Sherrilyn Kenyon

“My mother wasn’t a psychotic criminal. (Kiara)No. I’m sure she was a wonderful lady who loved you dearly. That she held you when you cried, probably even baked you cookies and gave you hugs and kisses before she sent you off to bed at night, and it’s a damn shame a decent woman like her died so tragically. My mother, whore that she was, abandoned me and my sister to our father so that she could return to her cushy life and pretend we didn’t exist while she left us in that house with a man whose name, even though he’d been dead for decades, can still make an assassin wet his pants. And if you think his cruelty was reserved for strangers, think again. My sister and I were target practice for him. So don’t you dare talk to me about pain. My father wrote the book on it and he rammed it down my throat every day of my childhood until they killed him. And the real kicker is, my life under his demented fist was a lot better than Nykyrian’s. At least I was able to hide sometimes from the ones trying to kill me. You want me to call your daddy, baby? Go right ahead. I’ll be more than happy to take you to him. But know that Aksel will have his hands on you in a matter of hours. Then you’ll be able to talk to me about pain and you’ll finally have an idea of what we’ve endured. You won’t live long enough to apologize, but true clarity will be yours before you die. (Syn)”

“Don’t you dare mock me. I’ve seen more pain than you can even imagine. (Kiara)Yeah, your mother was shot dead in front of you. Boo-hoo. So what? You think you’re the only one who ever lived through that? My father was publicly executed for the entire Ichidian Universe to watch. The saddest part of that is I just wish I’d been the one who’d gassed the bastard. (Syn)”

“I’m not a child. Don’t talk to me like I am. (Kiara)No, you’re worse. You’re an adult who still thinks the world is a beautiful place, filled with people who will help you just for the sake of being nice. Wake up and smell the bloodbath and humility the rest of us have to cope with. (Syn)”

“I just don’t see how anyone can be so cold. (Kiara)And you should be grateful, little girl, to whatever god you worship, that you can say that. In the world we come from, I don’t understand how anyone can be anything but cold. (Syn)”

“Oh my God…How could he do such a thing? What kind of monster is he? (Kiara)You think you’re so unsullied. How dare you sit there like some high queen dispensing her judgment on us. Don’t waste pity on Arast. If he’d been given the chance, he’d have raped you slowly and in ways you can’t even conceive of, then cut you into little pieces and fed you to his dogs. All except your head with your contorted fear permanently twisted on your pretty little face – that he would have sent home to your father as a present, but only after he’d been paid. And that’s nice compared to what he’d have done to Nykyrian. To what he’s done to Nykyrian in the past. (Syn)”

“(Nykyrian spun about at the sound, his blaster leveling at the body in the doorway.)Whoa. Friend! (He tapped his chest twice.) Really good guy. ‘Member me? (Syn)”

“Turn yourself over to Aksel, and I might let her go. (Arast)Yeah, right. And I’m a one-legged dung dealer. (Nykyrian)”

“And when it comes to questioning people, I have a lot more finesse than High King Let’s Beat The Shit Out Of Them Until They Answer Us. The nonviolent art of interrogating someone is totally lost on Kip. (Syn)”

“You got guts taking that tone with me. (Nykyrian)What you gonna do, oh great wounded one? I’m the one with the injector. (Syn)”

“But what they called him isn’t fit for mixed company and doesn’t bear repeating. Stupid fuckheads. (Hauk)”

“I hate over-privileged people in general. You just happen to fall into that category. No offense. But Nykyrian said you weren’t a total bitch so I’ll trust him until you make him out a liar. (Hauk)You seriously lack social skills, don’t you? (Kiara)”

“And you are? (Elfa)One of the reviewers who wrote that you were a piss-poor substitute for Kiara and that the entire system is saddened by the loss of her from the show. I was just telling her that if she doesn’t return soon and they leave your clumsy ass in, the show’ll be closing prematurely for sure. (Syn)You’re a pig! (Elfa)Oink, oink. (Syn)”

“I can tell you love him. (Syn)Yeah, like a boil in my nether regions. (Kiara)”

“Are you suggesting I’m not normal? (Nykyrian)Oh yeah, baby, you ooze normality. From the top of that assassin’s braid to the tip of those boots that I’m pretty sure conceal retractable blades. You’re just an average joe. No doubt about it. Cause, you know, everyone sits for hours doing nothing but typing. (Kiara)”

“Do people always act this way around you? (Kiara)You should have seen the reactions when I wore a League uniform. Those were actually comical. Except for the ones who lost control of their bowels. Then it was just messy. (Nykyrian)”

“Where did you find an Andarion? I’ve never seen one on Gouran before. Aren’t you afraid to be with him? (Sales woman)Why no, I’m not afraid. He’s already had his daily feeding. (Kiara)What do you feed him? (Sales woman)Babies. Lots and lots of babies. (Kiara)”

“So what’s your favorite Synism? (Kiara)Duwad. (Nykyrian)Which means? (Kiara)You’re not old enough for me to answer that. Hell, I’m not even old enough to say it. (Nykyrian)”

“Yeah. Kip gets to guard you and I get to house-sit. Life bites the big tee-tawa. (Syn)”

“(As she entered the main room, Syn turned around in his chair and almost fell out of it as he scanned her body. He cleared his throat and cut an appreciative look to Nykyrian.)Dayum…woman be hot. (Syn)”

“You’ve been downgraded from a thrill-kill to a simple bill-kill. (Nykyrian)Bill-kill? (Kiara)Kill you any way possible and send the bill in for payment. (Nykyrian)I can’t believe that someone’s life can be bartered and sold so easily. That it’s so common that there are even names for the different ways to take a person’s life. For torturing them? My God, what is wrong with you people? (Kiara)We’re not the ones who are sick, mu Tara. With us –the predators– you know what we’ll do and why we do it. What we’re capable of. We make no bones about it and we wear the uniform so that you can see us coming. The ones who are sickening are the cowards who masquerade as sheep. The ones who lull you into trusting them and smile at your face while they plot your downfall behind your back for any number of psychotic reasons. The friends who turn on you out of jealousy or greed. Who try to ruin you for no reason at all. They are the ones who should be put down. And they’re the ones who are truly sickening. (Nykyrian)”

“(Kiara having a sever panic attack.)Kiara? Hauk wears women’s underwear. (Nykyrian)Come again? (Kiara)Hauk wears women’s underwear. Pink and really girly. You know, one of those skimpy things that tucks into the crack of his fat ass. (Nykyrian)”

“So is there any part of you that’s not a lethal weapon? (Kiara)No. Even my wits are sharpened. (Nykyrian)”

“Just out of curiosity, how many weapons are in that thing? (Kiara)Enough to make me happy. (Nykyrian)”

“You want to live, right? (Syn)Absolutely. (Kiara)Then we’re where you are, bathroom breaks being the only exception – unless you’re in public, and then we get to risk additional arrest records. (Syn)”

“So I take it you guys are going to stay inside my flat and not out in the hallway like my father’s guards? (Kiara)You know that’s the most pathetic way to guard someone. (In a falsetto he added.) Please protect my life by being outside so that when they come in and kill me you can’t hear it. (Syn)”

“Put something in your stomach to absorb the alcohol before you spontaneously combust from the fumes. (Nykyrian)Yeah, it’d be a damn shame to blow my internal organs all over your new shirt.(Syn)”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re used to being told to go screw ourselves. And that’s from the people who actually like us. You should hear what our enemies say. (Nykyrian)”

“You have no idea how many times I’ve been barricaded inside a box in my life. I know it’s for my protection. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. (Kiara)”

“No, it was the brutal loss of his family that haunted him and for that Nykyrian couldn’t fault him at all. Syn had been put through a meat grinder by life. The fact that man could still get up and make it through a day without blowing his brains out amazed him.’ (Nykyrian)”

“There’s an old Ritadarion saying. You’re never more alive than when you walk hand in hand with death. (Syn)”

“Death is just a new beginning…at least in my religion. And extreme inebriation seriously helps. (Syn)”

“They won’t get you without getting us and believe me, we’re not about to make our enemies happy and die here. (Nykyrian)Damn straight. We have too many people to continue pissing off. (Syn)”

“You’ll survive, mu Tara. We’ll make sure of it. (Nykyrian)You can’t guarantee that. You said it yourself. Even you’re living on borrowed time, waiting for one of them to kill you. (Kiara)And you said I was scaring her? Damn, bud. You’re socially awkward to the extreme. (Syn)”

“Not to mention, we’re using you for bait. (Syn)Are you that drunk? (Nykyrian)What? I wasn’t supposed to tell her that? (Syn)I’m bait? (Kiara)No, you’re not bait. Ignore the alcoholic whose view of reality is distorted by his brain-damaged hallucinations. (Nykyrian)”

“(He took a drink of the juice and cursed.)What is this shit? Poison? (Syn)You can’t live on alcohol. (Nykyrian)Wanna bet? (Syn)Wanna die? Drink it and quit bitching. (Nykyrian)You know, you’re a little hairy to be my mother. (Syn)”

“Talon glanced wistfully at his drink as he debated what should take priority. 'Coffee… Daimons… Coffee… Daimons…”

“Syn has a brain disorder that causes him to lie most of the time. Ignore him. (Nykyrian)”

“I’ll check on you when I get home. I love you, baby. (Kiefer)I love you too, Daddy. (Kiara)What the hell was that action? (Syn)I think it’s something called ‘paternal concern.’ (Nykyrian)What…? You sure? I thought that crap was a myth. (Syn)No, really. I watched it once in a documentary. It was fascinating. Believe it or not, there are people out there who actually have feelings for their progeny. (Nykyrian)Get the fuck out. No way. You’re screwing with my head again, aren’t you? (Syn)No, I swear. You just saw it with your own eyes. I did not make that shit up. (Nykyrian)Yeah but it’s really messing with my concept of the natural order of the universe. Paternal love? What’s next? Limb regrowth? Genetic splicing reversals? (Syn)”

“You travel with a whetstone on your arm? (Kiara)You don’t ever want to kill someone with a dull knife. It takes too long to sever their arteries, or puncture organs, and it makes it even messier than normal. (Nykyrian)”

“Fifty dorcas they’re setting up an ambush near my ship. (Nykyrian)No bet. I know they are. They’re too stupid to not be obvious and predictable. Gah, I hate abiding by the law. Too bad you can’t slaughter them where they stand. (Syn)”

“I’ll kill her, freak. (Pitala)Then I’ll kill you and laugh while I do it. Either way it’s no real sweat off my balls. Release her and you can at least walk away alive. But that’s not a standing offer. Make your mind up quick before I kill you just for getting me out on a night when I’d rather be at home doing needlework. (Nykyrian)”

“Not to mention, it’d be worth guarding her just for the eye candy alone – sheez, can you imagine being around that day in and day out. Wonder if she sleeps naked…Bet she showers that way. Every day even. Think about it. I’ll even bet she’s naked underneath her clothes. (Syn)”

“All I did was go to sleep. There shouldn’t be anything safer than that. (Kiara)Spoken like a true civilian. Trust me, princess, that’s the most dangerous thing anyone does…Well, that, and go to the can. (Nykyrian)”

“What if one of her father’s soldiers panicked and fired for no reason? Though pilots were carefully trained, mistakes happened and she didn’t want to be included in a statistics report under “uh-oh, my bad.”’ (Kiara)”

“You know, your sarcasm isn’t appreciated right now. I’ve been drugged, beaten, nearly raped, saved, drugged again, hijacked, and now threatened by you. Tell me, what else should I look forward to? Torture, or just a good maiming? (Kiara)”

“Yo, dumbass. What do you think she’d be doing with them? Giving them ballet lessons? (Darling)Tell me again why I can’t kill him? (Hauk)You’re afraid of handling explosives. (Nykyrian)One day I’m going to get over that and when I do…(Hauk)I’ll wisely stop annoying you. (Darling)”

“Life was brutal and it made victims of everyone.’ (Nykyrian)”

“I would have, had someone not detonated their charges prematurely. (Nykyrian)Yeah, Cruel. You have to watch that premature detonation problem of yours. (Hauk)”

“Hauk wanted me to tell you that the next time he says run, we should leave the vics on board and get the hell out. I tend to agree. (Syn)You were the one who didn’t run. (Nykyrian)Oh yeah, that was me, wasn’t it? Since when do you listen to me anyway? I’m an idiot. (Syn)”

“Where are you going? (Nykyrian)To get a drink and kill Cruel…not necessarily in that order. (Syn)”