My mother wasnʹt sleeping with anybody. She doesnʹt even sleep with my father.

Escape plan number seventeen," I told her. "Run away and open a juice stand in Fresno." "Why Fresno?" "Sounds like the kind of place people drink a lot of juice.

We can't do this without you," I managed at last. "Everyone talks about my powers, but you're the badass here.

Whether it's simply some fierce animal joining of mates or a sublime merging of souls, she is mine, and I am hers.

You're better than this. Better than whatever it is you're going to do now.

But the humans weren't what made my steps falter as I walked through grass that had turned bright green with summer's touch. It was Dimitri. Always Dimitri. Dimitri, the man I loved. Dimitri, the Strigoi I wanted to save. Dimitri, the monster I'd most likely have to kill. The love we'd shared always burned within me, no matter how often I told myself to move on, no matter how much the world did think I'd move on. He was always with me, always on my mind, always making me question myself.

Throughout history, people with new ideas—who think differently and try to change things—have always been called troublemakers.