“Whatever it was, it was something you could dance to, or lie down on the floor, close your eyes, and weep to.”

“Thanks to Bruce and Casey, I could operate six different firearms, drop a two-hundred-pound asshole to the floor in three seconds, and cuff a perp with one hand tied behind my back.And they called it "family time.”

“How's your scratch, Henri?" I asked.He snorted and leaned against the dresser. "You mean the shotgun blast in my side? It's wonderful. I have about eighty pellet-size scars to show for it.""Dude," Dub said, plopping down in one of the chairs, "Who gets shot with their own gun? Embarrassing, if you ask me."Henri gave Dub's chair a hard shove with his foot. Dub laughed, and Henri rolled his eyes.”

“His interest in you is merely rebellion. You are different. Forbidden. Something he knows is wrong." Her dark eyes traveled over my features. "He sees beauty now, is lured by it, even though he knows what lies beneath is evil. So intriguing, this flirting with danger." She flicked a glance at the jar. "Pandora was the same way, you know? A deceptive package. The Greek writers called her Kalon Kakon, a beautiful evil. It won't be long before you destroy those around you, just like she did."My fists clenched hard. "And if that happens, Josephine, if I turn into a monster, I'll be coming for you first, and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop me.”

“Athena came into focus. She stood at my feet, looking down at me with a pleased expression. "He's mine now," she practically purred.I started laughing. "Grow up, Athena. Or get a therapist. Maybe there's a psychotic bitches support group you could join.”

“Yes, tell us, Ari. Tell us what you have seen."Athena.Dead flowers and flashing emerald beads threaded through her tangled, upswept hair. A hard swallow went down down my throat, followed by a tightening of every muscle I possessed. All the emotions of my vision boiled over, as fresh and furious as they'd been a few moments ago. "You should know, you petty piece of shit.”

“He's such a jerk," I said, wanting to rant. "If I'm going to go gaga for some guy, it'll be because I want to, not because some asshat is helping me along."God how lame was that? Just shut up, Ari. Before you embarrass yourself even more."Well, just for the record...forcing a girl to go all gaga for me isn't my style." He paused, his tone doing nothing to hide his amusement. "I like the gaga to be natural."I rolled my eyes and took off at a jog before he could see that my face had gone straight past hot to volcanic.”