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f24658f
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I clawed my eyes open and rolled off my bed. For some reason, someone had moved the floor several feet lower than I had expected, and I fell and crashed with a thud.
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Ilona Andrews |
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aa252bd
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I lived with humans for half a century. I've learned that you are weak, stupid, and easily cowed. Given the chance, you would rather fight each other than unite against a threat. I've never seen creatures who hate themselves so much.
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Ilona Andrews |
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e38887a
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Some women waited for a knight in shining armor. She, apparently, had ended up with a knight in black jeans and leather, who wanted to chase her down and have his evil way with her. When she was a teenager, she used to imagine meeting a stranger. He would be from the Weird or the Broken, not from the Mire. He would be lethal and tough, so tough, he wouldn't be afraid of her. He would be funny. And he would be handsome. She'd gotten so good ..
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Ilona Andrews |
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5d37c2b
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I hated casinos. The lure of easy money brought out the worst in people. The air smelled of greed, disappointment, and desperation.
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Ilona Andrews |
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17e1adc
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Hugh reached out with his magic. The dog was a mess, torn and bitten, but a faint, barely-there heartbeat shivered in his chest. Hugh concentrated. This would be complicated. He knitted the organs together, repairing the tissue, sealing the blood vessels, mending the flesh like it was fabric, muscles, fascia, and skin. The two Dogs by his side waited quietly.
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Ilona Andrews |
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4aa37ca
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You're out of your league," Curran said. No shit. "I really didn't handle this whole thing too well, did I?" "No," he said. His voice held no sympathy. I wanted to ask for a do-over. I would be more restrained the second time around. Less mouthy. Unfortunately in real life you rarely got a do-over." --
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Ilona Andrews |
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345e96d
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I stared at her, speechless. There were so many things wrong with what she said that my brain experienced a momentary shutdown.
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Ilona Andrews |
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8cba874
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But I've forgiven Hugh, because if I don't forgive him, there is no hope for forgiveness for someone like me.
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Ilona Andrews |
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cd85672
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We would screw up our children. It was inevitable. Julie had taught me that you never get the child you want or expect. You get the child you get and you try your best to make sure they turn out to be a decent human being. That was all that mattered.
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Ilona Andrews |
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4147aba
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For a time you can be alone and doing fine and never give a thought to living any other way and then you meet someone and suddenly you become lonely.
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Ilona Andrews |
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0f75d96
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You being safe is more important to me than having you. I love you.
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Ilona Andrews |
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8af81fa
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who?
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Ilona Andrews |
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49420d7
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Good people didn't hate without a reason, so they grasped at any pretext, no matter how small, that gave them permission to hate. A line in a holy book. The color of a person's skin. The brand of their magic. They were not in the habit of taking a second look or giving chances. Their fear was too great and their need to defend themselves too dire. They always lost at the end. Life was change. It would come to them, as inevitable as the sunr..
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Ilona Andrews |
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62d8f84
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tightrope.
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Ilona Andrews |
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43585c8
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Society frowned on killing your best friend. In this case, it would just have to make an exception.
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Ilona Andrews |
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5d60a54
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Hugh kept circling us. A small smile curved his lips. He looked like a man who was enjoying himself. Snow, sunshine, brisk air, a fast horse . . . and impending slaughter. All the things a growing boy needs.
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Ilona Andrews |
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52358f5
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Uh-oh. In all the time I'd interacted with Ghastek, he never swore. Ever. The "premier" Master of the Dead was about to throw a tantrum. I braced myself. "He comes into the city, he throws away my people, he orders me around like I'm his servant, and now this? How dare he!" I sighed. "How dare he!" came out. Could "Does he know who I am?" be far behind."
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Ilona Andrews |
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b44b7a9
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My mother used to say that family, blood or found, was our salvation. It was the net that caught us when we drowned and gently lifted us up out of the raging waters. She was wise, my mother.
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Ilona Andrews |
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4bc7e38
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I stared at him. He didn't look fazed. It took me a full ten seconds to realize he couldn't see my psycho stare through the vampire's eyes. Nice going there, champ.
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Ilona Andrews |
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eef4bd4
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Why do you vomit when you see and smell somebody else vomit?" "I don't know." "It's a biological survival mechanism. Primitive humans existed in family groups. They slept in the same place and they ate the same things." Pieces clicked together in my head. "So, if one person vomited, they likely got poisoned, so everyone needed to vomit to not die."
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Ilona Andrews |
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c193177
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Repeated exposure to fear-inducing stimuli creates familiarity, which in turn greatly reduces anxiety.
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Ilona Andrews |
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e1c3ad3
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I have no desire to dramatically unsheathe my hair weapons and end up with half of my hair sliced off and a giant bald spot.
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Ilona Andrews |
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27f6e2b
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About fifteen minutes into the drive, Conlan gave up singing the sad song of his people and fell asleep.
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Ilona Andrews |
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a9d9632
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Cookies aren't gonna cut it. Do you know any lion hunters who bait their traps with cookies?
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Ilona Andrews |
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e18cb62
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One minute later we sat on the bed, staring at a plate on the floor with two chocolate chip cookies and a small puddle of honey. "I don't think you understand the whole predatory cat thing," Andrea informed me."
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Ilona Andrews |
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2009f54
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What the hell did this Curran do to you? Killed your master, stole your girl, burned down your castle? What?
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Ilona Andrews |
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30fd5d8
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When visitors came to the fine state of Texas, they expected a dry, rolling plain studded with longhorn cattle, oil derricks, and an occasional cowboy in a huge hat. According to them, that plain had only one type of weather: scorching. That wasn't true at all. In fact, we had two types, drought and flood.
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Ilona Andrews |
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b01eb57
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Elegance is never ostentatious, and there is nothing more bourgeois than covering everything in gold. It screams that one has too much money and too little taste, and it infuriates peasants.
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Ilona Andrews |
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b1127a3
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This agreement predates our marriage," Elara said into the sudden silence, pronouncing each word clearly. "According to the contract you signed, it is exempt from your input. I don't need your permission. This exchange will go forward. And you will remember that you are a married adult responsible for the welfare of four thousand people. You'll reach deep down, find a pair of big-boy pants, and put them on. If I can pretend not to cringe ev..
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Ilona Andrews |
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db862ae
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We should poison him," Savannah said. "Why do you always want to poison people?" Dugas asked her. "I don't want to poison people. I want to poison d'Ambray."
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Ilona Andrews |
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b1a5954
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High
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Ilona Andrews |
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92f4558
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Felix, how do you know when Hugh wants you to do something?" "He tells me," Felix said. "Ah!" She clapped her hands together. "He tells you. Imagine that. So you are able to communicate with actual words rather than grunts and snarls. What happened? Why didn't you tell me you wanted them alive after I killed the first one? It took me like three minutes to slide the sword into that second guy. I had to lay on it." Hugh made a low noise in h..
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Ilona andrews |
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42e7cb3
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Subtle like a runaway bulldozer
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Ilona Andrews |
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811c0c7
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Hugh got up. "Would love to stay and play doctor, love, but duty calls." He headed for the door. Play doctor? "Jackass." "Harpy." "Thank you for saving me in the woods," she said to his back. "And for healing Alex." "You're welcome. I'll see you downstairs in ten minutes." A moment later Rook slipped into her room and held out his writing pad. Hugh needed help? "No," Elara said. "He was terrifying."
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Ilona Andrews |
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fe02e04
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Elara reached over, picked up a folder from her desk, and held it in front of her so only her eyes were visible. "What are you doing?" "Waiting for your head to explode. I don't want to miss it, but I don't want to be splattered with gore."
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Ilona Andrews |
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2265f5a
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Good night, Preceptor." He nodded, turned without a word, and strode down the hallway. He'd walked her to the door. That was almost... sweet."
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Ilona Andrews |
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a031f69
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People get upset over many things. Frustrating jobs, small paychecks, bad hours. People want things; people feel humiliated by others who have the things they want; people feel deprived and powerless. All this gives fuel to rage. The anger builds and builds and if there is no outlet for it, pretty soon it transforms the person. They walk around like a loaded gun, ready to go off if only they could find the right target. They want to hurt so..
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Ilona Andrews |
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a2397cf
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A soul, if such a thing exists at all, doesn't filter into you at birth through your mother's umbilical cord. Souls come from the people who shape you as you grow.
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Ilona Andrews |
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114995f
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In the event of a Law Enforcement Breach, a computer would the first thing the LEOs --law enforcement officers --would confiscate. I had a laptop upstairs in plain view, partially for that exact purpose. They were welcome to my Twitter account and my gallery of cute fluffy animals dressed in hilarious Halloween costumes. Nobody thought to check the dead-tree books anymore,
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Ilona Andrews |
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d254b6b
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Most people simply didn't realize they could do things that bent their reality. It was kind of like growing up in a land with no deep rivers or lakes. If you never tried, how would you know if you could swim?
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Ilona Andrews |
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d10b9ac
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How is Baby B doing?" He grinned. "A wolf boy tried to steal her toy at the picnic last week. She chased him down, took the toy away, and beat him bloody with it." "You must be so proud." "Oh, I am."
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Ilona Andrews |
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efed74e
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Huny." Conlan sniffled. "I don't negotiate with terrorists. Oatmeal or nothing."
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Ilona Andrews |
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1c2dc5a
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Stay near me on the way back." Surprise slapped her face. She turned it into cold arrogance. "Worried about my survival?" "Don't want to miss an opportunity to use you as a body shield." "How sweet of you."
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Ilona Andrews Iron and Magic |