Thea Harrison

“The feeling was a sword thrust as deep as anything he had ever felt, piercing through his body. It seemed like he had been falling for a very long while, and each time he realized it, he had fallen a little deeper, a little further. He had never known that falling in love could be as helpless and complete as this.”

“My give-a-shit button's broken, baby," Rune said.”

“He really did demolish me. I don’t know who that hellcat slut was that tore up grass and screwed her brains out. I don’t know who I am anymore”.Pia Giovanni”

“If you die, I will find you.I will never leave you.I will never let you go.I will not let you fall, or fail. I will always come for you if you leave, always find you if you're lost. Always.”

“I take it back," Rune said. "You're not an utter heroine. You're a drama queen.”

“Just wait until you see what I can do with the fancy stuff, like a bed.”

“Did you kill the Fae horses?”The whuffling stopped. Dragos said in a cautious voice, “Was I not supposed to?”She shrugged. “It just wasn’t their fault.”“If it helps any, I was hungry and ate one.”

“His massive head tilted. He regarded her with a gaze made tranquil by the bright sun and the limitless sky.She said in wonder, "You are the riddle.""Of course I am," said the gryphon.”

“You could try to surrender to the experience and let change happen.""Change or die?" she said."Yes. Change or die.""You might have noticed, I don't do surrender very well,”

“Oh my God, not only is he older than the Grand Canyon, but he’s like the pope and the Fae King and the president of the United States all rolled up into one. To some ancient cultures he had been a god. He was going to hurt her so bad before he killed her so dead, and all she could think of was how hot his kiss had been in the dream and how delicate the touch of his finger was as it traced down her body.”

“I have taken exactly what I wanted," he whispered in her ear. "I will have every part of you, until I live with you underneath your skin.”

“If you fail somehow--if you die--I will search for a way to walk through time to find you. No matter where you are. No matter when. I swear it.' [Rune to Carling]”

“Wouldn't it be better if the Elves would just shut up and go away? Hey, what if they stopped throwing a fit at you walking across their backyard. It's not like you ate their tulips or dug holes in their lawn. You didn't piss on any trees when I wasn't looking, did you?" The thundercloud that had darkened his face broke apart. He laughed. "I would have if I'd thought about it.”

“The harpy’s eyes were wide with wonder. “So that’s Adriyel. No wonder it’s famous in poems and shit.”

“He poisoned her with affection and compassion, and he taught her what it meant to play again. He gave her hope and tore down her past, all with a fierce laugh in those remarkable eyes. He had already taken her soul on an impossible moonlit flight. She might as well give him her shredded, useless heart too, since she hadn’t been using it all these years.”

“She had to admit, she was impressed. Not that she was going to commence praising on cue. The eagle in him was perfectly capable of preening his own feathers.”

“But it was kind of a major clue when a lady ran away from a bloke.That said something, it did. That was a signpost that read: approach with caution. Falling rock up ahead. Handle with care. You’ve come so far with her, much further than you ever thought you’d get. Don’t fucking blow it now, son. That signpost was one of the busiest he had ever laid eyes on. It had a hell of a lot of text. He figured pausing to read all of that was a good thing.”

“All that time she had worked in the acquisition of Power. All that time she had been ruled by ambition. All those centuries that she had lived in such a vast yet fleeting journey, and here he was holding everything she had reached for, not striving, not continually learning to be better, not fighting to acquire any of it. He just was, the mysterious, magical rune, the riddle of a creature that nature decreed should not be able to exist, and yet he did.”

“Trying to care about that,” he said. He cocked his head and widened his eyes. “Huh. I guess I’m not managing it.”

“Maybe it was time to get cute. Her lower lip stuck out and her forehead wrinkled. In a small uncertain voice, she said, “Sowwy?”

“Pia, you’re a bitch. Thank you.”

“Get back over here so I can smack you.” “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”

“Do you know how irritating you are?” she said. “Because if you don’t, I’ve got time.”

“He gagged and spat the mouthful out on the carpet. He glared at the bottle. “Bubble gum–flavored vodka? Bubble gum?”

“A dragon just gave me a piece of jewelry,” she said. She took another swig and handed the bottle back to Graydon. “Have I been added to his hoard?”He shook his head and drank too. “No, cupcake,” he said. “I’m pretty sure you’ve replaced it.”

“I’m busy, you’re busy, everybody’s busy. I’ve got a lot I want to say to you, though.” “All right,” Pia told her. “Hit me with it.” “First, I’m so sorry about what my uncle Urien did to you guys. I hate him, he killed my family, and we’re going to cut off his head, and then I have to be Queen, but before that happens let’s do lunch, okay?”

“She called me ‘my lady,’ ” she told him in a plaintive voice. “I don’t know who that is. I’m no lady.” The last of his fury faded away to be replaced with a quick gleam. He peered under the sheet. “I can attest to that.”

“Payback was a beautiful bitch. She was also a good friend of his, and they were just getting started.”

“He stared at her neck. Realization pulsed. He was looking at the bite he had given her. A hard length was growing against her hip. “So, is that your long, scaly, reptilian tail, or are you just happy to see me?” No, she did not just say that. Did she?”

“I’m sorry, the message said.The theft was a violation of privacy. It was an unbelievable act of impudence and disrespect. Not only that, it was—baffling. He was murderous, incandescent with fury. He was older than sin and could not remember when he had last been in such a rage.He looked at the paper again.I’m sorry I had to take your penny. Here’s another to replace it.Yep, that’s what it said.One corner of his mouth twitched. He gave himself a deep shock when he burst into an explosive guffaw.”

“I am not a piece of property, damn it!""But you are in my possession."She enunciated, "I think you are a lunatic.""Since you are too, that works well enough." His mouth curled into a smile.”

“I am cursed with a terminal case of curiosity," he said. "I am jealous, selfish, acquisitive, territorial and possessive. I have a terrible temper, and I know I can be a cruel son of a bitch." He cocked his head. "I used to eat people, you know.”

“I think you’re my hero,' she said. Only half-kidding.He stared at her, the picture of incredulity. 'Most people,' he said, 'think I am a very bad man.'She studied his eyes to try to find out if that bothered him. He didn’t seem bothered by them. He seemed discomfited by her. 'Well,' she said at last, 'maybe you’re a very good dragon.”

“It sucked so bad she might as well put a gun to her head and pull the trigger. Except she didn’t own a gun because she didn’t like them. Besides, pulling the trigger on a gun was pretty final. She had issues with commitment and she was so freaking dead anyway, so why bother.”

“Pia was blackmailed into committing a crime more suicidal than she could possibly have imagined, and she had no one to blame but herself.”

“Buck up,” she whispered to him. “Don’t be such a wuss.”

“She had to work to find her outrage again. When she did, it was whimpering in delight.”

“I love you. I didn't want to. I fought it. I put up barriers, and they all came crashing down one by one. It wasn't just one thing. It was everything you did, both here in the present and back in the past. It's everything you were, and everything you are. So I just fucking love you, and you are going to have to fucking deal with it. You got that?”

“How like a male. Pull out some tools and start banging on something, and they flocked in from miles around. She pushed her hair out of her face with the back of one hand and scowled at him. "I am perfectly capable of breaking it down myself.""Of course you are," he told her smiling. "That's not what I said. I said may I help?”

“I like pink lipstick…and pretty shoes..... Much to my surprise, I find that I do too.”

“Oh, I don’t want to pat you on the head Faerie....I want to f*ck your mouth”

“Don’t pull that manipulative sex kitten shit on me”…”but what if I am a manipulative sex kitten shit?”

“He had looked so crazy, sexy. No, monstrous. No, sexy. Oh damn.”

“He took her dress in both hands and tore it from neckline to hem.”

“There are plastic bags with zippers on them. I've seen them in commercials," Dragos said to her. He snapped his fingers, trying to remember the name. "You put food in them.""Ziploc bags?" she asked in a cautious voice.He pointed at her. "Yes. I want one.”