Patricia Briggs Quotes

To make great art, you had to expose your soul, and some things should be left safely in the dark. ~ Patricia Briggs

Baking is like washing
the results are equally temporary. ~ Patricia Briggs

I don't fool you, do I? Those others" - he waved a vague hand to indicate their
missing comrades - "they think I'm all that - but you know better, don't you."
"Know what?" she'd asked.
He leaned forward, smelling of beer and cigarettes. "You know I'm a fraud. I can
feel the beast inside me, screaming to get out. And if I loose it, it will pull me up to greatness despite myself."
"So why not let it free?" She hadn't been a werewolf then. The world had been a gentler place, the monsters safely in their closets, and she had been brave in her ignorance.
His eyes were old and weary, his voice slurring a bit. "Because then everyone would
see," he told her.
"See what?"
"Me. ~ Patricia Briggs

Trying is always enough. ~ Patricia Briggs

Are you done yet?' Issac called
Charles tilted his head back and called back, 'I suppose that's why they call you the five minute wonder.'
Anna could feel her eyes round and her mouth drop open 'I cant believe you just said that' She paused and reconsidered. 'I am so telling Samuel you said that.'
Charles smiled. kissed her gently, and said 'Samuel won't believe you. ~ Patricia Briggs

I thought you were dead.
Stupid. As if I'd die without taking you with me. ~ Patricia Briggs

He smiled, and, drawing his own knife, he continued talking. It can cut you as easily as it will cut your opponent: keep it away from your fingers. The second thing to remember is that you can do a lot of damage with it just by holding in your hand and punching.
He closed his hand into a fist and demonstrated with an imaginary opponent. He moved with swift efficiency and his imaginary foe's instant death was obvious. ~ Patricia Briggs

When I am with you, my control is shot. I think that's what you've been feeling. ~ Patricia Briggs

Time was such an odd thing. One moment you could talk to someone, then suddenly, they were gone. ~ Patricia Briggs

She gave Samuel a stern look. "Now, I don't know what's going on between you and my daughter and Adam Hauptman - "
"Neither do we," I muttered.
Samuel grinned. "We have it pretty well worked out as far as the sex goes - Adam gets it - someday - and I don't. But the rest is still up for negotiation."
"Samuel Cornick," I sputtered in disbelief. "That is my mother. ~ Patricia Briggs

Witches are bitches and they'll burn your britches sure as kittens have itches if you give' em half a chance. ~ Patricia Briggs

You are a remarkable man, Charles Cornick."

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and put his chin on the top of her head. "I know," he confided lightly. "And often underappreciated by those who don't know any better."

She poked him with a finger and looked up at him. "And funny - though I expect that is another facet of your character that goes unappreciated even more often than your remarkableness."

"Some people don't even notice," he said in a mock-mournful voice. ~ Patricia Briggs

Not that I'd really been planning on keeping the attack secret; it had just been an option I'd wanted to keep open if I could. ~ Patricia Briggs

If you don't stop playing with that dress, I'm going to rip it right off of you, and we won't be heading for dinner. ~ Patricia Briggs

Love is not necessary for sex. ~ Patricia Briggs

Death isn't a tragedy to God, only to those left behind. ~ Patricia Briggs

She opened her eyes and met his. The impact was so strong he was amazed that his fingers continued playing without pause. ~ Patricia Briggs

When things started to get dangerous, it was important to have people who knew as much as you did. That way, when you stupidly got yourself killed, someone would have a starting place to look for your murderer. ~ Patricia Briggs

We'd spent years as adversaries, two predators sharing territory and a certain, unwelcome attraction. Somehow, during all those years I spent outwardly acquiescing to his demands while making sure I held my own, I'd won his respect. I'd had werewolves love me and hate me, but I'd never had one respect me before. Not even Samuel. Adam respected me enough to act on my suspicions. It meant a lot. ~ Patricia Briggs

Apparently Coyote has a habit of showing up when he finds one of us - his descendants - interesting." Adam laughed ruefully. "Shouldn't take you long, then. ~ Patricia Briggs

Sometimes the only action you can take leads to more trouble. (Honey) ~ Patricia Briggs

She crawled on top of him, naked and warm and soft, smelling like a miracle that had saved him from a lifetime of aloneness. ~ Patricia Briggs

I could use you, training the Castle guards," offered the Reeve, "but I have to warn you that the last man to hold the post of captain quit."
The guard's eyebrows rose. "I wouldn't have thought that Castle guards would be that difficult."
"They're not," returned Kerim. "My lady mother, however is. ~ Patricia Briggs

She crawled," Ben said. There were tears in his voice. That was wrong. Ben barely even tolerated me on the best of days. "She crawled to the bathroom to clean herself again. If it weren't for the two subs in the pack, I'd be on the bottom. And she wouldn't stand up in my presence for guilt. ~ Patricia Briggs

Ben rubbed his muzzle over Kyle's shoulder in a way that I think was supposed to be reassuring. Kyle sucked in a breath. Either it hurt, or the reminder that the werewolf was big enough to rub his shoulder without much effort wasn't exactly reassuring.
"Ben, when was the last time you brushed your teeth?" asked Kyle.
Or else Ben's breath was really bad. ~ Patricia Briggs

You'd tell the world what your best friend wore to sleep if you thought it made a good enough story. ~ Patricia Briggs

A friend in danger is not someone who should be deserted. Safety is not always the right path. (Sylvia) ~ Patricia Briggs

Body language, when you know how to read it, can be more expressive than speech. (Mercy) ~ Patricia Briggs

Mercy?" His voice was very calm, that "people are going to die" calm only he could do. As soon as he started to speak, silence fell behind him because I wasn't the only one who knew that voice. ~ Patricia Briggs

Don't try threatening an Alpha. They don't like it. ~ Patricia Briggs

MS. THOMPSON, it said in heavy block letters, PLEASE KEEP YOUR FELINE OFF MY PROPERTY. IF I SEE IT AGAIN, I WILL EAT IT. ~ Patricia Briggs

Then Walter died as he lived, he told his mate. A hero, a soldier, and a survivor who chose to protect what was precious to him. I don't think, if you could ask him, that he would have any regrets. ~ Patricia Briggs

Is it like a Harry Potter thing?"
He turned his head then. "A what?"
"A Harry Potter thing," she said again. "You know, don't say Voldemort's name because you might attract his attention?"
He considered it. "You mean the children's book."
"I have got to get you to watch more movies," she said. "You'd enjoy these. Yes, I mean the children's book. ~ Patricia Briggs

His voice was soft and sweet as molasses; but my mother once told me that you had to trust that the first thing out of a person's mouth was truth. After they have a chance to think about it, they'll change what they say to be more socially acceptable, something they think you'll be happier with, something that will get the results they want. ~ Patricia Briggs

Reincarnation?"
He shrugged. "I've never seen any evidence that it's real. But I've never seen anything that disproves it either. I believe the afterlife is better than what we have here - and it would take something extraordinary to make someone willing to come back. ~ Patricia Briggs

She was comfortable enough that she was beginning to suffer from the most chronic condition of slavery - boredom. ~ Patricia Briggs

Mercy might be mated to Adam, but to his wolf she would always belong to Bran. Would always be his little coyote, who was tough and defiant, raised by a good friend because Bran couldn't trust his mate with someone he cared about who was more fragile than his grown sons. ~ Patricia Briggs

They came to see Glinda the Good Witch, but after midnight, they found the Wicked Witch of the West and left quaking in fear of flying monkeys. ~ Patricia Briggs

If you could just see your face," she told me. "You look like a cat in a bathtub. ~ Patricia Briggs

I borrowed a hammer and the garage and disposed of both phones. I was pretty sure that I could have just pulled the batteries, but pretty sure wasn't good enough, so I used a hammer. ~ Patricia Briggs

There was something about that man when he was all angry and dangerous that got my blood up. Sometimes my survival instincts are not what they should be. ~ Patricia Briggs

It would have been humiliating if he hadn't been clutching me back just as hard. ~ Patricia Briggs

I put my cell phone in my back pocket (a habit that has destroyed two phones so far) and tried to blank my face. It wouldn't help with the werewolves, who would be able to smell my distress, but at least I wouldn't have complete strangers stop and ask me what was wrong. ~ Patricia Briggs

His eyes a bright gold. "You need me."
He kissed her again, his hands roaming from her jaw down her neck and shoulders. His hips presses forward, and he released her mouth as he slid his body up until his sex pressed, hard and full, against hers. She jerked involuntarily, and he laughed in the same deep way that he had spoken. She growled at him, wolf to wolf.
"There you are, there you are," he said. "Are you just going to let me do this alone? ~ Patricia Briggs

I am not attempting to preserve culture, or record actual events or stories. Instead I bow my head in gratitude to those storytellers who have gone before and paved a way for me play in their stomping grounds. Doubtless those who want to be offended, will - allowing me to make them happy, too, which pleases me as much as it pleases them. ~ Patricia Briggs

Silver was too hard to be good ammunition. ~ Patricia Briggs

One, one, two, zero," I told him through the chattering of my teeth. "It's my birthday. ~ Patricia Briggs

All right," Mom said. She gave Samuel a stern look,"Now I don't know what's going on between you and my daughter and Adam Hauptman-"
"Neither do we," I muttered
Samuel grinned "We have it pretty well worked out as far as the sex goes. Adam gets it-someday-and I don't. But the rest is still up for negotiation. ~ Patricia Briggs

I have a degree in history, which is one of the reasons I'm an auto mechanic. ~ Patricia Briggs

A man who will risk nothing for love is not a man ~ Patricia Briggs

I find it somewhat reassuring that I'm not the only one who feels like I should be running around shouting, Where's the script? Where's the script? If only I had a script I'd know what the freak I'm supposed to be doing. ~ Patricia Briggs

Yes, well," said his da with a hint of a grow that told him just how worried Bran had been about him, "that'll teach you to dodge a bit quicker next time."
"Sorry," he apologized meekly as he sat in the passenger seat.
"Good," said Bran, shutting the door gently. "Don't let it happen again."
-Bran and Charles ~ Patricia Briggs

The warmth of his body shouldn't have felt good. He was angry and every muscle was tense. It was like being leaned on by a very heavy, warm brick. A sexy brick. ~ Patricia Briggs

She doesn't need the pack. She doesn't need me."
I shot to my feet. "That's not true," I said hotly.
He tilted his head a little, his eyes meeting mine. His eyes softened. "I misspoke," he said in a steady voice. "She doesn't need me to make sure she has enough food or a place to live-that is my privilege, but she doesn't need me to do that. She doesn't need me to keep her safe or to make her a whole person. She doesn't need me to do anything except love her. Which I do. ~ Patricia Briggs

Only cowards torture women. ~ Patricia Briggs

All life is rife with possibilities. Seeds have possibilities, but all their tomorrows are caught by the patterning of their life cycle. Animals have possibilities that are greater than that of a fir tree or a blade of grass. Still, though, for most animals, the pattern of instinct, the patterns of their lives, are very strong. Humanity has a far greater range of possibilities, especially the very young. Who will children grow up to be? Who will they marry, what will they believe, what will they create? Creation is a very powerful seed of possibility. ~ Patricia Briggs

Charles preferred his deer to taste like meat and his pancakes to look like pancakes. Brother Wolf thought he was too picky. Brother Wolf was probably right. ~ Patricia Briggs

It has always been an ambition of mine to serve as an object lesson for others. ~ Patricia Briggs

All Adam needed was an answer, and 'no' would have worked just as well to set the pack back in order. I agreed because ... because he's Adam. Mine, whispered a voice in my head, but I was pretty sure it was my own voice. ~ Patricia Briggs

Illegitimis nil carborundum. ~ Patricia Briggs

What?" he asked, finishing the second of his nine-ounce steaks, medium rare. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

[...]

I sighed theatrically, resting my chin on my cupped hands and bracing my elbows on the table. "You are too gorgeous, you know?"

I said it just loud enough that the people who'd been watching us surreptitiously could hear me.

Unholy laughter lit his eyes - telling me he'd been noticing the looks we'd been getting. But his face was completely serious, as he purred, "So. Am I worth what you paid for me, baby?"

I loved it when he played along with me.
I sighed again, a sound that I drew up from my toes, a contented, happy sound. I'd get him back for that "baby." Just see if I didn't.

"Oh, yes," I told our audience. "I'll tell Jesse that she was right. Go for the sexy beast, she told me. If you're going to shell out the money, don't settle."

He threw back his head and laughed until he had to wipe tears of hilarity off his face. "Jeez, Mercy," he said. "The things you say." Then he leaned across the table and kissed me.

A while later he pulled back, grinned at me, and sat back in his chair.

I had to catch my breath before I spoke. "Best five bucks I ever spent," I told him fervently. ~ Patricia Briggs

...The Arabs I rode herding cattle with your father in the fifties and sixties would do a full day's work for twenty years, seven days a week, and retire sound." He snorted. "The drive now is for pretty lawn ornaments. The Arabian horses were originally bred as weapons of war, and now they are artwork. ~ Patricia Briggs

Mine was bright green with gold swirls. Adam's was black.
"You have no imagination," I told him smugly. "It wouldn't hurt if you found a pink ball to bowl with."
"All the pink balls have kid-sized holes in them," he told me. "The black balls are the heaviest."
I opened my mouth, but he shut me up with a kiss. "Not here," he said. "Look next to us."
We were being observed by a boy of about five and a toddler in a frilly pink dress.
I raised my nose in the air. "As if I were going to joke about your ball. How juvenile. ~ Patricia Briggs

Suddenly I don't feel so bad at being rescued by a rabbit, ~ Patricia Briggs

This world has need of song and sword. ~ Patricia Briggs

Beauclaire focused his attention, and I felt his magic send shivers of ice along my arms. ~ Patricia Briggs

I'm done with it." All hint of softness was gone from his voice. "I am done with listening to you attack my mate while she is trying to save you. Again. I called this meeting to give notice. If I hear or hear about any of you saying anything to my mate that is in the least bit disrespectful, I will end you. No warnings, no second chances. I will end you."
- Adam Hauptman ~ Patricia Briggs

Kyle took in a breath. "While you were doing freaky stuff with Adam - as fine as he is - did you figure out where he is?"
I shook my head, and he sighed. "That's good."
I raised my eyebrow. He grinned, tiredly. "That would have been useful, Mercy. And having something freaky and useful would have been too good and sent the spirits of evil gods on our tail."
I stared at him. ~ Patricia Briggs

It was complicated. I understood it, mostly, but I had to think a little sideways to do it. ~ Patricia Briggs

Adam has always had ... heroic tendencies."
I touched Adam's arm. "He's my hero."
There was another pause ...
"That is the most romantic thing I've ever heard you say," Bran said. "Be careful, Adam, or you'll turn her into a real girl."
Adam looked at me. "I like her just the way she is, Bran." And he meant it, greasy overalls, broken fingernails, and all. ~ Patricia Briggs

Rabies has a lot in Common with vampirism. said Adam ~ Patricia Briggs

Adam didn't approve of Wal-Mart. ~ Patricia Briggs

When you turn something into stone, you take out the moisture that makes most of the bulk of flesh. A really good mage could turn you into a pebble," said the really good mage before me. ~ Patricia Briggs

For Adam, screwed-up bonding thing or not, I'd wait forever.
"Really?" he asked in a tone I'd never heard from him before. Softer. Vulnerable. Adam didn't do vulnerable.
"Really what?" I asked.
"Despite the way our bond scares you, despite the way someone in the pack played you, you'd still have me?"
He'd been listening to my thoughts. This time it didn't bother me.
"Adam," I told him, "I'd walk barefoot over hot coals for you. ~ Patricia Briggs

His brother maintained that what sent people backing away was neither his size nor his mother's blood, but solely the expression on his face. To test Samuel's theory, Charles had tried smiling - and then solemnly reported to Samuel that he had been mistaken. When Charles smiled, he told Samuel, people just ran faster. ~ Patricia Briggs

I used my history degree about twice a year whether I needed to or not. ~ Patricia Briggs

That is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. ~ Patricia Briggs

Death is not to be feared. Death is easy. It is living that is brutal. ~ Patricia Briggs

See you tomorrow," he said, instead.
"All right." Then, impulsively, I asked, "Do you have a place to sleep tonight?"
"Sure," he said with a smile, and started off as if he had somewhere to be.
I could have bitten off my tongue because I pushed him into a lie. Once he started lying to me, it would be harder to get him to trust me with the truth. I don't know why it works that way, but it does - at least in my experience. ~ Patricia Briggs

I told them," he said in a clear, carrying voice, "that they should not give someone as old and powerful as I a daughter to love. That it would end badly. ~ Patricia Briggs

I like who I am - but there are plenty of men who wouldn't. (Mercy) ~ Patricia Briggs

So you didn't have any reason to be so mad I wrecked the car," I said, triumphantly.
Samuel laughed out loud. "You still haven't figured it out, have you, Mercy? He never was mad about the car. He was the first one at the scene of the accident. He thought you'd killed yourself. We all did. That was a pretty spectacular wreck."
I started to say something and found I couldn't. The first thing I'd seen after hitting the tree was the Marrok's snarling face. I'd never seen him that angry - and I'd done a lot, from time to time, to inspire his rage. ~ Patricia Briggs

Ours, said Brother Wolf. She is perfect, our soul mate, our anchor, the reason we were created. So that we could be hers. ~ Patricia Briggs

Your ability to survive anything that gets thrown at you sometimes leaves the rest of us swallowing ulcer medication for days afterward. I don't like the taste of Maalox. ~ Patricia Briggs

I am so glad Todd and I eloped," she said sincerely. "There was no way to salvage the wreckage. But I think that you deserved this, and I'm very happy for you." She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. Then she whispered, "He is really, really a hottie. How did you mange that?"
"Brat," I told her, and gave her a hug. "Todd's not exactly chopped liver."
She smiled smugly and took another sip. "No he's not."
"He could be," said Ben from behind me, his British accent giving him a civilized air that he didn't deserve. "Do you want him to be chopped liver, darling?"
I turned, making sure I was between Ben and Nan, "My sisters are off-limits," I reminded him.
A flash of hurt came and went on his face. With Ben, it was even odds whether the emotion was genuine or not -but my instincts told me they had been. So I continued in a mock-chiding tone, "Ruthie is too young for you, and Nan is married to a very nice man. So be good."
Nan had caught the flash of hurt, too, I thought. She was softer than our mother, more like her father in temperament as well as looks. She couldn't stand to have anyone hurting and not do anything about it.
She sighed dramatically. "All the pretty men, and I'm tied to just one."
Ben smiled at her. "Anytime you want to change that…"
I poked him in the side-he could have slipped out of the way, but he didn't bother.
"Okay," he said, backing away with exaggerated fear. "Ill be good, I promise. Just don't hurt me ~ Patricia Briggs

Almost-Sister, you picked a real catch."
"It was I who caught her," Adam said softly. "It took years. ~ Patricia Briggs

Marriage is not as necessary for survival of the species as it used to be, and it has suffered somewhat from the change. ~ Patricia Briggs

Evil must always be fought. ~ Patricia Briggs

Forbidden fruit is the sweetest, Warren, my darling. ~ Patricia Briggs

When is the last time you were a tourist?" she asked archly.

He just looked at her. Charles, she had to agree, was not tourist material.

"Right," Anna told him. "Buck up. You might even enjoy it."

"You might as well have 'hapless victim' tattooed across your forehead," he muttered. ~ Patricia Briggs

Some people are boys longer than others. ~ Patricia Briggs

Everyone kept touching, touching, touching. 'Hello, Jes.' They'd say. 'Good to have you back.' Touch. Touch. Touch."
"I'm sorry. You should have asked them not to touch you."
"Hennea said, 'Stop touching the man, you fools. It hurts him.' and they stopped touching me." He pulled off a boot and looked up with a pleased expression.
"Hennea yelled at them?" Seraph asked surprised.
He shook his head. "No, she just said it very firmly. But she can touch me. I told her so."
"In front of everyone?" asked Rinnie, horrified.
Seraph was hard put not to laugh. ~ Patricia Briggs

Someday, I'm going to meet some supernatural creature who tells me everything I should know up front and in a forthright manner - but I'm not going to hold my breath. ~ Patricia Briggs

When it became obvious that the stranger was no longer a threat, Laeth said congenially, "She doesn't like it when men touch her without an invitation. You're lucky that she's in a good mood or she'd have just cut your hand off - that's what she did to the last man who tried it."
A friend of Laeth's leaned over from a nearby table and said sadly, "Poor Jard was never the same."
"Remember what she did to Lothar?" added another man, shaking his head.
"Took us three days to find all the pieces so that we could bury him," commented one of Laeth's fellow lieutenants, a stocky, bald man with a friendly face. He leaned closer and said softly, "But then, Lothar tried to kiss her. ~ Patricia Briggs

My father said that a silent person is trying to hide something. ~ Patricia Briggs

Hey, Adam," I said.
I thought you'd want to know that Warren and Darryl made it out of the vampire den alive."
I sucked in my breath. "You didn't actually agree to their meeting on Marsilia's grounds?"
He laughed. "No, it just sounded better than saying they made it out of Denny's alive. It might not be romantic, but it's open all night and set in the middle of a brightly lit parking lot with no dark places for skulking parties to ambush from. ~ Patricia Briggs

Adam decided that since I was going to keep getting into trouble, the only thing he could so was try to ensure I could get myself out of it, too. ~ Patricia Briggs

We hadn't brought a tent. Even if it rained, we couldn't afford to blind ourselves like that when we slept. ~ Patricia Briggs

Hello," said a Traveler, crouching down on Tier's other side. "You must be the Bard."
"Tier," said Seraph, "this is Kors. Kors, my husband, Tier. Kors, what do you want?"
Ah, thought Tier contentedly, all that in under a breath, my Seraph at her charismatic best. ~ Patricia Briggs

That's a pretty lame superhero name," I told him.
"Scooby-Doo is already taken," he said with dignity. "Anything else sounds lame in comparison. ~ Patricia Briggs