“Everything good in there, T? Niko quipped. You need backup or anything? Bag of marshmallows to roast over that little campfire you just started?”

“By the blasé flatness of Tegan’s expression as he approached, he might as well have just come back from taking a piss. “Everything good in there, T?” Niko quipped. “You need back up or anything? Bag of marshmallows to roast over that little campfire you just started?”“It’s handled.”“No shit”

“Renata reached out for the gun nearest to her and a full magazine of rounds. She had the weapon loaded, locked and ready for action in three seconds flat. Niko had never seen anything sexier in his life.”

“I’ll admit it to you now, and to anyone, anytime. I need you, Elise. I love you. You are mine. My woman, my mate, my beloved. My everything.”

“You would quit the Order for her? Niko asked, the youngest only behind Dante, and a warrior who relished his duty perhaps even more than Dante had himself. I would quit breathing for her, if she asked it of me.”

“I'm honored to assist", Reichen told Lucan and Tegan as the three men loaded the last of the bags and weaponry. "I've often wondered what it might be like to stand among the Order as one of your own." "Be careful what you wish for", Lucan drawled. "Depending how things go, theres a good chance we could end up knighting you on the field.”

“What did Mira show your attacker last week? he asked, desperate to turn the attention away from himself now. Yakut shrugged. Only he can know. The girl has no knowledge of what her eyes reflect. Thank God for that. Niko hated to think of the education she might have just gotten otherwise.”