Deborah Blake

“You're the Baba Yaga?" He gazed at her in disbelief. "But the Baba Yaga is an ugly old crone, and you're, you're... not!”

“Pain is mostly mind over matter: if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”

“Her arms reached up to wrap around his neck, holding on as if she would never let go. She kissed him back with an ardor that astonished, gratified, and aroused him all at once, and for a moment, he lost himself in the kiss, and in the woman, thinking to himself, now this, this is magic.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve got plans for next Thursday. And I’m not in the mood to have them ruined by some apocalypse.”

“Son, if you were any farther from fine you'd be in Nebraska.”

“Barbara felt lightheaded, almost dizzy with what she was about to say. But she said it anyway. "As you wish, Your Majesty. In that case, I am afraid I must resign my position as Baba Yaga. If I am forced to choose between the work I was destined to do and the man I was destined to love, I choose the man.”

“Marcus gave her a slow, wicked smile, feeling the smoldering heat rise to the surface like molten lava, irresistible as a force of nature. "If you insist," he whispered, and bent his head to capture her lips with his own. He put all his yearning, all his gratitude for the gifts she'd given him, all that heat bubbling up within him into the kiss, feeling her lips yield beneath his.She returned his fire with fire, kissing him back with a wild abandon that left them both trembling and enraptured, wrapped around each other in the midst of a crowd, focused only on each other.Overhead, fireworks lit the sky, but neither of them noticed.”

“You're welcome to join us again sometime," Bella said.... "Right. Well, I don't know." Sam looked at the ground. scuffing one boot in the dirt. "I'm usually not very good company." "I'm hanging out with a teenager and a temperamental cat." Bella said with a small smile. "The bar is set very low around here.”

“Something tells me this isn't going to end well for everyone involved. Someone may get turned into a frog yet." And that was the good news.”

“Sam started to move away, and she pulled him closer. "Where are you going?" she asked. "Shhh," he said. "I'm just going to grab the blanket and turn out the light. I'll be right back." Bella chuckled sleepily and waved her right hand. The blanket lifted off the back of the chair where she'd left it and came slowly sailing across the room to drape itself over their entwined bodies. A snap of her fingers and the single lamp in the kitchen went out. Sam blinked in the sudden darkness. "You're a very handy woman to have around," he said. "You have no idea," she replied, and proceeded to demonstrate that she wasn't quite as tired as he'd thought.”

“Hmm," she said. "'Curiouser and curiouser,' to quote Alice.”

“For years she’d been the Central Gates Precinct’s Witness Retrieval Specialist – more commonly referred to as a “Ghost Yanker” by her non-magical colleagues on the force. Being stuck in the basement talking to dead victims would depress the hell out of anyone, if they did it for long enough. Then, six months ago, everything changed.”

“He strolled over to the refrigerator, opened the door with one paw, and delicately picked up a beer between his teeth. He waited until clothes had stopped arcing through the air and hand it to Barbara.”

“Liam jumped. "Jeez --you can talk!" Chudo-Yudo rolled his eyes. "Right. So a talking dragon is okay, but a talking dog freaks you out? Dude, you're going to have to adjust to this crap a lot faster than that if you're going to be any help.”

“Stu looked over his shoulder at the trailer. "She seems like a nice old lady, but jeez, that's a big dog." "Yes," said Liam. "But a small dragon.”

“Sam could feel his jaw drop open, but it took him a moment to gather himself together enough to shut it. He blinked at Jazz. "Did that cat just talk, or am I losing my mind?" Koshka laughed, a bizarre sound coming from something with whiskers and ear tufts. "So you believe in witches but not to talking cats? You have a very limited worldview, Human. You might want to work on that.”

“Mrs. Ivanov's gentle face was pale and bewildered, her wrinkles falling in on themselves as though they'd given up trying to hold on to any expression other than sorrow.”

“A Baba Yaga never breaks a promise. Legs, yes. Hearts, occasionally. But never a promise.”

“I swore I wasn't going to rescue any more damsels in distress," Day muttered. To his surprise, Barbara gave him a lopsided grin, banging on the side of the trailer to make it produce a door. "What makes you think she isn't rescuing you?" she asked, and stomped inside without a backward look.”

“The boy stuck his hand out politely and shook hers, then extended it to Fergus, his eyes bright as stars in the night sky. "That's cool," he said, looking down at Fergus's hand and turning it sideways so he could get a better look. "You have little webs between your fingers. Does that hep you swim?"Marcus cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "Tito, dude, it's not polite to comment on people's, um, oddities." He shrugged an apology at Fergus, who just laughed."I do not mind," Fergus said, grinning at the dark-skinned boy. He leaned down and whispered. "Can you keep a secret? I am actually a Merman from an undersea kingdom; that is why I have webs between my fingers." He held up one bare foot and said in a more normal tone, "Toes, too, see?"Tito's face was a study in conflicting awe and disbelief. "I never heard of a Merman," he said, dubiously. "I thought there were only Mermaids. And they're made up."Fergus snorted. "If you do not have any Mermen, how would get more Mermaids, eh?”