“I want a simple, ordinary life . . . like humans enjoy.”

“I wanted to know how humans came up with a view of the world that had so little magic in it. I needed to understand how they convinced themselves that magic wasn’t important.”

“Yes, I see that you are behaving like a prince but that doesn't mean you won't behave like a devil at the first opportunity.”

“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.”

“I saw the logic that they used, and the death of a thousand cuts as experimental scientists slowly chipped away at the belief that the world was an inexplicably powerful, magical place. Ultimately they failed, though. The magic never really went away. It waited, quietly, for people to return to it when they found the science wanting.”

“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.”