“You're a vampire." I laughed."Half," he came back, as if there was a huge difference. "My father wasn't a vampire. He was a Lamarliere. I'm not some three-hundred-year-old pervert who kisses teenage girls, okay? I'm the same age as you. Born just like you.”

“I’m not some three-hundred-year-old pervert who kisses teenage girls, okay?”

“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.”

“I thought you weren't supposed to open Pandora's Box."He shrugged. "Wouldn't know about that. Probably just a myth."I lifted an eyebrow. "Really. Just a myth," I said in a flat tone, and waved a hand at him. "Says the warlock vampire to the gorgon."A slow grin drew his lips apart. "I see your point.”

“The fact that students passed him by in uniform and he was standing there in torn jeans and faded old concert T-shirt made me smile. The rebel in me could totally relate.I stopped in front of him. "They're not going to let you stay in school dressed like that. I got a huge lecture for wearing a black shirt the other day."He glanced my outfit, which didn't really diverge from my normal fashion, and arched an eyebrow. Black cargo pants, white tank, grey zip-up hoodie, with a blade strapped to my thigh and a dagger in my boot."What? Pants are black. Shirt is white. Blade stays." I grinned wider. "Because I'm special.”

“I don't want blood to rule my life like it does some. Once you take it, it's like a drug." He stared out the window to the masked revelers in the courtyard. "Warm, rich, never enough."I nodded, fidgeting with my mask. "Kind of like chocolate." I tried to hold in my grin. Casey always said I had a weird sense of humour that came at the oddest times.He blinked before bursting into laughter. He had the nicest laugh and the most incredible smile I'd ever seen. It lit his grey eyes and sliced attractive little dimples into his cheeks. "Yeah. I guess it is like chocolate.”

“I laughed in disbelief, the sharp sound rebounding down the corridor, the echo eventually replaced by the flat, continuous drip of water against stone. First vampires, witches, and shape-shifters. And now this.This is what Alice must have felt like when she tumbled down the rabbit hole.”