kira

If all goes well, we will be back in time for a proper memorial service [for your father], Ben. I promise."Ben looked up, and all the bitterness was gone from his eyes, replaced somehow by both resignation and determination."And if all doesn't go well?" he asked, tightening his grip on Coralee's trusting hand as he led her outside to the driveway.Kira's flawless features morphed into something like a smile, yet wholly without happiness or humor."Then you'll all be meeting up with [your father] soon enough, I expect. Either that, or you shall wish it was so.

Life__ gonna kick you in the butt.That__ what it does. But if you gotta put up with this crap, the least you can expect is that your friends will stand by you. I mean, for crying in the night, what else are friends for but to help you make right what isn__ in life? (Kira, The Mishmorat)

The woman laughed again. She was the loudest person in the cave. Eena wondered if perhaps she was talking to a female Ghengat. Curiosity got the best of her and she turned around to look, surprised to find neither a Ghengat nor a Harrowbethian woman, but a Mishmorat. A striking, cheetah-spotted Mishmorat with straight lengths of charcoal hair and the most alluring dark eyes in existence. This bronzed female was the same size as Eena but observably more muscular. She appeared to be a mix of cheetah, Arabian princess, and gladiator in tight-fitting pants. Eena paused, dropping the stone in her hands. __ira?_ she breathed.__mmm,_ the woman grumbled. Her painted eyes scrunched with displeasure. The look was still stunning. __ see my reputation precedes me._ Eena gawked as if a legendary ghost had been resurrected. __ou__e alive?

First bubble baths. Now Disney parks. You're shattering every creep vampire myth I've ever heard.

When you care about someone and give them something special. Something that they treasire. That's a gift.