He’ll contaminate it. (Sasha)Oh, good grief, Sasha. Grow up. You’re four hundred years old and you’re acting like a whelp. It’s not like he has cooties or anything. (Astrid)Yes he does! (Sasha)”

“Here. (Zarek)What is it? (Astrid)Arsenic and vomit. (Zarek)Really? And yet you managed to hack that up so quietly. Who knew? Thanks. I’ve never had vomit before. I’m sure it’s extra special. (Astrid)”

“You could have said ‘Excuse me.’ (Zarek)I’m not talking to you. (Astrid)Love you, too, babe. (Zarek)You really are an animal, aren’t you? (Astrid)Woof, woof. (Zarek)”

“Don’t push me, princess. (Zarek)Oooo. Next thing you’ll be talking like the Incredible Hulk. ‘Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.’ You’re not scary to me, Mr. Zarek. So you can just check the attitude at the door and play nice while you’re here. (Astrid)If you want nice, baby, play with your fucking dog. When you’re ready to play with a man, then call me. (Zarek)”

“Zarek? (Astrid)What?! (Zarek)Don’t use that tone with me. I like to know where people are in my house. Be nice, or I’ll make you wear a cowbell. (Astrid)”

“Wake up, Astrid. Your psychotic criminal is playing with knives. (Sasha)”

“And you, Kibbles, had better lay off me. One more growl and I swear I’m going to geld you with a spoon. (Zarek)”

“So what really happened to you? (Astrid)Nothing. (Zarek)Well, I hope I never come across Nothing then if it’s capable of putting a hole in my back. (Astrid)”

“It wasn’t a gun wound. I just fell. (Zarek)No offense, but you’d have to fall of Mount Everest to have those kinds of wounds. (Astrid)Yeah, maybe next time I’ll remember to take my climbing gear with me. (Zarek)”

“Are you up? Dressing? (Astrid)No. I’m pissing on your rug. What do you think I’m doing? (Zarek)I’m blind. For all I know you really are peeing on my rug, which is a very nice rug incidentally, so I hope you’re kidding. (Astrid)”

“I am Death and no one defeats or escapes Death. (Thanatos)You know, I’ll bet most people shit their pants in terror when you hand them that line. But you know what, Mr. I-want-to-be-scary-and-am-failing-miserably? I’m not a person. I’m a Dark-Hunter and in the grand scheme of things you don’t mean shit to me. Now I can sit here and play with you, but I'd rather just put you out of both our miseries. (Zarek)”

“I won’t die like this again. (Zarek)Backbone. How I love it. But not as much as I love sucking the marrow from it. (Thanatos)”

“One day I’m going to find a way to rid you of that beast resting on your arm. (Artemis)(He looked at her over his shoulder.)And one day I’m going to find a way to rid myself of the beast resting on my back. (Acheron)”

“Simi. Return to me. (Acheron)'Return to me, Simi.’ Don’t go frying the goddess. Don’t go frying Thanatos. I am not a yo-yo, akri. I am a Simi. I hate it when you get me all excited about going to kill something and then tell me no. I don’t like that. It boring. You don’t ever let me have any fun anymore. (Simi)”

“It’s entirely up to you, Artie. He lives or dies by your word. (Acheron)No, akri! Don’t ask her that. She never let me have no fun. She a mean goddess! (Simi)”

“The Simi is very environmentally sound. Eat everything except for hooves. I don’t like those, they hurt my teeth. Thanatos don’t have hooves, do he? (Simi)No, Simi, he doesn’t. (Acheron)Ooo, good eating tonight. I get a Daimon for barbecue. Can I go now, akri? Can I? Can I? Can I, please? (Simi)”

“It can’t eat him. I forbid it. (Artemis)She can do as she pleases. I taught her to waste not, want not. (Acheron)”

“Ooo, let’s see, I need to get my spicy barbecue sauce. Definitely some oven mitts, ‘cause he’s gonna be hot from being flame-broiled. I need to get a couple of them apple trees to make wood chips so the meat be nice and appley tasting. Give it that extra yumminess, ‘cause I don’t like that Daimon flavor. Ack! (Simi)”

“He won’t last long, akri. Thanatos is barbecue. And I like my barbecue. Just tell me how you want him, akri, normal recipe or extra crispy. I’m partial to extra crispy myself. They crunch louder when deep-fried. Reminds me, I need some bread crumbs. (Simi)”

“Oh, goodie! I get to make the redheaded goddess mad! (Simi)”

“There were only so many kicks a dog could take before it turned vicious.’ (Acheron)”

“That is the beauty of memory, isn’t it? Our reality is always clouded by our perceptions of truth. (Mnimi)”

“What are you? (a Daimon)Oh please, let me give you the job description. Me, Dark-Hunter. You, Daimon. I hit, you bleed. I kill, you die. (Zarek)”

“That was you who hit me with the float? (Talon)Yes. (Dionysus)Damn, boy. You’ve fallen a long way down. Yesterday Greek god…today incompetent float driver. (Camulus)”

“How was I to know your pet was a god-killer? What kind of idiot ties herself down to one of his kind? (Dionysus)Well, gee, what was I supposed to do? Hook up with Mr. All-powerful God-killer or get myself a Mardi Gras float and hang out with him? (She pointed to Camulus, who looked extremely offended by her comment.) You’re such a moron. No wonder you’re the patron god of drunken frat boys. (Artemis)”

“You don’t like Talon, do you? (Sunshine)Wish him dead every time I see him. (Zarek)I can’t tell if you mean that or not. (Sunshine)I mean it. (Zarek)Why? (Sunshine)He’s an asshole and I’ve had enough assholes in my life. (Zarek)”

“(As Ash left the house, the back door slammed shut, catching the tail end of his long black coat. Ash jerked to a stop and cursed. Nick howled with laughter at the sight of Acheron trapped.)Don’t it take the bad-ass right out of you? (Nick)(Ash arched a brow. The door opened by itself, freeing his coat, then it slammed shut again. Nick sobered instantly.)And that puts it right back in you. (Nick)”

“If everyone does as I’ve instructed, then things should work out the way they’re meant to. (Acheron)And if we don’t? (Talon)We’re all screwed. (Acheron)Gee, Ash, you’re just so damn comforting. (Nick)I try to be anyway. (Acheron)You fail admirably. (Nick)”

“This is the swamp as I see it, but what I can’t capture on canvas is you as I see you. No brush or paint will ever show the hero that you are. It will never be able to portray the sound of your voice when you whisper my name. The way my skin tingles when you touch me. The passion of you inside me. I love you, Talon. I know that I can’t keep you. No one can ever tame a wild beast. You have a job to do and so do I. I only hope that when you think of me, it’ll bring a smile to your face. Love always, Sunshine. (Sunshine's note)”

“I am Darkness. I am Shadow. I am the Ruler of the Night. I, alone, stand between mankind and those who would see mankind destroyed. I am the Guardian. The Soulless Keeper. Neither Human, nor Apollite, I exist beyond the realm of the Living, beyond the realm of the Dead. I am the Dark-Hunter. And I am Eternal…unless I find that one pure heart who will never betray me. The one whose faith and courage can return my soul to me and bring me back into the light. (Dark-Hunter Creed)”

“You know, I met a wise man centuries ago in China who said to me, ‘He who lets fear rule him, has fear for a master. (Acheron)Confucius? (Talon)No, Minh-Quan. He was a fisherman who used to sell what I’m told was the best zong zi ever made. (Acheron)”

“That’s not fair. (Talon)I’m not paid to be fair. I’m paid to kick Daimon ass. (Acheron)”

“You know, the thing about life and love is that they are both ever-changing while people seldom are. (Acheron)”

“You know, I’ve had a really wonderful night tonight. I got to tell Kyrian and Julian that Valerius is in town and spent, oh I don’t know, three, four hours trying to keep them from going after the Roman. Then, just when I could relax and do my job, I find out there are Daimons in the swamp and no Talon to kill them. And why wasn’t Talon here? Because Tarzan was swinging off a balcony to save Jane from Cheetah. Now all I can do is stand here and say, next fiasco, please, right this way. (Acheron)”

“You? You can’t believe this? I’m the one who has to go to Artemis to save your ass. She was freaking out over Zarek, now how the hell do I explain to her that Mr. Cool-Calm-and-Collected was doing his impression of Spider Man in a bar loaded with tourists and ended up as the main feature on Tokyo news as what’s wrong with American culture? Question. How many rules did you break in less than a minute? (Acheron)”

“Clean it up, hell. Do you know how many cameras just caught your stunt-jump from upstairs? My mom now thinks you’re on the drugs she suspects Kyrian sells. We’re screwed. My life is toast. I’m about to get lectured about working for drug dealers…again. My mom, bless her heart, is so goofy, she doesn’t even realize she works for bears. I’m so screwed. (Nick)”

“Yeah, but– (Sunshine)There are no buts, Sunshine. I am the goddess of souls and soulmates. Unlike the other Olympian gods, I know when I see two people who were created for each other. If both you and Talon died tonight and were later reborn at polar ends of the earth, sooner or later the two of you would reunite. That’s the schtick with soulmates. Alone you can survive, hell, you can even be with other people, but neither of you will ever be complete without the other. (Psyche)”

“I don’t know. There are times when I get the feeling he can’t tell me from Nynia. I think he loves her more than me. (Sunshine)No offense, but that’s stupid. You and Talon are soulmates. He will always love you no matter who or what you are. You, my friend, could come back as a humpback whale and he would love you. He can’t help it. The two of you are destined for each other. (Psyche)”

“Hey, man. Where have you been? (Dev)Out and about. You? (Talon)(Dev gave him a wicked grin.) Mostly in and out. (Dev)”

“Honey, there’s not a single woman in this town who doesn’t know about Sanctuary, Land of the Bodacious Gods. Heck, me and my girlfriends want to get together and vote Mama Lo an award for her policy against hiring any man not seriously buff…Not that you’re not buff. You can certainly hold your own against the Sanctuary Hotties. But face it, haven’t you ever noticed that this place is like Hooters for women? (Sunshine)No, I can honestly say that I’ve never noticed how good-looking the men at Sanctuary are. Nor have I ever cared. (Talon)”

“I just know that I’m not willing to let anything happen to you. When Nynia died, I was so lost and cold, and I haven’t been warm since. Not until I felt your hands on me. The only way I’ve been able to cope without you is to bury what I feel, but I can’t seem to do that anymore. When I’m with you all I can do is feel and need. (Talon)”

“Hades has a nice corner of Tartarus waiting for you. (Dionysus)Like that scares me. What’s he going to do? Tear the flesh off my body? Break my bones? Better yet, why not hold me down and stomp on me until I bleed or make me shovel shit? Oh wait, been there, done that, and got the videotape. (Zarek)”

“That would be like making a pact with Lucifer. (Zarek)Yes, but I don’t smell like sulfur. And I happen to dress better. Luc always looks like a pimp. (Dionysus)”