Rene looked at Grendel. “What in the world is that?” “That’s our mutant attack poodle,” I told her. “Is he chewing on a gun?

It was the kind of place you went when your earthly troubles became too much for you and you were looking for a creative way to commit suicide.

Tiny gold sparks flared in his irises. "You're in my rooms in my bathtub naked and you're still mouthing off." Did he expect anything different? "Hey, I didn't kick or punch you in the throat. I consider this progress. And you haven't choked me again, which is some sort of record for you.

I wouldn't be able to do anything with my vampire horde except make it run around in a herd, but it would be a very impressive herd.

It was his eyes. When you looked into them, you saw chained violence baring teeth and claws back at you.

I wondered if kicking him in the head would make the whole explanation pop out of his mouth in one chunk.

When you want to take over a city, you have to destroy the illusion of safety it provides. You have to hit the large well-protected establishments, find the powerful people who run them and are viewed as invincible, and kill them. You want to destroy the morale first. Once the people's resolve is gone and everyone is scared for their own skin, the city is yours.