Monsters always prey on the people who’ve already been beaten down.
Jenny sends her best, Margaux said. With Nicky being Nicky and Agent Black being, well, everywhere, it’s not safe for her to leave Vegas right now.
If you want to be human, you’d better go buy a house in the suburbs, play golf, and cheat on your taxes, because that’s the closest you’re ever gonna get.
I will try to contact Caine, he said, but I can’t guarantee— That’s it, hanging up. See ya in hell, Alton. Wait! Wait, wait, wait! I’ll do it. I’ll call Caine right now and give the order. He fell sil...
I pretended to think, stalling for time. Something you want, something you…oh, right! It just arrived. A big pile of ‘fuck you’ with your name on it. I gave him the finger. Sullivan frowned. What? I s...
I moved low across the lawn, keeping it smooth and quiet. I didn’t expect a lot of resistance—professional grave robbing, as a career, was about a hundred years past its sell-by date—but I figured the...
I gave him the list of what I needed. Brisco squinted at me. How is that gonna help? Didn’t you ever watch MacGyver? That guy could make bombs out of paper clips and chewing gum. Yeah, but…you aren’t...
I gave Caitlin a look. She shrugged. Don’t know what you want me to say, Caitlin said. I don’t understand why humans get so worked up over killing in the first place. This is pest control. You kill hi...
I ended up back at the airport before dawn, drinking black coffee from a recycled paper cup and listening to the come-play-me chimes from a bank of slot machines in the concourse. Vegas’s farewell to...
Hey, I said, panting, next time you find out that a major crime syndicate wants to take over Vegas, maybe let me know before I go to the city where they live? Send me a letter, maybe? Send up some smo...
He was convinced that he could steal a human’s life force, drain their soul dry, and use that power to turn himself into the Garden’s conduit and master. It was very trial and error, though. Several h...
He held out his hand. Give it to me, he hissed as his fingernails lengthened into claws. If you insist, I said. Then I shot him in the face.
Cameron furrowed his brow at me, like he didn’t know what I was talking about. We put Mr. Faust through the usual test, Fleiss said pointedly, as if she was feeding a bad actor his lines. Oh, the test...
After a moment, she nodded to herself. Oh, you little scamp, she murmured. What is it? She lowered her glasses, just enough to show me the burning molten-copper swirls of her eyes. Her real eyes. He’s...
A witch, a sorcerer, and a fucking demon from hell say I’m not trustworthy. You’re a psychopath, I said. She shrugged. I’ve been told that means that I know the difference between right and wrong, I j...
A use-name is an alias of sorts in occult circles. True names have the power to conjure and bind, but we have to call each other something or else the entire supernatural world would be reduced to hey...
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 fear...
Yeah. Gary nodded. She said that too, that it was your gun. Said this whole thing was your idea. My eyes narrowed to slits. Rookie technique. Make me think Jennifer was in the other room, rolling on m...
Why are you whispering? I’m on the roof of an evil flower shop, and I don’t want to get shot. That sort of answer, he said, really shouldn’t surprise me anymore.
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...