“..., It'd taken her several seconds to react to the sight of them together. She'd been almost hypnotized by the scene as Lothaire drank. Chase's masculine face had been tense, his gray eyes focused on the ground. Lothaire's face had been starkly beautiful, his pale blond hair brushing Chase's shoulder.Light and dark. One terrible, one tragic.And Lothaire had been... hard. "Oh, gods!" She cried as she ran back along the trail. Hot poker for my eyes! Hot poker!”

“Five houses?” Lothaire had sneered, cutting Trehan off. “You all live under one roof now. Mine. Because I’m the king of the castle.” Then his red eyes had grown vacant, and he’d begun muttering about “Lizvetta’s lingerie.”Trehan had been … underwhelmed by the Enemy of Old’s attention span.”

“This twilight, Lothaire was holding court.He sat upon his gilded throne, decoratedwith gold-dipped skulls. His design. If he’d had a queen, her throne would have been similar. Of course, her skulls would be daintier.”

“Then realization had dawned. "Oh, my God, you're the one who hurt Davis, the boy I was with. You saw us together, and you threw him down a gully. He broke both of his legs!""He lived?" Gaze narrowing, Lothaire had murmured, "Not for much Longer.”

“Hate Scars. I'm physically flawless-why can't everyone be? Everywhere Lothaire went, people stopped and stared. Of course, then they usually ran. Lothair Enemy of Old”

“Lothaire is very much alive.”“You swear?”“Often. Though not as much as foul-mouthed Regin. I try not to in front of Bertil.” She petted the bat.“I meant—will Lothaire live?”“He will.”

“Lothaire briefly gazed heavenward. "Chase is clearly a reluctant sharer. Which should incite her curiosity about what's going on in his head. She's a disgustingly self-righteous Valkyrie, filled with the need to fix things, to right wrongs. If anything needed fixing ..." He waved a hand to indicate Declan from head to toe. "As wrong as he can be.”