Quotes from Ilona Andrews

At the core, our motives are always self-serving, Kate. Altruism is a fog created by sly minds seeking to benefit from the energy and skill of others. Nothing more.

Whoa'' . . . Leonard started. Cuddles reared and tossed her head. The vamp slid on the glass and she dragged him left. ''Whoa'' . . . She dragged him right. ''Come on!'' Cuddles kept turning and rearing, her huge body going up and down, jerking the undead to and fro like a cheerleader with a pompom.

Did I ever tell you that you are like sunshine in the middle of the night?

Jim wasn't just a badass. He was a badass who wrote a book for badasses on how to be a badder badass.

Her eyes sparkled. "You should try calling, 'Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.'" "I will kill you and nobody will find your body.

One day some other Prime will threaten our House, and when that day comes, I'll kill him." What? I'll do it quiet and clean, and nobody will ever know." Leon smiled. "I'm going to be a dark horse, House Baylor's secret. I'll be the best assassin. A legend. They'll never see me coming." I would kill Kurt. I would strangle him with my bare hands.

Rose put down her fork. Lord Submarine... Camarine. Whatever.

Four shapeshifters are missing, the office smells like blood, you see some weird woman in a transparent gown who clearly shouldn't be in the building, and you run after her? It's my job to run after her. Without backup? I am the backup.

We have to stop anyway. I don't want you to regret this later. And I don't want your head to explode. Really? You're so good that my head would explode? It took him a moment. His expression changed from intense to speculative. It's a possibility. I'm not a doctor, but Doolittle says it could happen. That's a lot of expectation to live up to. I exceed expectations. So modest, too.

a dense wall of greenery bordered it, ...an impenetrable barrier of oaks, evergreen shrubs, blackberry that somehow resisted the frost, and thorns. In the defense department, the witches would make Sleeping Beauty's evil witch weep with jealousy.

You said your cousin was a necromancer. You know how the natural necromancers operate? They twisted the head off your favorite doll, stuffed a dead bird into it, and made it walk around. And then they were puzzled why you got upset.

They hold a grudge like it was their family treasure.

Do they have target priority protocols?" I asked. "Would they be able to differentiate between a high- and low-priority target?" Rogan's face shut down. "No." "No, they don't?" I clarified. "No, I won't let you do this." We stared at each other. The tension in the room was so thick, you could slice it with a knife and serve it with tea. Leon whistled a melody from a gunfighter Western.

How much did you hear? Everything that mattered. He nodded, his face unreadable. It is what it is. All cards are on the table. Not quite. I sat up. Oh? The real Rogan hasn't asked me. He frowned. I want the dragon to ask me. Be careful, he warned. I know what the Head of House Rogan wants. I heard all of his noble warnings about the future of House Baylor. I saw him told himself in check. I want to know what you want, Connor. What do you want of me? Ask me.

How long does it take?" I asked. "I'm sorry?" "How long does it take you to get dressed for work in the morning?" "Two and a half hours," she said. "Do they pay you overtime for that?

It's not funny. I've got a naked drunk vampire running around in my orchard.

Is there any chance you'd overthrow the tyrannical Beast Lord and his psychotic consort? Yeah, I want a vacation. -Kate & Curran to Jim

How is it that I could run into a gunfight against overwhelming odds and put myself between bullets and civilians, but I couldn't scrape together enough courage to speak to the one person who mattered the most to me?

What did you write on here? 'Don't die'?" "No, I wrote, 'Don't be an asshole!'"I headed for the house. "On yours or mine?" "On yours." "Well, in that case, your magic isn't working. I'm still an asshole.

The idiot had shot their own dog. That's what happened when the destructive potential of a man's weapons exceeded his intelligence.

Did you see how she got all hot under the collar? Grandma Frida said in a theatrical whisper behind me. She's not over him. I can hear you!

Tension fled from me. Tomorrow I would worry about Hugh d'Ambray and Andrea and Roland, but now I was simply happy. Aaahh. Home. My place, my smells, my familiar rug under my feet, my kitchen, my Curran in the kitchen chair . . . Wait a damn minute. "You!

So we have giant super-smart vipers who slithered in here, killed our people, opened the vault, stole something from it, and slithered out, undetected?" "Appears so." "Okay. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't something dangerous.

Shifting in the hospital bed had blown her closet door wide open.