How’d you get to be so good at this?””I had a good teacher.””Better not have been Myrnin or I’ll have to kick his predatory ass.””I mean you, dummy.””Oh.

He’s not doing anything he shouldn’t be doing, right?” “Like what?””Like hitting on you.””Ew. No, of course not. He doesn’t see me that way.” Michael shook his head and went back to his coffee.”What? You...

Dear girls, I can let anyone get hurt because in my world, my safety and well-being come first.

Shane looked…pale. Pale and shaken and—how predictable was this?—pissed.

You’re the future, Claire.

And then I heard the ring of metal on concrete, and I went cold, because one of them had found a piece of rebar lying around, and I knew with sudden certainty that these guys...

I’ll do it!””No, you won’t,” Shane and Michael said, at virtually the same time. Shane continued. “You’re barely on your feet, Claire. You don’t go anywhere, not without me.””And me,” Michael said.”Hell,” Eve sighed. “I...

Now could you please ask these idiots to stop pointing their bullets at me? It’s terribly wasteful.

You looked like the sexiest woman in the world.””Well, in fairness, I am the sexiest woman in the world.””And you’re always right.””You are so brilliant to recognize that.

I guess in my beer-soaked mind it would all just magically work out, and she’d be so happy to see me she’d forget about everything else. Because everybody loves having the drunken self-pitying boyfriend banging...

I feel like I’m some kind of fugitive here, like I’m hiding from something. Maybe myself.

The world doesn’t end, Claire. In the morning, the survivors start to build again. It’s way of things. The human way.

Kind of is, actually.

You know what we call pedestrians in Morganville? Mobile bloodbanks.

Better be,” Eve said. She mock-bit at his finger. “I could totally date somebody else, you know.””And I could rent out your room.””And I could put your game console on eBay.””Hey,” Shane protested. “Now you’re...

Unfortunately, my army consists of one unreliable criminal, one girl with adisability, and one incredibly foolish young vampire with a tanning issue. I am not confident.

When things seem calmest, that is the time you should fear the most, it’s when you have the most to lose.

You’ve been the least useless apprentice I’ve ever had.

Giving up is always easy. It’s the peace that follows that sucks.

You okay?””Fine.””Your heart’s beating really fast.””Gee, thanks. That’s very comforting that you can hear it.”He smiled, and it was the old Michael, the one she’d first met before all the vamp stuff.”Yeah, I know it...

I’m not like you. I’ll never be like you. Best of all, I don’t have to be.

She was almost at the top of the steps, and Shane was right behind her, when she heard Myrnin say, in a quiet voice that was like the old Myrnin, the one she actually liked,...

Hannah leaned against the wall. ‘Mind if I call shotgun?”Since you’re carrying one? Feel free.

You look like a Goth factory exploded all over you!” he called as she ran down the hall.”Love you, too, jackass!

What, because I said she had a sweet little butt? You don’t think she does? Hard to believe, since you spend so much time staring at it.

Don’t bait the cougars.

Next time we commit crime, we’ll make sure to include him.

Hey, Dark Princess? Here’s your crap. Also, bite me.

Fine, be emotionally stunted losers; I don’t care.

Don’t read it. Just shred and burn, or your eyes will melt.

Am I not ninja enough? Are you saying that I lack ninja?

What about e-mail? It is e-mail, yes?” Morley asked, leaning even closer. “E-mail is a kind of electronic letter. It travels through the air.” He seemed very smug that he knew that. “Well, not exactly,...

Amelie seemed to focus on her again. For a few seconds she regarded her, frowning, and then smiled just a little. “So I recall,” she said. “Not all wars are waged with bullets and swords,...

It’s part of the marriage vows. Didn’t you read the fine print? To have and to harass.

Clumsiness would be just as deadly an opponent.

Shane, honey, in Morganville, friends are the only things that keep you alive.

Yes,” he said. “I am sure. I double-checked everything after you went home yesterday. I even made a few improvements, just in case.” The first part of that reassured her. The second part… not so...

Oh, Claire,” he said. “You think me a far better man than I am. That’s kind, and flattering.” “Are you saying that you -“”Doughnuts!” Myrnin interrupted her and darted away, to zip back in seconds...

Goodness,’ Myrnin said quietly. ‘I don’t think I should be watching this. I don’t think I’m old enough.

Rambo was a Green Beret,” Hannah said. “Please. We eat those army boys for breakfast.

Gear up, Warrior Princess. We’ve got some adventuring to do.

Really?” Claire said, and couldn’t help but smile. “That’s what creeps you out. Waxing. You can take on vampires and draug and killers, but you’re afraid of a little chest-hair pulling?

Do you imagine that they’re going to issue me a citation…what was your name again?””Still Eve.””No, I’m sure it’s something else. That doesn’t seem right.

What could go wrong?”Michael’s eyes flashed to meet hers in the rearview mirror.Besides everything, I mean,” she said.

Sometime, somewhere, life always comes to a fight, and peace always comes to an end.

Michael…Michael got bitten. And now he’s a vampire. But he doesn’t remember becoming one, and that’s a big problem. So if you see him, don’t, you know, hug. He bites. He doesn’t mean it, though.

Claire. Wake up.” She blinked and realized that her head was on Shane’s shoulder, and Michael was nowhere to be seen. Her first thought was, Oh my God, am I drooling? Her second was that...

She was staring at you.”What can I say? Irresistible.’ ‘Shane, it’s not funny. I just—you should be careful.’Always am.’ Which was an absolute lie. Shane’s eyes fixed on hers, and she felt a burst of...

And now I know you’re my girlfriend, since you’re not afraid to demand community property,” he said, and pulled off the uneaten half to hand it over.

Any fool can kill. It takes genius to create.