“Rose only hangs out with guys and psychopaths," said Mia."Well," he said cheerfully, "since I'm both a psychopath and a guy, that would explain why we're such good friends.”

“By the way, my name's Rose Hathaway. I'm seventeen years old, training to protect and kill vampires, in love with a completely unsuitable guy, and have a best friend whose weird magic could drive her crazy.Hey, no one said high school was easy.”

“And I could see his internal struggle become an all out war. "It wouldn't have made a difference. Not with Adrian involved," he said..... "I meant it. I won't be that guy Rose. I won't be that man that takes someone else's girlfriend.”

“It wasn't the kind of touch that said, Hey, I've got a plan, so hang in there because we're going to get out of this. It was more like the kind of touch that simply said, You aren't alone. It was really the only thing he could offer. And in that moment, it was enough.”

“Did you really just invite Adrian to your room later?" asked Lissa.Avery shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes we hang out once you guys are all tucked into bed. You aren't going to get jealous, are you?" "No," laughed Lissa. "Just curious. Adrian's a good guy." "Oh?" asked Christian. "Define 'good'." Avery held up her hand and began ticking items off with each finger. "He's devastatingly handsome, funny, rich, related to the queen..." "You got your wedding colors picked out?" asked Lissa, still laughing. "Not yet," said Avery. "I'm still testing the waters. I figured he'd be an easy notch on the Avery Lazar belt, but he's kind of hard to read." "I really don't want to be hearing this," Christian said.”

“Well there you go. Even a psychopath recognized your worth enough to want to kill someone else first."I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.”

“Because it's one of those things I never expected in my lifetime," he told me. "Like a comet. Or world peace. I'm just used to you being single."For some reason, that bothered me. "What, you don't think any guy would ever be interested in me?"Actually," said Adrian, sounding remarkably serious, "I can imagine lots of guys being interested in you.”