“No one would stop for a bloody, Amazon-sized woman on the side of the road, so I had to get moving before the sun rose.” (Death’s Rival, 42)
“Not sure where the calm actions were coming from. Training or instinct. Maybe both, taking over when my mind went on hiatus and my soul was aching.” (Death’s Rival, 55)
“I was, for the first time in my adult life, essentially homeless, friendless, empty, and alone.” (Death’s Rival, 58)
“I didn’t recognize myself anymore in the killing machine I was becoming.” (Death’s Rival, 59)
“He had no security consciousness about him at all. We could have been two ninja attackers or even a couple of Angus steers, and I didn’t think he’d have noticed us enter.” (Death’s Rival, 134)
“Having men in the house was going to seriously impact my comfort clothes.” (Death’s Rival, 141)
“Even here, out of the city, miles away, I could feel him inside me like a ghost crouching in the corner of my brain, like a demon’s dark shadow, waiting to command me.” (Death’s Rival, 153)
“Being normal was no proof against horror.” (Death’s Rival, 197)
“My job was hard on friends. Or I was.” (Death’s Rival, 208)
“I had no training for paramilitary raids. My combat style was more along the lines of stake ’em and run.” (Death’s Rival, 233)
“If I thought it was weird to have so many men I was interested in all in one place, my inner cat was just happy about it.” (Death’s Rival, 234)
“Jealousy skulked through me on pointy little claws.” (Death’s Rival, 247)
“I was part of the world of vamps whether I liked it or not, and that meant being part of vamp politics. I hate politics.” (Death’s Rival, 258)
“But nothing in life is set in stone and nothing in life is promised us. Not happiness, not joy, not love. Everything was variable and mutable and inconstant.” (Death’s Rival, 300)
“There was something about this town. Every time I came here, things got so freaking complicated.” (Blood Trade, 55)
“I’d rather fight a score of rogue vamps than face a difficult social situation—and this was going to be bad. I just knew it.” (Blood Trade, 155)
“After a time, old pain became like a living being, with breath and self-determination.” (Blood Trade, 231)
“This was a rescue job, not a pole dance.” (Blood Trade, 273)
“People of all faiths are responsible to help the weak, the downtrodden, the sick, and the helpless, especially children. And of all the religions in the world, Christians are the only ones commanded not to judge, yet we do every day—gay people, ethnicities different from our own, people in mixed relationships, people with gifts they were born with, power they were born with, genetic mutations they were born with, illnesses of brain and body. I’ve got a little girl’s mother to save, and yes, she’s a witch. Are you gonna make it possible for me to save her?” (Blood Trade, 302)
“I was getting pretty good. I had astounded Evan several times today and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.” (Blood Trade, 334)
A Partial Listing of Jane’s Weapons
Silver-plated main gauche (knife)
Walther PK 380
Benelli M4 Super 90 (Can use regular ammo, but Jane uses hand-packed silver fléchette rounds when hunting silver-sensitive bad guys like vamps and weres)
M32, six-shot launcher
Heckler & Koch (nine-millimeter handgun)
.32 six-shooter
Kahr P380
Colloidal silver spray in canisters
Vamp-killers (steel-edged knives plated with silver)
Stakes (ash and sterling silver some with small knobs on the ends so she has something smooth to shove forward)
Holy Water
Clan Pellissier, Blood Family Historical Chart
Judas
The Eldest Son of Darkness. Sire of:
Claudia Acete, a former slave of, and freedwoman of, Nero. Turned in Rome in AD 50. Dame of:
Rufinus Agricola, a Centurion in Hispania, turned in what is now Spain, in AD 125. Sire of:
Cesar and Ordonius Frunimius turned in Spain in AD 400. Traveled to what is now France. They created a large blood-family and returned to Rome, where they fomented a blood-feud against the Sons of Darkness in AD 950 and were destroyed. Dual sires of:|
Alazais Chevalier, turned in France in AD 900. Was taken by the Eldest Son of Darkness and forced into his blood-family, as a slave, in reparation of the blood-feud that killed Claudia Acete. The son felt a strong attraction to the boy and took him as companion, sharing his scions, his bed, and his own blood. This gave Alazais great strength. When his time of servitude was up, he left Roman territory and returned to France where he became the sire of:
Mainet Pellissier, turned in France in AD 1200. Was given rights to start a blood family in AD 1450. In the years following, he turned several of his decedents, including Rudolfo and Amaury Pellissier. Rudolfo did not survive devoveo.
Amaury Pellissier turned his sons and nephews, including Leonard Eugène Zacharie Pellissier, in 1525. Together they came to the Americas and started the Pellissier blood family, under the proprietorship of Clan Pellissier, and Mainet Pellissier in France. They became one of the earliest independent clans in the colonies in 1724, and Amaury quickly became Master of the City of New Orleans. He took over the hunting territories of the Louisiana Territories. Under Amaury, the territory spread and gained power.
Leonard Eugène Zacharie Pellissier, became Master of the City of New Orleans and most of the Southeastern United States in 1912.
The World According to Beast
From Faith: Beast has had her own personality (from the very beginning), though I admit that finding the voice for Beast—primitive, wise, snarky, sometimes confused about humans, lofty, snide, sexy, practical—in other words totally catty—was harder than I had thought it would be. It took a lot of very different things to make the voice become real to me. I started out with old Tarzan movies. The dialogue of, “Me Tarzan, you Jane,” felt close to right, and it helped that Tarzan had a Jane in his life too. I had recently read the wonderful book by Temple Grandin, Animals in Translation, which gave me a vision into how animals think, reason, remember, and deduce life lessons in pictures. And then there was all the lovely, incredibly helpful input from my wonderful editor, Jessica Wade, who was invaluable in helping me with this series in general, and with Beast’s voice in particular.
Beast has a Facebook fan page, where she sometimes makes an appearance to answer questions posed by her fans. This section of Beastly advice came in part from her interactions with her fans, though I have altered the questions, hidden the identities of the questioners, and revised the answers to provide privacy. (Cats love their privacy.)
Faith
From: Swannanoa Sweetheart Hooked on Pistachio Gelato: Humans get into a lot of trouble because of their appetites. They get hooked on drugs, alcohol, food, and the Home Shopping Network. What do you think about the human appetite and addiction . . . and do the people of claw and tooth ever get hooked on anything? If so, what do they do to break the addiction?