Tessa Gratton

“Water be wine,” I said, not thinking and distracted by the surge of magic. “Tears of the heavens, become fruit of the vine.”I felt more than saw Silla and Reese hesitate.But I kept going. “Water be wine. Water be wine. Blood from my body, the power is mine. Water be wine.”With a silent clap of energy, the entire bowl of water transformed into dark wine.”

“As Mab explains to Will why using magic has to hurt...."Think about guns. If it hurt you to shoot a gun, don't you think people would think harder about when and where and why they did it?”

“I am Josephine Darly, and I intend to live forever.”

“I held up my hands. 'I thought you could use a punching bag.' See, this is me, the new and improved Nick Pardee, available to girlfriends and crazy people in their time of need.”

“[We] stared at each other. It was intensely surreal. Four people in a country kitchen, plotting bloody magic. With a psycho, body-snatching murderer stalking us through flocks of birds.”

“And just like that she was crying. I felt a little like That Guy who holds a baby at arm's length because he's afraid it's going to pee on him.”

“I thought about ... our kind being killed, but I am not concerned. I have real power - no one could keep me chained, because my blood can transform iron into water. I could walk through walls if I needed, and now - now I know I can throw my mind into another's, and how easy, then, would it be to unlock any cage? We are invincible, Philip and I. Like unto God. Or the Devil.”

“When I arrived at the graveyard, Silla and her brother were sitting together snacking on cookies. They both wore jeans and sweaters and had blood on their foreheads. Like a gruesome splotch jerking you out of an otherwise pastoral scene. That happened to be a cemetery. Okay, it was all pretty gruesome.”

“We three just stared. I thought of Macbeth's witches huddled around their cauldron. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags. What is't you do?A deed without a name.We were as quiet as the gravestones around us.”

“By lunchtime, the glitter was flaking off my mask. Three pearls dropped off and rolled down the tiled hallway.”

“She was asleep. In my car.I stood next to the passenger side for a minute, looking down at her. The sun made her skin seem translucent and bloodless. For a moment, it didn't matter why I was falling in love with her. Just that I was.”

“I looked back at Eric. I hated that his eyes were closed. Like Josephine wasn't really paying attention to me. But she had so many other eyes. Rat eyes. Fox eyes. Crow eyes. "Josephine. Tell me why you want the spell book. Why does any of that matter if all we ever need is blood?""You want to talk philosophy, Silla? Right now?" Eric's eyes snapped open and his fingers twitched.”

“I grinned, and a burst of shocked laughter shoved out of me. I'd done it! I'd beaten that bitch, and could see again. I'd won. With only my blood.I climbed to my feet, cradling my throbbing hand against my stomach, and looked out over the cemetery.The first real thing I saw was Silla, stumbling toward me. Her hands left scarlet prints on every headstone she touched.”

“Girl surrounded by flowersTechnicolor kissFor all the night's lengthy hoursI'll miss...”