“I thought you'd like it," he said, seeming hurt. "You look very pretty.”

“He is the dark prince. The all-powerful one. The leader of the creatures of the night." Then Meena said, "I'm confused then. I thought the prince of darkness was the devil."[......]"Wait," Meena said, blinking. " Are you saying.....""Yes," Alaric said. "That is exactly what I'm saying."Jon looked blank. "I don't understand. Is he the devil or not?""Lucien Antonescu," Alaric said. "is a vampire. Not just any vampire, but the ruler of all vampires.”

“This was something you had to work through on you own," Jason said. "Besides, I knew you'd do the right thing.""Oh, right," I said. I wanted to throw something at him. I really did. "And if I hadn't?"Now Jason brandished something he'd been holding behind his back. It was a golf club."I figured Big Bertha here would drive them away," he said.”

“I hope you’re not planning on kicking me,” he said,not even bothering to look up from his book, “as hardas you did those doors.”“I will,” I said, “if the next words out of your mouthare Pierce, you just need to relax.”

“I thought if you wore that, no matter what face you saw every morning in the mirror," he said in his deep voice, "you'll never forget who you really are."My eyes filling with tear, I held my hand out across the tabletop. He grasped my fingers, his grip strong and reassuring."As if I ever could," I said, my voice clogged with emotion, "with you around to remind me.”

“Good," he said. "We need to talk." Suddenly, I didn't feel so relaxed anymore. Talk? What does he want to talk about? The part where I nearly died? I didn't want to talk about that. Because the fact is, that whole part, the part where I nearly died, well, I nearly died trying to save him. Seriously. I was hoping he hadn't noticed, but I could tell by the look on his face that he totally had. Noticed, I mean. And now he wanted to talk about it. But how could I talk about it? Without letting it slip? The L word, I mean. "You know what?" I said, very fast. "I don't want to talk. Is that okay? I really, really don't want to talk. I am all talked out. Jesse lifted Spike of his lap and put him on the floor. Then he stood up. What was he doing? I wondered. What was he doing? I took a deep breath, and kept talking about not talking. "I'm just--Look," I said as he took a step toward me. "I'm just going to give CeeCee a call and maybe we'll go to the beach or something, because really...I just need a day off." Another step forward. Now he was right in front of me. "Especially," I said, significantly, looking up at him, "from talking. That's especially what I need a day off from. Talking." "Fine," he said. He reached up and cupped my face in both hands. "We don't have to talk." And that's when he kissed me. On the lips.”

“This resentment you feel toward Father Henrique is another example," Holtzman said. "What did the man ever do to you? Nothing. So he botched that exorcism. It was his first one. He was young. Do you know what I did at my first exorcism?""Ran," Alaric said at the same time as his boss."Thats exactly right," Holtzman went on. "Its extremely frightening to look into the face of evil for the first time.""Not," Alaric said, "as frightening as looking into the face of a man who has willing taken a vow of chastity.”