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...

Must we argue word choice? Now?

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...

Myrnin, who hadn’t said much, suddenly reached out and wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened, shocked, and for a panicked second wondered whether he’d suddenly decided to snack on her neck… but it was...

What about Myrnin?’Eve swallowed, almost choked, and Michael patted her kindly on the back. She beamed at him. ‘Myrnin? Oh yeah. He did a Batman and took off into the night. What is with that...

I think it’s interesting.

I felt I should repeat it for the other slipper, in case there should be any bad feelings between the two. One should never create tension between one’s footwear.

I had no name for that particular hue of orange, other than unfortunate.

See?” he said, with an unholy amount of glee. “I hardly broke any laws at all. I should drive more often.””No. Trust me, you shouldn’t,” Eve said. “Think of all the little old people and...

Here,” Myrnin said, his voice still gentle and low. “Amelie said you had to work. No one said you had to work alone.” He picked up the next part and slotted it in, took the...

I love arguing with you, Claire. You always surprise me. And occasionally, you even make sense.

Okay, no, I’m not, but right now let’s pretend I am.

Clarity confused me. I was far less forgiving and kind than the general state of disconnection in which I liked to live.

Bishop was all done with the witty converstaion. ‘Will you swear?’And Myrnin said, shockingly, ‘I will.’ And he proceeded to, a string of swearwords that made Claire blink. He ended with, ‘—frothy fool-born apple-john! Cheater...

You’ve turned into quite a bossy little thing,” Myrnin said. “I think I might like it.

Oliver laughed – actually laughed.”I like this new Claire,” he said. “You should work her this hard all the time, Myrnin. She’s interesting when she’s forthright.”Claire, possessed by the spirit of Eve, shot him the...

If you see Myrnin, tell him I said I want my slow cooker back.””Your- You let him borrow something you put food in?”Hannah’s smile disappeared. “Why?””Um, never mind. I’ll make sure it gets disinfected before...

Let’s say she’s a friend of the family.

Don’t worry…Someone will pay for your suffering. Heavily. With screaming.

She came awake, stomach rumbling, and opened her eyes to see a plate being held right under her nose. When she reached for it, Shane snatched it back. ‘Nuh-uh. Mine.”Share!’ she demanded.’Man, you are one...

Myrnin said softly. “And how is it that you do not understand that HERE, in THIS place, this girl belongs to me, not to you?

Myrnin turned away to pick up his Ben Franklin spectacles, balanced them on his nose, and looked over them to say, “Don’t do drugs. I feel I ought to say that.

What was your name again?””Still Eve.””No, I’m sure it’s something else. That doesn’t seem right.

Now defend what is ours, my partner.”He grinned … grinned! … and whirled to meet Myrnin in midleap as Myrnin attacked.

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

[Myrnin to Claire about their costumes of Pierrot and Harlequin, respectively]”Don’t they teach you anything in your schools?””Not about this.””Pity. I suppose that’s what comes of your main education flowing from Google.

You can’t go around… licking things that come out of a water treatment plant. That’s just… unsanitary.

She can go with us to the lab and keep Myrnin pinned down while we pull the plug, if he’s not… you know, better.””Define BETTER with that guy.””Not all fangs and raaaaar.

I’m worried he’s going to … do something crazy.” “He lives in a hole in the ground, dresses funny, and occasionally eats his assistants,” Eve said. “Define crazy.

Bad men skulking in the darkness have always been there, and always will.

I never meant it,” he was saying. “Never meant it to happen. Can’t stand it,seeing her suffer. Must do something, do something… What do I do? What can I do…?

You’re always caring about strays and outcasts among us, myself included. You really are a very odd girl, you know; so little sense of what is good for you.

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...

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,...

I’ve got yours.

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

People bond themselves into families and groups for protection, and strangers…strangers are always at risk.

They came out in a dim, damp basement – a generic sort of place, full of moulding boxes. ‘You take me to the nicest places,’ Claire said, and sneezed.

It’s dreadfully unfair to say things like that when this is likely the last time we will speak and we both know you don’t mean what you say. It’s pure selfishness that you want to...

I hardly think there’s any chance of that,” Amelie said. “I doubt you have the capacity.

Even bipolar vampires needed sleep from time to time, and he was well past his recommended safe dosage of stress.

He started to touch the mechanism under the keyboard, then pulled his hand back with a snap.”Ah,” he said. “Must deactivate the security….Turn around, please.””What?””Turn around, Claire. It’s a secure password!””You have GOT to be...

Hello! Your dear father is unfortunately very dead,” he called. “And you said my dispersal system would never work!

I hardly broke any laws at all. I should drive more often.

There are always a few, Claire, who like being told what to do instead of being required to think. And those are the ones you should fear. That goes equally for humans, I’m afraid. Critical...

My, if I didn’t loathe her so much, I’d admire her.

Little bit,” she said.

That’s very rude,” Myrnin said. “I haven’t brought my fangs our for some time. Not in mixed company, anyway.

I think I’d fall for you no matter what, Claire. You’re kind of awesome.