“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.”

“She murmured, "You're unfinished.""Aye, precisely.""I need to go."When she moved to get up, he shoved her against his side and slapped her arse to keep her there. "You stay with me."She snapped, "What do you want from me, Chase?"He drew his head back in confusion. "I want everything. You're mine, Regin.”

“He can learn things about me through your blood. Can learn about my sister!" She briefly covered her mouth. "He can see everything we've done! I don't want that leech to know what we do in private."Lothaire strolled up, making a scoffing sound. "As if I don't watch you two live from a distance.”

“Nix and Lothaire:When the collar dropped to the ground, Lothaire rolled his head on his neck. But instead of disappearing immediately, he traced to stand mere feet from Nïx.A towering vampire with skin like marble and chillingly flawless features was staring down a petite Valkyrie with crazed eyes and a cryptic smile.The tension between the two was palpable. Even on the verge of flipping the fuck out, Regin couldn’t look away.“The Accession grinds on, does it not?” Lothaire said.“Just like old times.” Nïx winked. “Alas, Dorada will come for you once she rises again.”“I’ll be ready.” He narrowed his red eyes. “You’ve likely foreseen this moment. Tell me, are we to fight now? As in the past?”“You defy foresight, Lothaire.”“That’s only fair, Phenïx, since you’ve long defied insight.” Phenïx?Nïx canted her head. “What does your Endgame tell you?”“That white queen will never take black king.” He gave her a formal bow. “Until our next match.”“There won’t be a next match, vampire.”His brow creased into a frown, the Enemy of Old disappeared.”

“Declan and Regin:"Kiss you?" As he waited for the revulsion to seize him, he found himself wondering how she would react. Would she moan into his mouth?"It will help you remember me. Kiss me. Come on, you know you want to so bad. You want me so bad.""Never." Bloody get off her, get away from her. But he needed to be above her like this, to master her, overpower her."Never? That boner of yours just called you a lair.”

“..., 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!”

“Vampire females are as good as extinct.”Thad was aghast. “No females?”Natalya patted his shoulder. “You can date other species, Tiger. Don’t you worry. I’ve already thought of some ladies to relieve you of your big V. One’s a nymph—”“Over my dead body,” Regin said. “Two-bit hookers, every one of them.”Thad scratched his head. “Mr. Lothaire said every male needed a purring nymph or two chained to the foot of hisbed. As pets.”Natalya gasped. “All right, lad, no more talking to Lothaire.”