Chloe Neill

You've got better boobs," I acknowledged. And just as we'd done each time we'd had this boobs-versus-legs conversation, we looked down at our chests. Ogled. Compared.

There are those amongst us who have erred, deeply and significantly. Who have wounded the world and broken themselves. The worst of them lose themselves in their errors. The best of them crawl back, one foot at a time, and seek to amend their breaches. That is the way of the brave.

Together the magicks swirled and danced around us, invisible but tangible, like an breeze. This wasn't defensive or offensive magic. It wasn't used to gather information, for strategy or diplomacy, or to fight a war against supernatural enemy. It simply was. It was fundamental, inexorable. It was nothing and everything, infinity and oblivion, from the magnificent furnace of a star to the electrons that hummed in an atom. It was life and death and everything in between, the urge to fight and grow and swim and fly. It was a cascade of water across boulders, the slow-moving advance of mountain glaciers, the march of time.

There are those amongst us who have erred, deeply and significantly. Who have wounded the world and broken themselves. The worst of them lose themselves in their errors. The best of them crawl back, one foot at a time, and seek to amend their breaches. That is the way of the brave. -Gabriel Keene, Pack Apex, pp. 37

That's our cue to depart." "They know something " I pointed out. "I know something too. I know we're going to attract a lot of unwanted attention if they keep screaming. And then we have to make up some ridiculous explanation about how we heard screaming through the vents in our rooms and we followed the sound back to the basement and we found these girls lying on the ground and pretending to be tied up by invisible rope because they're practicing for the regional mime championships." I blinked at her. "Is that explanation more or less believable than we woke up because two girls who are actually evil magicians tripped a magical alarm wired to a door in the basement we aren't supposed to know about " Scout paused for a minute then nodded. "Point made.

The world isn__ perfect, and some days it wears you down. You can either accept that, and face it, and be a help to others instead of a hindrance. Or you can decide the rules are too tough and they shouldn__ apply to you, and you can ignore them and make things harder for everybody else. Sometimes life is about being sad and doing things anyway. Sometimes it__ about being hurt and doing things anyway. The point isn__ perfection. The point is doing it anyway.

You string some letters together, and you make a word. You string some words together, and you make a sentence, then a paragraph, then a chapter. Words have power.

Family. Couldn't live with them, couldn't run a stake through them.

Oh please," Scout said."Don't take that tone with me. You know you'd love to have a minion. Someone at your beck and call. Someone to do your bidding. How many times have you said to yourself," Self, I need a unicorn to run errands and such?

You can run. You can keep running to the ends of the earth. But I won__ be far behind you.___than____o. I will never be far behind you._ He tipped up my chin so that I could do nothing else but look back into his eyes. __o the things you need to do. Learn to be a vampire, to be a warrior, to be the soldier you are capable of being. But consider the possibility that I made a mistake I regret__nd that I__l continue to regret that mistake and try to convince you to give me another chance until the earth stops turning.

I walked inside and paused for a moment to breathe in the scent of paper and dust__he perfumes of knowledge.

They blew out a breath and did the thing all heroes must do__hey took that terrifying first step.

So as I shivered, naked and damp, in front of the bathroom mirror, I raised my eyes skyward. "I hope we're still okay."I got no answer, but then, I didn't really expect one. Answer or not, it didn't matter. That's the thing about faith, I guess.

The world has a lot to offer. There__ a lot to explore. I like to take advantage of that.

PAPER TOWERSThe library was on the second floor of the House, not far from my room. It had two floors__he first held the majority of the books and a balcony wrapped in a wrought-iron railing held another set. It was a cavalcade of tomes, all in immaculate rows, and with study carrels and tables thrown in for good measure. It was my home away from home(away from home.I walked inside and paused for a moment to breathe in the scent of paper and dust__he perfumes of knowledge. The library was empty of patrons as far as I could tell, but I could hear the rhythmic squeal of a library cart somewhere in the rows. I followed them down until I found the dark-haired vampire shelving books with mechanical precision. I knew him only as __he librarian._ He was a fount of information, and he had a penchant for leaving books outside my door.

I am beginning to remember what it means to need things. Laughter. Companionship. Love. "He leant forward and pressed his forehead to mine. "And I need you, Merit.

Who are they?_ I whispered, as we took seats opposite each other.Scout glanced up as she pulled notebooks and books from her bag. __he dragon ladies. They monitor lights-out, watch us while we study, and generally make sure that nothing fun occurs on their watch.___wesome,_ I said, flipping open my trig book. ____ a fun hater myself.

You are incorrigible._ __ know._ She sighed happily. __ll the shit we__e been through__ll the shit I__e been through__nd I can still make lascivious jokes with the best of them. That__ impressive, Merit. That__ character.