I’d said it before and meant it: Alive or undead, the love of my life was a badass.

Okay, God, I thought. Get me out of this and I’ll stop my half-assed church-going ways. You got me past a pack of Strigoi tonight. I mean, trapping that one between the doors really shouldn't have worked, so clearly you're on board. Let me get out of here, and I’ll...I don’t know. Donate Adrian’s money to the poor. Get baptized. Join a convent. Well, no. Not that last one.

Things on the essential list: vodka, Nine Inch Nails, a steady supply of mortal men, and an all-purpose bitchy attitude.

If the other person says "Fuck Off," well, then, deal. Move on.

Through the metal grating on my carrier door, Adrian's face suddenly appeared, peering in at me. "What new, pussycat?

We don't really have a song or anything." I pondered that for a second. "I guess we've failed as a couple in that regard."She scoffed. "If that's our biggest failing, then I think we're doing okay.

I’d seen weirder things than a haunted shoe, but not many.