I'm not threatening to kill myself. But you need to know this about me because—if you want to be my mate—I won't be like Leo. I won't let you sleep around with anyone else. I won't be forced either. I've had enough. If that makes me a dog in the manger, so be it. But if I am yours, then you damned well are going to be mine." - Anna to Charles

When a man is on the verge of passing out from pain, it seemed wrong to notice how beautiful he was.

I jerked my chin toward Frost’s body. ‘All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.’ Hao said, “Life is not safe. A man might spend his whole time on earth staying safe in a basement, and in the end, he still dies like everyone else.” Half-naked, covered with the same filth we all were, he still gave the impression of being in control of himself and his environment.

Over a lifetime of dealing with difficult women, I have learned it is often better to give into their demands immediately.

So in the sweltering heat of a July night, I sang a Christmas carol to a room full of fae, who had been driven out of their homelands by Christians and their cold-iron swords.

Charles looked at her thoughtfully. "People talk to you," he said. "That could be useful.

The Elders were closer to the Maker of All Things and should be deferred to whenever they made their will known.