“It means black kitten," I said with my pulse almost even again.Ares studied me. "And you're ok with them calling you their black kitten?""They're wererats, Ares," I said.He frowned at me."They're not calling me their little black rat. Think it through.”

“Rafael, the Rat King, stared at the carnage with black-button eyes. "She is dead.""Ding dong, the witch is dead,”

“It's that you're not outraged that someone's trying to kill you. Your just accept it, almost like it's normal. It isn't normal""Assassins aren't normal, even for me, Richard" I said. "Just vampires, zombies, and werewolves" he said. I smiled. "Yeah.”

“You're enjoying this, aren't you?"I'd feel better if I could guard your back."You're going to do that with a rifle from the closest hill, remember."Night vision and scope, fine, but I can't kill them all from a distance."You couldn't kill them all if you were johnny on the spot, either," I said.No but I'd feel better."Worried about me?" He shrugged.I'm your bodyguard. If you die under my protection, the other bodyguards will make fun of me." It took me a second to realize he was making a joke. Harley looked back at him with an almost surprised look. I don't think either of us heard humor from Edward much.”

“Asher was a vampire. How much more dangerous could he be with a gun? But I couldn't do it. "Let me test my understanding. Is Asher going to ride in the car with us to the meeting?"I must to give you directions," Asher said.Then lean against the Jeep." He frowned at me in an amused, condescending sort of way. Excuse me?"I don't care if you're the second coming of the Antichrist, you can't sit behind me in my own car until I know you're not carrying a weapon." Asher smiled briliantly at both of us, flashing fang....I could rip you into pieces with my bare hands, and you're worried I have a gun?" He chuckled, a low, skin-prickling sound. "That is so very cute.”

“I could have just said I'm good at my job, but I didn't. Didn't want the police thinking I was holding out information when I wasn't. "I've got one advantage over a normal homicide detective, I expect it to be a monster. No one ever calls me in if it's just a stabbing, or a hit-and-run. I don't spend a lot of time trying to come up with nice, normal explanations. It means I get to ignore a lot of theories.”

“My purse, like all purses, seems to have a traveling black hole in it.”