“This isn’t a game. We don’t want mediocre employees who can keep the status quo. We want souls. We want to win. And you’ve spent most of your time here being mediocre.”

“So don’t. Take him with you. Or date long distance. I honestly don’t give a fuck, so long as you stop your whining. How can you not see solutions here? You’ve apparently decided that you being immortal isn’t a deterrent to your great love . . . but a two-hour plane ride is?”

“We've had to deal with so many complications. We're still dealing with them. And what can we do? Nothing - well, unless we take your side's point of view and make deals with the devil. But why? Why can't we make deals with God? People do all the time. 'God, if you do this for me, I promise to be good.' Stuff like that.Yeah, but I don't see any contracts like you guys have. No hard evidence that it works. How come we can only get things we want by being bad? Why can't we get them by being good?”

“You need me? You yell. You want to leave? We go. I'll get you out of here, no matter what.”

“As far as we know, everyone’s right—Strigoi don’t want to hang out in Palm Springs.”Eddie became about one percent less tense.”

“Since when do we even play games?”“Since when don’t we play games? Games of life, games of death. Games of love, of hope, of chance, of despair, and of all the myriad wonders in between.”I rolled my eyes at the newcomer. “Hello, Carter.”

“I don't think most people take honest well. They prefer the games. They want to believe the pretty lies.”