Of-a Sentence Examples
Alex was doing everything in his power to provide her with all the experiences of a natural mother.
Remembering what Felipa had said about the girls being out of a home if Alex refused the inheritance, she smiled.
Actually, everything belongs to both of us, but I was the one who had the lifelong dream of a horse ranch.
That was when Mary decided to relieve her mind of a troubling thought.
Thanks to Alex, that chore had been turned into a simple twist of a knob.
I always pictured myself driving a van instead of a truck.
Carmen made a ball out of a pair of socks.
They sat her in front of a mirror while Felipa worked.
I don't want to put the girls out of a home.
The table and chairs were made of a dark rich wood, and the tiles on the floor looked like polished bricks.
AdvertisementShe woke when the bed sank with the weight of a person sitting down.
The fact that they were expecting two babies instead of one made it more of a challenge.
Carmen felt the full weight of a question that had no answer.
It was the idea that I would never have one... the death of a dream, I guess.
That should have been no big surprise, but Carmen would have thought he would welcome the idea of a willing heir.
AdvertisementAs he turned, the lights of a silent ambulance bounced across the long stretch of pasture between the highway and the mangled car.
That wide-eyed innocent look and those full lips reminded him of a fairytale princess.
Why, because he is the son of a prominent family doctor?
She stared into the early darkness of a thick cloud cover.
She carefully drew the outline of a truck around the words on the top.
AdvertisementBeyond that, less than three feet separated the road from the edge of a cliff.
As he had pointed out, it wasn't as if she had much of a choice.
The furnishings were of a dark wood, possibly cherry, with hand carved designs.
He indicated the space behind him with a wave of a hand.
Such an unlikely spot for a home site, and yet, the remains of a chimney gave indisputable proof that one had existed at some point.
AdvertisementBut then so was the scream of a mountain lion, and she had never seen one of those, either.
Everything seemed clearer, as though she had come out of a fog.
Exhaustion left her feeling cold and weak, which was probably why her foot slipped on the edge of a rock.
I could have... would have been more of a comfort.
Giddon returned to his place on the couch, his eyes twinkling with humor and the slightest suggestion of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Then why are you suddenly in need of a sitter?
For the most part, the work she did for the Giddon family was little more than she would have done at home - with the exception that at home she probably would have made a sandwich instead of a meal.
She lifted the hair off her neck and sighed as she paused in the shade of a huge oak tree.
The sound of tires crunching on gravel announced the approach of a vehicle.
Like taking a job at the home of a stranger?
As the path turned, the broad side of a metal building came into view, nestled at the foot of a cliff.
Was she always misinterpreting his intent, or was he merely quick-witted enough to think of a good excuse on the spur of the moment?
It was bits and pieces of a telephone conversation with a mystery person.
She felt somehow drawn to the picture of a frail looking girl with dark eyes that looked out hauntingly from a delicately beautiful face.
After a while they were riding around the side of a steep hill through tall grass.
Ahead of him was the possibility of a jail sentence.
She glanced up at him, basking in the afterglow of a good scare.
Yancey expertly caught the head of the serpent between the forks of a stick and bent over to pick it up.
He indicated a chair in the shadow of a rose bush.
She had to get into that building and find out if there was any chance of a relationship with Yancey.
I thought you girls had some kind of a house rule.
Brandon would be horrified by any thought of a romantic involvement with me.
Well, any mother-in-law who isn't willing to baby-sit her own grandchildren isn't much of a grandmother.
At first she was too stunned to respond, and then passion hit her like the fiery breath of a dragon.
She wanted to ask him how long he would stay at the ranch, but she couldn't think of a way to word the question that didn't sound insensitive.
Probably another greenhorn Pete had to pull out of a scrape.
Why Pete hired you instead of a man, I'll never understand.
His bay gelding had the sleek lines of a racehorse and the look of endurance as well.
What kind of a job do you have now?
His expression went from surprise to wary and on to amused in the space of a heartbeat.
But I know for a fact that the glowing end of a cigarette butt can be seen as far away as an arrow can be shot accurately.
She was tending the mules when she saw a rider on top of a sand dune.
From the top of a dune they paused for a backward glance.
The only sound was the muffled sound of hooves in the sand and the occasional clink of a harness.
They halted in front of a dome shaped dwelling with a grass cover.
On the top of a pile of clothes lay a flower and note.
Bordeaux had one arm wrapped fondly around the shoulders of a saloon girl.
I'm not much of a social person I guess.
You'd be happier taking care of a rambling old house in the middle of nowhere?
It looks like something out of a horror movie.
What can you expect out of a recluse?
Apparently he spent a lot of time on the back of a horse, riding his range in all kinds of weather - a fact that prompted more than one comment by townsfolk that he had wasted a good college education.
In one corner a piano perched silently, and the embers of a fire still cast a faint glow from a massive fireplace.
She died of a broken heart.
She shifted her attention to the fire and rubbed the beginnings of a crick from her neck.
After nearly an hour of riding, they descended the steep walls of a draw and followed it to a small valley.
I'm not much of a fisherman.
She wondered what would be worth the investment, but didn't want to wind up in the middle of a feud.
How's that for squirming out of a leading question?
Inside of a week she started work at the diner.
I, Ben Gustefson, collated boring statistical figures while locked in a cramped cubical of a company that offered me no future potential.
Jane, our GPS, as Betsy named her, didn't let us down and we found our friend's cabin at the end of a dusty road, hungry for dinner after a six hour drive.
The friendly action was the beginning of a strong relationship between my two favorite women.
The small kitchen showed signs of its past life, before the addition of a modern sink and electric stove.
The accident did a hell of a job and the long coma and operations further messed him up.
Oblivious as we were at the time, this meeting of the five of us was the beginning of a relationship that fused our lives together in a way we never would have imagined.
Sort of a flash-back you might call it.
Ben can fall asleep in the middle of a conversation.
I heard the faint sound of a phone ringing downstairs.
There were corn fields on both sides of a dirt road and I was at a crossing.
I started to move along the sidewalk and an old man stepped out of a doorway and passed right through me!
I peeked in a place that was sort of a cafe but didn't go in.
I telephoned Martha LeBlanc with the intent of a quick thank-you for our prior weekend visit but she was in a mood to chat.
I missed Betsy desperately and the idea of a couple of unexpected days with her was inviting, regardless of the reason.
The light was coming from under a closed door at the end of a hallway.
This time I was on the edge of a scrub forest.
The scene was the edge of a corn field with a large barn in the distance.
I can think of a thousand scenes and places in history I'd visit!
If that son of a bitch gets away with this it would kill me!
Howie had difficulty locating the apartment and nothing untoward occurred before he was awoken by the sound of a horn, seventeen minutes later.
Perhaps a female voice would offer less chance of a connection to our other calls.
While we refrained from tracking our results, when we learned through public media of a success, we celebrated.
He's a week from retirement and he seems to be something of a maverick.
We tried to help with the South Carolina abduction of a girl taken from her bedroom.
He recited a meticulous inventory of everything in the bedroom quarters, including the page number of a book his wife was reading as she remained in bed.
Merrill Cooms was in his early seventies, a widow and the somewhat reclusive owner of a multitude of businesses.
Now, through happenstance I learn of a way this heartache might be sometimes prevented.
Deputy Baxton had called in after seeing the plate number of a car listed on an all-points bulletin.
Howie located a Salt Lake City missing girl of twelve, hidden in the loving care of a distant aunt.
Finally, we condensed everything on a small computer thumb drive which we hid in the removable base of a desk lamp.
The story related the successful return of a young boy kidnapped from his San Francisco home.
I was wondering if you jumped out of a California closet.
The boy was the son of a dirt-poor single mother.
But first I need company and the affection of a sweet little friend.
The good news is this rag of a newspaper doesn't seem to buy Mr. Youngblood as a certifiable clairvoyant.
They understood giving any credibility to a hint of the existence of a psychic tipster adversely affected their ultimate chance for a conviction.
This person needs the counsel of a psychiatrist.
I am only one of a number of concerned citizen contributors.
This sort of thing is usually done via the witness protection program but I once heard of a situation where fake papers were assembled independent of any government agency.
His voice had the ring of a nervous third-grader giving his first speech.
You heard her talk about the million dollar reward that rag of a newspaper is offering and she's poor as a church mouse on food stamps.
Successes were limited for the week with one found child, accidently trapped in a locked room of an empty house and one spousal abduction, in the face of a restraining order.
I'd voiced this concern to Betsy throughout the week and I knew she was of a like mind.
Before there was any mention of a Psychic Tipster.
There's the added temptation of a million dollars.
Check into the murder of a woman named Brenda Washington in Omaha, Nebraska.
Think of a recluse who finds herself in possession of a marvelous gift, through no action on her part.
My careful cross-referencing noted the same name listed as a wealthy grandfather of a kidnapped child who was returned after a strange tip was received.
We tackle our work; professionally and without rancor to one another in spite of a pall of indecision that oft times seeps in like a chill from a leaky window frame.
The eight year old son of a popular rapper named Buzz-Cousin was abducted for a million dollar ransom.
Back and forth smiles were exchanged and there was an instance of a quiet remark, followed by knowing smiles.
Quinn complained of a headache and I silently wondered if he'd over indulged the night before.
I surely deserve the comfort of a little friend to sooth my troubled mind.
I was ready to close the site from pure frustration when a notice of a recovered body caught my attention, big time.
I could hear the sound of a baby breathing coming from a monitor on the coffee table.
When he didn't respond, I added, She'll have a hell of a headache but you guys both have some bridges in need of serious damage control.
Howie and Quinn, and Martha too; they don't know what Julie did so they can't see the possibility of a connection to Julie.
I figured these abductions mirror some old case, and then there's a time break of a few years, like he was away.
He related details of a recent aborted abduction in Vermont.
I've got the name of a sex offender who bought a Volt Wheel electric bike in Oxnard, California.
The house sits on a slight rise, at the end of a long driveway and I had never visited at night.
Others were exposed to bar room fights, muggings, schooled in army combat or at least been the recipient of a bloody nose from a third grade bully.
Next I was shown a photograph of a chubby cheeked man about forty, with short hair and a six o'clock shadow.
I've got to tell you, this guy wasn't looking to rip of a TV and the family silver.
I closed my eyes as I thought of a dozen questions about security breach.
I had barely taken a sip when I had a vision of a motor home I'd recently seen in Keene, with California plates!
I couldn't think of a logical way to advise Detective Jackson.
I wonder if that nasty dog is in need of a walk.
I don't think he feels I'm culpable of a crime but he knows I'm holding back on him.
After ten minutes of pushing back branches, I spotted the back of a pop up trailer.
He didn't get that much of a head start.
I can't think of a nicer reward than remaining here.
I'd talk to the guy if I thought it would accomplish something but he'll just say he didn't do it and it would be a waste of a phone call.
We don't start serving until five o'clock called one of a half dozen women setting out food on a steam line.
I asked, just as a stocky bearded man dressed in a brown religious smock came out of a side door.
At least I'd save the price of a hotel though I wondered how peaceful a sleep I'd manage.
It was my first, and hopefully only, trip in the caged back of a siren-screaming squad car.
Incidentally, he supposedly came on the radar as a result of a tip from this man or woman everyone's read about; the so-called psychic tipster person.
As I understand it, the so-called visions were perpetrated with the assistance of a second person, now dead.
We just received word of a horrific accident about ten miles up the road.
His reminded her of a cobra about to strike, though he'd pulled the gun up to his shoulder.
He's kind of a spaz.
There was an alarm clock on the nightstand beside the black base of a lamp.
He placed the tip of a gun to Bianca's head.
She, on the other hand, was living a Stephen King novel in the clutches of a mass murderer.
Dusty looked up from the computer screen as Toni walked in, staggering under the weight of a massive box.
Sofi's skill relied mostly on reading the future of a specific soul by touching them, and he'd not let her within miles of a vamp since taking over her guardianship.
He saw his sister drop after the strike of a sword.
The door opened, and she heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked as they entered.
She looked around at the quiet foyer of a massive house.
We're something of a rarity.
I dug this out of a box of electronics upstairs and programmed it to be your new phone.
Darian was gone, Jonny distracted by his newfound gun, and she in need of a friend.
She looked down at the swing of a necklace grazing her chest.
She stared at him through listless eyes, the gaze of a human awaiting only the final step in the transformation process.
The world dumped her on top of a pile of sand near the boardwalk with the angry black sea roaring behind her.
When the coldness released her, she stood in the middle of a large conference hall.
The room was otherwise arranged as if for a wedding with two sets of neatly lined chairs on either side of a long aisle.
The conference hall was dimly lit, and he immediately smelled the blood of a recent kill.
Two figures stood between the two lines in front of a headstone.
Finally, he'd reached the top of a hill overlooking a small, familiar village that glowed with warmth.
Jule couldn't help but feel some relief at the sight of a warm, well-lit interior.
Two men sat at the table, one with blond hair and the other like something out of a movie.
His panther-like physique and tattoos gave him all the appearance of a threat, and yet, he'd fended off her blows with gentleness he didn't have to show.
In the box was a small, simple necklace of a bronze chain and faded bronze coin.
Turning to go, she noted the outline of a door beneath the stairs.
She knew better than to relax around her father, whose hand was likely to fly at the drop of a hat.
She couldn't think of a lie fast enough.
They circled each other, and Jule waited to hear the sound of a car staring in the garage.
Jule prepared himself, pleased to hear the sound of a car starting in the garage.
Jule had the sense of a memory at the edge of his fevered mind.
The armory was not the collection of a wealthy connoisseur; this was the personal armory of a man accustomed to killing often.
I'm not afraid of a boy.
We could use the help of a couple of Original Beings.
Darian had been a shell of a man when Sofi found him several months ago.
It was like standing in front of a bonfire.
When she opened them, they stood outside a stone façade of a compound built into the side of a mountain and surrounded by evergreen trees whose branches were heavy with snow.
Instead, the sense of a shared soul and magic returned.
The assassin gave a trace of a smile, closed his eyes, and disappeared.
Damian appeared to be waiting for him, perched on the corner of a mahogany desk with his arms crossed.
Instincts took her in the direction of the stream, and she reached the top of a shallow ravine in whose valley the stream flowed.
They paused in the doorway of a large library, where a beautiful, petite blonde sat.
A shapely woman with curly dark brown hair leaned against the railing of a paddock between the house and a large outer building.
She was better off pulling a random diagnosis out of a hat.
Normally she acquiesced in favor of a paycheck, but Lacy's demand was bizarre, even by Lacy-standards.
But instead of a rim of darker blue surrounding her irises, they were rimmed by a thick band of iridescent silver.
Damian sat down on the arm of a leather couch, accustomed to the reaction, and pulled off his boot to drain the water.
There was the sound of a phone being shuffled from one person to another, then a flat, deep male voice.
To humans, it would look like the natural give and take of a long battle.
Down one hallway, she heard the ring of a phone.
She'd never known the power of a single touch until everyone who touched her hurt her!
She'd roamed the ground floor before adopting the library as her favorite room and settling in front of a deadened hearth with a stack of celebrity magazines.
She felt like she stood at the door of a plane fifteen thousand feet in the air getting ready to skydive, only she didn't remember packing a parachute.
She couldn't make out what was in the garden, but she heard the sounds of fountains and saw the dark green blur of a forest in the distance.
She emerged into the bright light of a warm December afternoon and began to melt.
The images in her mind were of a little boy dying in the street, of Jake's death, of the deaths of many others.
It was the scream of a soul dying.
He felt the flicker of a pulse and prayed it was enough.
Her stomach grumbled but the thought of a ham sandwich disgusted her.
You've been dropped into the middle of a war no human knows about.
He began to cry, the soul-deep weeping of a man who'd lost all and spent his tormented life in a level of hell she'd never be able to imagine.
She made out the shape of the bottom of a tattoo on his bicep, what looked like a half-sun.
Inside sparkled a diamond choker with an unusually worn, plain charm of a half-sun, half-moon pierced by an arrow.
Not providing his brother a proper burial—the burial of a king!—had sickened him.
Almost as bad, how many others had died from the treachery of a single Guardian?
He sensed the visions in her head, not surprised to see his own black memories playing on the screens on the back of her eyelids along with a dark nightmare of a man in a corner crying.
They entered a large neighborhood and drove the same few blocks a few times before stopping in front of a large adobe hacienda walled off from its neighbors.
Pierre pounded on the door with the discretion of a jackhammer.
Sofia watched her take a bite of a muffin, at once longing and agitated.
What kind of a person was he when you met?
He'd approved all their purchases and talked them out of a few bad ones during the morning.
She saw glimpses of his shared history with Damian and Dustin and of a time before meeting them that was too dark for her to see clearly.
The staging area was where the vamp remembered it being, tucked at the base of a mountain in a draw.
He pushed his sleeve up farther, revealing the bottom of a thick bicep with a partially visible tattoo.
They passed through two more doors before exiting into a cold desert night on the side of a mountain, overlooking the activity at the elevator's entrance.
The distant beat of a helicopter's wings drew closer as they raced away from the mountains.
Damian's brother was somewhere inside the scarred shell of a man before him.
She was reminded of a scene from a movie, where an army mobilized for war.
She went to him, ducking out of the paths of a few Guardians.
She hugged herself, wanting to throw her arms around him but knowing he was in as an approachable of a mood as Dustin.
The book was the size of a paperback she'd buy at an airport but had to weigh fifty pounds.
The fever had taken her out of her mind and into the alternate reality of a dream.
It helped wake her up without completely lifting the fog of a fever that had been present since yesterday.
Deidre turned off the shower, some semblance of a plan comforting her.
Her two canines were larger than before and gave her the appearance of a vampire.
Across the room, Darkyn held the tension of a taut rubber band.
A flash of a dream went through her mind.
Have you ever seen the web of a black widow?
In truth, destiny is like the web of a black widow.
Take all the webbing of a normal spider, wad it up and tangle everything together then attach it to random points.
It's more of a cluttered box than a web.
She heard the sound of a weapon scraping a scabbard behind her and turned.
The last time I did it, I robbed him of a few prisoners he didn't want to lose.
It was too easy of a death for the first Ancient.
You should know the power of a deal with him by now.
Her heel hit the solidness of a wall, and she tried to bolt.
She'd given relationship advice to the woman who condemned her to Hell, advice meant to help snag the heart of a man she hadn't stopped loving.
He was warm and solid at her back, the only thing capable of grounding her in the nightmare of a world she lived in.
She wiped her face then dressed, too distracted to feel the warmth of a certain deity as he appeared.
The response was more of a grunt.
She caught sight of a side passage out of the corner of her eye.
She tried to think of a retort, but couldn't.
Her residence was compliments of Janet O'Brien, one of a long line of Bird Song's temporary domestics.
Maria was a wee bird of a woman—probably a teenager, Hispanic, and even shorter than Cynthia, who barely topped five feet.
Even Bird Song's gilded front sign, advertising the bed and breakfast, had been washed of a year's dust from the unpaved side street.
He forced calmness into his voice as the thought of a wayward body resurrected very unpleasant memories.
Yeah, but he was kind of a jerk.
Might it have just been some kind of a joke?
Martha signed the dollar bill with a hint of a smile.
The way Fred loves mysteries you'd think he'd be thrilled to be a part of a real jury.
There was a hint of a smile and a roll of her eyes at Fred's pun.
Birds of a feather, Dean thought.
He's a personable young man and a whale of a basketball player.
They had knocked heads and locked wills over the death of a Bird Song guest during the prior January's Ice Climbing Festival when bitter words were exchanged.
Kind of a drag, but he meant well and his old lady's cooking was something.
Never mind there were only three hundred die-hard fans with nothing else to do in attendance for the end of the year outing of a last place team.
That, and the little matter of a cookie in the oven of love, which seemed to be taking a back seat in her ire.
It came in the form of a drone who told him in her second language that information of that kind was not available.
The Lucky Pup is one of a dozen or so digs scattered around his property up in Governor's Basin.
Young Billy Langstrom came by for Pumpkin, his newfound friend, announced by the absence of a muffler on his bright red Jeep.
His size was inadequate for any hopes of a serious basketball future but he was obviously a fine athlete.
There, good citizens, is the result of a wasted day in the mountains.
The other guests, embarrassed to see their host so humiliated and wanting no part of a Dawkins brawl, murmured excuses and toddled off to bed.
He pulled the vehicle to the elbow of a switchback.
As they moved down the trail to their parked Jeep, they heard the sound of a vehicle approaching.
As if on cue, the sound of a vehicle starting broke the silence.
It was an hour later before they saw their first vehicle, an old Scout, battered and muddy, coming out of a side trail below them.
The timing was propitious, as black clouds had begun to roll up the valley and gather above them, the advance guard of a summer shower.
The two drinks and lack of a third caused him to be more direct than normal politeness would dictate.
It's kind of spooky knowing that's a part of a human being.
Thirty five miles later he found the address, a private home on the side street of a quiet neighborhood.
As Dean rolled his Jeep down the main street of Ouray, he caught sight of a familiar figure with a rounded haircut.
The next stop on his list was visiting Ms. Lydia Larkin, deputy sheriff, whose presentation of a speeding ticket and general attitude still pissed him off, just remembering it.
Billy Langstrom, behind the wheel of a red Jeep similar to but older than Deans', honked from across the street.
A waif of a girl sat beside him.
They entered into deep conversation, discussing the pending bid item—a statue of a nymph waving a snake.
If there were remains of a man in that mine, I would think you'd want to know who he was.
She's with her mother in some sort of a group house.
She was nearly as tall as he, a natural blonde or the customer of a very good beautician.
She laughed loudly enough to turn the heads of a half dozen spectators.
To be honest, I don't like the idea of a murder going unanswered.
But if it was some guy who took advantage of a high school kid, maybe he got what he deserved.
I think her story had enough of a ring of truth that I believed her.
Those hoses pack a whale of a wallop.
The women looked frightened, Faust actually ducked, and David Dean moved to the cover of a nearby boulder, pulling his wife along with him.
Dean emerged from behind the cluster of boulders and jogged to the edge of a clearing where he had a better view down the valley.
He filled Fred in on meeting Jennifer Radisson, their afternoon trip to the mine, and the discovery of a back entrance.
He made the entire trip up without seeing another vehicle, and the lords of luck were with him—Jennifer Radisson's camera was sitting in the crevice of a rock as if it were waiting for him.
It was the piercing screech of a siren.
As Dean rounded a curve, he caught sight of the tail end of a white vehicle speeding down the cliff-hanging road on the far side of the deep valley—a sheriff's white Blazer was his first impression.
He wondered if it was Lydia Larkin, the new deputy, hot on the trail of a speeder.
He rubbed his eyes against the dimness and caught sight of a skid mark.
His sole venture at the end of a rope was the prior winter in Ouray's ice climbing park, under even more tenuous circumstances.
Dean was seated on the step of a rescue vehicle when Lydia was pulled up to the road.
Dean muttered an agreement as he began to open Dawkins's bureau drawers, more out of a nosy nervousness than anything sinister.
That's a hell of a thing to do to a relative!
It's not as if I wasn't in police work long enough to know that, but Billy's death was such a god-awful waste of a young life.
I know this is far-fetched and I'm probably only fantasizing because I'm so pissed off at that son of a bitch Fitzgerald in general.
Her side of the conversation consisted of a short series of no's.
Two were reading different sections of a newspaper while Roger was stirring his coffee and chatting, although no one seemed to be listening.
The other two were of a slightly newer vintage.
The only picture was of a teenage boy, apparently the deceased brother.
You're putting me in a hell of a spot.
Dean bumped into Seymour Fitzgerald coming out of a five-room ranch in Whispering Pines.
As he lifted the computer monitor, he caught sight of a paper beneath it.
That was assault of a peace officer in the performance of his duty.
I was sure you'd whack the son of a bitch and maybe kill him and I didn't want to be a jailhouse widow and run Bird Song alone.
There followed a call from Groucho, whose name Dean learned was Coleridge, telling of a report that the Boyd pair was sighted in Kansas, stopped for a tail light violation on Sunday afternoon.
She was quick to see her mistake and had no intention of compounding it at the end of a shotgun.
Dean detected a hint of a blush from his card-playing partner.
I'm surprised you didn't kill the son of a bitch!
The real celebration of Fred's release from jail didn't begin until the pair returned to Bird Song where Cynthia had baked a fresh apple pie, complete with vanilla ice cream, tagged on to the end of a healthy lunch.
Martha, dressed exactly as she had been when she'd left, clutched her new suitcase while the barest hint of a smile graced her pretty face.
Dean reminded the voice on the other end of a three-way conversation that mother and girl hardly knew one another.
It was near ten o'clock the next morning when Martha awoke in a festive mood with the appetite of a hibernating bear.
They continued to watch as the children began tossing small stones at their floating treasure, trying to halt its progress, when the sound of a horn startled them.
I don't want to be out of a job.
Now, eyes open, eyes shut—it was both the same—as black as the inside of a buried coffin on a moonless night.
You couldn't bear to let loose of a ten dollar cigarette tin.
Westlake gave a hint of a smile.
Jake Weller presented it to Dean one sunny afternoon while the two were sharing a diet-breaking ice cream on the stoop of a Seventh Avenue candy store.
That's assault of a police officer!
We'll make a hell of a team.
Had his actions truly set her on this path to end up as the plaything of a creature with no capacity for mercy?
Short, dark hair framed a face with plain features that showed the signs of a lifetime of battle.
Hell ran off deals, but Wynn's life was already in enough trouble without incurring another debt on behalf of a woman who had no hope of ever escaping Hell.
Even if slow, her death would spare her an eternity at the hands of a demon with insatiable bloodlust.
She hadn't looked in a mirror, but she guessed she had the healthy coloring of a mortal.
At least she had the mind of a deity still, the memories and … She froze.
She stopped to admire the colors of a fruit pyramid and the textures of textiles.
Her Gabriel, who spent his life a part of the shadows, radiated the quiet power of a deity that reached her from across the room.
The pain settling into her was of a different kind.
In the course of a few months, the old understanding between Immortals and demons – that humans were off-limits – crashed to the ground.
The thought of the Dark One reminded Gabriel that he lost three death-dealers to him in the course of a week, not to mention the deal Deidre made.
Without the senses of a deity, she was unaware of him.
His blood was already humming with desire; he forgot how much of a turn on arguing with her was.
She'd gone from defiant to yielding in the space of a single kiss.
Assuming she's not still dying of a tumor.
And yet, he couldn't deny that Deidre was back or at least, a woman who had the knowledge of the goddess and the body and heart of a human.
There had to be millions of lost souls to create that vibrant of a glow.
You're not thinking of a deal with Darkyn.
The sky was given the status of something pure and clean, the earth sort of a dirty wasteland, and anything below water level or the ground considered Hellish.
Her gaze lingered on a small bunch of colorful flowers hugging the base of a tree.
She stopped in front of a small mural depicting a triangle with a form at each of the points.
Her eyes rested on the figure of a girl representing the humans.
She slowed, hating that she no longer had the heightened senses of a deity.
He didn't realize how great of a transformation had really taken place within the small woman gazing up at him.
She didn't just have the body of a human and the knowledge of the goddess; she wanted to help him enough that she was willing to overcome her fear.
The worst case scenario – that she died of a tumor – was no longer possible.
At the time, she had viewed it all as part of a process.
For a moment he was certain the familiar voice of a woman was a memory, perhaps brought on by standing in Deidre's apartment.
The instinct that Darkyn was protective of a mate rose again.
At one point, Fate had told him a story about how he tricked the goddess into a series of agreements that landed her out of a job.
I cared enough to let Darkyn strip the powers of a goddess when every other deity in the worlds wanted her dead-dead.
The Dark One had let it go once as part of a deal.
She didn't expect to find the human alive, let alone of a mindset to make a joke.
He leaned away to look down and confirm that she wore the dress of a demoness.
The growl of a demoness was almost a whimper.
This one was the size of a small apartment, stacked ceiling to floor with bodies.
Jonathan wasn't much of a talker.
He had helped her blend her dream of a horse ranch into a profit making package of a guest ranch.
Exhausted and in need of a bath, she finally agreed to let him take her home.
Like the reverse of a doll, when she lay down, her eyelids popped open.
Did he think she was that much of a prude?
His silence reminded her of a time when they were fighting.
In fact, he wasn't much of a lover at all.
Leave it to a man to avoid expressing how he felt, but it had to make him feel less of a man.
One night he woke her out of a sound sleep by pushing at her.
Were you afraid I was too much of a prude to acknowledge him?
I'm kind of a plain Jane.
In this case, we pay for the use of a womb.
Deidre saw the strange flash of a red, glowing tattoo on the lady's exposed neck.
He stopped in front of a door near the far corner.
Aside from drama, it was going to take half an eternity to straighten out the underworld without the distraction of a woman in his life.
He was bigger than he looked from a distance, the size of a linebacker.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so honest or embarrassed, and in front of a complete stranger!
Gabe turned towards Rhyn, in sore need of a pep talk as only his best friend could provide.
I mean, the deity we knew would never dye her hair the color of a water sprite's.
She lifted it to see the outline of a puddle of the liquid beneath the mat.
The flutter of a black trench coat blended with the dark sky as Gabriel twisted them in midair, so he'd hit back first, with her protected in his arms.
She saw the flash of a street lamp.
This one was more of a growl, part human, part something else.
His pointed teeth rested on his lower lip, his dark eyes displaying the intelligence of a being that existed from the time-before-time.
It's more of a personal debt.
He searched Deidre's apartment from top to bottom several times, seeking the item he needed to fulfill his part of a deal.
Darkyn had no intention of going easy on her, even if it was her first lesson in the proper behavior expected of a demon's blood slave.
It wasn't a pensive silence, but more of a silent struggle to determine how much they revealed.
Deidre nodded, unable to think of a response that didn't involve crying or fleeing.
You have no idea how much of a difference that made to me and probably to the rest of your patients.
Her gaze caught on a picture of a beach house on the ocean, and she hesitated.
He observed the car's interior with the clinical distance of a scientist.
She's learned to appreciate life and those around her, following a diagnosis of a terminal illness.
I intended for it to kill her over the course of a lifetime.
Instead of a slow, fifty year death, it'll be three years.
About time someone took out that son of a bitch.
Unsettled by the image of a cheerful demon on a spit, she flipped to the next illustration.
It was like something out of a television show about castles.
I never knew she existed until a day ago, and I'm only now learning how awful of a person she was.
My magic is of a different kind.
She knelt on the beach area consisting of a stretch of pebbles and dirt.
She couldn't fathom the enormity of a billion souls like the one she'd touched.
She felt the plush comfort of a bed beneath her and curled onto her side, unable to stop crying.
The result of a deity breaking one of the three is basically the destruction of the world.
Gabriel grabbed at it, until he saw the shape of a man form beneath a haze of green.
He'd been ignoring the extent of the power available from the souls for fear of violating the Code, which he now understood was not binding in the face of a threat like Darkyn.
Her gaze fell to the tall woman in a slip of a dress that walked by her.
This time, she sensed restrained power of a different kind.
If anything, his anger melted into the contemplation of a man who had a new problem he intended to solve.
He didn't have the pointed teeth of a demon, which she hoped was indication enough she wasn't about to make a deal with the devil.
Deidre followed, barely able to make out the shape of a doorway that pulsed darker than night.
She stood on a covered landing of a fortress made of black stones overlooking a parched desert beneath dual suns too faded to provide anything other than indirect light.
Darkyn paused in front of a door guarded by two demons.
There was no way for her to measure the size of the chamber, for the darkness inside was more impenetrable than night, with the exception of a circle of light ten meters from the door.
Instead of a third drink, a flash of cold fire was forced through the fangs into her body.
It looked like a cat scan of a brain, but it wasn't hers.
No. You are the preordained mate of a deity, just as I am.
What should matter to you is that you're going to be the mate of a deity.
He saw only the Present, like fractured scenes of a movie where the actors continually changed their lines and settings.
Gabriel held out a vial he'd last seen in the hand of a furious Death.
His glaring spotlight of a flashlight blinded her as he walked to the driver's door, and she held her hand up.
She couldn't be late again for her job as an assistant general manager of a fast food joint, or she'd be fired.
She rubbed her face, certain the mistake would be clarified soon and she'd be released with an apology the size of a bottle of painkiller she desperately needed.
The hallway smelled medicinal and clean, like the antiseptic-laced air of a hospital mixed with pine cleaner.
Toby had drawn him on black construction paper with silver glitter outlining the shape of a man.
In the course of a day, her whole life had gone to shit.
We need to talk! he called cheerfully, then spun and started toward the conference room at the end of a lab that stretched the size of a football field.
Kris chuckled, at ease with his brother despite the unprotected penthouse on the top floor of a building that could be easily leveled by a single explosive charge.
She caught her balance against the arm of a sofa.
She imagined he went to her apartment to check on Toby and was struck by her longing to return to the tiny, cluttered mess of a life that was hers.
The voice sounded like the sultry growl of a woman, but it had short hair and no breasts.
He growled a warning and peered back at her through the silver eyes of a cat-like beast the size of a large horse.
She followed, startled, only to see a massive black bird the size of a pterodactyl coasting along the tops of the waves.
His was the only form in one piece; he was propped up against the base of a tree.
The only brother not to declare outright war on him, Kiki was a distant second to Andre in his tepid support of their black sheep of a young brother.
It became less of a request and more of a demand, with his tongue flickering to taste her.
Only to find herself staring at the bubbles of blood forming from within his fist, which was clamped around the blade of a knife a few inches from her face.
We don't have much of a choice, Kiki said pragmatically.
He led her to the uppermost floor of the castle, to a hallway with magnificent views of a green valley with towering trees.
Her gaze landed on the dining room, which looked much like that of a fancy restaurant.
The effort of a shower left her even more exhausted.
Another wild adventure by the black sheep of a sister that was dear Hannah's.
They allow us to lead as normal of a life as possible.
Rhyn thought hard for a minute, then said with effort, "I don't know how to be a mate, let alone take care of a human, Gabriel."
The chamber beyond was dark, lit by the soft glow of a single torch beside a clear sarcophagus.
She rubbed the lumpy scar on her arm, her attention caught by the sight of a jaguar dropping from a tree branch to the edge of the park and the forest a short distance away.
The room consisted of a massive bed with black bedding and white pillows, a wardrobe and trunks, and yawning windows to the sky that light never touched.
He.d only spent one night there last month before Sasha flung him to the side in favor of a demoness.
Katie looked around, unable to tell if her sister's empty closet was indicative of a weekend trip or something more permanent.
I just got out of a fight with a demon.
She made a show of reading the back of a box of tampons until the Immortals left.
She wondered if Hannah knew yet about the Immortals and how Katie.s tattoo hadn.t been the result of a fling in Ireland as she led her sister to believe.
Gabriel whipped around at the voice, lowering the weapon that emerged instinctively at the sound of a stranger in his home.
He.d been too good of a person a mere month before.
Furious, Katie left before she made more of a scene that would embarrass her sister.
He.d need to be if she turned out to be much worse of a mother.
Rhyn enjoyed the feel of a weapon in his hand and facing a decent opponent.
All of them were located in the middle of a sea.
The cafeteria was four times the size of the one she was used to, and she lingered in the doorway, finally catching the attention of a convent member.
A small door—possibly leading to a bathroom or closet—was closed and blocked by one of Ully.s science toys the size of a copy machine.
Even at such a young age, Rhyn.s features were troubled and somber, as if he knew what kind of a life awaited him.
Gabriel gave him a ghost of a smile.
He twisted his head to see Kris standing outside of a portal.
Kiera dreamt of a planet filled with spiders and dinosaurs and awoke in her bed a couple of hours later to the soft sound of her alarm clock going off.
I mean, this is supposed to be you starting your lives together, not hauling around your poor spinster of a friend who's about to be abandoned.
He wore heavy clothing, as if easily chilled, and moved with the smoothness of a warrior.
Given her first chance to rest in over two days, she sighed, exhausted and irritated at having to dig her own clothing out of a box.
Its legs were jointed outwards like a spider's, and its ability to climb walls resembled that of a spider.
So it's not as much of a shock?
A yellowish glow emitted from some unseen light source in the grey walls reminded her of a late winter afternoon that never ended.
It's their version of a cat!
She placed a dark grey device the size of a small button on her earlobe like an earring.
She believed Evelyn's tale of a race of people bred for war.
Another giant of a man passed her, and she shook her head, amazed.
Kiera groaned, dreading the idea of a party with so many strangers who were bound to think of her as the women in the bathroom had earlier.
She rested against the door, jarred when the flash of a grey knife crossed inches before her eyes, followed by a muted thunk as the weapon buried itself in the door.
They made it several doors before three of Romas's clan charged around the corner of a nearby intersection.
His punch had the impact of a bag of bricks, his kick of a sledgehammer.
The dual moons seemed to hover somewhere in the middle of the air of a massive chasm, just like the dozen or so hulking spaceships, whose dark grey skins reflected like skins of massive grey whales in the moonlight.
A small, round object twice the size of a dinner plate appeared from the chasm and skimmed over several feet of grass to reach them.
Her mind was too busy, and she felt as if she hovered on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Over a period of a week, the tactics had gone from infantile to novice to advanced, as if someone were learning the intricacies of battle planning.
Kiera would never agree to marry someone in so short of a time, but to agree in any amount of time to a man as lethal in appearance as this?
If she were unfamiliar with the accepted societal behaviors of a woman on his planet, he couldn't expect her to be any more familiar with the machine.
If the giant of a man before her decided to be angry at her for breaking the rules, she'd panic as well.
She cursed herself, aware she had accomplished little as far as advancing her rights but managed to draw the guaranteed attention of a man she was not certain she wanted to notice her.