"You are a sick, sick man, I told him."Thank you, Ben replied, looking modest."

"I don't like lies," said Bran, and I knew I'd failed to keep the pain of his revelation from my face. "Not even lies of omission. Hard truths can be dealt with, triumphed over, but lies will destroy your soul."

"It was like being leaned on by a very heavy, warm brick. A sexy brick."

"You going to watch my butt all day, or are you going to join me?" asked my mate."What if I had said I was going to watch your butt all day?" I asked curiously as I opened the door an stepped into the hot water."I've been considering belly-dancing lessons," he told me in a serious voice."

"Women are sneaky."

"We've determined that Ms. Hauptman is a potential threat to the public safety, and we are bringing her in as a murder suspect who has supernatural powers that make her too dangerous to be incarcerated in the usual ways."

"I used my history degree about twice a year whether I needed to or not."

"Almost-Sister, you picked a real catch."It was I who caught her, Adam said softly. "It took years."

"Mercy has this ... this uncanny ability to go where the trouble is thickest," Adam told him. He had decided a while ago that it wasn't deliberate, and that it had something to do with being Coyote's daughter. He was pretty sure that Mercy was completely oblivious."

"Time was such an odd thing. One moment you could talk to someone, then suddenly, they were gone."

"If she know how strongly he felt, she'd have run out the door. He wasn't used to the possessive, or the savage joy she brought to his heart. It ate at his control, so he turned his attention to the music. He understood music."

"Vampire politics make the very complicated dance of manners that is werewolf protocol look like the Hokey Pokey."

"No, really," I said. "Now that we know that Flores is really this nasty, fiery, superpowerful nothing-can-kill-me demon from hell, maybe we should consider just giving Christy to him?"

"He was like Superman, but with fangs and oddly impaired morals."

"Then he'd come back home and found out that war didn't cause fear-love did."

"Knowledge is a better weapon than a sword."

"If creation was given no limit, ultimately everything would cease to exist."

"C'est moi, c'est moi,'tis I,' I told him. It seemed appropriately melodramatic, though I didn't know if he'd catch the reference. I shouldn't have worried. Unexpectedly, he laughed. "Trust you to quote Lancelot rather than Guinevere."

"A man learns with age, if he is lucky."

"She wondered that hope was so much harder then despair."

"Adam has always had . . . heroic tendencies.I touched Adam's arm. "He's my hero.There was another pause. . ."That is the most romantic thing I've ever heard you say, Bran said. "Be careful, Adam, or you'll turn her into a real girl.Adam looked at me. "I like her just the way she is, Bran. And he meant it, greasy overalls, broken fingernails, and all."

"One more month," he said finally. "And then they-and Samuel, too-will just have to get used to it. His eye is the color of a bitch with dark chocolate, worst few years and he leaned forward. "And you will marry me." I smiled, showing my teeth. "Don't you mean, 'will you marry me?'" I meant it to be funny, but his eyes brightened until the gold flecks were swimming in the darkness. "You had your chance to run, coyote. It's too late now."

"What do you mean? Leslie's voice was cool, as if she questioned witches who were flat on their backs being threatened by werewolves every day."

"Who hurt you?" she asked, slicing through the two other conversations going on at the table. "He's dead," said Charles, his hand sliding up Anna's back reassuringly. "I killed him. If I could, I would bring him back to life so I could kill him again."

"Such a small thing to cause so much trouble."

"Reluctantly, I pulled out my necklace and showed it to them.Samuel frowned. The little figure was stylized; I suppose he couldn't tell what it was at first."A dog?" asked Zee, staring at my necklace."A lamb," I said defensively, tucking it safely back under my shirt. "Because one of Christ's names is 'The Lamb of God.'"Samuel's shoulders shook slightly. "I can see it now, Mercy holding a roomful of vampire at bay with her glowing sheep."I gave his shoulder a hard push, aware of the heat climbing to my cheeks, but it didn't help. He sang in a soft taunting voice, "Mercy had a little lamb..."

"I don't know who you think you are - my mother's voice was low and dangerous - "but if you don't get out of my way right this instant, it won't matter.Adam was the Alpha werewolf in charge of the local pack. He was tough. He could be mean when he had to - and he wouldn't stand a chance against my mom."

"So in the sweltering heat of a July night, I sang a Christmas carol to a room full of fae, who had been driven out of their homelands by Christians and their cold-iron swords."