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5388e42
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In a week marred by death and pain, I'd found a single red rose growing in the ruins. I'd take the thorns as they came.
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Craig Schaefer |
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1b0791a
|
Ugh." She rolled her eyes. "Ever wonder why that's the conversational default? People always want to know your job. Not what you love, what you hate, but what you do to earn money. What does that say about us as a society?"
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Craig Schaefer |
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97208c3
|
She had personal details about my relationships that only my close friends should have known. "So you've got a stalker," I said to my reflection in the rearview mirror. "And she eats people. Great."
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Craig Schaefer |
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4172d8a
|
Now bottle your hatred and store it in your heart's pantry for a thirstier day.
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Craig Schaefer |
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51016a7
|
I realize you're a politician, so this is a new concept for you. 'Cooperating' means actually doing what you're supposed to, not just saying you will and then weaseling out.
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Craig Schaefer |
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f19b7ea
|
Spend enough time living on the wrong side of the law, magic powers or not, you grow a sixth sense for when things are about to go sideways. Think of it as Darwinism for criminals. You learn when to walk away, you stay in the game for another night. You don't, well...the prisons are filled with guys who didn't spot a setup until they were being hauled off in handcuffs.
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Craig Schaefer |
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bf60128
|
She pointed at our hands. "Are you two rutting?" "That is so gross." Justine stood next to her with her mouth agape. "You are so gross." "No," Caitlin said, grinning. "We're holding hands. What I did with your father, that was rutting." Justine made a strangled squeaking noise, like a cat had lodged in her throat and was trying to kick its way out. Juliette stammered incoherently as she dragged her sister away by the arm. I let go of Caitli..
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Craig Schaefer |
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fb875bf
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When you fight, though, that badge means you've gotta keep your gloves on. I don't. I use brass knuckles.
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Craig Schaefer |
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cd23510
|
According to Caitlin, he'd been on the throne since Hannibal discovered elephants, and he was so slippery he would orchestrate assassination plots against himself when he got bored, just to keep his wits sharp.
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Craig Schaefer |
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30f573f
|
I love working with fanatics. You just wind them up, and off they go.
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Craig Schaefer |
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020aff4
|
It's you, Pix. You and everybody like you. Everybody who reaches out a hand when they don't have to. Everybody who helps somebody get up on their feet, or gets in the way of a fist so somebody weaker doesn't have to take the pain. Everybody who stands up in the face of evil and says 'no more.' Everybody who does what they can to make this shithole of a planet a little less miserable for everybody else. You are who's fighting for us.
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Craig Schaefer |
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5d2cb01
|
My guys saw you on Fremont last week, Dan. You know what they saw you doing?" "Their mothers?" I replied. "Funny," he said and turned back to Juliette." --
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Craig Schaefer |
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a6ef004
|
it's about doing what you can, whenever you can, to stand up for what you believe. You fight and you never, ever give up. That's what makes a man.
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Craig Schaefer |
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edf074f
|
Why are they trying to kill me?" he squealed, cupping his hands over his head. "They're not," I told him. "They're trying to kill me. So stay close." "They're trying to kill you, so I should stay close?" He gaped at me. "That's terrible advice."
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Craig Schaefer |
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4997ae7
|
You see," she said, "maybe you are stronger than me. But it doesn't matter, and I'll tell you why: because I've always been smarter than you."
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Craig Schaefer |
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92e334e
|
Unfortunately," Jessie said, "he caught a terminal case of death."
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Craig Schaefer |
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c0f87e9
|
I explained Crime 101 to the kid. "Guns escalate things. They're only good for crowd control. We're going in after closing hours, so we don't need crowd control." "Yeah," Augie said, "but what about security? What if they start bustin' caps?" Bustin' caps. I wondered how many hip-hop posters he had on his bedroom wall. "Site's handled by Gold Star Security Northwest," I explained. "They don't carry guns, just Tasers and pepper spray. They a..
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Craig Schaefer |
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f9ceeab
|
The cellar itself? Not shown. Probably wanna check that out." "The cellar," I said. "Great. Because nothing bad ever happens in the cellars of creepy old houses."
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Craig Schaefer |
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e53044f
|
Seems to me you've got two choices: one, you can get in a gunfight with the United States government--because that always ends well--or you can run downstairs, get as many of your boys out through the emergency exits as you can, and order the rest to surrender. Your call, but bail money's a lot cheaper than a tombstone.
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Craig Schaefer |
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43c0c51
|
Adrenaline after a gunfight's like a coked-up rock star in an expensive hotel room. It doesn't leave until it trashes the place.
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Craig Schaefer |
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0a1c2fc
|
Agent Black wanted to put Lauren Carmichael in a ten-by-ten prison cell. I had a better idea: a hole out in the desert, three feet wide and six feet deep.
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Craig Schaefer |
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5623644
|
You mean," she said, "do I want to go and hunt the Bogeyman in the dark? Why, I'd be ever so delighted. Let's roll."
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Craig Schaefer |
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e7cd1e2
|
I felt like the sheriff in an old Western, gearing up for a showdown at high noon, only to find out the black-hat outlaw accidentally fell off his horse and died from a concussion on his way to the gunfight. No satisfaction, no closure.
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Craig Schaefer |
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6e3eac7
|
The world is full of good men who make bad decisions," I told her. "Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn't. You just have to figure things out the best you can. Make the best choices you can. Choices you can live with."
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Craig Schaefer |
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c853c84
|
Have you ever considered, for even a moment, the list of things I'm not allowed to do because some bitter old men say so? I can't lead a mass, can't earn the greens of a priest, let alone claim my birthright. My entire life, from the cradle to the grave, is dictated by 'traditions' and rules that you aren't subject to. My power was taken away from me the moment I was born a woman. So no, you do not get to give me permission to cry!" "I'm"
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Craig Schaefer |
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7c00a1c
|
You saved me, too," I told her. "Sometimes you just can't do everything alone. And that's okay."
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Craig Schaefer |
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dcabf7d
|
magic was the cheat codes for the universe.
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Craig Schaefer |
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3a64743
|
Nobody answered. I put my thumb on the hammer of my gun and cocked it back. A meaningless gesture on most modern pistols, but thanks to Hollywood it got the point across. "I've got four hostages here, and I only need one. If I don't have an answer in five seconds, we start making staff cuts."
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Craig Schaefer |
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319b921
|
But it's not about violence; it's about doing what you can, whenever you can, to stand up for what you believe. You fight and you never, ever give up. That's what makes a man.
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Craig Schaefer |
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23f6d25
|
Honor," she said, "is the coin that stays in your pocket when all your silver has been spent."
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Craig Schaefer |
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cb3c047
|
You could forge your pain into a sword," Nyx said, "and persecute your enemies. Triumph. Survive. But fear imprisons you. Fear of breaking rules. Fear of what people will think of you. Petty little fears."
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Craig Schaefer |
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b71e701
|
I'd rather be hopeful and wrong than jaded and right.
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Craig Schaefer |
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80f4c28
|
Pix?" I said. "Pretend for a second that I'm not a hacker." "I'm a jobber in a tag-team cage match against John Cena and The Rock. My partner just got laid out cold with a folding chair, and the referee is looking the other way."
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Craig Schaefer |
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f3e20ea
|
Rare. Rare as pirate gold. Just wave a candle in its general direction.
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Craig Schaefer |
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32aded3
|
The key to walking around places where you're not supposed to be is to look like you're too important to be interrupted. Most people are non-confrontational by nature, and if you give them a good reason not to challenge you, they won't. I
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Craig Schaefer |
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44c34d0
|
Everyone," Caitlin said, cradling her wine glass, "is the hero of his own story. That goes double for fanatics. Some of the greatest horrors in history were perpetrated by people who insisted, all the way to damnation's door, that they fought on the side of the angels."
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heroes
history
good
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Craig Schaefer |
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0e0b49b
|
It's true. We get these hormonal urges to tear down corrupt corporations and send entitled billionaire assholes to prison." I shrugged. "Women, right?"
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Craig Schaefer |
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f145ba9
|
You can't take a life--good or bad, whether they've got it coming or not--you can't take a life without burning out a little of the light in your heart. And you've only got so much light.
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Craig Schaefer |
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5440bf8
|
There's no council of wizened wizards overseeing the world of magic, no hidden academies where bright-eyed and precocious youths learn the secrets of the unknown. What we do have is a collective desire, as a community, to keep anyone from fucking up our action. One of the first things any fledgling sorcerer is taught? Keep your mouth shut about magic, or someone will shut it for you, probably with a bullet or a corrective curb-stomping. Now
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Craig Schaefer |
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90c0caa
|
Well hello," Caitlin said, eyeing the shepherd. "The last time I saw you, you were wearing your heart on your sleeve. Because I ripped it out and put it there."
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Craig Schaefer |
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094fd4f
|
There are two answers to evil," she said. "The first is to justify it. The evil that you do is for a good cause, you'll be validated in the end, it needed to be done, etcetera, etcetera. Of course, once you start walking that road, it's all downhill. I'm sure this Tony person didn't start by drowning children. You have to work your way up to that kind of atrocity." "And the second answer?" "You own it. Be truthful and accept your own nature..
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Craig Schaefer |
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305e361
|
Do you have the soul? Where is it now?" she asked, a little too urgently for my liking. "Stashed someplace safe," I told her. That someplace was the trunk of my car parked out in the driveway, but I didn't feel like sharing that much." --
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Craig Schaefer |
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b859cba
|
Look at this writing. Can you read? What does it say?" "Happy...graduation, sir?" "It was for a funeral! Happy graduation? What's he graduated to? Worm food?"
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Craig Schaefer |
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d4b87ae
|
Good. I need to arm up. All I've got is a gun with four bullets, and it's a really embarrassing gun.
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Craig Schaefer |