Echo Chen

“Okay, pull me up."
The rope didn't move.
"Ascanio?" What was it now? Did he see a butterfly and get distracted?
The rope slid up, as fast as if wound by a winch. I shot upward. What the...?
I cleared the edge and found myself face to face with Curran.
Oh boy.
He held the rope with one hand, muscles bulging on his arm under his sweatshirt. No strain showed on Curran's face. It's good to be the baddest shapeshifter in the city. Behind him Ascanio stood very still, pretending to be invisible.
Curran's gray eyes laughed at me. The Beast Lord reached out and touched my nose with his finger. "Boop.”
― Ilona Andrews, Magic Breaks

“I lunged for the dagger and sat on top of him, my knees pinning his arms, my dagger on his throat.
He lay still. “I give up,” he said and smiled. “Your move.”
Er. I was sitting atop the Beast Lord in my underwear, holding a knife to his throat. What the hell was my next move?
Curran’s gaze fixed on a point on my shoulder. “That’s a claw mark,” he said, his voice gaining a hard edge. “Wolf. Who?”
“Nobody!” Oh, now there was a brilliant answer. He would believe that.”
― Ilona Andrews, Magic Strikes

“May fortune be kind, and the night gentle.”
― Robin Hobb, Fool's Fate

“Where the hell would I go without you, Kate? No matter where I went, you would be there in my head. I would miss you every moment of my life.”
― Ilona Andrews, Magic Binds