So instead of ignoring the pain, I called out to it, reaching for more. Pain is part of who I am. It’s the defining characteristic of a Shifter’s transformation. Pain is what I suffer from my enemies. It is what I deal out to those who break our laws. It is what I protect my charges from. Pain is what I inherited from fate, that fickle bitch who gave me a mouth and fists, then put me in a world that wanted only my womb and my cradled arms.

— Rachel Vincent

Some things are private. Some things needed to be said, even when the person who needed to hear them couldn’t hear anything. Ever again.

— Rachel Vincent

...sometimes compassion is the greater part of honor.

— Rachel Vincent

Son of a motherfucking, ass-reaming, shit-eating, hell-dodging soulless bitch!

— Rachel Vincent

Sorry doesn’t mean anything! Not when you’re still with him. It’s not just that you cheated—it’s that he’s still here, and you’re still with him. It just goes on and on, and it hurts every single time I see you with him. I hate it that he makes you smile, and that there’s nothing I can do to stop this. I can’t think straight, and everything hurts, and nothing makes sense anymore. You’re shredding my heart with one hand and stroking his ego with the other. And it’s killing me, Fay the. You’re killing me. And it’s only going to get worse, now that everyone knows.

— Rachel Vincent

So ... will you stay with me until it's over? Please?" "Kaylee, I would do anything for the girl who granted my dying wish.

— Rachel Vincent

Survival strategy. If you’re not careful, this place will eat you alive, and Kaylee’s like bait for the beasts.

— Rachel Vincent

...the dead have a way of becoming saints in the eyes of their survivors...

— Rachel Vincent

The moment the door opened I knew an ass-kicking was inevitable. Whether I'd be giving it or receiving it was still a bit of a mystery.

— Rachel Vincent

There’s a good kind of crazy, Kaylee,” he insisted softly, reaching out to wrap his warm hand around mine. “It’s the kind that makes you think about things that make your head hurt, because not thinking about them is the coward’s way out. The kind that makes you touch people who bruise your soul, just because they need to be touched. This is the kind of crazy that lets you stare out into the darkness and rage at eternity, while it stares back at you, ready to swallow you whole.

— Rachel Vincent