“Some women, Dahariel said in that same hard tone devoid of any hint of humanity, getunder a mans skin until digging them out makes you bleed.”

“While Dmitri, as the leader of Raphaels Seven, could not accept such a weakness, the mortal hed once been, the one who had loved a woman with a wide mouth and eyes of slanted brown . . . that man u...”

“In my time, he said, they believed in witches. Are you a witch, Honor, that you make me say these things to you? Causing him to rip open wounds that had stayed safely scabbed over for so long that,...”

“Someday, she said in a voice as serene as a high mountain lake, Im going to break your neck. Then Im going to saw it off with a hacksaw so I can take my time. Venoms grin creased his cheeks.I knew ...”

“Fine. But remember, little rabbit, not a word to anyone." He moved close enough that the dark heat of him lapped against her in a quiet threat that made her glad for the blade. "I'm not a nice man ...”

“You refused to fall in love with anyone else, Dmitri. A whisper with the impact of a gun-shot. So I had to come back for you . . . husband.”

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that youve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you sa...”

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there i...”

“But who can remember pain, once its over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.”

“I know what you are learning to endure. There is nothing to be done. Make sure nothing is wasted. Take notes. Remember it all, every insult, every tear. Tattoo it on the inside of your mind. In lif...”

“My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it's operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely ...”