"You're wondering if you have to prey on humans, if you can survive by drinking the blood of animals or other creatures. You're hoping you won't have to kill people to live. Am I right?"

"As I studied the remians of book pages, scatered among the ashes, my heart sank."

"Kenzie took two staggering steps backward, staring at the feeline as if in a daze. "O-kay," she breathed, shaking her head slightly. "A cat. A cat that talks. I'm going crazy." she glanced at me. " Or you slipped something into my drink at the tournament. One or the other."

"The organization likes to do their dirty business where no one can see it."

"Ash nodded. "Look for Oberon or Mab, he said grimly, scanning the battlefield. "They'll likely be on opposite sides of the river. Try not to engage anything, Goodfellow. We don't want a fight - we just want to get the scepter to the queen."Don't kid yourself, Prince. Puck grinned and drew his daggers, pointing to Ash with the tip. "You're a traitor, Meghan's the Summer princess, and I'm Robin Goodfellow. I'm sure the ranks of Unseelie will just let us waltz right through."

"The only thing necessary for evil to conquer is for us and those like us to do nothing."

"Huh, another queen, Puck mused, an evil grin crossing his face. "Maybe we should drop in and introduce ourselves, ice-boy. Do the whole, hey, we were just in the neighborhood, and we were just wondering if you had any plans to take over the Nevernever. Have a fruit basket."

"Tonight, Garret the soldier didn't exist."

"The faery lords are immortal. Those who have songs ballads and stories written about them never die. Belief worship imagination we were born of the dreams and fears of mortals and if we are remembered even in some small way we will always exist."

"Ember was mine. The other half of me. And I would fight Talon, St George, and the entire d world to keep her safe."

"But I remember the strange dragon's eyes, the look on his face as he stared it me, the way my blood had warmed at the sight of him. I remembered the heat of his gaze, the instant awakening of something fierce and primal inside me when our eyes met. The rogue dragon was trouble. Plain and simple. And I was intrigued."

"I've been told that there's a point in every soldier's life when he knows he's going to die. You expect it, of course, in every battle, every ambush, every enemy engagement. You are aware that this could be it. This could be the one that ends your life. But, there's a difference between being aware that you could die, and knowing beyond a doubt, when the situation is hopeless. New dragons dropped from the sky in a dark mass..."

"Wow," Puck mused, standing beside me. "The River of Dreams." ... Moons, comets and constellations rippled on the surface, and other, stranger things floated upon the misty black waters. Petals and book pages, butterfly wings and silver medals. The hilt of a sword stuck out of the water at an odd angle, the silver blade tangled with ribbons and spiderwebs. A coffin bobbed to the surface, covered in dead lilies, before sinking into the depths once more. The debris of human imaginations, floating through the dark waters of dream and nightmare."

"Sorry, I didn't see the big X with the words Top Secret Government Laboratory on the map, did you?"

"I clenched my fist around the railing, finally forcing myself to acknowledge what that meant. I'd always known, of course. It was always there, at the back of my mind; I just didn't want to think about it. But if Ember was the sleeper...I would have to kill her."

"There was no way I was going to let him die. He was my other half; without him, I felt incomplete. I wasn't sure if this was my dragon talking or me,but I couldn't imagine a world without Riley."

"My heart seemed to stop. Garret paused, as if gathering his thoughts, or his courage, then took a deep breath. "I know I've made mistakes, he continued, shaking his head. "But there's still the chance for me to fix them. I shouldn't have walked out that night. His brow creased, a flicker of pain and regret going through his eyes. "Ember, I know you can't feel what I do, he said. "I get that. But, I want to be with you. And if that's not possible, I'll be content just to be close. Fighting Talon with you and Riley, helping people, saving other dragons from the Order-there is nothing I want more. And nowhere else I want to be."

"I will be with her again, or I will die. There aren't any other options."

"I recognized it instantly. It was a made-up story, a fantasy, the tale of four kids who went through a magic wardrobe and found themselves in a strange new world. I'd read it more times than I could remember, and although I sneered at the thought of a magical land with friendly, talking animals, there were times when I wished, in my most secret moments, that I could find a hidden door that would take us allout of this place."

"I have come from the End of the World. From the River of Dreams, through the gauntlet and the Briar and the Deep Wyld, in order to stand before you today. I have but one request-to take my place at your side. To resume my duty as your knight, and to protect you and your kingdom for as long as I draw breath."

"You don't dwell on what you've lost, you just move on."

"I sighed again, tipping my head back. My skin was still flushed, whether from anger or adrenaline or both, and my dragon crackled and snapped in myriad different directions. I needed to calm down. I wished I had my board. It was impossible to stay tense while floating on the surface of the ocean, its cold, dark depths lulling you to sleep. The sea was fascinating. It always amazed me how calm and peaceful it was one moment, only to bear down on you a moment later with the power and savagery of a hurricane."

"But ... but what if I hit you?A snort. "You're not going to hit me."How do you know? I bristled at his amused tone. "I could hit you. Even master swordsmen make mistakes. I could get a lucky shot, or you might not see me coming. I don't want to hurt you.He favored me with another patient look. "And how much experience do you have with swords and weapons in general? "Um. I glanced down at the saber in my hand. "Thirty seconds?He smiled, that calm, irritatingly confident smirk. "You're not going to hit me."

"I cannot let the fear of the past color the future."

"Geez, you guys. I know I'm popular and all, but seriously, you're a bit too co-dependent for me. I'm going to need you to step away from my personal bubble." A wispy vine-woman curled ivy tendrils around his arm, and he sliced through them with his dagger. "No! Bad Wraith! No touchie!"

"Oh, look at that, he's heard of me. My fame grows."

"I'm your enemy, meghan. never forget that. if Mab tells me to kill you in front of the entire court, it's my duty to obey."

"It was almost better to be caught by the hungry, soulless vampires; the most they would probably do was drink your blood and leave you to die. Humans were capable of far, far worse."

"You can't be completely in love with a dragon and expect anything to be normal."

"Touch her, and I'll freeze your testicles off and put them in a jar. Understand?"

"Helpless, I clenched my fists against my back, well aware that every mile, every minute that ticked by, took me ever farther from getting to them in time and closer to losing the red dragon forever."

"Godzilla was coming..."

"You're a freaking pschopath," I said, but he only chuckled."I don't expect you to understand, little bird," He turned toward me fully, fingering his blade and smiling. "I expect you only to sing. Sing for me, sing for Kanin, and make it a glorious song."

"At least I know the truth, I gritted back. "I'm not the one who's being lied to. His brow furrowed, and I spat the truth at him."

"Words define us,' Mom continued, as I struggled to make my clumsy marks look like her elegant script. 'We must protect our knowledge and pass it on whenever we can. If we are ever to become a society again, we must teach others how to remain human."

"Observe and blend in," he stated in his cool, unruffled voice. "Learn how to engage with humans, how to be human. Assimilate into their social structure and make them believe we are one of them."

"Care to join me, Goodfellow?"Oh, ice-boy. A moonlight stroll with you? Do you even have to ask?"

"I have always loved you, princess" Robin Goodfellow promised, his green eyes shining in the darkness. "I always will. And I'll take whatever you can give me."

"It would be dreadfullyironic, I mused, if once I earned a soul, I forgot everything about being fey, including all my memories of her. That sort of ending seemedappropriately tragic; the smitten fey creature becomes human but forgets why he wanted to in the first place. Old fairy tales loved that sort of irony."

"Those eyes. I felt like they pierced right through me; that if I didn't break away now, they would peel me open to see what lay beneath. Deep within, the dragon stirred, growling. She didn't like this human, I realized. Maybe he scared her, or the intensity of his gaze reminded her of a predator. Or maybe she felt that, if I stared at him much longer, I would lose myself in those stormy eyes and forget all about a certain golden-eyed rogue, waiting for me in the darkness."

"To Survive In A Ruined World, She Must Embrace The Darkness."

"Mercy is for the weak, let me show you how much of an Unseelie I still am."

"Glitter and streamers of light swirled aroundus, and a chorus of tiny voices sang out a single note. Iwinced, knowing there was only one person who thought anormal entrance, like walking through a door, wasn't goodenough for her; she had to announce her presence withsparkle and glitter and St. Peter's choir."

"They wanted me to sit, listen, learn, be quiet, when I wanted to run, shout, jump, fly."

"What was with this family, that all the sons were so freaking handsome it hurt to look at them."

"His fingertips came to rest against the back of my hand, sending a zip of current through my whole body. "I'm done hiding, he whispered. "Nothing has changed. I know we might not have a lot of time, but what we do have, I want to spend right here."

"I found myself hating him, wanting to hurt him, to drive him away from the red-haired girl who was supposed to be mine.Breathless, I slumped to the wall, numb with the realization. This anger, these illogical feelings of rage and possessiveness...I was jealous. I was jealous of a girl I was supposed to be stalking, seducing, for the sole purpose of revealing her true nature. This had become more than an objective, more than a mission.I was falling for her."

"Nothing is certain, he murmured. "The future is constantly changing, and no one can predict what happens next. We have the power to change our destiny, because fate is not set in stone, and we are always free to make a choice."

"One hand traced small circles against my back, and I pressed closer to him, listening to his heartbeat. "I used to think that having nothing to live for made you a better fighter, he murmured. "Turns out I was wrong on a lot of fronts."

"If I was in Talon, I would be the one in charge, I'd be the one calling the shots. I wouldn't have to take pointless exams, listen to humans or worry that my every move was being watched. In Talon, dragons were the bosses, the presidents, the CEOs. If I was a part of the organization, no one would tell me what to do ever again.I would have to let some things go. I t might be painful, but in the end, it would be worth it. Sacrifice was necessary, but I would be free."