"For every bad thing in life, there are more good things to tip the balance."

"I knew I sounded hysterical, and Adrian's calmness only drove that home. "I think I have an idea, he said. "An idea that'll get us some hardcore protection but I don't know how you'll feel about it."I'm open to anything, I assured him.He hesitated a moment and gave a decisive nod. Then, to my complete and utter astonishment, he got down on his knees before me and clasped my hands in his. "Sydney Katherine Sage, he said, his green eyes full of love and earnestness. "Would you do a brooding, deadbeat Moroi the honor of being his wife?"

"It's kind of hard to outlive your past."

"If you want some advice-which I'm sure you don't-you guys should lay off on the magic. Christian still thinks you're moving in on Lissa.""What?" he asked in mock astonishment. "Doesn't he know my heart belongs to you?""It does not. And no, he's still worried about it, despite what I've told him.""You know, I bet if we started making out right now, it would make him feel better.""If you touch me," I said pleasantly, "I'll provide you with the opportunity to see if you can heal yourself. Then we'd see how badass you really are."

"Sydney, don't leave Adrian because of me.""It's more complicated than that," I said automatically."It's really not," she said. "From everything I've seen and heard, you're just afraid. You've always controlled every detail of your life. When you couldn't-like with the Alchemists-you found a way to seize back that control.""There is nothing wrong with wanting control," I snapped."Except that we can't always have it, and sometimes that is a good thing. A great thing, even," she added. "And that's how it is with Adrian. No matter how hard you try, you aren't going to be able to control your feelings for him. You can't help loving him, and so you're running away. I'm just an excuse."

"My muscles informed me they did not want to go through any more exercise today. So I suggest that maybe he should let me off this time. He laughed, and I'm pretty sure it was at me...not with me. "Why is that funny?" "Oh," he said, his smile dropping. "You were serious.""Of course I was! Look, I've technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me go to bed." I whined. "It's just one hour.""How do you feel right now?""I hurt like hell.""You'll feel worse tomorrow.""So?""So, better get a jump on it while you still feel...not as bad.""What kind of logic is that?" I retorted."

"What's your name?""What?" I asked, squinting at the light."Your name." I recognized Dr. Olendzki peering over me."You know my name.""I want you to tell me.""Rose. Rose Hathaway.""Do you know your birthday?""Of course I do. Why are you asking me such stupid things? Did you lose my records?"Dr. Olendzki gave an exasperated sigh and walked off."

"Okay, but if you try to get me to pray with you, I walk."

"You know, Aunt Tasha makes jokes about how youE1d actually be a better queen than the others, except sometimes . . . I donE1t think sheE1s joking."

"I don't care if you say we can't be together. I don't care if you think I'm the most evil, unnatural creature walking on earth. You can think whatever you want, go whatever you want. I'm going to just go on loving you, even if it's hopeless."

"If the other person says "Fuck Off," well, then, deal. Move on."

"He'd written me up a proposal of why dating him was a sound decision. It had included things like "I'll give up cigarettes unless I really, really need one" and "I'll unleash romantic surprises every week, such as: an impromptu picnic, roses, or a trip to Paris-but not actually any of those things because now they're not surprises."

"I don't believe in soul mates, not exactly. I think it's ridiculous to think that there's only one person out there for us. What if your 'soul mate' lives in Zimbabwe? What if he dies young? I also think 'two souls becoming one' is ridiculous. You need to hold onto yourself."

"Tradition or not, I sometimes thought putting children on an old guy's lap was already creepy enough. We didn't need to mix alcohol into it."

"What's going on?" I asked when he finished."I'll let you know soon. For now, we have to wait.""Great. My favorite thing to do."

"I used to think you were weak and just didn't fight back ... but now, honestly, I think you're actually pretty tough. It takes a hell of a lot of strength to not complain and lash out."

"I tried desperately to put my thoughts into the forms of prayers, but I didn't know how. If God was real, I figured He was powerful enough to know what I wanted without me actually saying the right words."

"If not for me being stoned and clinging to a taco, it would have been terribly romantic."

"I need it! I need it! It's a royal heirloom!""Adrian?""What are you doing here?""Looking for you. Come on, we need to go. I'll drive you home.""No, I can't. Not until we get it. He stole it!"

"I know I'm not supposed to say this, he said. "But I think I love you more than ever.I took his hand and tried not to think about how happy his words made me."

"He was too perfect, despite being one of the most imperfect people I knew."

"Things die. But they don't always stay dead. Believe me, I know."

"She is mine, and I am hers."

"Christian's family lived under the shadow cast by his parents. They had purposely become Striogi, trading thier magic and mortality to become immortal and subsist on killing others. His parents were dead now, but that didn't stop people from not trusting him. They seemed to think he'd go Strigoi at any moment and take everyone else with him. His abrasiveness and dark sence of humor didn't really help things, either."

"I stared. "Canadian Satanists? You're sending me to a group of Canadian Satanists?"

"I stopped. She was bleeding after all. Perfect lines crossed her wrists, not near any crucial veins, but enough to leave wet red tracks across her skin. She hadn;t hit her veins when she did this; death hadn't been her goal."

"You used nunchucks on a moose?"Wolfe got a haunted look in his eyes. "I used all sorts of things on that bastard."

"I realized I'm in love. It's always been right in front of me."

"We fell into silence, both of us keeping our own secrets of what we'd suffered in the other's absence. I wondered if we were trying to protect each other or simply didn't want to admit to our own fears and weaknesses."

"Thats why your doing this? Because Lissa told you to?"

"Well he didn't treat my mother very well. He did some horrible things.""Like..." I hesitated. "Blood-whore things?""Like beating-her-up kinds of things" he replied flatly."Oh God," I said "That's horrible. And she...she just let it happen?""She did." The corner of his mouth turned into a sly, sad smile. "But I didn't""Tell me, tell me you beat the crap out of him"His smile grew, "I did."

"Sex had been amazing, but it wasn't a magical cure for everything. Damn. Somewhere along the way, I'd picked up common sense."

"Behaviours and feelings rarely line up."

"Even now, despite Angeline's watchfulness, she'd occasionally oscillate between random topics, like how shepherd's pie wasn't a pie at all and why it was pointless for her to take class in typing when technology would eventually develop robot companions to do it for us."

"Well, you've finally got a license to kill. It's about time."

"But all I could see was her. No skill of mine, no artist anywhere, could've immortalized how gorgeous she was. It was impossible to believe she'd ever had any doubts about her body. The firelight shone on her skin, golden and perfect, making her look like some radiant goddess of legend. I wanted to kneel before her and offer eternal obedience."

"Guilt was its own prison."

"Vampires. Honestly, they're like children sometimes."

"So...Mason, Eddie, and Mia went to Spokane to hunt Strigoi?""Yes.""Holy shit. Why didn't you go with them? Seems like something you'd do."I resisted the urge to smack him. "Because I'm not insane! But I'm going to go get them before they do something even stupider."

"Do you love him?"There were only a few people in the world who could ask me such insanely personal questions without getting punched. Dimitri was one of them."

"But once in a while . . . I don't know. I feel so close, Rose. So close to the edge. Like if I allow myself one small misstep, I'll plunge away and never come back. It's like I'll lose myself."

"I didn't care that we were out in public. I didn't care that he was Moroi. All that mattered was that he was Adrian, my Adrian. My match. My partner in crime."

"I took a deep breath. "Are you free tonight?" There was a long, pregnant pause. "What about the man in the dream?" he finally asked. "There is no man in the dream."

"You don't know your father, do you?I shook my head. "No. All I know is he must have had wicked cool hair.Dimitri glanced up, and his eyes swept me. "Yes. He must have."

"It was a lame excuse, and I knew that wasn't the reason he was canceling. If he wanted to avoid me, I would have preferred he made up something about how he and the other guardians had to up Moroi security or practice top-secret ninja moves."

"Are you sleepwalking?' A voice asked behind me. "I was testing dorm security," I said. "It sucks."

"She was so beautiful that it made my soul ache."

"Considering Adrian had once gotten bored while reading while reading a particularly long menu, I had a hard time imagining he'd read the Hugo book in any language."

"I know I'm not supposed to say this, but I love you."

"You can't kill me. Even if you could, you can't bring yourself to do it. You'll hesitate. Again."