Well...I'm on birth control" I was drinking the water again and choked on it. It took several moments of coughing before I could gasp out. "What?" "It takes a while for it to start working, so I figured I should be prepared, just in case." "Just in case," I repeated, still dumbfounded.

You’ll know her by a crown of stars and flowers, and then when you take her to your bed and claim her, you will swear your loyalty to me.

It was something of a mystery how a couple of teenage girls had managed to escape detection for two years, especially when one of them was a privileged Moroi princess and the other a delinquent dhampir with a disciplinary file so long that it broke school records.

I used to think you were weak and just didn't fight back ... but now, honestly, I think you're actually pretty tough. It takes a hell of a lot of strength to not complain and lash out.

Sex had been amazing, but it wasn't a magical cure for everything. Damn. Somewhere along the way, I'd picked up common sense.

Oh God. She probably thinks we were off doing—you know—romantic type, um, things—

Seth told us good night and left. I watched him go wistfully. “Anyone else here feel like swooning?