Man, it was a good thing vampires didn’t get cancer. Lately he’d been chain-smoking like a felon.

Cause nothing said lovin’ like a shitload of motion detectors.

Caregivers had to take care of themselves, and part of that meant having a life beyond whatever illness had put them in their role. God knew Ehlena told this to the family members of her chronically sick patients all the time, and the advice was both sound and practical. At least when she gave it to others. Turned on herself, it felt selfish.

Mary, you can’t second-guess yourself. Listen, you go to war in your own way, and the worst thing a soldier can do is have his confidence fried before he hits the field. Not everything is going to end up in victory, but you’ve got to start it all off, every time, knowing that your training and your instincts are sound. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t hurt Bitty on purpose.

Besides, the mhis that surrounded the compound could scramble anything from GPS to Santa Claus.

After all, tragedy didn’t discriminate, so everyone was subject to the same whims of fate. No matter what your skin color was or how much money you had, whether you were gay or straight, or an atheist or a true believer, from where she stood, everyone was equal. And loved by someone, somewhere.

When you were young, you thought time was a burden, something to be discharged as fast as possible so you could be grown-up. But it was such a bait-n-switch – when you were an adult, you came to realize that minutes and hours were the single most precious thing you had.

Weight carried, whether it was physically, mentally, or emotionally, slowed you down.

Sometimes strength rested not in resistance, but in the release of arms against a foe of one’s own creation.

Yanking his inner manwhore back to the land of polite conversating, he forced his hands to stop.