Ally Carter Quotes

Kiss me, Zach." I pressed up against him, cold and alone. I didn't want to fight. I wanted to be warm and safe again, "Kiss me. ~ Ally Carter

Real strength is not hitting when what you most want to do is kill. ~ Ally Carter

Hey, Macey, sorry to drop in but Cammie just had to be alone with me. You know how she gets. ~ Ally Carter

Ooh, the silent treatment. ~ Ally Carter

Is Joe your father, Zach?'
I don't know where the question came from, but it was out, and I couldn't take it back even if I'd wanted to.
'No.' Zach shook his head. 'I never knew my dad. I don't know anything about him. ~ Ally Carter

You don't have to do this, Kat." "I've been hearing that a lot lately." "He's right." "I didn't say who had said it," she countered. "You didn't have to." He looked out at the water. "You two are good together." "We're not together," Kat said automatically. "Sure you are. You just don't know it yet. ~ Ally Carter

And if you see a bear -"
"It's more afraid of me than I am of it," Logan filled in, but Maddie stopped short.
"No." She shook her head and looked at him like he might be a moron, which he probably was, "It's not afraid of you. It's a bear! So back away slowly and hope it doesn't want to kill you. Because it can without breaking a sweat."
Logan studied her face, then nodded slowly. "Killer bears. Check. ~ Ally Carter

But I should have known that it doesn't take that long for change to happen - it takes a second. ~ Ally Carter

I have to smile. He's such a dork. But I'm starting to realize the one good thing that's happened: he's my dork. ~ Ally Carter

Tell me or I'll yell for Mr. and Mrs. Baxter, and you can find out how bex became bex ~ Ally Carter

Excuse me, Abigail, but whose shift did she get away during?' Townsend asked with a glare.
'Excuse me, Townsend, but who was supposed to booby-trap the doors?'
'I'm an agent of Her Majesty's Secret Service,' Townsend said, indignant. 'I do not do booby traps. ~ Ally Carter

Sometimes you forgive people simply becuase you still want them in your life. ~ Ally Carter

Once is a stranger; twice is a coincidence; three times is a tail. ~ Ally Carter

So what is it?" Angus asked, appearing at his brother's side and rubbing his hands together. In the dim light, his eyes seemed to glow. "Is it Hansel and Gretel?"
"Can't be," Hamish told him. "We only have the one grenade launcher."
"Right." Angus nodded as if Hamish had a most excellent point. ~ Ally Carter

The things that are most precious to us are sometimes the most secret. ~ Ally Carter

OH. MY. GOSH. It was as if the gray storm clouds had parted and Macey McHenry was the sun, bringing wisdom and truth into the eternal darkness. (Or something a lot less melodramatic.) ~ Ally Carter

No cell phones?" Macey said as if we'd just told her all students were required to shave their heads and live on bread and water. ~ Ally Carter

Zach walked away, but I stood there for a long time, wondering if I should go to my mother; if I should go to my friends; but instead I slipped into the corridors I hadn't used in months, pushed my way through cobwebs and darkness, trying to walk away from the tears that burned hot down my cheeks, because maybe I didn't want to admit weakness; maybe I wanted to wallow in my solitude and grief.
Or maybe crying is like everything else we do - it's best if you don't get caught. ~ Ally Carter

Hiding is for amateurs. ~ Ally Carter

The kids kept walking, moving through the Henley's halls like a tide, but when Kat turned to leave, she walked in the opposite directions. She wasn't an ordinary kid, after all.
Katarina Bishop followed no one. ~ Ally Carter

Easy there," Zach said when I stumbled into him. "Now's probably not the time to get handsy. You might want to control yourself. ~ Ally Carter

It was so rare to find someone who was both so young and so wise, both so fresh and so jaded. ~ Ally Carter

I know there are other couples around us, but they feel like distant blurs. Only Alexei is solid and sure. Between my tight dress and aching feet and swirling head, he may be the only thing keeping me steady. ~ Ally Carter

Two days after my dad's funeral, my mom went on a mission. I never understood it until then
that sometimes a spy doesn't need a cover so much as she needs a shield. ~ Ally Carter

Hey No one makes me do anything. Not my family. Not your family ... not even you. ~ Ally Carter

What about a Princess Bride?"
"Where are we gonna find a six-fingered man on such short notice? ~ Ally Carter

And whatever you do, don't drink the water. A guide once told Dad that some of the springs still have arsenic in them from the gold rush. I have no idea whether she was joking or not, but let's not risk it, OK?"
"Seriously?" Logan asked. He raised his eyebrows. "Alaska - where even the water will kill you. I'm surprised they don't have that on a T-shirt."
"Logan -" Maddie warned. Logan raised his hands in surrender.
"Poisonous water. Check. ~ Ally Carter

Come on, guys," I said, laughing. "What? Did you think he was going to ask me to the prom?" I teased. "Or, hey, Mom's burning macaroni and cheese for supper Sunday night; maybe he can come over and she can tell him about the time she jumped off a ninety-story balcony in Hong Kong with a parachute she made out of
pillowcases. ~ Ally Carter

Rule of thumb: when in doubt, find a marine. ~ Ally Carter

We wear a lot of labels in our lives, and it's so very easy to be defined by them. We have grown somehow accustomed to thinking of ourselves as a size eight or a size fourteen, as a capricorn or a taurus, as single or in love. ~ Ally Carter

Um…" Simon started slowly "at the risk of stating the obvious I feel I have to point out that Interpol has the worldʼs best database of international criminals."
"Thatʼs the idea " Gabrielle said with a nod.
"And I feel compelled to remind you that weʼre international criminals " he finished but Kat was already smiling.
"Donʼt worry Simon. Itʼs not like anyone in there knows it was a bunch of teenagers who robbed the
Henley. ~ Ally Carter

And that why your mother came to this room....she told me that sometimes it takes a thief to catch a thief ~ Ally Carter

Congratulations," I tell her with a slight bow. "I hope you and your power trip will be very happy together. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to go. ~ Ally Carter

The whole summer lay ahead of us-time to rest, time to wait. And when the future comes-no matter what comes with it-I'll be smarter. I'll be stronger. I'll be ready. ~ Ally Carter

Listen to me, Cammie. There are things in this life ... in this world ... There are things that you don't want to remember. - Rachel Morgan ~ Ally Carter

You should stop and listen to yourselves sometimes. 'We're practically adults, let us run wild.' 'We're only kids, leave us alone.' ... You can't have it both ways. ~ Ally Carter

So I'm not gorgeous?" Macey challenged. "Of course you are." He started away, turned back at the last minute. "But I'm the guy who figured out that's not all you are. ~ Ally Carter

If he'd looked like a cross between Mr. Clooney and, say, one of the hobbits, I probably would have been far more capable of coherent thought. ~ Ally Carter

I've never heard of it. And, I don't like to brag, but I read a lot. I mean a lot. And most of it is classified. - Megan ~ Ally Carter

Hope is a delicate thing.
A dangerous thing. ~ Ally Carter

Because sometimes not liking someone is easier. ~ Ally Carter

Go to bed, Cammie," my aunt ordered, sounding exactly like my mother.
"No," I said, sounding exactly like my aunt. ~ Ally Carter

It was my scientific opinion that Zach was one of those people who used his intelligence to make sure that no one knew exactly how intelligent he was (a tendency Macy tells me is common among boys with really sexy arms). ~ Ally Carter

I didn't know there were this many math guys," Hale said as they stepped onto the crowded concourse.
Kat cleared her throat.
"And women," he added. "Math women. ~ Ally Carter

Hale let out a slow whistle of admiration, and Kat remembered that, for all of his resources and talent, the most dangerous thing about W.W. Hale the Fifth was that, when he grew up, he wanted to be her father. ~ Ally Carter

But then the girl moved, and smiled, and pulled her hand from the grate- a gorgeous green stone clutched tightly in her grasp. It was covered with dust and cobwebs, but it was uncracked and unharmed.
And, of course, completely fake. ~ Ally Carter

How much did you put in there?"
Liz shrugged and looked slightly guilty. And slightly wicked. It was a terribly evil combination. "I couldn't be sure that he'd eat it all, and if he just took one bite, that might not be enough to --"
"Liz," I whispered, needing her to get to the point.
"Five times more than recommended!" she blurted ~ Ally Carter

But Hale wasn't just a member of her crew who had messed up. He was Hale. Her Hale. And Kat just wanted him back. ~ Ally Carter

After finals and winter break ... after I'm back to full strength, we'll go get Preston. Whether Mom and Abby and Joe and Townsend like it or not, we'll go get him. And then ... ' I trailed off. 'And then we'll finish this. Next semester, this thing ends. ~ Ally Carter

Katarina Bishop was a criminal. But she'd never held a gun. She'd never thrown a punch. Until that moment she didn't really know how it felt to hurt someone, and as soon as she saw the look on Hale's face, she wanted to take the words back.
And she wished she could make them hurt more.
Both. ~ Ally Carter

When his phone rang, he had to dig through his pocket to find it, and his fingers brushed against a pair of tiny earbuds he and Kat had last used in Monte Carlo. Hale smiled a little, realizing he hadn't worn the tux in ages. It was just one of many ways his life had change in the years since a girl named Katarina Bishop crawled into his window and into his life.
- Double Crossed by Ally Carter ~ Ally Carter

Hello, ladies," Joe Solomon said, but not before I snatched the piece of paper and crammed it in my mouth, which ordinarily would have been really great spy maneuvering except that Josh didn't use Evapopaper.
"How's the lasagna?" Mr. Solomon asked, and I started to say something before I remembered that my mouth was ... well ... otherwise engaged. ~ Ally Carter

Your mother brought a strange man to this house once, Katarina. I had hoped it might be a few years before history repeated itself."
Kat rolled her eyes at the mention of her father. "Uncle Eddie, I brought Hale home ages ago," she reminded him; but her uncle just shook his head.
"I've known my great-niece's friend. A boyfriend, on the other hand ... that is a most different matter."
"Yes, sir," Hale said. He stood up a little straighter, spoke a little louder.
"You have a powerful family, boy."
"Yes, sir," Hale said. "Please don't hold them against me."
Then Eddie gave a wry smile. "Who says I was talking about them? ~ Ally Carter

Maddie dropped into a curtsy. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Logan's dad."
"And you, Manchester's daughter." The president bowed at the waist. "You are a far lovelier sight than your father, I can assure you."
"Thank you. My dress wasn't wrinkled when I put it on, you should know. The wrinkles are entirely Charlie's fault."
"I'll have a word with Charlie," the president said as Maddie's dad tried to pull her into a hug. ~ Ally Carter

Polite applause filled the room. Only a single whoop echoed out, and Kat made a mental note to have a word with Hamish once this was all over. ~ Ally Carter

Do you know what pain is, Cammie? It's the body's physical response to imminent harm. It is the mind's way of telling us to move our hand off the stove or let go of the broken glass. ~ Ally Carter

I came back, Uncle Eddie. Last year, after the Henley, I could have gone to any school in the world
I could have done anything, but I came back."
"You ran away, Katarina."
"And now I'm back."
"You're still running. ~ Ally Carter

The window can be fixed, Katerina. I'm far more concerned about him. ~ Ally Carter

Did you learn that in P&E?"
"No. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ~ Ally Carter

Of course, the downside of attending a fictional school is that our lacrosse team sucks. ~ Ally Carter

I wanted to pull away, remind him that I was a big girl, a highly trained operative, a spy - that I'd been training for this mission my entire life, and I wasn't going to be left on the sidelines. But in the dim space with Zach pressed tightly against me, only one thought came to mind. I kissed him - longer and deeper than I ever had before. The school was not watching us this time. There was nothing playful in the tone. We were just two people kissing as if for the first time, as if it might be the last.
And then I broke away. "So," I asked, as if I got kissed like that all the time (which, believe me, I don't), "where is it you're taking me again?"
"The tombs. ~ Ally Carter

That's a lovely piece," Kat said, pointing at a Louise XV armoire near the fireplace.
The man raised his eyebrows. "Did you come to steal it?"
"Darn it," Kat said with a snap of her fingers."I knew I should have brought my big purse. ~ Ally Carter

Darling, I may have to work late, so I might not be here when you get back. I hope you had a great time in North Korea and disabled a lot of nuclear weapons. With all my love, Josh. ~ Ally Carter

HOW TO BREAK INTO BLACKTHORNE (A list by Operatives Morgan, Baxter, Sutton, and McHenry) Step 1. Become slightly crazy. Step 2. So crazy you actually volunteer to go over a fifty-foot waterfall. Step 3. Swallow a lot of very cold river water. Step 4. Cough and gag. Step 5. Repeat Step 4 until it feels like maybe your lungs aren't inside your body anymore. Step 6. Remember that a really cute boy is beside you, so try to cough in a far more attractive manner. Step 7. Be grateful you're still alive. ~ Ally Carter

Mom's Israeli. Dad's Brazilian. What can I say? I am Embassy Row personified. You really lucked out in the best friend department ~ Ally Carter

Hale, stop it." Kat reached out and grabbed his arm. "You are many things, but stupid isn't one of them."
"I'm too close."
"You don't get it, do you? Being close is good. Caring is good. I love that you're emotional and passionate and can't turn these things off."
"It makes me a bad thief."
"It makes you a good person. ~ Ally Carter

She's always telling us that the worst part of the spy life isn't the danger - it's the paperwork. After all, when you're on a plane home from Istanbul with a nuclear warhead in a hatbox, the last thing you want to do is write a report about it. So ~ Ally Carter

Excuse me, miss, but the young gentlemen say that you cannot get smoke without the boom, and they would like your advice on how to proceed. ~ Ally Carter

Trust. We stake our lives on it, but it's a subject that not even the Gallagher Academy can teach. When do you let your guard down? Who do you let in? And I knew at that moment, as I sat beside my mother, bathing in the warm spring light, that those were the questions a good spy never stops asking ~ Ally Carter

Sleep every chance you get. Eat every chance you get. Those were two of the many lessons that Kat learned at her father's knee and her uncle's table. ~ Ally Carter

I've been back less than two weeks, and already I've turned the sweetest girl on Embassy Row into a thief and a conspiracy theorist. Even for me, it is an impressively quick act of corruption. ~ Ally Carter

Crazy. I went crazy. ~ Ally Carter

You can't really yell at your boyfriend for stealing your seat and your best friend. You also can't yell at your best friend for stealing your boyfriend. Or you can ... but Hi seemed like a much easier way to start the morning. ~ Ally Carter

Macey couldn't decide whether to be intrigued that Hale was walking around with a state-of-the-art covert communications device or be jealous because she'd been caught without one of her own. ~ Ally Carter

That's cool." Hale nodded, unfazed. "But just so you know, that"
he pointed to the piece of metal peeking out from behind the stage
"is a Hurst 5,000 PSI hydraulic spreader-cutter, more commonly know as the Jaws of Life."
"So?"
"So I'm not a normal boy. ~ Ally Carter

I had a pain in my neck from sleeping funny, at least five hours' worth of homework, and a newfound realization that woman cannot live on cherry-flavored lip gloss alone. I dug in the bottom of my bag and found a very questionable breath mint, and figured that if I was going to die of starvation, I should at least have minty-fresh breath for the benefit of whatever classmate or faculty member would be forced to give me CPR. ~ Ally Carter

death is the only thing that could have kept him from you ~ Ally Carter

Did you hear that? I'm special. ~ Ally Carter

I don't want tea, I want justice! ~ Ally Carter

Teenage girls read in packs. It's true today, and it was true when I was a teen growing up in a small town in northeast Oklahoma. ~ Ally Carter

Even the best thief in the world can't steal time. ~ Ally Carter

Listen to me." He grabbed my arms, holding me there. " I couldn't find you. And I will never forgive myself for that. Ever. ~ Ally Carter

Every head turned to see two more security guards appear, each holding a Bagshaw by the back of the neck (which might have been considerably less conspicuous had the Bagshaws not been dressed as chimney sweeps).
Kat turned back to Hale. 'The Mary Poppins?'
'Seemed like a good idea at the time. ~ Ally Carter

Somehow, I think the fact that the inceptor looked like a cross between a young George Clooney and Orlando Bloom might have played into that a little bit. ~ Ally Carter

Denying the undeniable just makes you sound like a fool as well as a liar. ~ Ally Carter

A Gallagher Girl's real grades don't come in pass or fail - they're measured in life or death. ~ Ally Carter

Abby must have been the one who found the safe house, because Townsend didn't like it.
"The building across the street is under construction," he snarled as soon as we'd carried our bags inside.
"The elevator has key card access, and I've hacked into the surveillance cameras from every system on the block," Abby argued. "We have a three-hundred-sixty-degree visual."
"Excellent." Townsend dropped his bag. "Now the circle can see us from every angle."
"Don't mind Agent Townsend, girls," Abby told us. "He's a glass-half-empty kind of spy."
"Also known as the good kind," he countered.
Abby huffed. ~ Ally Carter

So far Kat has been through all the Wa's she could think of, but Hale hadn't admitted to being Walter or Ward or Washington. He'd firmly denied both Warren and Waverly. Watson had prompted him to do a very bad Sherlock Holmes impersonation throughout a good portion of a train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland. And Wayne seemed so wrong she hadn't even tried.
Hale was Hale. And not knowing what the W's stood for had become a constant reminder to Kat that, in life, there are some things that can be given but never stolen.
Of course, that didn't stop her from trying. ~ Ally Carter

In a lower voice, Hale asked, "I trust you know what to do?" "Indeed, sir." Marcus stood a little straighter. "I shall endear myself to the staff and find out where all the skeletons are buried. Both literally and figuratively." "We can probably do without the literal skeletons, but I like the enthusiasm," Hale said with a slap on Marcus's arm, ~ Ally Carter

So she let him carry her bags. She didn't protest when he walked so close that her shoulder brushed against the arm of his heavy wool coat. And yet, beyond that, they did not touch. He didn't even look at her as he said, I would have sent the jet. ~ Ally Carter

That's good; don't deny it. Denying the undeniable just makes you sound like a fool as well as a liar. In this profession, you can be one- sometimes the other. But never both. ~ Ally Carter

Dear Logan,
I'm sorry that the stupid Russians shot you.
Mainly because I really want to shoot you, and I hate that they beat me to it.
Maddie ~ Ally Carter

On most guys, Hale's smile would have looked sheepish. On him, it was so roguishly charming that Kat's heart actually skipped a beat. ~ Ally Carter

They hotwired Cam's bed," Abby said with a shrug.
"Of course they did," my mother said. ~ Ally Carter

I tell you, I'm half tempted to break into CIA custody just so I can break Joe Solomon out of CIA custody just so I can break Joe Solomon ~ Ally Carter Only The Good Spy Young

Would you die to stop them, Agent Townsend?"
"Yes." He didn't miss a beat.
I pushed up my sleeves, revealing the fading slashes on my arms. "Then think about what I would do. ~ Ally Carter

Someday you will know that the heart is not always as wise as it is strong. - Uncle Eddie ~ Ally Carter

Life's best adventures are as close as your nearest bookshelf. Tour Europe with the Count of Monte Cristo. Dance a ball with Mr Darcy. Hunt down bad guys with Stephanie Plum. Amazing things can happen when you read. ~ Ally Carter

Sometime years before, I had dragged an old bean bag chair to that place. I watched Zach sink onto it, and then he pulled me down to lean against him. I felt his arms go around me, holding me tight.
I was safe.
I was warm.
I was home. ~ Ally Carter

Still half asleep and groggy, Kat squinted up through the shadows of the tiny space and into Hale's eyes. It was the closest they'd been in weeks. Whatever had stood between them was lost in the shadows, and Kat felt Hale's mouth press against hers. His fingers wove into her hair, holding her close, gripping her tightly. It was the hungriest kiss she'd ever known, and Kat let herself get lost in it. Forget. Tell herself that there was nothing they couldn't do as long as they were together.
But, then again, they were currently trapped in a closet on the thirty-seventh floor of a well-secured high-rise in the middle of the night, so perhaps her judgment was lacking.
"Sorry," Hale said, breaking the kiss and pulling away. ~ Ally Carter