“About a hundred or so years before you were born, a Dark-Hunter made the mistake of falling in love with his Talpina. Unfortunately for the rest of us, she didn’t pass Artemis’s test. Artemis was so angry, she stepped in and banished the Talpinas from us, and implemented the oh so wonderful you’re-only-supposed-to-sleep-with-them-once rule. As further backlash, Acheron came up with the never-touch-your-Squire law. I tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried to find a decent one-night stand in seventh-century Britain. (Talon)”

“You’re human. No one cares if you sleep with a whore. (Artemis)(Tory did something she’d never in her life done before. She slapped another person.) You ever insult Acheron again and so help me, I’ll do to you what you allowed your brother to do to him. I’ll cut your tongue out for it. Acheron is the man I love and no one, ever, takes issue with him without having issues with me. (Tory)”

“There will never be another Dark-Hunter who goes free. Your happiness comes at the expense of their freedom because there’s no one else I want to barter with. No one else to pay the fee you set up centuries ago. Knowing that, I hope you sleep well at night. (Artemis)(Artemis leaves.)But what about the Dark-Hunters? (Acheron)The one thing I’ve learned most out of all this is that it’s not over until all the cards are played. She laid down her ace, thinking we can’t beat it. But there are fifty-one other cards in the deck and the game isn’t over yet. We’ll figure something out. Her little fit fight now just shows that she’s played her best hand. That was all she’s capable of doing to hurt you, which is exactly why she did it. Don’t let her ruin your day, baby, and don’t let her take from us what we have. We’ve gotten this far together. What’s another bitter goddess to us? Like my papou always says, over, under, around, or through. There’s always a way and we’ll find it. (Tory)”

“You’re barely one step up from the Australopithecines, aren’t you? (Acheron)Hey, be respectful when you say that, snot nose. Haven’t you seen the commercials? Us cavemen are very sensitive people. (Savitar)”

“Come home with me, Acheron. I’ll make it well worth your while. (Artemis)I have a headache. (Acheron)You’ve had a headache for two hundred years! (Artemis)And you’ve had PMS for eleven thousand. (Acheron)”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” – Acheron“What?” – Artemis“Your payment.” – Acheron“The happiness on your face when first you touched him was enough. I only wish you’d been there when your daughter was born, but that was my fault. I’ve had a lifetime of joy, hugs and love from her and you missed all of that because of my stupidity and fear. His life is my gift to both of you. Let’s hope the future is much kinder to all of us than the past has been.” – Artemis”

“And if you eat enough of those souls, they begin to corrupt you until you become one of them. Everyone knows that. (Kat)Only if you’re stupid. I’m two hundred years old and I haven’t turned yet. You just have to learn to hum a lot so you don’t hear their bullshit echoing in your head. (Damien)”