“You need me, just whistle," he said as he arranged his ball cap over his eyes against the sun leaking through the frost-emptied branches."You're not coming?"Lifting the brim of his cap, he eyed me, "You want me to?" he asked blandly."Not really, no."He dropped the brim and laced his hands over his middle. "Then why are you bitching? It's a crime scene, not a grocery store.”

“Ready, Rachel? I’d like your opinion on the lab that was broken into.” His eyes flicked past us to the closed nursery door before coming back to us, his smile fading as he noticed Ceri’s tension. I was such a coward. “You want me to look at a crime scene? That’s a switch,” I said”

“And yes, I came over here fully intending to seduce you." He lifted his head and whispered in my ear, "It's what I'm good at. Just like you're good at evading demons and kicking ass.""Kicking ass?" I questioned as he dropped his head back to the arm of the couch. His hand was exploring again, and I didn't want to move."Yeah," he said, and I jumped as he found a ticklish spot. "I like a woman who takes care of herself.""Not much of a white knight on a horse, huh?"He raised one eyebrow. "Oh, I could," he said. "But I'm a lazy son of a bitch.”

“How did you find me?" he said, anger creasing his brow.I pushed his hair back to run a finger over the scar Al had given him. "How do you think? He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake."From the corner, Al shifted his tune. "So be good, or I'll rip your fucking head off”

“I'd give anything if you'd kiss me." I said. "I mean," I said when he tilted his head to look at me, his eyes wide in shock, "I've kissed guys before. It's like a handshake these days," I lied, just wanting to know what his lips on mind would feel like. "Almost required if you're leaving.”

“I thought Trent should get over his pixy paranoia and admit he had an eerie attraction to them, like every other pure-blood elf I’d met. So he liked pixies. I liked double-crunch ice cream, but you didn’t see me avoiding it in the grocery store.”

“Come work for me, and I’ll tell you.”My eyes went to his. “You are a thief, a cheat, a murderer, and a not-nice man,” I said calmly. “I don’t like you.”He shrugged, the motion making him look utterly harmless. “I’m not a thief,” he said. “And I don’t mind manipulating you into working for me when I need it.” He smiled, showing me perfect teeth. “I enjoy it, actually.”