“Silver nitrate and water in a super soaker," he told her. "My own invention. Ought to be good at twenty feet, kind of like wasp spray."Oh. "You get me the nicest things.""Anybody can get jewelry. Posers”

“Getting two-inch silver chain chokers around the neck of a guy, especially Shane, proved to be more of a problem.Shane held the jewelry at arm's length, dangling it like a dead rat. "No way in hell am I caught dead or alive wearing that.""Oh, come on, just this once," Eve said. "Protects your neck. As in your arteries and veins? That's kind of crucial, right?""Thanks for the thought, but it doesn't go with my shoes.”

“Are you armed?" Oliver asked her.She glanced down at her backpack and instantly, instinctively held back. "No.""Lie to me again and I'll put you out on the street and do this myself."Claire swallowed. "Uh, yeah.""With what?""Silver-coated stakes, wooden stakes, a crossbow, about ten bolts . . . oh, and a squirt gun with some silver-nitrate solution."He smiled grimly at the dark windshield. "What, no grenade launchers?""Would they work?""I choose not to comment.”

“Is it him?” Dad asked. “Did he get you into trouble?”“Not me,” Shane said. “I’ve just got that kind of face.”

“Shane looked down at the staked vamp at his feet. 'Claire?''Yes?''You staked a vampire with a number two pencil.''I didn’t actually check the number.''Have I told you lately how freaking awesome you are?'She tried to smile, but her heart was fluttering in her chest now, and not in a good way. 'Compliments later. We really need to get out of here and get to the car. Any ideas?''Find another pencil and I’ll pin this one down, too,' Michael said.'You know how weird that sounds, right?' Shane said. 'Right, never mind. Number two pencil, coming up. Why do I feel like we’re taking a test?”

“Not nearly enough. Not recently, anyway.” And she was sad about that.“I know,” he said, and kissed the back of her hand. “We’ll fix it. Get some sleep.”“Night,” she said, and watched him walk toward the door. “Hey. How’d you get in?”He wiggled his fingers at her in a spooky oogie-boogie pantomime. “I’m a vampire. I have secret powers ,” he said with a full-on fake Transylvanian accent, which he dropped to say, “Actually, your mom let me in.”“Seriously? My mom? Let you in my room? In the middle of the night?”He shrugged. “Moms like me.”He gave her a full-on Hollywood grin, and slipped out the door.”

“I’m saying a prayer. Maybe you ought to, too. It’s going to take us a miracle to get through this.”Whether he was serious or not, Claire sent the prayer up toward heaven, and she thought the others did, too. So it seemed kind of miraculous when the doorbell rang.“At least they’re getting more polite when they try to kill us,” Shane said.”