“With Stefan, the line between good and evil, right and wrong, becomes increasingly blurred.”

“Because, my dear Eric, I have tasted the secret knowledge. I know how much to say and when to pull back. I know what to see and not see. And now that I have become whole again, I can never go back. All these things he has given me. Better than my supposed mother and father ever could. For that, I owe him my life and allegiance.”

“If I were pressed, I would admit that she was beautiful, in a dead bride sort of way.”

“I’d go to hell and back and cut off the devil’s head myself to save you.”

“Death stalked toward us on padded feet.       And it was not alone.”

“His character is like an emerald—multifaceted and enhanced by inclusions.”

“Thirteen years of friendship had bonded us together more thoroughly than if we had been born of the same mother. Even at this late stage, I was unwilling to let him go.”