Ben Reeder > Quotes

“The worthy always refuse power when first offered.”
― Ben Reeder

“Most people seem to think being a wizard is all about casting spells and being cryptic, but, really, most of it is really boring. A big chunk of it is research. Reading old books, cross-referencing them against other books, and then double-checking all of that against other sources. Then, for the big finish, writing down your own conclusions in your own journal, detailing what you did and how you did it so that someone else can repeat the process with your notes in a hundred years. Yeah, I was in for a glamorous life. That's why mages get invited to all of the good parties. The thing is, it worked.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“I’m never going to use it. ~ Every kid ever about math.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“It would have to be like he said, Miss Murathy,” Collins replied. “Cuz if he got those scrapes while he was running from the police, we'd have to charge him with resisting arrest. Your son is too smart to do something like that.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“I looked down at the car. It barely came up to my elbow, and it looked like it was a couple of feet longer than the Falcon. Which was kind of funny to me, since it only had two seats. “Then you probably can’t wait to meet whoever drove it, can you?” I said. Lucas’ head snapped up at that, and his face broke out into a grin. “Think they’ll let me drive it?” He was practically bouncing as he came around the car. “Doubt it,” I said. “But I’m sure they’ll let you drool on the keys or something like that.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“With all due respect to you, sir, you can all go piss up a rope,” Steve said. That brought a lot of gasps and exclamations. He forged ahead as if they hadn’t said a word. “You people are the best the Conclave has to offer? I’d rather eat broken glass than listen to you.” “Those are some harsh words, young man,” Moon said. “You mind explaining yourself?” “All this week, I’ve seen Chance bust his ass to do what you people are supposed to be doing!” Steve said, his finger pointing at the Council. “He’s been looking for a girl who was kidnapped by a vampire, trying to keep his own family safe from the guy who took her, and looking for this sword. While he’s trying to do all that, he’s under this Ordeal, trying to prove himself to you so you don’t kill him! And tonight? When it came down to saving his own ass or helping someone else, he chose to save his friend and twelve other kids: kids you should have been looking for, instead of sitting on your lazy butts judging my friend. If you ask me, he shouldn’t have had to choose between kissing your collective ass to save his own life and doing the right thing. He did the right thing even when you might have killed him for it, and frankly, I’ll follow his example over yours any day of the week.” In the silence that followed his rant, I looked at him with a new respect. “I believe,” Moon said after a few moments, “that we’ve been rebuked, Master Draeden.” “Justly so,” Draeden said”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“The little things are what make the big things worth fighting for,”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Not all of the sources I found agreed. A Greek scholar said that only a holy warrior could use it, but one of the early Phoenicians talked about it like anyone could use it. It had popped up in the hands of heroes of most religions, from the early Greeks to the Mesopotamians, even before the Hebrews told the story of Samson. All the sources I could find in Dr. C's library did agree on one thing. No matter what name you used for the Divine, the Maxilla was the concentrated wrath of God, straight up Old Testament-style ass-kicking in a box. It had brought down kingdoms, allowed warriors to kill dozens of men in battle on their own, and slain some of the scariest-sounding monsters I'd ever read about. It had only fallen into the hands of agents of Hell twice. Both times, it had been found somehow, and heads had literally rolled. But while it was lost to Hell, the world had really, really sucked. The first time had been before the rise of Lemuria, and the second time had kicked off the fall of Rome. No pressure.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Which particular tome of knowledge do you require?” “The Medici Codex,” I said. He stared at me, and I was half afraid he was going to arch his back and hiss at me or make the sign of the cross.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Big rituals like this usually have nine or thirteen parts, and they don't go off quietly. They're messing around with reality, so you get the standard 'portents of doom' thing going on as they get closer to being finished.” “Like hordes of locusts and raining fire?” “Yeah, like that. Lots of warning.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“The Bible forbids dabbling in those kinds of things.” “You knocked my shield spell down with a freaking baseball bat, man. That thing's tough enough to stop cars, and you're strong enough to drop it with a Louisville Slugger. You can sense 'evil' from people, and that ain't magick?” “Well, no,” he said, but his voice wasn't as confident as it was before.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“You should hurry home, child. There’s a storm coming,” he said quietly. No, that wasn’t ominous or anything.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“The man came over to me and looked at my pentacle with open disdain. “Remove that obnoxious bauble from my sight,” Thraxus demanded. “My house, my rules. You don’t like it, you can go.” “When did you gain faith?” he asked. I shrugged.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Young vamps had a hard time blending in with people because they forgot the basics. They would spend a long time not breathing, or they’d smile with their mouths open. But older vamps, while they could remember the basics better with years of practice, had a whole different level of creep factor when they weren’t putting on the act. They had a way of just going still that made it hard to forget that you were in the room with a walking corpse. Dead people just don’t fidget or move randomly.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“So, how do you know how to read this forgotten language?” “Demon's apprentice, remember? Besides, it's not forgotten. You just really don't want to meet anything that speaks it.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Okay, kids, it looks like your worst academic nightmares are coming true. Classes are cancelled for today, and probably tomorrow,” Dr. C said with mock seriousness. “Damn,” Lucas said. “I was so looking forward to a pop quiz today, too.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Blood ran freely from his nose as I closed the freezer and kicked him square in the privates. I had yet to meet a living being that didn't double over when I hit them there.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Magick was shaped by the will, and the will, as much as most magi hated to admit it, was fueled by emotion. I'd seen rage drive people to impossible acts of stupidity, and love drive them to superhuman acts of courage and strength.”
― Ben Reeder, The Demon's Apprentice

“You lie!” Polter exclaimed. “Speak out of turn again, Andrew, and I will have you removed from these proceedings,” Draeden said. The edge of his voice was so sharp I was sure thousands of air molecules went screaming to their death just being too close his mouth.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“We kill him.” “Yeah, I got that part. But how?” “Violence.” “I’m good with that.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Bullshit!” Simms barked. “Your boy here as good as confessed to doing this when he saw those pictures!” “It's the same reaction you'd get if someone handed you a bottle with a bio-hazard label on it and told you to be reallllll careful with it.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Then what?” “I'm gonna kick his ass a little. He'll whine a lot. I'll kick his ass a little more, and then he'll tell me where your girl is. It'll be fun.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“After learning hundreds of hexes, curses, and spells, all of them having variables that had variables of their own, math was simple. Once you solved for x, it didn’t change if the month was different or if the stars weren’t aligned right.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“We need to talk,” Donovan said from behind me. “When a girl says that on TV, it's usually a break up,” I said without looking at him. “But our relationship hasn't gotten there yet, so you're just scaring me now.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Sometimes, you’re going to face some pretty long odds, and if you try to take it all on at once, things can look pretty overwhelming. You can’t control when it happens, all you can do is decide whether to face things head on or give up.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“You can’t judge someone for killing a person. It’s how they react afterward where you see their true character.”
― Ben Reeder, The Demon's Apprentice

“One of the problems with trying to date a werewolf is the danger of having your face eaten while you're making out, and that had come damn close to happening”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“No one knows how you get with girls,” she shot back. “It’s like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Lots of stories, but no hard evidence.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“Dani was looking at me with a look on her face of disbelief, mingled with hope. Lucas had a huge grin on his face, while tears streaked down Wanda's slack face as she touched her pentacle reverently. Donovan was frowning like he'd just seen a gorilla sing opera.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords

“You lied to me, and you encouraged Chance to continue to lie to me. Enraged doesn't even begin to describe my feelings right now. For now, it's best if you didn't talk to me. In fact, moving out of the country for a few years might not be a bad idea.”
― Ben Reeder, Page of Swords