Or to want to take a photo of Nicholas with his fangs out and wearing a black cape lined with red satin and then hang it over my pillow in a heart-shaped frame.

I kicked a pebble into the pond, accidentally scaring the sleepy swan. He squawked and burst into flight, scattering feathers. Jenna and I both squawked back and threw a stake at it. He dive-bombed us, insulted.

Could one write a strongly worded letter to the deceased requiring their full cooperation?

Not me.” He bent his head, voice dropping to a husky whisper. “Never me.

Hunter had inherited her grandfather’s house after he died at the Battle of Violet Hill. She’d spent weeks finding and dismantling all of the hidden anti-vampire booby traps. Quinn didn’t find the second holy water dispenser until he took a shower and nearly died.

I love you, too,′ he whispered, one corner of his mouth lifting into a smile. I grinned back, then kissed him until I felt light-headed and breathless.

A girl in long pigtails nearly closed the door on her thumb as I approached. Her friend nudged her. She nudged back. They whispered furiously to each other. I overheard a lot of “you ask her” and “no, you ask her”. And then the second girl shoved her friend right into my path, solving the argument.

They love. They laugh. They die. If that’s not living, what is?

I tried not to look as if I was hiding a handsome young lad under the mattress.

The more magic you used to keep monsters away, the more monsters were drawn to you.