Karen Chance Quotes & Sayings

I didn't really want to talk. I'd wanted him there, but I asn't sure why. Maybe just to have someone to drink with. Actually, that sounded pretty good at the moment. I sat on the seat of the chaise and he sat on the foot, and we just drank at each other for a while.
After a few minutes, he leaned back against the railing, like maybe he wanted a backrest, and I shifted my feet over to make room. But I guess I didn't shift far enough, because a large, warm hand covered my right foot, adjusting it slightly. And then it just stayed there, like he'd forgotten to remove it.
I looked at it. Pritkin's hands were oddly refined compared to the rest of him: strong but long fingered, with elegant bones and short-clipped nails. They always looked like they'd wandered off from some fine gentleman, one they'd probably like to get back to, because God knew they weren't getting a manicure while attached to him. — Karen Chance

Louis-Cesare and Ray were in trouble.
I could tell because I could see them, not clearly, but in fits and starts, little glimmers like a couple of ghosts, if ghosts made "oh shit" faces on the one hand agitated French gestures on the other. And that sort of shit wasn't going to go unnoticed for long.
Aaaaand it didn't. — Karen Chance

I bent over him and, before I could say anything, he grabbed me by the back of my head, dragged my mouth down and kissed me. Kissed me, with no drama and no explanation, like it was just something we did.
Knowing in a half-forgotten way that he kissed like a demon was one thing; experiencing it all over again was quite another. There was no refined seduction- Pritkin kissed openmouthed, hard and hungry, until I could hear nothing over the pounding of my heart, until I could taste my blood on his lips as his tongue thrust into me. — Karen Chance

Then why are you getting dressed?" "Maybe I don't like being the only naked one in the room," I said sarcastically. And immediately regretted it. "That is easily remedied," he told me, and pulled off his sweater. — Karen Chance

They were short and squat and had too many limbs, and he had no idea what either of them were. But they looked suspicious. — Karen Chance

Mess with my weed again and I'll be informing Daddy that there was an early casualty on the mission. I saw him wince at my designation for Mircea and grinned. — Karen Chance

Yes, but knee pants are so much more flattering. You can see my legs."
You want people to see your legs?"
I have very nice legs!" We both paused to admire them for a moment. — Karen Chance

I left it with a warmer, he said drily. Because war mages ate their fried chicken frozen to the ground and they liked it. — Karen Chance

Pritkin gave me a little shake and I eyed him without favor. The only other occasions when I had been dragged back in time, the trip had been triggered by proximity to a person whose past was being threatened.
I have to tell you," I said frankly, "if someone is trying to mess with your conception or something, I'm not feeling a pressing need to intervene. — Karen Chance

He had all the self-preservation instincts of a bug near a shiny windshield. — Karen Chance

War mages ordered, threatened and bitched. They didn't deal. — Karen Chance

How could he not see all the ways he'd changed my life? How could he not know-
But he didn't. It was in the way he turned his head away, when I just stood there. In the way he closed his eyes. In the small, self-mocking smile that played around his lips that I didn't understand but knew couldn't be good. — Karen Chance

You look furious," Pritkin said, watching me.
"I just - I can't understand not fighting for your life - for what you want. Just giving up - "
A corner of his mouth quirked. "No. You would not understand that. You never stop trying, do you?"
"What else is there?"
"Despair. Hopelessness. Anger. Depression."
"But those don't get you anywhere."
He huffed out something that might have been a laugh, only it didn't sound happy. "No. They don't. — Karen Chance

Louis-Cesare looked pained. Ray was even dirtier than I was, and his bright red briefs had gotten a tear across the butt at some point, flashing a glimpse of hairy cheek whenever he moved. An awesome trophy he was not. — Karen Chance

There are things we want, and things we may have ... Sanity lies in knowing the difference. — Karen Chance

Country is based on folk music, which has been around for centuries - "
"So has the plague. — Karen Chance

You decent?"
I pulled the towel up a little higher. "Yes, if my wrinkled toes don't offend."
Marco's swarthy head popped around the doorjamb. "Naw, they're cute. — Karen Chance

This is getting surreal," Marlowe murmured. "Even for this place."
"Cassie is here-mentally," Mircea told him.
"I gathered that."
"She seems to find it difficult to understand why I do not wish to have her in my head, unannounced, any time she pleases
"
Marlowe gave a bark of a laugh. "Oh this should be fun. — Karen Chance

Forgive me, Cassie, but Jonas Marsden is hardly an example of well-adjusted behavior! — Karen Chance

To know Pritkin was to want to kill him, but so far I'd resisted temptation. — Karen Chance

This was Dante's. Crazy was what we had for breakfast when we ran out of Corn Flakes — Karen Chance

Mine, I thought deliriously, as a shadow swept over us, like a cape had been thrown over the sky.
Mine, as my hands stroked up that strong back, velvety and warm, where every dip and line of muscle fit sweetly into my palms.
Mine, as the storm trembled in the air around us, and shook the earth beneath us.
"Mine," I murmured, as blue eyes met mine, wide and startled. And then closed again as he took my breath in a kiss so consuming that I barely noticed when the storm continued on toward the horizon, the midnight wings showing vague starlight through in patches as it passed overhead.
As it missed us.
"Yours," Louis-Cesare groaned — Karen Chance

The getup, sort of mad scientist meets Rambo, would have made me smile, except that I believe in showing respect for someone carrying that much hardware. — Karen Chance

One of the ghosts knows where the passage is! I told Pritkin. He looked surprised and I scowled. Just because I didn't know seven ways to kill a guy with my elbow didn't make me completely useless. — Karen Chance

You'll be all right, Cassie."
"No! I won't be! I need you-"
"Why? What can I give you that others can't?"
"What?"
Green eyes suddenly burned into mine. "It's a simple question. You said you need me. Why?"
"I-I told you. This job-"
"Which you're handling admirably."
"I am not! I couldn't even get to my parents without help!"
"There are other demon experts-Jonas for one."
"But I need you!"
(...)
"Then give me a reason."
"I...there's so many-"
"Name one."
"I can name a hundred-"
"I didn't ask for a hundred; I asked for one. And you can't give it to me."
"Yes, I can!"
"Then do it!"
"I..." I stared at him, because he looked like there was a lot riding on my answer. Maybe everything. — Karen Chance

I see you.
You always did, I thought, watching sparks dance in his eyes. — Karen Chance

I have to fix this," I told him, as clearly and calmly as I could. "If you want to help me, then help me. Don't shield me, don't protect me, don't bury me alive. Help me . — Karen Chance

He shook me, and despite it being one-handed, it made my teeth rattle. "If anything like that ever happens again. You. Leave. Me. Behind. Do you understand?"
I would have argued, but I was feeling a little shocky for some reason. "I'm not good at abandoning people," I finally said.
A front-desk person scurried over, first-aid kit in hand, but Pritkin snarled at the poor guy and he quickly backed up a step. "Then get good at it!"
He stomped off, limping, one shoulder hanging at an odd angle. "You're welcome," I murmured. — Karen Chance

Aiyaaaa," Zheng said softly.
And if that meant "holy shit," I agreed. — Karen Chance

I can get others to do what you do. They won't be as good, but ... okay. It could work. But it doesn't matter because no matter how good they are, they can't replace you. They can't because I don't need you only for what you can do. I need you ... for you. — Karen Chance

Aw, fudge,' floated down to me, as a couple of golden eyes peered over a third-floor window ledge. 'You're a freaking dhampir. Why are you reading Tolkien?'
I shrugged, then had to dodge the potted geranium he threw at me. 'After five hundred years, you've read just about everything. Besides, he had hella world-building skills. — Karen Chance

My sometimes friend, sometimes enemy, all the time pain in the ass. — Karen Chance

It never ceases to amaze me how many people think I kill for fun."
"Don't you?"
"Well, not just for fun. — Karen Chance

I moved to assist, but never got the chance. there was some pretty violent banging for a minute, and then a tearing sound. Finally the stall door flew open, and Ray's shirtless body emerged and started bitch-slapping everything in sight.
His aim was off, probably due to the difficulty of having his eyes on the other side of the room, but he made up for it with sheer determination. — Karen Chance

Where. Is. He?" Alphonse repeated, although it sounded more like "Don't make me eat your face. — Karen Chance

I felt betrayed and absolutely livid, but my body wasn't smart enough to know it. It had liked the feel of his hands, wanted more of it, wanted it now. It was almost like there were two of me, one who heartily approved of the mage and one who would have dearly loved to see him dead. — Karen Chance

Pritkin looked surprised, the way he always did at the idea that anyone might actually care about him. — Karen Chance

I thought there was a good chance the fridge was possessed. It was subtle about it, but I had its number. I knew its ways. Oh yes. — Karen Chance

One day, you will say it to me again. You will be sober. And you will mean it. — Karen Chance

Oh yes. I was telling you about my research into the old Norse sagas- the mythology of ancient Scandinavia. Have you read them?"
"Uh no."
"You'd like them, Cassie." He waved the hand with the chalk in it. "All sex and violence."
I frowned. "Why would you think that I'd- — Karen Chance

I dodged behind Mac for cover and refused to take the bait. I glanced at my nonexistent watch. 'Oops, look at the time. Guess I have to be going now. Let's not do this again sometime, okay?'
Before I could move, Pritkin was there, jamming the medallion into the skin of my upper arm.'Ow!'He looked at me expectantly. I glared at him. 'That hurt!'
What do you see?'
A big red mark, — Karen Chance

I'm driving," Louis-Cesare said, sliding into the low seat as easily as if he'd done it a hundred times. "You're drunk."
I wished. "I had all of two beers, mostly for the water content."
"If you needed water, why didn't you drink water?"
"I don't like water. — Karen Chance

Pritkin kissed like he did everything else, straightforward, accepting no prisoners and with an intensity that left me breathless. It was hot and hard and desperate, like he was starving for it, and I opened my mouth and took it, because, God. — Karen Chance

But his face was drawn and his eyes were pained as he looked down at me, and there was a strange expression on his face: defiance and fierce pride and something that looked like wonder, all jumbled up. And suddenly, I wanted to stab Lawrence all over again.
I killed him for you, I thought, staring upward.
I know. — Karen Chance

You said something else ... something about needing me, for me. What did you mean?"
"I meant-I mean, well, we're friends-"
"Are we? Are we friends?"
"I-yes. What else would you, uh.."
"I am not sure what I would call it. I had never given it much thought until recently. There did not seem to be a point."
"Yes, yes, exactly. And there's no reason to suddenly-"
"But I suppose I shall have to now, if I am returned, that is. Won't I? — Karen Chance

I wasn't entirely sure, but a polite John Pritkin might be a sign of the apocalypse. — Karen Chance

It was the first time he'd persuaded a girl into bed by mentioning the possibility of fleas. — Karen Chance

The guy appeared to be on the verge of tears.
"Zere is no more bread," he confessed tragically, like someone admitting witchcraft to the Inquisition. — Karen Chance

We're going jogging."
"I don't run for recreation. I run when someone's after me with a weapon."
"That can be arranged, — Karen Chance

What do you know about racing? Ronnie asked, curious. He looked fascinated, like a scientist confronted by a strange new species: dontgivadamnus from the phylum couldntcareless. — Karen Chance

They-" He stopped and just blinked at me for a minute. "You know, people are always saying that you're cuckoo. Looney Tunes. Off the freaking edge. But I tell 'em, no, she's okay. She's got some ... anger management issues. But you know what? They're right. You're nuts. — Karen Chance

Dorina?" Louis Cesare's voice was loud in my ear. The one I had squeezed against the
phone, which was squeezed against my sore shoulder, becuase I was using both hands to
keep Ray's point in his pants.
"The fey, damm it!" I told him. "They're for the fey!"
"Which one?" Louis Cesare asked, his voice going velvety soft.
"All of them- No Ray! Ray, cut it out!"
"All of them? — Karen Chance

And then I got to my feet and stumbled toward the door again. And got halfway there before I realized I was naked. Of course I am, I thought angrily, and went back to the bed for a sheet. God forbid I actually wake up dressed anymore. — Karen Chance

But you were Mine. My child. And I would not give you up. — Karen Chance

I'm not worried about me," I whispered viciously. And as sono as I said it, I knew it was the truth. Apparently, the surefire antidiote for your own fear is concern for someone else.
Pritkin looked surprised, the way he always did at the idea that anyone might actually care about him. It made me want to hit him. Of course, right then I wanted to do that anyway.
"Nothing is going to happen," he repeated. "But even if it did, you don't need me. You don't need -"
"That isn't true!"
"Yes, it is." He looked at me and his lips quirked. "You can't fire a gun worth a damn. You hit like a girl. Your knowledge of magic is rudimentary at best. And you act like I'm torturing you if I make you run more than a mile."
I blinked at him.
"But I've known mages who aren't as resilient, who aren't as brave, who aren't -" he looked away for a moment. And then he looked back at me, green eyes burning. "You're the strongest person I know. And you will be fine. — Karen Chance

I felt rather than heard someone come up behind me and I didn't have to wonder who. My vagina had just gotten a heartbeat. — Karen Chance

My nerves needed a break, not a reminder of how much trouble we were in. I prowled around, but it didn't help. I still felt like my skin was on too tight. — Karen Chance

He was an enigma, John Pritkin: a mad scientist with gun calluses and old scars and even more secrets than me. — Karen Chance

"I ran out of stock around midnight and dropped by a place, got some Chinese." I hoped he meant takeout. — Karen Chance

Like Claire said, there were other things to hunt and most of them were much less likely to hunt me back. But there was nothing that made my blood sing, my senses reel, my heart pound quite like chasing my natural prey. Except maybe fucking it. — Karen Chance

Then you must be willing to fight," Mircea responded. "Life is not a gift, Raphael; it's a challenge. Rise to it! — Karen Chance

Once upon a time, when I was a child reading fairy tales, I'd ached to have my own adventures. Not that I'd wanted to be some dippy heroine languishing in a tower, awaiting rescue. No, I'd wanted to be the knight, charging into battle against overwhelming odds, or the plucky country lass who gets taken on as an apprentice to a great wizard. As I got older, I'd found out the hard way that adventures are rarely anything like the books say. Half the time you are scared out of your mind, and the rest you're bored and your feet hurt. I was beginning to believe that maybe I wasn't the adventurous type. — Karen Chance

My one-time roommate Claire had inherited the house from her uncle, and when she went off to bigger and better things, she'd left it in my care. And it needed a lot of it.
Most importantly, it needed a new roof. There was a worrying stain on the ceiling of my bedroom that had started out roughly the shape of Rhode Island, but now looked more like North Carolina. Another few more days of rain and it was going to be Texas. And then it wouldn't be anything at all because the battered old shingles were going to cave in on my head. — Karen Chance

And then Mircea finally let me down, only to get his hands inside the coat and push me against the wall.
"I'm dirty," I protested.
He waggled his eyebrows. "Promise?"
"Mircea!" I laughed in spite of myself ... — Karen Chance

You love me?"
He just looked at me for a moment. And then he reared back his head and laughed, a rich, mellow sound, unreserved and unashamed. " No, not at all. I regularly battle gods for women I dislike! — Karen Chance

He was like this when I got here?' That's you alibi? — Karen Chance

After a long time, one small hand moved, slowly, tentatively, tracing the feathers falling around her, stroking the black slashes along one huge wing. She didn't ask where he'd gotten them, didn't ask why they mimicked the marks on his shoulder. She didn't ask, just kept running her soft fingers through the down, along the spines ...
"How long will they last?"
"A few hours," he said hoarsely. He should tell her, he thought, that the feathers weren't just a projection. That for the moment for however long the Irin's essence held out, they were an innate, physical part of him. And that her fingers stroking along the marks felt just like they once had, moving over his scars. He ought to tell her, ought to ask her to stop. It's what a gentleman would do, he knew that. But then he was half demon. And tonight, he thought maybe he'd just go with that.
"They're nice," she murmured, pulling one around her.
"Yes." One hand tightened in her thick soft hair. "Yes. — Karen Chance

You know, dulceata, there are times when I truly believe you are the most frightening person I know.
Thank you? — Karen Chance

She was the oddest combination of contradictions he'd ever met -innocence and sensuality, candour and diplomacy, anxiety and utter fearlessness. He hadn't even begun to figure out how her mind worked. But she was damn well going to live long enough for him to try. — Karen Chance

I'd been declared - over my loud and sustained protests - Pythia, the chief seer of the supernatural world. — Karen Chance

I couldn't see Pritkin's face very well, just a pale blur against the shadows, but he didn't sound happy. Some people thought he had only one mode ... pissed off. In reality, he had plenty of them. Over the past few weeks, I'd learned to tell the difference between real pissed off, impatient pissed off and scared pissed off. I suspected that this was the last kind. If so, that made two of us. — Karen Chance

There was a time when you trusted me with your life!"
"And there was a time when you used your brain instead of blindly following orders, — Karen Chance

This isn't sex."
I blinked. "Oh. Then what is it?"
"An emergency!"
I started to argue and then thought twice about it. Considering what Mircea would do to Pritkin if he ever found out about this ... Yeah. Emergency sounded good. — Karen Chance

Can you repeat that pickup line for me?"
I heard one of the vamps ask.
"I want to write it down. Something about the usual? — Karen Chance

He didn't take his eyes off me, as if he'd like to see my head mounted on his wall over a sign reading PROBLEM SOLVED. — Karen Chance

He wasn't that good looking, he had the social skills of a wet cat and the patience of a caffeinated hummingbird — Karen Chance

I looked up to see the sailing ship above me, the prow dipped low and Mircea hanging off the end of the wooden figurehead. His fist was knotted in my waistband, which explained why I couldn't breathe. Considering the alternative, I really didn't mind so much.
Even so, I was surprised his reflexes had been good enough to catch me. He looked kind of shocked himself. For a second, the reserved demeanor cracked open on something wild and fierce and compelling. Then he dragged me up, put a hand on either side of my face and kissed me full on the lips. From somewhere above, I heard Pritkin swear. — Karen Chance

I was hoping that the first time you expressed affection for me, it would not be in a room full of strangers. And that you would not have just said it to a sniveling creature like that Raymond!"
"I expressed affection for Ray?"
"Yes!"
"Man, I really must be drunk." Louis-Cesare just looked at me. I blinked politely back, until I realized that he expected a response. — Karen Chance

Dory mentally added another grand to the tally sheet for this job as a heat tax. And then another for the mosquitoes. And what the hell, a third for the freaking smell, — Karen Chance

I don't know. Just pick one." "Well, there's a lot of choice. I mean, you got your flavored, your ridged, your pre-lubed, your thin, your super-ultra-thin, your super-ultra-thin-pre-lubed, your ... Huh."
"Huh what?" "Would you look at this?" he asked, examining a small box.
"It says it glows in the dark. — Karen Chance

You can take him!" Ray whispered in my ear.
"Damn straight."
The next thing I remember, Ray was fishing me out from under the table. Or, at least, he was trying to, but Scarface's foot was in the way. "On. Her. Ass," Scarface said proudly.
"She just slipped," Ray said, sounding frantic. "Anybody could slip. She's fine! — Karen Chance

Damn it, the man needed a keeper. Yeah, sure he did. A dark-haired, dimpled, dhampir keeper, which wasn't going to happen, so just shut up.
Sometimes I didn't think it mattered what Mircea did in my head, because I was already crazy anyway. "It's like someone invented you just to mess with me," I said resentfully. "Quoi?" I sighed. — Karen Chance

How the hell do you think I feel?" I don't want to end up inside a woman!" He paused. "Well, at least not that way — Karen Chance

I'd never known that
anyone could kiss in English, kiss in apologies. — Karen Chance

You are nothing like Christine!" he said, in my face. "She was a responsibility, a mistake I made when young and foolish, and from whom I came to believe I would never be free!"
"Then what am I?" I challenged, staring up into blazing sapphire eyes.
"A joy. — Karen Chance

You know, I was gutting this loser the other day, and I thought, It'd be more fun fighting that little dhampir. I wonder if she's recovered yet. And here you are."
"Lucky me," I said.
Scarface grinned. "You know, I might even let you live. You're funny. — Karen Chance

For once, fate us taking a problem off our hands gratis. Let's smile, say thank you and stay the hell out of it! — Karen Chance

Not really hungry."
"She'll eat." Pritkin said curtly.
"I said - "
"If you starve to death it would damage my professional reputation."
"I eat plenty."
"The same does not apply should I strangle you in understandable irritation, however."
"I'll have a sandwich," I told Nick. "No meat. — Karen Chance

Mr. Complete Lack of Sympathy — Karen Chance

I narrowed my eyes at it. Ming-de's little gift, I assumed. "You look better in color," I snapped.
He sent me a sultry look over his shoulder. "Really? Most women think I look better in nothing at all. — Karen Chance

I have a theory about war mages," I said. "The more powerful they are, the worse the hair. — Karen Chance

He had the look of an atheist who'd just had a visit from God: stunned, disbelieving and faintly ill. — Karen Chance

I'd like for you to tell me who you are." The man blinked.
"David Dryden."
I just looked at him.
"Your one o'clock?"
"My one o'clock what?"
"Date," the third vamp said, grinning.
"For what?" I asked, confused.
"Well, you know."
The mage looked a little awkward suddenly. "The usual."
"I think we've got a contender here, boys," the brunet said.
"Smooth operator," the second vamp agreed. — Karen Chance

Halfway through, I decided that if I survived this, I was going to kill him. It wouldn't be easy, him being a master vamp and all, but I would find a way. — Karen Chance

My name is Cassie Palmer and I've cheated death more times than anyone has a right to expect. In the last two months, I've been shot, stabbed, beaten and blown up a few dozen times, and that doesn't count all the magical ways I've almost been killed. I'd have been dead a long time ago if not for my friends, one of whom had just jumped off the cliff after me. I'd have been a lot more appreciative if he hadn't pushed me first. — Karen Chance

We were obviously going to have to have a talk about the difference between "maintaining security" and "being a dick. — Karen Chance

The war mages might have been running a full-on offensive, but she'd been right there with them. She'd sent them screaming in terror. She'd imprisoned one like a bug under glass. She'd run one the hell down.
Mom, I realized in shock, had been kind of a badass. — Karen Chance

He leaned over and removed the lid, and some really wonderful smells steamed out. But I wasn't going to get excited, not this time, because it was probably Bambi in shallots or Nemo with fennel or - — Karen Chance

Don't give me some stupid lecture about war when the person we're talking about losing is you!" I said, surprised by the savagery in my tone. At least my voice didn't shake.
His face blurred and I tasted salt on my lips. It was warm, warm like Pritkin's hands coming up and framing my face, his thumbs brushing over my eyelids, soft as his fingers in my hair. "One person is not so important in the scheme of things", he said, and his voice was gentle, gentle when it never was, and that almost broke me.
But you are important, I thought. And yet he couldn't see that. In Pritkin's mind, he was an experiment gone wrong, a child cast out, a man valued by his peers only for his ability to kill the things they feared. Just once, I wished he could see what I did.
"Then neither is this", I said, leaning in and pressing my mouth to his, the kiss lightened by desperation and weighted down by everything he meant to me. — Karen Chance

This had expectations written all over it. Expectations that I was going to fuck up royally because I wasn't the kind of gal who wore designer nightwear and knew what all the forks were for. I was the kind of gal who thought the nightgown drawer was where old T-shirts went to die and who had only started using forks in the last century. — Karen Chance