“Then why can’t I bully you into procreating? (Wulf)See! I’m the only human in history to have Viking yenta of his very own. God, how I wish my father had been a fertile man. (Chris)”

“It’s a sun lamp. I thought you might be tired of your pasty-pale complexion. (Chris)Christopher, I happen to be a Viking in the middle of winter in Minnesota. Lack of a deep tan goes with the whole Nordic territory. Why do you think we raided Europe anyway? (Wulf)Because it was there? (Chris)No, we wanted to thaw out. (Wulf)”

“And yet you live. (Wulf)Ever the better to procreate for you. It’s a hell of a life. (Chris)”

“I wish I would have been there for you.” He finally found his voice. “I wish I would have been there to beat up all the children who bullied you, to shoot your father dead the first time he broke one of your bones. I wish I would have been there to sweep you out of town and save you from the horrors you went through.”Her eyes widened in surprise and then immediately narrowed as she shook her head. “I didn’t need to have a hero in my life, Mark. I needed to figure out how to be my own hero. I took the easy way out. I allowed small-town people to label me and then I did my very best to live up to the label they’d provided. It’s taken me thirty-seven years to realize I don’t need a hero. I’m all I need and I’m strong enough to build the rest of my life alone.”

“I’m protecting her. (Wulf)From? (Chris)Daimons. (Wulf)Big bad ones. (Cassandra)”

“You can party, but I better not catch you drunk. (Wulf)(Chris rolled his eyes, then bent down to said to Cassandra’s stomach...)Be wise, little guy, stay in there where Lord King Neurotic can’t kill all your fun. (Chris)”