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stormy underground trips didn’t faze me. When you spent most of your days living among vampires and half vampires, ferrying them to get blood, and keeping their existence secret from the rest of the world… well, it kind of gave you a unique perspective on life.
The coffee was pre-ground and looked as though it might very well have been here since the Cold War as well. As long as it was caffeinated, I didn’t care.
The coffee maker finished. I’d only set it to make three cups, which would probably be enough to get me through the evening.
I had just proclaimed Keith to be a horrible human being in every way possible. But none of that mattered to his father, so long as I didn’t accuse Keith of being in league with vampires.
I could’ve called Keith a murderer, and Tom would have probably still been grateful if it meant Keith wasn’t chummy with the enemy. It bothered me and again made me wonder who the real monsters were in all of this.
we’d had to finally install child protection software on her laptop, in order to block her from certain websites and ads. That had come after she’d accidentally downloaded four viruses.
That was where Sonya Karp and Dimitri Belikov came in—or, as Adrian called them in his angst-filled letters, “Agent Scarlet” and “Agent Boring Borscht.”
Sonya and Dimitri were some of the hardest working people I knew—which didn’t always mesh with Adrian’s style.
Adrian had signed his e-mail with a reference to Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. It was a book about the French Revolution that was so thick, it could easily double as a weapon.
Considering Adrian had once gotten bored while reading a particularly long menu, I had a hard time imagining he’d read the Hugo book in any language.
Adrian’s literary knowledge (or lack thereof) is no concern of yours.
I refuse to believe you read the book. You saw the musical, right? I hit send and received a response back from him almost immediately: SparkNotes.
“Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to make sure you’re okay too. You might find it actually helps others.”
“I trust you had a good family visit?” “Yes, ma’am.” If by “good,” she meant “terrifying and unsettling.”
My family had a cat back in Utah that I was pretty sure was more responsible than Angeline.
“I don’t believe in soul mates,” I said. “It’s statistically unreasonable that there’s only one ideal person for everyone in the world.”
“Nice blouse, Sage,” he told me, deadpan. “It really brings out the khaki in your pants.”
My old man? He hates kittens.” “Who could hate kittens?” asked Eddie. Adrian made a face. “He’s allergic.”
“Nothing’s ever as harmless as it seems.”
Wait… is it a dress you’d wear to church or to a nightclub?” “Church,” she said, not sounding happy about it.
“Antony and Cleopatra… is that romantic?” “Kind of,” I said. “For a while. Then everyone dies in the end.”
I figured you’d drive a four-hour round-trip before giving up your car to someone else.”
“How many times does she have to refuse?” Adrian demanded. “If she doesn’t want to, then that’s all there is to it.
“Take Eddie’s blood. Take Belikov’s blood. Take your own for all I care. But if she doesn’t want to give hers, then that’s all there is to it. She said no. This conversation is done.”
Eddie was right. I really did have selective data storage.
Maybe the only way you can cope without her is to block her out—and by keeping me away too. I could almost understand that.” “Adrian—” began Nathan. “But that’s not it, is it? You don’t want me to have contact—and you probably aren’t having contact—because you’re embarrassed.”
“I don’t want anything from you,” I said. “Unless it’s an apology to Adrian.” Nathan gave me another blank look. He seemed sincerely confused. “What do I have to apologize for?” I left.
“You’d think it’d be that I didn’t get the money or that he just ripped my life apart or that he has no faith in me sticking to college. But that’s okay. I’m used to that from him. What really bothers me is that I really did ruin my mom’s life.”
“You know what else isn’t appropriate? A thirty-year-old guy—because that’s how old he was, no matter how young and cool they were trying to be—grabbing a fifteen-year-old girl.
Angeline’s father, who’s a lawyer.” He was actually the leader of a bunch of mountain vampires and had multiple wives, but that was beside the point.
You can change a tire in ten minutes while speaking Greek.” “Five minutes,” I said.
I’m going to tell you, you won’t ever need to pick those up, seeing as we don’t have a rabid moose problem here in Palm Springs.”
The new mom raised her hand. “You used nunchucks on a moose?” Wolfe got a haunted look in his eyes. “I used all sorts of things on that bastard. But that’s neither here nor now.
Why won’t anyone say Brayden’s name?” Neither of them answered right away. Finally, Jill said sheepishly, “Because none of us can remember it.”
It’s not that weird of a name.” “No,” admitted Eddie. “But there’s just something so… I don’t know. Unmemorable about him. I’m glad he makes you happy, but I just start to tune out whenever he talks.”
“We live in a desert, and you keep an umbrella in your car?” “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“You know, I don’t just drink to get drunk. I mean, that’s part of it, yeah. A big part of it. But sometimes, alcohol’s all that keeps me clearheaded.”
“I don’t know what it’s like… but to me, well, it’s pretty much one of the most terrifying things I can imagine. My mind, it… it’s who I am. I think I’d rather suffer any other injury in the world than have my mind tampered with.”
If you can’t trust your own mind, what can you trust?
‘If your eyes weren’t open, you wouldn’t know the difference between dreaming and waking.’ You know what I’m afraid of? That someday, even with my eyes open, I still won’t know.”
“At least with the alcohol… it quiets the spirit and then I know if things seem weird, it’s probably because I’m drunk. It’s not a great reason, but it’s a reason, you know? At least you actually have a reason instead of not trusting yourself.”
“Who the hell looks at you and says ‘historically inaccurate’?”
“Some things are true, drunk or sober. You should know that. You deal in facts all the time.”
“If he really cares, he’ll understand and respect your wishes—and be happy at just any chance of spending time with you.”
the best way to win a fight is to avoid one,”
Some part of me thought that maybe if I ignored the assignment, it would go away
“Why on earth would you buy a car like this if you can’t drive a stick? There are dozens of cars—new cars—that have automatic transmission. It’d be a million times easier.” Adrian shrugged. “I like the color. It matches my living room.”
“They’ve got a key, though, so I suppose they can make themselves at home anytime. They do it a lot, actually. He eats my food, and she uses my hair stuff.”
“You think I don’t want to see every single one of those bastard Strigoi wiped from the face of the earth? I do! But not at the cost of forcing people to do things they don’t want to.”
“I like Sonya. I gave her the first vial, so I can see why she thought the second would be easy.” “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “No is no.”
