“What I think I'll do,' Alcide said, 'is I'll do my best to yank Debbie from my roots. And then I'll turn up at your doorstep, one day when you least expect it, and I'll hope by then you will have given up on your vampire." "And then we'll be happy ever after?" I smiled. He nodded.”

“What I think I'll do is I'll do my best to yank Debbie out of me by the roots. And then I'll turn up on your doorstep, one day when you least expect it, and I'll hope by then you will have given up on your vampire.”

“I'll show up at every classroom open house and teacher conference,' she said, now in a voice that was almost frightening in its intensity. 'I'll bake brownies. My child will have new clothes. Her shoes will fit. She'll get her shots, and she'll get her braces. We'll start a college fund next week. I'll tell her I love her every damn day.'If that wasn't a great plan for being a good mother, I couldn't imagine what a better one could be.”

“I'M SCARED I'LL SHOOT MY NEIGHBOR BY ACCIDENT IF I SEE HIM TROTTING DOWN THE ROAD, SAID A FARMER IN KANSAS, WHAT IF HE GETS AFTER MY CHICKENS?”

“I looked up into Eric's eyes. Incredibly, he was excited. He smiled at me. "I knew I'd get on top of you somehow," he said."Are you trying to make me mad so I'll forget how scared I am?" "No, I'm just opportunistic."I wiggled, trying to get out from under him, and he said, "Oh, do that again. It felt great.”

“Glass shattered, vampires roared, humans screamed. The noise battered at me, just as the tidal wave of scores of brains at high gear washed over me. When it began to taper off, I looked up into Eric's eyes. Incredibly, he was excited. He smiled at me. "I knew I'd get on top of you somehow," he said.Are you trying to make me mad so I'll forget how scared I am?"No, I'm just opportunistic."I wiggled, trying to get out from under him, and he said, "Oh, do that again. It felt great.”

“Bill, what's your favorite fantasy?" I asked. Weirdly enough, I felt much better after designing all these happy endings.Bill glanced over at me quizzically. We were almost to my house. "My favorite fantasy? You come down into my daytime resting place stark naked," he said. I could see the gleam of his teeth as he smiled. "Oh wait," Bill said. "That's already happened.""There's gotta be more to it," I said. Then I could have bitten off my tongue."Oh, there is." His eyes told me exactly what happened after that."And that's your fantasy? That I come into your house naked and have sex with you?""After that, you tell me that you have sent Eric on his way, that you want to be with mine forever, and that to share my life you will permit me to make you a vampire like me."The silence now was thick, and the fun had drained out of the fantasy.Then Bill added, "You know what I'd say when you told me this? I'd tell you I would never do such a thing. Because I love you.”