Nicole

“We are killers,” Matthias said.
Bad news.
“Not girls. We don’t kill girls.”
Good news.
“She’s no girl.”
Insulting news?
“What? Of course she’s a girl.”
“Want me to check?”
“Shut up, Blake,” the rest of them chorused.”
― A&E Kirk, Demons at Deadnight

“One hand planted on the top rail, slick from a recent rain, I swung my legs sideways, up and over. Home free.

Until my bottom foot clipped the post, and I spun as if caught in a crocodile’s death roll.

Good news? The spongy forest floor cushioned my fall.

Bad news? Momentum slammed my torso into a tree trunk. Couldn’t breathe.

But good news again. I’d rolled under a fat, bushy pine, which, along with the fading twilight, concealed my position. I heard the beast fly overhead in pursuit, taking out a few treetops on its way by.

Yeah, that was my plan all along. Man, I’m good. Except my body. It hurt.”
― A and E Kirk, Demons at Deadnight

“It would probably strip my flesh while giving me vocabulary lessons. I'd be dead but smarter. How's that for glass half full?”
― A and E Kirk, Demons at Deadnight

“He glares at me as if he already hates it. “What is it?” I consider lying but what’s the point? I clear my throat. “Pooky Bear."
He’s silent for so long I’m beginning to think he didn’t hear me when he finally says, “Pooky. Bear.” “It was just a little joke. I didn’t know.”
“I’ve mentioned that names have power, right? Do you realize that when she fights battles, she’s going to have to announce herself to the opposing sword? She’ll be forced to say something ridiculous like, ‘I am Pooky Bear, from an ancient line of archangel swords.’ Or, ‘Bow down to me, Pooky Bear, who has only two other equals in all the worlds.’ ” He shakes his head. “How is she going to get any respect?”
― Susan Ee, World After