“For a moment he wondered, again, if he should just give it all up. Perhaps he should go back to Italy, back to his hiding place. What made him think that he could rejoin the world of daylight?But he was tired of living in shadows. He was tired of the darkness, and of the things that lived in it. Most of all, he was tired of being alone.”

“He put an arm around his brother to help him up. And then, for a moment, he just held on.”

“And if he left me of his own free will, then he should get ready for the bitch-slapping of his life.”

“Elena smiled and he had to smile back, at first just a quirk of the lip, and then a full smile. She was…Damn it, she was everything. Witty, enchanting, brave, smart…and beautiful. And he knew that his eyes were saying all that and that she wasn’t turning away.”

“I wasn't afraid to die. But, as odd as it was after our years of fighting, I was afraid to live in a world without Damon. My brother was callous, rude, and destructive. And yet he had saved me on more than one occasion during our time in London. He was the one on whom I could count when no one else could be trusted. He was all I had.”

“No, I'll dream another dream," he said. "I've made up so many things, now I'll just go into one. I'll be part of it.”

“Looks like Faye's doing a little extracurricular activity," a voice behind her murmured, and Cassie turned gratefully. Nick nodded at the guy who was occupying the seat there, and the guy scrambled up and left. Cassie hardly noticed the occurrence, it was so common. The kids from Crowhaven Road indicated what they wanted, and the outsiders gave it to them. Always. It was the way things worked.Nick sat in the vacated chair and took out a pack of cigarettes. He opened it,shook one forward. Then he noticed Cassie.Cassie was staring at him with her eyebrows lifted, her best Diana expression on. Disapproval radiating from her like heat waves."Ah," Nick said. He glanced at the cigarettes, then at her again. He tapped the protruding cigarette back into place and tucked the pack in his pocket."Bad habit," he said.”