Fire isn't always an element of destruction. Classical alchemical doctrine teaches that it also has dominion over another province: change.

Me and polite have never been on close terms.

Hello Angel,'Michael rumbled, and leaned over to give the woman a kiss on the cheek. She accepted it with all the loving tolerance of a Komodo dragon. 'Don't you hello angel me. Do you know what I had to go through to find a baby-sitter, get all the way out here, get the money together and then get the sword back for you?

Mab turned back to me and eyed me up and down. She quirked one eyebrow, very slightly, somehow conveying layers of disapproval toward multiple aspects of my appearance, conduct, and situation, and said, 'Finally.' 'There’s been a lot on my mind,' I replied. 'It seems unlikely that your cares will lighten,' Queen Mab replied. 'Improve your mind.'

Time after time, history demonstrates that when people don't want to believe something, they have enormous skills of ignoring it altogether.

I got the sneaking suspicion that the vampire was a couple of Peeps short of an Easter basket.

I felt like I had just double-tapped Santa.