“Coming home is hard." Ven said."It shouldn't be" Daleina said. "They love me. I love them. It should be easy.""Once you leave, it's never easy again. Or at least it's never the same. You're not the same. You can't expect them to be.She nodded. "Sometimes they feel like strangers. And still, I'd die to protect them.”

“Coming home is hard." Ven said."It shouldn't be" Daleina said. "They love me. I love them. It should be easy.""Once you leave, it's never easy again. Or at least it's never the same. You're not the same. You can't expect them to be.She nodded. "Sometimes they feel like strangers. And still, I'd die to protect them.”

“She'd always been a little excitable, a little more passionate about books than your average person, but she was supposed to be -- she was a librarian, after all.”

“You do realize that you are addressing the emperor of the Crescent Empire.""And you are addressing a free woman of the desert. You are not my emperor. Therefore, I am your equal.”

“There's only one way in and one way out of this world.”

“Coming home is hard." Ven said."It shouldn't be" Daleina said. "They love me. I love them. It should be easy.""Once you leave, it's never easy again. Or at least it's never the same. You're not the same. You can't expect them to be.She nodded. "Sometimes they feel like strangers. And still, I'd die to protect them.”

“Tara. I'm a vampire," Pearl said."Yeah, whatever, and I'm queen of the sea.""Your Marine Majesty, I'm a vampire," Pearl said.Concentrating, she slid her fangs out. "Tara. Tara!" She curled back her lips to expose the points. "See"Tara screamed."I won't hurt you," Pearl said. Calm down. Sheesh."Tara continued to scream.Pearl considered biting her merely to shut her up. Regrettably that would be counter productive. Studying her nails, she waited for Tara to quit screaming. She noticed that Tara didn't try to exit the car, which was an interesting choice."You aren't running away," Pearl said."Duh, it's raining outside," Tara said.”

“Last period of the day was new gym class. It was her only class that didn't include Evan, which was a relief. She should be functioning at a peak concentration, but he and his luminous eyes kept distracting her. First opprtunity I have, she thought. I'll bite him.”