Then, his struggles stopped. His eyes stared at me, stunned, and his lips parted, almost into a smile, albeit a grisly and pained one. "That’s what I was supposed to say..." he gasped out. Those were his last words.

Taking a deep breathe, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life. I walked away.

People really want to set up these rivalries because there's a lot of vampire books out there. People want to believe we're all fierce rivals, and really there's just so much camaraderie with authors. Everyone kind of boosts each other.

And sometimes, if I was really, really lucky, he’d smile at me. A real smile, too—not the dry one that accompanied the sarcasm we tossed around so often. I didn’t want to admit it to anyone—not to Lissa, not even to myself—but some days, I lived for those smiles.

Your wit is always such a delight, Mr. Zeklos. I can barely contain myself around it.

Adrian: I find prostitutes vastly important. Nathan Ivashkov: Well. How refreshing to see that things haven’t changed.

I won't lie. Walking into a room and seeing your girlfriend reading a baby-name book can kind of make your heart stop.