Anne Bishop Quotes & Sayings

Perhaps not willingly, but pain can make a man do things he wouldn't willingly do. — Anne Bishop

Jaenelle leaned over the narrow window seat, gulping in the winter air. "It hurts so much to live here, Daemon," she whimpered as he cradled her in his arms. "Sometimes it hurts so much."
"Shh." He stroked her hair. "Shh. — Anne Bishop

In the gray world above, I hear myself howling with laughter. Far below me, in the psychic abyss that is part of the Darkness, I hear another howling, one full of joy and pain, rage and celebration.
Not just another witch is coming, my foolish Sisters, but Witch. — Anne Bishop

But during the day ... that was life. The collection of small details that made up a shared day were what gave richness to what happened in the bed at night. — Anne Bishop

I was thinking of something that made me unhappy."
Simon stopped snarling and cocked his head, looking more baffled than angry. "Why would you do that? — Anne Bishop

Daemon had written: "What do you do when she asks a question no man would give a child an answer to?"
Saetan had replied: "Hope you're obliging enough to answer it for me. However, if you're backed into a corner, refer her to me. I've become accustomed to being shocked. — Anne Bishop

Sometimes doing the right thing isn't the right thing to do." "Here, — Anne Bishop

How do we judge a dark landscape? Is it dark because the ones who already live there won't let humans have their piece of the world? Do we judge who is good and who is bad by the color and shape of their skin - or by what resonates in their hearts? — Anne Bishop

Some men die for lack of love ... some die because of it. Think about it. - Daemon — Anne Bishop

Do you know what the Sharkgard call humans on a ship?> — Anne Bishop

Jaenelle tried to smile. "They won't find their way through the maze. Not this maze, anyway." Then she looked sadly at Daemon's gaunt, bruised body and gently brushed the long, dirty, tangled black hair off his forehead. "Ah, Daemon. I had gotten used to thinking of my body as a weapon that was used against me. I'd forgotten that it's also a gift. If it's not too late, I'll do better. I promise." Jaenelle placed her transparent hands on either side of Daemon's head. She closed her eyes. The Black Jewel glowed. Listening to the Hayllian guards thrashing around somewhere in the maze, Surreal sank to the ground and settled down to wait. *Daemon.* The island slowly sank into the sea of blood. He curled up in the center of the pulpy ground while the word sharks circled, waiting for him. *Daemon. — Anne Bishop

Human females, they're kind of crazy during this time aren't they?
If you chose to believe the stories written by male writers.
They heard a bang and thump from the kitchen. Followed by Meg yelling at something.
That many males can't be wrong. — Anne Bishop

That one has more brass than an orchestra and more nerve than a sore tooth. So I sincerely doubt I make her nervous. — Anne Bishop

Werewolves and Arabians. It's like chocolate and peanut butter - a delicious combination. — Anne Bishop

She kicked me off the bed! — Anne Bishop

But that thread isn't Andulvar. It should be, since he's the Master of the Guard, but it's someone else. Someone who isn't here yet, someone who can guide me to the answers I need to walk that other path."
*The thread not tell you its name?*
"It says the mirror is coming. What kind of answer is - " Tensing, Jaenelle scrambled to her knees. "Daemon," she whispered. "Daemon. — Anne Bishop

We know how it ends practically before it starts. That's why stories appeal to us. They give us the clarity and simplicity our real lives lack. — Anne Bishop

People who entered the Courtyard without an invitation were just plain crazy! Wolves were big and scary and so fluffy, how could anyone resist hugging one just to feel all that fur?
"Ignore the fluffy," she muttered. "Remember the part about big and scary. — Anne Bishop

Jaenelle squirmed. My ... mate ... is trapped in the Twisted Kingdom. If I don't show him the way out, he'll be destroyed. — Anne Bishop

She has the strength, the knowledge, and the desire. She'll bring him out of the Twisted Kingdom." It wasn't what Lucivar meant, and they both knew it.
"Why didn't you stop her? Why are you letting her risk herself?"
Saetan bent his head, avoiding Lucivar's eyes. "Because she loves him. Because he really is her mate."
Lucivar was silent for a minute. Then he sighed. "He always said he'd been born to be Witch's lover. Looks like he was right. — Anne Bishop

Mother Night and May The Darkness Be Merciful! — Anne Bishop

She would always be short, but she wasn't helpless and she wasn't small. Not anymore. — Anne Bishop

The cow-shaped cookies have a beef flavoring, the turkey-shaped cookies have a poultry flavoring, and ... "
Jane held up one of the cookies. "Human-flavored?"
Meg stifled a sigh. That would be the first thing on her feedback list: don't make people-shaped cookies. The Wolves were way too interested and all of them leaped to a logical, if disturbing, expectation about the taste. — Anne Bishop

It felt uncomfortable to lie to someone who was being kind. She hadn't known a lie could have a physical weight. — Anne Bishop

Coldness as a defense for the heart was something Saetan understood all too well. — Anne Bishop

Do you always ask me the same questions you ask him?"
"It depends on whether or not I get an answer. — Anne Bishop

He slid into bed, turned off the light ... and groaned as an image of a wise, skinny old crone filled his mind. No, he begged the still night. Sweet Darkness, heed the prayer of one of your sons. Now that she's so close, let her be young enough to want me. Let her be young enough to need me. The night gave him no answer, and the sky was a predawn gray before he finally slept. - Daemon — Anne Bishop

Why is the moon shaped like that?" he asked.
"It's a heart," Meg replied. "Haven't you seen this symbol before?"
"Sure. But it's not the thumpy-thump good-eating kind of heart."
"It's a romantic heart." She looked up and narrowed her eyes. "Is that why you shelved the kissy books with the cookbooks? Because a heart is a heart? — Anne Bishop

The moon waxes and wanes. The tides ebb and flow. The seasons turn, each in their own time. Ever changing, never changing. Of course you'll change. The dance of life spirals, remember? Even when you return to a point, you're not in the same place. The dance would have changed you, whether you'd come here or stayed home. — Anne Bishop

It was easier when all we wanted to do was eat them and take their stuff, he grumbled.
And it had been easier when he hadn't cared if he made any of them cry. — Anne Bishop

She was the most painful, most glorious dance of his life — Anne Bishop

Words lie. Blood doesn't. — Anne Bishop

And what do you care anyway ? You don't want to marry me."
"I do want to marry you !" She stamped her foot in frustration. "If there was a Priestess standing here, I'd marry you right this minute !"
"She offered to marry him," Merry said.
"In front of witnesses," Jaenelle added.
Lucivar pointed a finger at Marian and snarled, "I accept."
"And he accepted," Merry said gleefully.
"In front of witnesses," Jaenelle added. "How soon can the Priestess get here ? — Anne Bishop

Simon's relationship with Meg was too complex for anything as simple as sex. — Anne Bishop

You always believed we could survive in the outside world. I'm doing everything I can to give at least some of us a chance of not only surviving but truly living. — Anne Bishop

Misery is a heart that can never be content with what it has and, by always craving something more, brings about its own destruction. And desolation is a heart so fearful of losing what it hoards that it never knows the richness that comes from being able to give. — Anne Bishop

There are some questions that shouldn't be asked until a person is mature enough to appreciate the answers. — Anne Bishop

How does a large slice of fresh bread soaked in beef broth sound?" About as edible as the table leg. "Do I have any choices?" "No."
"Sounds wonderful. — Anne Bishop

Insidious bastard," she whispered. "I don't know how you gave me that gut-jab of fear, but I won't forget you can use my own heart against me. I won't give up the landscapes in my care. Not even this one. And I won't let you have any of them. I'll find a way to do alone what it took hundreds like me to do the last time. And by the time I'm finished, I will lock you in a landscape even *you* will find unbearable. — Anne Bishop

*No,* he said gently when her words finally stopped, *they don't want you. They don't love you, can't love you. But I do love you. The Priest loves you. The beautiful ones, the gentle ones - they love you. We've waited so long for you to come. We need you with us. We need you to walk among us.* — Anne Bishop

This year he'd been caught up in a whirlwind called Jaenelle Angelline-as impossible to deflect as she was to stop-and he had become an accomplice in all sorts of schemes that, even in their innocence, had been thrilling — Anne Bishop

More than a shadow and less than a soul. — Anne Bishop

He hadn't observed Kowalski or Debany licking their mates' hands. — Anne Bishop

The first card was a beautifully rendered but terrifying representation of what Henry guessed was one of the Elders' forms. Next was half a Wolf cookie. Last was a card that had a simple drawing of a smiley face. "That is sooooo wrong," Merri Lee said, shuddering. "Yes, it is." Henry picked — Anne Bishop

Saetan laughed, genuinely amused. No, I wouldn't think he would. He's in his prime, virile, living, and well trained in seduction. That twelve-year-old body must be driving him out of his skin. — Anne Bishop

Our recovery of hope - full colour, three-dimensional, hard working, clear thinking, wildly radical, living hope - is our key to liberation. — Anne Bishop

It's a romantic novel," Jaenelle said in a small voice as he called in his half-moon glasses and started idly flipping the pages. "A couple of women in a bookseller's shop kept talking about it." Romance. Passion. Sex. He suppressed - barely - the urge to leap to his feet and twirl her around the room. A sign of emotional healing? Please, sweet Darkness, please let it be a sign of healing. — Anne Bishop

And the Lady's mate. Despite having only two legs and small fangs, there was much that was feline in that one, and he approved. — Anne Bishop

He's my friend, my brother," he whispered into her shoulder. "He's dying."
"Daemon." Jaenelle gently stroked his hair. "Daemon, we have to help him. I could - "
"No!" Don't tempt me with hope. Don't tempt me to take that kind of risk. "You can't help him. Nothing can help him now."
Jaenelle tried to push back to look at him, but he wouldn't let her. "I know I promised him I wouldn't wander around Terreille, but - " Daemon licked a tear.
"You met him? He saw you once?"
"Once." She paused. "Daemon, I might be able to - "
"No," Daemon moaned into her neck. "He wouldn't want you there, and if something happened to you, he'd never forgive me. Never. — Anne Bishop

Why did humans give their offspring fake versions of predators that would happily eat those offspring? Those — Anne Bishop

Monty blinked. "On what charge, sir?" "On the charge of being a pain in my ass," Burke growled. "And right now, that is good enough for an overnight stay in our facility. — Anne Bishop

As they walked toward the group waiting for them by the cars, Simon's hand brushed against Meg's. He hesitated for a step or two; then he took her hand, ready to release her if she growled an objection. But after a startled look, she smiled and curled her fingers around his. — Anne Bishop

Nothing wrong with the way your mother looks. First thing in the morning, last thing at night, and every hour in between, she looks just fine. — Anne Bishop

When would humans realize they always started the fights that would kill them? He — Anne Bishop

If you try to quit I will eat you! — Anne Bishop

Everything has a price. It's just what your willing to pay for it. — Anne Bishop

Is that why you've been pushing me away? Because of how you look? [ ... ] I waited for you my whole life. Yearned for you my whole life. After Tersa told me you were coming, I spent seven hundred years searching for you[ ... ] I never gave a damn what you looked like
tall, short, fat, thin, plain, beautiful, ugly. Why would I care about what you looked like? The flesh was the shell that housed the glory[ ... ] Even if I couldn't be your physical lover, there are other ways to be a lover and I know them all. So don't stand there and tell me how you feel depends on how you look! — Anne Bishop

He wondered if there was a way human males said they were sorry about something without saying they were sorry. Because he wasn't sorry about being angry. — Anne Bishop

It is easier to kill than to heal. It is easier to destroy than to preserve. It is easier to tear down than to build. Those who feed on destructive emotions and ambitions and deny the responsibilities that are the price of wielding power can bring down everything you care for and would protect. Be on guard, always. — Anne Bishop

What are you going to call them?" Meg asked. "Lunch?" Simon offered. The female pack gave him a look that made him think running away would be a good idea, if he wasn't the leader and couldn't back down. — Anne Bishop

He hurt because she was hurting. He wanted to lick her face and find a meaty bone for her to gnaw on. He wanted to entice her into a game so she would think about something else. But — Anne Bishop

Because you're going to help me train a seven-year-old Witch who's got the raw power right now to turn us both into dust and yet" - he dropped the shoe onto the chair - "is abysmal at basic Craft. — Anne Bishop

Sometimes I think her chest is made of ice, and she has to stay emotionally cold to hide the smell of a roting heart. — Anne Bishop

One store owner said he was going to leave a dictionary on a public bench so the vandals could at least spell the obscenities correctly. It — Anne Bishop

And getting licked by someone furry wasn't threatening but being kissed by the non furred male was, which made sense when the furry and non furred were the same person. Wolf. — Anne Bishop

You disappoint me, Cassandra. Your legends paint you differently," Daemon said softly, his voice thick with malevolence.
"I'm a Priestess serving at this Altar," she said, working to keep her voice steady. "You're mistaken, if you think
"
He laughed softly. She stepped back from the sound and found herself pressed against the counter.
"Do you think I can't tell the difference between a Priestess and a Queen? And the Jewels, my dear, name you for what you are."
She bent her head slightly in acknowledgment. "So I'm Cassandra. What do you want, Prince? — Anne Bishop

[Daemon] bent down and kissed her softly, persuasively. When he felt her yield, he murmured against her lips, "We'll have a quiet dinner. Then we'll play a couple of hands of 'cradle.' I'll even let you win." Her huff of laughter provoked another hunger. His kiss deepened as his hand caressed her breast. "I think I am hungry," Jaenelle said breathlessly when he finally gave her a chance to speak. After they had thoroughly satisfied one hunger, they finally sat down to dinner. — Anne Bishop

A woman with an education may be able to spend more time sitting in a chair instead of lying on her back. A sound advantage, I should think. — Anne Bishop

The sweatshirt was big on her and she looked ridiculous. He liked it. And he liked that she was wearing something that carried his scent. — Anne Bishop

Marian sank down on one of the kitchen chairs and braced her head in her hands. He got mad at her for sweeping up spilled sugar but dragged her outside to throw a skillet at bales of hay. She threw a pot at him and missed, so he was going to teach her how to clobber him with a skillet. Even taking into account that he was an Eyrien male, there was only one explanation for his behavior. The man was insane. — Anne Bishop

It's a store full of books, which are objects that can be thrown as well as read," Monty replied blandly. The Crow cocked his head. "I had no idea you humans lived with so much danger." Monty — Anne Bishop

Today the man looked a bit . . . chewed. No, humans wouldn't say "chewed." Frazzled. Was that the human equivalent? — Anne Bishop

The other package has pieces of dried stag stick. The pups like chewing on those."
"What's a stag stick?" Meg asked, taking the packages.
He stared at her for a moment. Then he put a fist below his belt and popped out a thumb.
"Oh," Meg said. "Oh. — Anne Bishop

They'll come back or they won't, Simon thought as he read the back copy on a couple of books and set them aside for himself. — Anne Bishop

W-what are you?"
Selena looked down at her rival. "What you should have been and never were. The Queen of the Witches. — Anne Bishop

Sometimes he caught a glimpse of a girl with long golden hair running away from him. He always followed, desperate to catch up with her, desperate to explain ... He couldn't remember what he needed to explain. Don't be afraid, he called to her. Please, don't be afraid. But she continued to run, and he continued to follow her through a landscape filled with twisting roads that ended nowhere and caverns that were strewn with bones and splashed with blood. Down, always down. — Anne Bishop

Maybe you should go home and rest, Simon told Meg. Maybe he could go home with her and they could cuddle for a while or play a game. Or she could watch a movie with him and pet him. — Anne Bishop

Vlad said, sounding regretful.

Simon replied. — Anne Bishop

I lost nothing I regret losing," Witch said softly. "I am what I want to be. — Anne Bishop

Forgiveness doesn't work that way. You may want to forgive, but you can't do it yet. Forgiving someone can take weeks, months, years. Sometimes it takes a lifetime. — Anne Bishop

Simon didn't think Meg really wanted to know how to eviscerate a rabbit. He could be wrong about that, but he just couldn't picture Meg pouncing on a bunny and ripping it open with her teeth.
Maybe if he tried harder to picture it? — Anne Bishop

We're going to destroy Cel-Romano. I wanted you to know that before you die," Stavros said. "You upstart infestation. You thought you could wipe out the terra indigene? It's your species that is going to wither - and you will be one of the things the survivors, if there are any, can thank for that." He released Scratch and floated a safe distance away as dozens of the Sharkgard rushed in to strike the enemy, consuming the human piece by piece. A foot. A hand. A forearm. A thigh. — Anne Bishop

You're in the Courtyard.
Whatever rules humans have for employers aren't my rules unless I say they're my rules.
So I can hire you even though you don't have any idea what you're doing, and I can fire you for having stinky hair! — Anne Bishop

Thera started sputtering. "You fool. You idiot." She stopped because Blaethe's response was much pithier and far more creative. She nodded approvingly. "What he said. — Anne Bishop

Dancing was the only activity he enjoyed with a woman, and he regretted that court dancing was no longer in vogue. If you want to bed a woman, do it in the bedroom. If you want to seduce her, do it in the dance. — Anne Bishop

No. I'm not hot, and I don't want to do the Squeaky Dance." Simon sighed. This day was full of disappointments. — Anne Bishop

Surreal realized Daemon's madness was confined to emotions, to people, to that single tragedy he couldn't face. It was as if Titian had never died, as if Surreal hadn't spent three years whoring in back alleys before Daemon found her again and arranged for a proper education in a Red Moon house. He thought she was still a child, and he continued to fret about Titian's absence. But when she mentioned a book she was reading, he made a dry observation about her eclectic taste and proceeded to tell her about other books that might be of interest. It was the same with music, with art. They posed no threat to him, had no time frame, weren't part of the nightmare of Jaenelle bleeding on that Dark Altar. — Anne Bishop

You weren't afraid of me when I was Wolf," he said. "Why are you afraid of Nathan?"
"He's got big feet!"
"What?"
An insulted-sounding arrroooo came from the other side of the door, a reminder that Wolves also had big ears. — Anne Bishop

Vlad looked around. Are we providing shelter, or are the humans actually buying books? — Anne Bishop

While he waited, he made up the bed,more to discourage Meg from falling back into it than because he wanted to tidy the room. Besides, running his hands over the sheets and breathing in her scent made him happy, — Anne Bishop

Opportunities and choices. — Anne Bishop

He kissed the spot where her neck and shoulder joined. The first kiss was light and chaste. With the second kiss, he used his teeth to hold her still while the tip of his tongue caressed and tasted her skin. He could feel her heart pounding, feel each breathy pant. Leaving a trail of soft kisses up her neck, he finally whispered in her ear, You're not too young anymore. — Anne Bishop

I'm not sure I could write a straight urban fantasy any more than I could write a straight contemporary story. I would end up being intimidated by all the small details. — Anne Bishop

Yes, I am," he said softly. "That's the way I was. That's the way I could be again." He shook his head as he raised his hand, his fingertips touching her hair. "I want to be your lover. I chose to be your lover. That makes all the difference. Being in bed with you is like soaring on a sweet wind. I chose to be your lover, Marian ... just as you chose to be mine. — Anne Bishop

Wait! I'm the one who's supposed to chase! — Anne Bishop

We are drawn to the Light ... others are drawn to the darkness that lives within the human heart ... there will always be such hearts. There will always be that choice. If that wasn't true, then a heart that walks in the Light has made no choice at all. — Anne Bishop

The lesson was not lost on Kartane. To be Ringed was the severest form of control. If Daemon couldn't stand the pain, how could he? It became very important not to give Dorothea a reason to Ring him. That night, after Daemon had been allowed to rest a little, he was ordered to serve the witch he'd earlier refused. That night was the first time Daemon went cold. — Anne Bishop

I've done some research for my books and talked to a few humans, and they all said humans would use guns and knives and clubs for weapons." The Crow nodded. "A screaming woman with a teakettle just doesn't sound sufficiently dangerous." "But she was! They were!" Alan said. "How would a human deal with them? — Anne Bishop

His voice shifted into a sexual purr. "I love you. And I've waited a lifetime to be your lover. But you were too young, Lady."

She raised her head, her body stiff with dignity. "I wasn't too young here, in the abyss."

Slowly, he continued moving around the altar. "Your body had been violated. Your mind had shattered. But even if that hadn't been the case, you were still too young - even here in the abyss. — Anne Bishop

She looked at him. Then she looked at the table stacked with books. Her lips curved in a wicked smile. "If you want us to keep pretending that you're sorting old books whenever we come by to chat, you shouldn't slam them on the table. We all know you wouldn't do that to a book that was truly ancient and fragile."
He closed his eyes and promised himself that he would not whimper. "You all know ?"
"Well, I don't think any of the boyos have figured it out, but all of the coven knows."
May the Darkness have mercy on me.
"Come on, Papa. Let's go bwaa ha ha. — Anne Bishop