I looked at him. “You really need to work on your threats. I can’t tell if you’re threatening me or inviting me for tea.

Any messages for me?” Usually I got one or two, but mostly people who wanted my help preferred to talk in person.”Yes. Hold on.” She pulled out a handful of pink tickets and recited from...

Yep, Atlanta was burning. Again.

Curran let our a ragged snarl and punched the other wall. It burst and the entire wreck of the house came down in a fountain of dust. He shook his hand, his knuckles bloody.”Bricks are...

Very well.” He sat cross-legged on the floor of the cage. “You haven’t run off so you want to talk. I will hear your explanation now.””Really, Your Majesty? So good of you to condescend. I’ll...

He had the prettiest hair she had ever seen on a man: dark brown, almost black, and soft like sable, it fell down to his shoulders. She wondered what he’d do if she threw some...

You will show that thing to me and from now on, I will deal with them.”I opened my eyes really wide and fluttered my eyelashes at him. “I’m sorry, I must’ve missed your coronation ceremony....

We can get you a throne with snakes. I’ll stand next to you and roar at anybody who fails to grovel. Fear Kate Daniels. She is a mighty and terrible ruler. Grendel can anoint the...

I turned and bumped my head against his chest a few times. It was the nearest hard surface.

Had records so stellar, they had to lock their resumes in a drawer at night, so the golden light streaming from the pages wouldn’t keep them awake.

He’d laugh in my face, then I’d slice him to ribbons and then he’d break my neck

It’s a party house.””I hope for your sake it’s a very tame party.” If he brought me to some sort of sex orgy, he would fly right through one of those pretty windows, headfirst.

Awesome. I’d terrified the Legatus of the Golden Legion just by showing him my sword. If I waved it around, he’d probably explode.

Have you ever met someone and felt… I don’t know how to describe it, felt a chance at having something that eluded you? I don’t know… Forget I said anything.”I knew what he meant. He...

Just wait until he figures out I shut him out of his slut hut.

You’re like a god from a Greek myth, Saiman. You have no empathy. You have no concept of the world beyond your ego. Wanting something gives you an automatic right to obtain it by whatever...

Some people had attack dogs. Ghastek had attack lawyers.

He bared his teeth in a happy feral grin. My own personal psycho.

Okay, I see how it sounds weird when you say it in that tone of voice

Getting a lecture on restraint from the woman who threw a hissy fit and blew up Babylon.

They’re fanatics. It’s like expecting humanity from a falling rock. It’s not going to have a fit of compassion and not crack your skull open.

Judging by the hard lines of his face and the flat look in his eyes, he’d left the Marines, but the Corps hadn’t quite left him.

It became known that I had a rather fertile imagination, when it came to private activities.”She stared. “What sort of private activities?”This time he did smile, and it turned his face wicked. “Disrobe, and I’ll...

you might want to decide fast. We live in a dangerous world. If you see a chance to be happy, you have to fight for it, so later you have no regrets.

Estene aleera hesaad de viren aneda.” And now, you are forever mine.

If I weren’t batting for the other team, I would accept yourproposal. You had me at ‘No comment.’ If all my clients were this smart, mylife would be much easier. Much, much easier.

He lunged for the maps. I grabbed the chair and hit him with it. He went down. I hit him again to make sure he stayed that way, stepped over him, and picked up the...

The hallway led me to the stairway of a million steps. My leg screamed in protest. I sighed and started climbing. I just had to keep from limping. Limping showed weakness, and I didn’t need...

Derek favored his left side. His horse refused to bear him. I couldn’t blame the horse. I wouldn’t want his demonic, undead-blood-smeared, wolf-smelling ass riding me, either. But it made us slow.

Did you strangle the wolf alpha?” Not that she didn’t deserve it. Curran grimaced. “Of course not. I needed information. After I put her face in my mouth, we agreed that it was in her...

Nobody ever died of being shot by a cookie

Mad Rogan: “Resistance is futile.”Nevada: “You are not assimilating me!

Kid 1: *examining my gorgeous strawberry and blueberry pies*: Wow, Mom, your pies don’t look awful this time.Me (Ilona): …~A little later~Kid 2: *wandering into the kitchen*Kid 1: Hey, you’ve got to see these pies....

Myths tend to spiral out of control. Do you howl at the full moon and steal maidens to devour?””Depends on the maiden,” he said.Was he flirting with me? Devouring didn’t really go with flirting, but...

Why had I wasted all my time pretending to be someone I wasn’t? I was tired, so very, very tired of standing on my own brakes. I felt…right. I felt free.

Kate Daniels, deadly swordmaster. Fear my twitching pinkie.

Chernobog.” The Black God. Right. Of course, it wouldn’t be Chernobog, God of Morning Dew on the Rose Petals, but a woman could always hope.

All that was missing was a neon sign that read EVIL AND CONFLICTED ABOUT IT with a flashing arrow pointing at his head.

Seducing him in the tub smelling of vinegar was out of the question. There had to be some boundaries.

Kumbaya” together by the fire.

If the sky could dream, it would dream of dragons.

I gave him my best cryptic smile. He did not fall down to his feet, kiss my shoes, and promise me the world. I must be getting rusty.

Leaving what is safe so you can be more, Derek said. The cage is what the bird knows; the sky is all the things he still wants to do even if it’s a risk.

Hey, would you look at that shit?”I turned on my heel. The patrons who’d fled at the first hint of trouble had come back and were enjoying the spectacle.”Clear out!” I barked.They paid me no...

Thank you,” Andrea said.

Now Julie could stay here, in the Keep full of homicidal maniacs who grew teeth the size of switchblades and erupted into a violent frenzy when threatened.

And you expect me to commute two hours each way from the Keep to the Order.” I kept my voice mild. “I suppose I won’t be needing my job, my house, or my clothes anymore.””I...

This is payback, isn’t it?” Jim glared at me. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I told him. “As the Consort of the Pack, I’m far above petty revenge.

Her face looked like it would shatter any second.

So, regarding that tidbit about your having a fertile imagination when it comes to private activities,” she said, fighting off anxiety. “Was it another lie?””Depends on how you look at it. It’s not exactly a...