“Desire urges me on as fear bridles me" Bruno.”

“As far as I can tell there are only two emotions that keep the world spinning year after year...One is fear. The other is desire.”

“That evening, rowing on the quiet river as sunset turned to dusk, I saw an occasional smoky smudge on the towpath, always slightly ahead of me, like a dark star guiding me home.”

“Are you smelling me?” After yesterday I suspected that my body was giving him all kinds of information I didn't want him to have.“Don't tempt me,” he murmured.”

“there’s nothing more powerful than human fear—not magic, not vampire strength. Nothing.”

“Matthew kept hinting that his desire - for blood, chiefly- was so strong that it put everything else at risk. But vampires weren’t the only creatures who had to manage such strong impulses. Much of what qualified as magic was simply desire in action. Witchcraft was different- that took spells and rituals. But magic? A wish, a need, a hunger too strong to be denied- these could turn into deeds when they cross a witch’s mind.”

“My experiences thus far had me planning to throttle the first Tudor historian I met upon my return for gross dereliction of duty.”