“Free will. It sucks because it means we're responsible for our actions. There is no destiny, just difficult decisions.”

“Just because you're damaged doesn't mean you must damage others. You have choices. We all make them every day.”

“What makes a man a man are his deeds, his responsibilities, and his reactions... These things are also what makes a man a monster.”

“He leaned forward and plucked something out of my hair. 'What—?' He held the dead leaf before me.'Must have gotten that rolling around with Alexi in the backyard.' I blinked and looked at him. 'That sounded so wrong.'He nodded, eyebrow quirked. Waiting.'I’m trying to learn a few things from your more experienced brother so I’m ready for our big event.'His expression didn’t change.'Yee-ahhh. Not any better, huh?' I laughed. Our big event could mean two vastly different things to Pietr. 'Lemme just run through the other ways I could get this wrong: Alexi’s teaching me some moves. He’s trying to put the hurt on me. He was putting me into some positions I’ve never tried before...I snorted. I couldn’t help myself.A muscle near Pietr’s left eye twitched.'He’s teaching me to fight!' I laughed, grabbing his wrists.”

“Max,' I said, looking up at him, 'I love the Russian heritage you guys are so willing to share, but I'm not so thrilled with the French.''What?' His brows lowered. 'We're not French.''Great. So the next time you feel the need to kiss me, keep your tongue out of my mouth!”

“Sometimes we do not know what role we play until it is thrust upon us and we can only then do our best to carry it off.”

“They're monsters.""That's what Edward thought.""Oh, yeah? He a friend of yours?""No, Miss Librarian. Just a main character in a wildly popular vampire series.”