“
I closed my eyes. I forced myself to relax, to remember that here, now, and always, I was the predator.
”
”
Alexandra Bracken (Never Fade (The Darkest Minds, #2))
“
There was something delightfully intimate about the relationship between predator and prey.
”
”
Nenia Campbell (Horrorscape (Horrorscape, #2))
“
Sidheag, you think like a predator.’ The Lady of Kingair glowed in pleasure. ‘Thank you very much, Sophronia. What a nice thing to say.
”
”
Gail Carriger (Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School, #2))
“
She might have been born this way, without an empathy gene and other essentials. In that case, she would interpret any kindness as weakness. Among predatory beasts, any display of weakness is an invitation to attack.
”
”
Dean Koontz (Forever Odd (Odd Thomas, #2))
“
Dez turned those gorgeous gray-green eyes on the wolf, and Mace watched Smitty do what any sensible predator would do in a situation like this… Plot to run away.
”
”
Shelly Laurenston (The Beast in Him (Pride, #2))
“
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 (Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2))
“
Shahrzad followed him with her eyes, aware she likely resembled a predator stalking prey.
”
”
Renée Ahdieh (The Rose & the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn, #2))
“
Don’t smile. It’s scary as fuck. The look doesn’t suit you, and it makes you look like a serial killer.
”
”
Jamie Begley (Stand Off (Predators MC, #2))
“
He may have his mother’s gray–green eyes, but this wonderful little boy—and Smitty’s godson—still had the cold, hard expression of a predator. Just like his daddy.
”
”
Shelly Laurenston (The Beast in Him (Pride, #2))
“
The Monk remembers what he has told the Mesmerizer. That he won’t step into the evil. That he won’t read the Devil’s Book.
And, he will never let that predator win. Never.
”
”
Misba (The Oldest Dance (Wisdom Revolution, #2))
“
Dez kissed his cheek and hissed in his ear, “You say a word—they won’t find your body for months.” Wolves were a smart breed and always knew when a predator meaner than them was near.
”
”
Shelly Laurenston (The Beast in Him (Pride, #2))
“
... He'd been about to turn away when she lifted her face to the moon and sang.
It was not in any language that he knew. Not in the common tongue, or in Eyllwe, or in the languages of Fenharrow or Melisande, or anywhere else on the continent
This language was ancient, each word full of power and rage and agony.
She did not have a beautiful voice. And many of the words sounded like half sobs, the vowels stretched by the pangs of sorrow, the consonants hardened by anger. She beat her breast in time, so full of savage grace, so at odds with the black gown and veil she wore. The hair on the back of his neck stood as the lament poured from her mouth, unearthly and foreign, a song of grief so old that it predated the stone castle itself.
And the the song finished, its end as butal and sudden as Nehemia's death had been.
She stood there a few moments, silent and unmoving.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
I would have to stop at a local shelter and possibly PetSmart. They had silent, stealthy, vicious predators available for adoption.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2))
“
Excuse me, but I’ve been to some of the toughest zones in the galaxy to get my targets. And I have never once gone after a target and failed. Ever. (Shahara)
Yeah, but you’ve never been chased before. It’s a lot harder to be the prey than it is to be the predator. (Syn)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Born of Fire (The League: Nemesis Rising, #2))
“
No, Nick. The world has always been scary. You’ve just been lucky enough to be shielded from it. It’s the saddest part of childhood, really. When that shimmery veil is ripped away by something horrible and you’re left with the unvarnished truth. When the world no longer becomes safe and you see the ugly side of it. You, like most humans, fear us demons. But we’re not the worst predators out there. You know what we are. It’s the ones who lure you in with kindness or who attack from the back. Those are monsters far worse than us. All this time, you thought you know. We all do. But now you have seen.” – Caleb
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Invincible (Chronicles of Nick, #2))
“
You look absolutely divine dressed in wolves’ clothing, but don’t think I won’t tear them from your body the second he’s dead. Enjoy your hunt, little mouse. You won’t be the only predator on the loose.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2))
“
As he took them in his arms, the crying of the babies permeated the night like a trail of blood calling out to a predator.
”
”
Carlos Ruiz Zafón (The Midnight Palace (Niebla, #2))
“
She is in particular interested in the Ennui predator. She very much likes its demeanor and coloring in the images. She understand she may not get that particular one, but perhaps one that resembles it? A young one?”
The Ennui predator. “Where did she find these images?”
“On your planet’s holonet,” Nuan Ara said helpfully.
We didn’t have holonet. We had internet… Oh. “So, the esteemed grandmother would like a kitten that looks like Grumpy Cat?” I picked up my laptop, typed in the image search for Grumpy Cat, and showed him the picture.
“Yes!”
“I will see what I can do.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2))
“
Dolphins are seriously twisted, you know.”
“Dolphins are twisted?”
“They’re the only predators that kill their young for fun. And the males are rather fond of gang rape. Oh, they might look cute and seem charming, but that innocent exterior is quite an act. They’re like the sea-world’s version of Ted Bundy.
”
”
Suzanne Wright (Blaze (Dark in You, #2))
“
Tristan 'The Predator' Caine snored like a baby.
”
”
RuNyx (The Reaper (Dark Verse, #2))
“
You think you are some fine predator? A swamp panther or coywolv?” He pretended to inspect her. “Where are your teeth and claws, girl?” He bared his teeth. “Where is your bite?
”
”
Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, #2))
“
A herd of deer catches the Monk’s attention. They are running. He senses the fear in them. Soon, the largest cat in this forest takes one of them: it runs, grabs a neck, halts, and mauls; then it kills. A predator wins. Always.
The herd of deer accepts it. Mourning a while, they go back to grazing. Perhaps they even think, this time too, it wasn’t me. Not yet.
”
”
Misba (The Oldest Dance (Wisdom Revolution, #2))
“
The predator in me likes that. Her fear, her reluctance—they add a certain edge to the whole thing. It makes it that much sweeter to possess her, to feel her curled up in my arms every night.
”
”
Anna Zaires (Keep Me (Twist Me, #2))
“
She was a whirlwind of steel and blood. As he watched her cut through the men as though they were stalks of wheat in a field, he understood how she had gotten so close to touching Endovier's wall that day. And at last-after all these months-he saw the lethal predator he'd expected to find in the mines. there was nothing human in her eyes, nothing remotely merciful. It froze his heart.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
Personally, Vin didn't find the library's location nearly as asuming as its contents. Or, rather, lack thereof. Though the romm was lined with shelves, nearly all of them showed signs of having been pillaged by Elend. The rows of books lay pocked by forlorn empty spots, their companions taken away one by one, as if Elend were a predator, slowly whittling down a herd.
”
”
Brandon Sanderson (The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2))
“
A neuron didn’t know whether it fired in response to a scent or a symphony. Brain cells weren’t intelligent; only brains were. And brain cells weren’t even the lower limit. The origins of thought were buried so deep they predated multicellular life itself: neurotransmitters in choanoflagellates, potassium ion gates in Monosiga. I am a colony of microbes talking to itself, Brüks reflected.
”
”
Peter Watts (Echopraxia (Firefall, #2))
“
Senkovi’s personal theory was that the pressure of being in the middle of the food chain was an essential prerequisite for complex intelligence. Like humans (and like Portiid spiders, had he only known), octopuses had developed in a world where they were both hunter and hunted. Top predators, in Senkovi’s assessment, were an intellectual dead end.
”
”
Adrian Tchaikovsky (Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2))
“
Beautiful, but in the way all wild, dangerous predators were.
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash, #2))
“
Never run from a predator. Even the most behaved of them will have a hard time restraining themselves from chasing after a prey.
”
”
Patricia Briggs (Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2))
“
He'd been angry. He'd been afraid for her. He'd been shocked that just by being with her, he'd become everything he most despised in the world-- a predator.
”
”
Christine Feehan (Vengeance Road (Torpedo Ink, #2))
“
Yeah. And Savitar predates him. He has presided over this council since the very beginning, and notice, Savitar looks about thirty. We don’t know what he is, but he ain’t one of us and he ain’t human. And trust me, you don’t want to mess with him. (Paris)
Thank you for that highly unamusing summation. Next time I have insomnia, I know who to call. In the meantime, little lioness who would probably like to live another year, don’t interrupt me again. I don’t like it and I tend to kill the things I don’t like. (Savitar)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Unleash the Night (Dark Hunter, #8; Were-Hunter, #2))
“
Sammi watched him walk toward her.
He walked like a predator, a conqueror. A king who ruled and commanded all. He was sex and sin, decadence and sensuality.
He was, simply put, spectacular.
”
”
Donna Grant (Fire Rising (Dark Kings, #2))
“
When rehabilitation works, there is no question that it is the best and most productive use of the correctional system. It stands to reason: if we can take a bad guy and turn him into a good guy and then let him out, then that’s one fewer bad guy to harm us. . . .
Where I do not think there is much hope. . .is when we deal with serial killers and sexual predators, the people I have spent most of my career hunting and studying. These people do what they do. . .because it feels good, because they want to, because it gives
them satisfaction. You can certainly make the argument, and I will agree with you, that many of them are compensating for bad jobs, poor self-image, mistreatment by parents, any number of things. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to rehabilitate them.
”
”
John E. Douglas (Journey Into Darkness (Mindhunter #2))
“
[referencing that what bothered her about Hansel and Gretel was the weak willed father who let the evil stepmother send the children into the woods not once but twice, and the unease of children reunited happily with their father] : In many ways that unease has guided me through these stories, that note of trouble that I think many of us hear in familiar tales, because we know - even as children - that impossible tasks are an odd way to choose a spouse, that predators come in many guises, that a prince's whims are often cruel. The more I listened to that note of warning, the more inspiration I found.
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (Grishaverse, #0.5, 2.5, 2.6))
“
Careful crossing the street," Tommy called back to her as he crossed. [Jody is drunk]
"Ha!" Jody said. "I am a finely tuned predator. I am a superbeing. I --" And at that point she bounced her forehead off a light pole with a dull twang and was suddenly lying on her back, looking at the streetlights above her, which kept going out of focus, the bastards.
”
”
Christopher Moore (You Suck (A Love Story, #2))
“
Once, there were no predators, no prey. Only harmony. There were no quakes, no storms, everything in balance. In the beginning, time was all at once and forever — no past, present, and future, no death. We broke it all.
”
”
Dean Koontz (Forever Odd (Odd Thomas, #2))
“
We would not be Human if we did not prefer to be the devourers rather than the devoured, but either is a blessing. Should your life be required of you, rest assured that it is required by Life.
”
”
Margaret Atwood (The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam, #2))
“
A man walked in long strides through the darkness toward them. Nothing but a dark silhouette, shadow against shadow, he walked down the alley with the grace of a predator.
”
”
Pamela Clare (Hard Evidence (I-Team, #2))
“
Kendra was on Gabriel like a predator on a slab of meat.
”
”
Kim Harrington (Perception (Clarity, #2))
“
I’m not cuddly! I’m an apex predator, woman. Top of the food chain.
”
”
Candace Ayers (Rescue Bear (P.O.L.A.R., #2))
“
He’s a cold god whose only language is disapproval. A predator whose sole purpose is trapping prey.
”
”
Rina Kent (God of Pain (Legacy of Gods, #2))
“
We have gone far in our public places to push death aside, to consign it to a dusty corner, but in the wilderness it is ever present. It is the lover who makes life. The sensuous, entwined limbs of of predator and prey, the orgasmic death cry, the final spasmodic rush of blood, and even the soundless insemination of the earth by the fallen tree and crumbling leaf; these are the caresses of life's beloved, the indispensable other.
”
”
Rick Yancey (The Curse of the Wendigo (The Monstrumologist, #2))
“
Beware, lion’s lady, for your predator is hungry tonight. He may not wait long before devouring you.” “Devouring me?” she asked, challenge gleaming in her eyes. “What if I devour him first?
”
”
Shelly Thacker (Forever His (Stolen Brides, #2))
“
Pick,” Emma tells her.
Tira’s lip trembles. She tries to back out of sight, but someone pushes her forward. “Pick…Pick what?”
Emma motions to the halo of predators above them, around them, everywhere. “Pick two. Any two you want, and I will have them divide Jagen’s body evenly.”
“No!” Jagen screams, his face contorted in terror.
Emma cocks her head at him. “Jagen, make up your mind. Didn’t you just say you don’t believe I have the Gift? So then why should you care if she points to some harmless sharks?”
He clamps his mouth shut, but the look of panic stays.
Tira says, “I couldn’t do that, Highness.”
Highness! Someone called Emma “Highness!” It’s one of the many names she calls Galen when she’s mad at him. The irony is not lost on Emma. Her death glare cuts off his snickers.
She turns back to Tira. “Of course you can. There’s nothing to worry about because Paca has the Gift, remember? Isn’t that what you all believe? She would never let any harm come to her own father, would she? I know I wouldn’t. So go ahead and pick. Paca will save Jagen.”
Clever little angelfish. Galen smirks at Jagen, who won’t meet his eyes. Nalia and Grom make their way to the edge of the center. Grom grins at Emma like she’s his own daughter. Which is very weird for Galen.
”
”
Anna Banks (Of Triton (The Syrena Legacy, #2))
“
It would be best to stride in with a cheer "hello!", but she wasn't the cheery sort; she was the "lurking in dark corners" sort. She found a dark corner, behind the Stalker-cases, and lurked.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines Quartet, #2))
“
Of all wildlife, mule deer fawns are the safest newborns, ’cause during their entire first year, they don’t produce a scent by which a predator might find them.
”
”
Dean Koontz (Photographing the Dead (Nameless: Season One, #2))
“
She is in particular interested in the Ennui predator. She very much likes its demeanor and coloring in the images.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2))
“
there is nothing more enticing to a predator than wounded prey.
”
”
Courtney Lane (The Starkest Truth (A Breaking Insanity Novel Book 2))
“
I know you're making a joke, but that Predator blew himself up with a bomb. The first human to actually kill an alien was Mike Harrigan, played by Danny Glover, in Predator 2.
”
”
Andy Weir (Project Hail Mary)
“
Perhaps loneliness—it is that loneliest time of the night, the predawn darkness when the worst dreams come, the sunrise seems far off, and the creatures that inhabit both the real world and the darker edges of the unconscious prowl with the impunity of predators who know that their prey is helpless and alone.
”
”
Don Winslow (The Cartel (Power of the Dog #2))
“
Thus on Predator Day we meditate on the Alpha Predator aspects of God. The suddenness and ferocity with which an apprehension of the Divine may appear to us; our smallness and fearfulness-may I say, our Mouselikeness-in the face of such Power; our feelings of individual annihilation in the brightness of that splendid Light. God walks in the tender dawn Gardens of the mind, but He also prowls in its night Forests. He is not a tame Being, my Friends: he is a wild Being, and cannot be summoned and controlled like a Dog."-Adam One
”
”
Margaret Atwood (The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam, #2))
“
Stand down, Matthew,” Philippe growled. The sound was as leonine as the rest of him. The de Clermont family was a menagerie of formidable beasts. In Matthew’s presence I was always reminded of wolves. With Ysabeau it was falcons. Gallowglass had made me think of a bear. Philippe was akin to yet another deadly predator.
”
”
Deborah Harkness (Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy, #2))
“
She should pull away, even though she had begged for it with her smart mouth. She should punish him for every crime he’d perpetrated. For being too good-looking, too sexy, too everything. But the kiss was like him—just too damn good. Warm and brutal, providing answers to questions she never knew she had. He teased with his tongue along the seam of her mouth, seeking that last nudge of acceptance as if it was his God-given right.
She parted her lips, and like a predator hinged on her threshold, he took.
”
”
Kate Meader (Playing with Fire (Hot in Chicago, #2))
“
Rafe was still obviously a predator, large and fierce and deadly. But there were humans like that too, and he’d found a group of them in a corner. Rough, ready, angry men, cracked like leather beneath the weight of the world’s use. Standing with them, Rafe could still be one of the things that went bump in the night, just closer to home. The world hid all kinds of monsters – some had too many teeth and some had too much gin
”
”
Gail Carriger (Romancing the Werewolf (Supernatural Society, #2))
“
It was the first and only fight of his childhood, but it had taught him a valuable lesson about human nature, how people were just another species of animal, and like any animal, from the biggest predators, to the smallest scavengers, most human beings could only be pushed so far before they lashed out.
”
”
D.J. Molles (Aftermath (The Remaining, #2))
“
I surrender to the predator who has me trapped in his sights. Let him take me.
Common sense tries to creep into my sex-saturated brain, but I slam the door in its face. I don’t want to think about what I’m doing. Thinking will spoil everything. I just want to feel. Without reason or motivation or guilt.
”
”
Kendall Grey (Beats (Hard Rock Harlots, #2))
“
As it moves closer, Galen can make out smaller bodies within the mass. Whales. Sharks. Sea turtles. Stingrays. And he knows exactly what’s happening.
The darkening horizon engages the full attention of the Aerna; the murmurs grow louder the closer it gets. The darkness approaches like a mist, eclipsing the natural snlight from the surface.
An eclipse of fish.
With each of his rapid heartbeats, Galen thinks he can feel the actual years disappear from his life span. A wall of every predator imaginable, and every kind of prey swimming in between, fold themselves around the edges of the hot ridges. The food chain hovers toward, over them, around them as a unified force.
And Emma is leading it.
Nalia gasps, and Galen guesses she recognizes the white dot in the middle of the wall. Syrena on the outskirts of the Arena frantically rush to the center, the tribunal all but forgotten in favor of self-preservation. The legion of sea life circles the stadium, effectively barricading the exits and any chance of escaping.
Galen can’t decide if he’s proud or angry when Emma leaves the safety of her troops to enter the Arena, hitching a ride on the fin of a killer whale. When she’s but three fin-lengths away from Galen, she dismisses her escort. “Go back with the others,” she tells it. “I’ll be fine.”
Galen decides on proud. Oh, and completely besotted. She gives him a curt nod to which he grins. Turning to the crowd of ogling Syrena, she says, “I am Emma, daughter of Nalia, true princess of Poseidon.”
He hears murmurs of “Half-Breed” but it sounds more like awe than hatred or disgust. And why shouldn’t it? They’ve seen Paca’s display of the Gift. Emma’s has just put it to shame.
”
”
Anna Banks (Of Triton (The Syrena Legacy, #2))
“
Fine. You want to know the reason?” He walked toward me, his movements precise and controlled, like a predator prowling toward its prey. “The reason is because I couldn’t stop thinking about you while I was gone. Then I come home to see you sitting there, doing nothing except existing, and I can’t fucking breathe.” His voice was low and taut. “Maybe you were right. I am pissed at you because you can float through the kitchen, making pancakes and cracking jokes, while I’m using every goddamn ounce of willpower not to touch you. That’s why I don’t want to be around you. You’re killing me, and you don’t even know it.
”
”
Ana Huang (The Defender (Gods of the Game, #2))
“
I love cats... I’ve never had one myself, but they’ve always fascinated me. They’re these perfect little predators, yet we let them curl up on our laps like they wouldn’t eat our faces if we died in the night. Hmm, that got morbid. They’re also really soft, and I hear that sometimes they let you pet their bellies. I like that.
”
”
Jen DeLuca (Well Played (Well Met, #2))
“
Like a predator denied his prey, he swept his tongue over his lips, holding himself mere inches from my face. “Do not imagine there’s anywhere you could go, anything you could possibly say, to keep me away from you now, moon witch. I remember everything, and I will not lose you again.” Swiping up the sack of food, he strode past me, up the staircase.
”
”
Keri Lake (Eldritch (The Eating Woods, #2))
“
One of the key defense mechanisms of a phoenix is to shine so brightly, their predators are temporarily stunned and unable to pursue.
”
”
Susan Dennard (The Hunting Moon (The Luminaries, #2))
“
The first human to actually kill a Predator was Michael Harrigan—played by Danny Glover—in Predator 2.
”
”
Andy Weir (Project Hail Mary)
“
It's time for you sack up and start acting like the goddamn lethal predator you are.
”
”
C.P. Rider (Summoned (Sundance, #2))
“
Her first cogent thought was that he was a predator. Her second…was that she wanted to be caught.
”
”
J.R. Ward (Blood Vow (Black Dagger Legacy, #2))
“
Odetta would have felt pity; Detta felt only the still, coiled readiness of the natural predator.
”
”
Stephen King (The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2))
“
There will always be victims, Anita. Predators and prey, it is the way of the world.
”
”
Laurell K. Hamilton (The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #2))
“
It’s a fallacy to believe that man is at his most dangerous when he has nothing to lose…the most ferocious of predators emerge when a man has everything to lose.
”
”
Rebecca Zanetti (Shadow Falling (The Scorpius Syndrome, #2))
“
Predators go on vacations, too. They take drives in the country and enjoy the smell of the sea, just like everyone else. They are perfectly human. Outside,
”
”
Tess Gerritsen (The Apprentice (Rizzoli & Isles, #2))
“
Awesome date, Shade. You took me to murder highway.”
He shrugged. “Predators. Prey. It’s just the natural way of things.
”
”
Amanda Bouchet (Starbreaker (Endeavor, #2))
“
The Crimson Moth only ever pretends to be prey. In truth, she’s the predator.
”
”
Kristen Ciccarelli (Rebel Witch (The Crimson Moth, #2))
“
He was just a rich city boy who enjoyed playing pirates and had never expected anyone to stand up to him. He’d come looking for a fight, and now that a fight had found him he didn’t know what to do with it.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (The Hungry City Chronicles, #2))
“
He’s something of a whiz with snares, rigging them to bent saplings so they pull the kill out of the reach of predators, balancing logs on delicate stick triggers, weaving inescapable baskets to capture fish.
”
”
Suzanne Collins (Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2))
“
If there is one thing I can leave with you, it’s this: we work in a jungle and are surrounded by alpha males and apex predators. Everyone’s looking to be the last one standing, to be at the top of the food chain, and they sometimes don’t care who gets hurt in the process. Don’t lose your heart. Don’t lose your soul. Don’t lose your compass, and that doesn’t mean don’t win. Win. Fight. Conquer. You have just as much right to success as anyone who works for it. It may be a jungle, and they may be lions . . .” She pauses, her eyes finding mine again, holding mine. “But the daughter of a lion is still a lion, and this is your domain.
”
”
Kennedy Ryan (Block Shot (Hoops, #2))
“
We assume that a large brain, the use of tools, superior learning abilities and complex social structures are huge advantages. It seems self-evident that these have made humankind the most powerful animal on earth. But humans enjoyed all of these advantages for a full 2 million years during which they remained weak and marginal creatures. Thus humans who lived a million years ago, despite their big brains and sharp stone tools, dwelt in constant fear of predators, rarely hunted large game, and subsisted mainly by gathering plants, scooping up insects, stalking small animals, and eating the carrion left behind by other more powerful carnivores.
”
”
Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)
“
With his chin dropped to his chest, he was staring at her from under his brows, his pale yellow eyes glowing as they locked on her and her alone.
Her first cogent thought was that he was a predator.
Her second… was that she wanted to be caught.
”
”
J.R. Ward (Blood Vow (Black Dagger Legacy, #2))
“
It’s the same with all apex predators – wolves, tigers, lions, eagles – they’re all beautiful. That’s how they get away with eating you.” “Yeah,” Kyle agreed, “While they’re eating your heart you just lie there going, ‘Take it, you gorgeous thing. I don’t need it.
”
”
C.J. Daugherty (Codename Firefly (Number 10 Book 2))
“
In short, conquest is in no sense a necessary sign of higher human development, though conquistadors have always thought otherwise. Any valid concept of organic development must use the primary terms of ecology-cooperation and symbiosis-as well as struggle and conflict, for even predators are part of a food chain, and do not 'conquer' their prey except to eat them. The idea of total conquest is an extrapolation from the existing power system: it indicates, not a desirable end, accomodation, but a pathological aberration, re-enforced by such rewards as this system bestows. As for the climactic notion that "the universe will be man's at last"-what is this but a paranoid fantasy, comparable to the claims of an asylum inmate who imagines that he is Emperor of the World? Such a claim is countless light-years away from reality.
”
”
Lewis Mumford (The Pentagon of Power (The Myth of the Machine, Vol 2))
“
What Caul liked most about Tom was his kindness. Kindness was not valued back in Grimsby, where the older boys were encouraged to torment the younger ones, who would grow up to torment another batch of youngsters in their turn. “Good practice for life,” Uncle said. “Hard knocks, that’s all the world’s about!” But maybe Uncle had never met anyone like Tom, who was kind to other people and seemed to expect nothing more than kindness in return.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines Quartet, #2))
“
Predators like Andrew abound on this beautiful earth like a fucking locust invasion. Sometimes it seems like no place is free of infestation, even fortresses that are meant to be sacred, like Ashborne. Beautiful and grand. Secluded. Safe. Just like in nature, the prettiest things are often the most poisonous.
”
”
Brynne Weaver (Leather & Lark (Ruinous Love, #2))
“
These men may be skilled in hunting, but what they don't know is that I've been hunted by a far scarier man. I was a mouse caught in a trap before, scared, and helpless as I was taken between the teeth of an apex predator. But I'm not their little mouse, and they are not Zade. And I will never succumb to them.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2))
“
In the black abyss, there were creatures that even demons feared. No one knew what they looked like, not even themselves, for they were blind, and though many were scavengers, seizing and consuming any stray bits of food that'd sunk down from the higher levels, there were predators too, just waiting for larger prey.
”
”
Dean F. Wilson (Lifemaker (The Great Iron War, #2))
“
Also may your way be plain, that you not stray from the true path /A And while you complete your journey together to the Pine Forest /A May the days be of greater length and the nights pass quickly /A May you always have clothes to wear, and your pace never falter /A After sunset, may you always find a place to camp for the night /A And may you have protection from all predators of the twilight /A And may Shamash preserve you on your way to the Pine Forest /A[16] Whether it be a month or ten months, a year or even ten years.” /A
”
”
Timothy J. Stephany (The Gilgamesh Cycle: The Fully Restored Epic of Gilgamesh (Updated 2nd Ed.))
“
all the shouts, screams, cries, and obscenities of battle which predate any media besides air and the human voice.
”
”
Dan Simmons (The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2))
“
But sometimes a shattered view is the only way to see truth.
”
”
James D. Horton (Beast (Predator & Prey, #2))
“
Uncle knows best.
-All the Lost Boys
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines Quartet, #2))
“
I love history, Tom. All those old things people dig up. Just ordinary things that were once used by ordinary people, but made special by time.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Englines Quartet #2))
“
What’s your plan?” “There isn’t one,” said Hester. “I’m just making it up as I go along.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (The Hungry City Chronicles, #2))
“
Dexter did not kick the can. And now Dexter is It. Again. You may wonder, how can this be? How can Dexter's night hunt be reduced to this? Always before there has been some frightful twisted predator awaiting the special attention of frightful twisted Dexter—and here I am, stalking an empty Chef Boyardee ravioli can that is guilty of nothing worse than bland sauce.
”
”
Jeff Lindsay (Dearly Devoted Dexter (Dexter, #2))
“
Feed, Jacques. I offer my life freely to you as you have so many times done for me.”
Mikhail slashed his wrist and held it out to his brother.
The moment the richness spilled into his mouth, the taste and surge of power brought a rush of memories. Mikhail laughing, pushing Jacques from a tree branch playfully. Mikhail’s body crouched low, protectively, in front of his as a vampire with brown-stained teeth began to grow long, dagger-like nails. Mikhail holding Raven’s limp body, a river of blood, the earth and sky erupting all around them while Mikhail looked up at Jacques with the hopeless resolve to join his lifemate in her fate.
Jacques’ eyes jumped to Mikhail’s face, examined every inch of it. This man was a leader, a dangerous, powerful predator who had skillfully steered their dying race through centuries of pitfalls. One whom such as Gregori chose to follow. Something stirred inside Jacques, the need to protect this man, to shield him. Mikhail.
Mikhail’s head jerked up. He heard his name echo clearly in his head. The path had been there for one heartbeat, familiar and strong; then just as quickly it was lost.
”
”
Christine Feehan (Dark Desire (Dark, #2))
“
She was a whirlwind of steel and blood. As he watched her cut through the men as though they were stalks of wheat in a field, he understood how she had gotten so close to touching Endovier’s wall that day. And at last—after all these months—he saw the lethal predator he’d expected to find in the mines. There was nothing human in her eyes, nothing remotely merciful. It froze his heart.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
I trust him. It’s insane to trust someone so freely after being hurt so irrevocably in the past, but I do. I trust him completely, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’d never intentionally hurt me. I can feel it in the way he kisses me. I can see it in his eyes when he bares his soul. I can taste it in the way he breathes. And I sense his honesty like a predator can sense its prey’s fear.
”
”
S.T. Abby (Sidetracked (Mindf*ck, #2))
“
But humans enjoyed all of these advantages for a full 2 million years during which they remained weak and marginal creatures. Thus humans who lived a million years ago, despite their big brains and sharp stone tools, dwelt in constant fear of predators, rarely hunted large game, and subsisted mainly by gathering plants, scooping up insects, stalking small animals, and eating the carrion left behind by other more powerful carnivores.
”
”
Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)
“
According to Kathleen Parker, author of Save the Males, “historians aren’t sure of the precise date, but sometime around 1970, everyone in the United States drank acid-laced Kool-Aid, tie-dyed their brains, and decided fathers were no longer necessary.”2 Not only have many Western societies decided fathers aren’t necessary, they have decided that most men are perverts, predators or goofballs who should be monitored in public and private spheres.
”
”
Helen Smith (Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters)
“
Oh my God, what did you do to yourself?” she asks. “I said to come in disguise, so I did.” Because I want to give her the full effect, I spin for her while holding my arms out. “You like?” She blinks a few times behind her sunglasses. “Are you…are you wearing a fake nose?” “I am,” I say, touching it. “What do you think?” She studies me, a smile creeping over her face. “You look incredibly predatorial.” “What?” I laugh. “You think I look like a predator?
”
”
Meghan Quinn (Bridesmaid Undercover (Bridesmaid for Hire, #2))
“
The door opens, and I turn my head, my heart thudding at the sight of Griffin. Tall, broad, muscular but sleek, he stalks into the room like a predator, his gait balanced and sure, his glittering, gray eyes focused entirely on me. Inky hair, a hawkish nose, that stubborn jaw, and thick, black stubble make him look hard and intimidating. With his sword strapped on and his dark brows lowered, he’s a warlord on the prowl.
I shiver. I couldn’t want him more.
”
”
Amanda Bouchet (Breath of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #2))
“
The Predators The African lion makes a kill only twice out of every ten hunts. Leopards do better, catching their prey twenty-five percent of the time, and cheetahs do best of all the big cats, with a kill ratio of nearly fifty percent. The deadliest four-legged African predator is not a big cat. It cannot be outrun or outdistanced, its pursuit is relentless, and it captures its prey nine out of every ten hunts. The most dangerous predator in Africa is the wild dog.
”
”
Robert Crais (The Promise (Elvis Cole, #16; Joe Pike, #5; Scott James & Maggie, #2))
“
Various human species had been prowling and evolving in Afro-Asia for 2 million years. They slowly honed their hunting skills, and began going after large animals around 400,000 years ago. The big beasts of Africa and Asia learned to avoid humans, so when the new mega-predator – Homo sapiens – appeared on the Afro-Asian scene, the large animals already knew to keep their distance from creatures that looked like it. In contrast, the Australian giants had no time to learn to run away.
”
”
Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)
“
I was on one of my world 'walkabouts.' It had taken me once more through Hong Kong, to Japan, Australia, and then Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific [one of the places I grew up]. There I found the picture of 'the Father.' It was a real, gigantic Saltwater Crocodile (whose picture is now featured on page 1 of TEETH).
From that moment, 'the Father' began to swim through the murky recesses of my mind. Imagine! I thought, men confronting the world’s largest reptile on its own turf! And what if they were stripped of their firearms, so they must face this force of nature with nothing but hand weapons and wits?
We know that neither whales nor sharks hunt individual humans for weeks on end. But, Dear Reader, crocodiles do! They are intelligent predators that choose their victims and plot their attacks. So, lost on its river, how would our heroes escape a great hunter of the Father’s magnitude? And what if these modern men must also confront the headhunters and cannibals who truly roam New Guinea?
What of tribal wars, the coming of Christianity and materialism (the phenomenon known as the 'Cargo Cult'), and the people’s introduction to 'civilization' in the form of world war? What of first contact between pristine tribal culture and the outside world? What about tribal clashes on a global scale—the hatred and enmity between America and Japan, from Pearl Harbor, to the only use in history of atomic weapons? And if the world could find peace at last, how about Johnny and Katsu?
”
”
Timothy James Dean (Teeth (The South Pacific Trilogy, #1))
“
Even in the coldest weather, the harbor, the fields, the woods, all are alive. Blue jays fly, and brown winter wrens; finches feed on birch seed. Tiny, unseen things crawl, hunt, live, die. Lacewings hibernate under the loose bark on the trees. Caddis-fly larvae carry houses made from plant debris on their backs, and aphids huddle on the alders. Wood frogs sleep frozen beneath piles of leaf mold, and beetles and back swimmers, newts and spotted salamanders, their tails thick with stored fat, all flicker in the icy waters above. There are carpenter ants, and snow fleas, and spiders, and black mourning cloak butterflies that flit across the snow like burned paper. White-footed mice and woodland voles and pygmy shrews scurry through the slash, ever-wary of the foxes and weasels and the vicious, porcupine-hunting fishers that share the habitat. The snowshoe hare changes its coat to white in response to the diminishing daylight hours, the better to hide itself from its predators. Because the predators never go away.
”
”
John Connolly (Dark Hollow (Charlie Parker, #2))
“
With a silent order, I urged Snout forward—but he veered away, charging toward Hazel instead. No, Snout! I thought. Toward the roof! He ignored me. That was the problem with a machine that obeyed your thoughts. Instead of doing what you said, it did what you wanted.
“The Predator !” Hazel shouted at me as I heaved toward the irrigation tower. “Stop the Predator !”
“I’m trying!” I yelled back. “I can’t!”
“Why not?”
“’Cause this stupid thing brought me to you instead.”
“Why?” Then she looked at my face again and said, “Aw, that’s sweet.”
I flushed. “Oh, shut up.
”
”
Joel N. Ross (The Lost Compass (The Fog Diver, #2))
“
We love your pets. But Man's Best Friend is a hungry wolf to a bird, no matter the harmless, playful little scamp Fluffy may seem to you. And Athena, with her retractable claws, silent stalking, and high-jump pounce, is a bird-killing machine...The American Bird Conservancy estimates that in the United States, where the domesticated feline is a non-native predator disrupting the natural balance, cats slaughter 2.4 BILLION birds EACH YEAR. Keep cats indoors and dogs on the leash in protected areas, if they are permitted there at all. The birds--and other birders--will thank you.
”
”
Christian Cooper (Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World)
“
That was the tribal system at school: the girls—giggly gaggles of Miley Cyrus clones, the jocks in their swaggering gangs … and finally the third category, the ones like Edward Chan—the freaks. Loners, emos, geeks, nerds: the cookies that didn’t quite fit the cookie-cutter machine that was high school.
”
”
Alex Scarrow (Day of the Predator (TimeRiders, #2))
“
Most dogs could hear four times better than a person, but Maggie’s enormous, upright ears evolved to detect quiet predators and distant prey. She could control each ear independently of the other. Eighteen muscles articulated each ear, shaping and sculpting her sail-like pinna to gather and concentrate sounds at frequencies far beyond any a human could hear. This allowed Maggie to hear seven times better than Scott. She could hear the whine of a jet at thirty thousand feet, termites chewing through wood, the crystal in Scott’s watch hum, and thousands of sounds as invisible to Scott as the scents he could not smell. When
”
”
Robert Crais (The Promise (Elvis Cole, #16; Joe Pike, #5; Scott James & Maggie, #2))
“
Ofiera nods as if she expected my answer. “One last piece of advice, then,” she says, and leans toward me in order to whisper. “When the pain becomes too much, remember why you’re fighting. You’re angry. I can hear it in your voice. And that’s good. Sometimes anger is all you have. “This is a battle in a war of a different type. I’m sure you’ve been told not to show your anger. Not to feel it. Women often are.” Her predator eyes gleam. “But when death comes for you, Lucinia sol Lucius, when it grasps you with cold fingers, that anger can burn through it. That anger can save you. Better to be alive and angry than dead and peaceful.
”
”
Linden A. Lewis (The Second Rebel (The First Sister Trilogy, #2))
“
I do love Oregon." My gaze wanders over the quiet, natural beauty surrounding us, which isn't limited to just this garden. "Being near the river, and the ocean, and the rocky mountains, and all this nature ... the weather."
He chuckles. "I've never met anyone who actually loves rain. It's kind of weird. But cool, too," he adds quickly, as if afraid to offend me. "I just don't get it."
I shrug. "It's not so much that I love rain. I just have a healthy respect for what if does. People hate it, but the world needs rain. It washes away dirt, dilutes the toxins in the air, feeds drought. It keeps everything around us alive."
"Well, I have a healthy respect for what the sun does," he counters with a smile."
"I'd rather have the sun after a good, hard rainfall."
He just shakes his head at me but he's smiling. "The good with the bad?"
"Isn't that life?"
He frowns. "Why do I sense a metaphor behind that?"
"Maybe there is a metaphor behind that." One I can't very well explain to him without describing the kinds of things I see every day in my life. The underbelly of society - where twisted morals reign and predators lurk, preying on the lost, the broken, the weak, the innocent. Where a thirteen-year-old sells her body rather than live under the same roof as her abusive parents, where punks gang-rape a drunk girl and then post pictures of it all over the internet so the world can relive it with her. Where a junkie mom's drug addiction is readily fed while her children sit back and watch.
Where a father is murdered bacause he made the mistake of wanting a van for his family.
In that world, it seems like it's raining all the time. A cold, hard rain that seeps into clothes, chills bones, and makes people feel utterly wretched.
Many times, I see people on the worst day of their lives, when they feel like they're drowing. I don't enjoy seeing people suffer. I just know that if they make good choices, and accept the right help, they'll come out of it all the stronger for it.
What I do enjoy comes after. Three months later, when I see that thirteen-year-old former prostitute pushing a mower across the front lawn of her foster home, a quiet smile on her face. Eight months later, when I see the girl who was raped walking home from school with a guy who wants nothing from her but to make her laugh. Two years later, when I see the junkie mom clean and sober and loading a shopping cart for the kids that the State finally gave back to her.
Those people have seen the sun again after the harshest rain, and they appreciate it so much more.
”
”
K.A. Tucker (Becoming Rain (Burying Water, #2))
“
The evolution of conscious intelligence is one of the greatest mysteries in nature. We may never fully understand how or why it occurs. What does seem clear is that it is an evolutionary adaptation, just like sight or thermoregulation. Different animals have different senses and physical traits; they have different intelligences as well. For some, nothing more is needed than the ability to tell the difference between food and not-food, predator and not-predator. But for those with complex intelligences that lead to behaviors such as solving puzzles, teaching hunting strategies, and adapting to new circumstances on the fly, it is typically easy to hypothesize as to which environmental factors made such an expensive adaptation advantageous.
”
”
Becky Chambers (A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2))
“
Mithraism predated Christianity yet bore uncanny similarities. Mithra’s birthday was celebrated on December 25. The god’s worship involved baptism and the consumption of a sacred meal of bread and wine. Mithra also had twelve disciples, held Sunday sacred, and described a heaven and a hell. Upon his death, Mithra was also buried in a tomb, only to rise again in three days.
”
”
James Rollins (Map of Bones (Sigma Force, #2))
“
There are tiers,” he said neutrally, “within our circle. Amren is my Second in command.” A female? The surprise must have been written on my face because Rhys said, “Yes. And Mor is my Third. Only a fool would think my Illyrian warriors were the apex predators in our circle.” Irreverent, cheerful Mor—was Third to the High Lord of the Night Court. Rhys went on, “You’ll see what I mean when you meet Amren. She looks High Fae, but something different prowls beneath her skin.” Rhys nodded to a passing couple, who bowed their heads in merry greeting. “She might be older than this city, but she’s vain, and likes to hoard her baubles and belongings like a firedrake in a cave. So … be on your guard. You both have tempers when provoked, and I don’t want you to have any surprises tonight.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
The 1.2 billion members of the church are expected to conduct themselves according to the morals foisted upon them by said church, but those in the church’s power structure do not hold themselves to the same standards. They don’t view themselves as beholden to the same morality as their parishioners, because they know what those parishioners don’t—that the morality they peddle is not about good or bad, it’s about maintaining power and control. So even the clergy that weren’t sexually preying on kids were defending those who did and working hard to see that predator priests were spared from the negative consequences of their insidious transgressions. The mantra of the powerful has always been: 'We are the powerful and we can do as we please. You are the subjects and you will do as you’re told'.
”
”
T.J. Kirk
“
Our northern brethren buried their dead, were skilled toolmakers, kept fires going, and took care of the infirm just like early humans. The fossil record shows survival into adulthood of individuals afflicted with dwarfism, paralysis of the limbs, or the inability to chew. Going by exotic names such as Shanidar I, Romito 2, the Windover Boy, and the Old Man of La Chapelle-aux-Saints, our ancestors supported individuals who contributed little to society. Survival of the weak, the handicapped, the mentally retarded, and others who posed a burden is seen by paleontologists as a milestone in the evolution of compassion. This communitarian heritage is crucial in relation to this book’s theme, since it suggests that morality predates current civilizations and religions by at least a hundred millennia.
”
”
Frans de Waal (The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates)
“
Fresh in modern memory, for hamburger eaters anyway: Toxin gene transfer to E. coli bacteria in cattle,” Turner began. “Modern factory farming and slaughterhouse technique puts severe stress on the cattle, who send hormonal signals to their multiple tummies, their rumen. E. coli react to these signals by taking up phages—viruses for bacteria—that carry genes from another common gut bacteria, Shigella. Those genes just happen to code for Shiga toxin. The exchange does not hurt the cow, fascinating, no? But when a predator kills a cow-like critter in nature, and bites into the gut—which most do, eating half-digested grass and such, wild salad it’s called—it swallows a load of E. coli packed with Shiga toxin. That can make the predators—and us—very sick. Sick or dead predators reduce the stress on cows. It’s a clever relief valve. Now we sterilize our beef with radiation. All the beef.
”
”
Greg Bear (Darwin's Children (Darwin's Radio #2))
“
She moved, opening to him, her thighs widening, the cool air of the room rushing through the slit in her pantalettes. Her cheeks burned and she moved her hands to block his view.
He was watching them, and he made a low sound of approval. "That's where my hands would be as well. Can you feel why? Can you feel the heat? The temptation?"
Her eyes were closed now. She couldn't look at him. But she nodded.
"Of course you can... I can almost feel it myself." The words were hypnotic, all temptation, soft and lyric and wonderful. "And tell me, my little anatomist, have you explored that particular location, before?"
Her cheeks burned.
"Don't start lying now, Pippa. We've come so far."
"Yes."
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, I've explored it before." The confession was barely sound, but he heard it. When he groaned, she opened her eyes to find him pressed back against the desk once more. "Did I say the wrong thing?"
He shook his head, his hand rising to his mouth once more, stroking across firm lips. "Only in that you made me burn with jealousy."
Her brows furrowed. "Of whom?"
"Of you, lovely." His grey gaze flickered to the place she hid from him. "Of your perfect hands. Tell me what you found."
She couldn't. While she might know the clinical words for all the things she had touched and discovered, she could not speak them to him. She shook her head. "I cannot."
"Did you find pleasure?"
She closed her eyes, pressed her lips together.
"Did you?" he whispered, the sound loud as a gunshot in this dark, wicked room.
She shook her head. Once, so small it was barely a movement.
He exhaled, the sound long and lush in the room, as though he'd been holding his breath... and he moved. "What a tragedy."
Her eyes snapped open at the sound of him- of trouser against carpet as he crawled toward her, eyes narrow and filled with wicked, wonderful promise.
He was coming for her. Predator stalking prey.
And she could not wait to be caught.
”
”
Sarah MacLean (One Good Earl Deserves a Lover (The Rules of Scoundrels, #2))
“
Nah. That is na what I see." He pulled her hair away from her neck and kissed the thin edge of her ear. "Ya look deceptively fragile, like a deer, but yer solid muscle, a perfect predator. Yer agile and graceful, and ya do na walk anywhere, but glide, as if the ground gives way ta ya. Yer skin is as pale as fresh snow, and yer hair, it's like some metal I've never seen, white, shiny, and priceless. Yer eyes." He chuckled. "Ya dunno how many times I've thought it'd be worth it. Ya'd put me in the ground, but it'd be so worth it ta just get lost in yer eyes. They are na completely white, ya know? They're like clouds, hints of color reflected back ta me. And I love yer nose. Humans always look like someone hit them in the head with a pipe. Ya don't. Yer nose," he chuckled again. "Yer face is sleek and elegant, like a work of art, kitten. Ya look like someone sculpted ya."
"And didn't finish," Sal said. "And got it right," he corrected.”
― Auryn Hadley, Instinctual
”
”
Auryn Hadley (Instinctual (Rise of the Iliri, #2))
“
The first human footprint on a sandy Australian beach was immediately washed away by the waves. Yet when the invaders advanced inland, they left behind a different footprint, one that would never be expunged. As they pushed on, they encountered a strange universe of unknown creatures that included a 200-kilogram, two-metre kangaroo, and a marsupial lion, as massive as a modern tiger, that was the continent’s largest predator. Koalas far too big to be cuddly and cute rustled in the trees and flightless birds twice the size of ostriches sprinted on the plains. Dragon-like lizards and snakes five metres long slithered through the undergrowth. The giant diprotodon, a two-and-a-half-ton wombat, roamed the forests. Except for the birds and reptiles, all these animals were marsupials – like kangaroos, they gave birth to tiny, helpless, fetus-like young which they then nurtured with milk in abdominal pouches. Marsupial mammals were almost unknown in Africa and Asia, but in Australia they reigned supreme. Within a few thousand years, virtually all of these giants vanished. Of the twenty-four Australian animal species weighing fifty kilograms or more, twenty-three became extinct.2 A large number of smaller species also disappeared. Food chains throughout the entire Australian ecosystem were broken and rearranged. It was the most important transformation of the Australian ecosystem for millions of years. Was it all the fault of Homo sapiens? Guilty
”
”
Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)
“
She heard nothing but experienced a sensation that prickled along her spine like a warm touch caressing her skin. Slowly, with the care of prey beneath a predator's survey, she turned her head- and met the gaze of the elegant gentleman lounging at the door.
In her travels, she had seen many a striking and charming man, but none had been as handsome as this- and all had been more charming. This man was a statue in stark black and white, hewn from rugged granite and adolescent dreams. His face wasn't really handsome; his nose was thin and crooked, his eyes heavy lidded, his cheekbones broad, stark and hollowed. But he wielded a quality of power, of toughness, that made Eleanor want to huddle into a shivering, cowardly little ball.
Then he smiled, and she caught her breath in awe. His mouth... his glorious, sensual mouth. His lips were wide, too wide, and broad, too broad. His teeth were white, clean, strong as a wolf's. He looked like a man seldom amused by life, but he was amused by her, and she realized in a rush of mortification that she remained standing on the stool, reading one of his books and lost to the grave realities of her situation. The reality that stated she was an imposter, sent to mollify this man until the real duchess could arrive.
Mollify? Him? Not likely. Nothing would mollify him. Nothing except... well, whatever it was he wanted. And she wasn't fool enough to think she knew what that was.
The immediate reality was that she would somehow have to step down onto the floor and of necessity expose her ankles to his gaze. It wasn't as if he wouldn't look. He was looking now, observing her figure with an appreciation all the more impressive for its subtlety. His gaze flicked along her spine, along her backside, and down her legs with such concentration that she formed the impression he knew very well what she looked like clad only in her chemise- and that was an unnerving sensation.
”
”
Christina Dodd (One Kiss From You (Switching Places, #2))
“
But what was really surprising was how early the dates were: at 2,800 years before the present, they pushed the occupation of New Caledonia back to the end of the first millennium B.C. IN THE YEARS that followed, Lapita sites would be discovered on the Mussau Islands off Papua New Guinea, the Reef and Santa Cruz Islands, Tikopia Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Futuna, and Samoa—in other words, virtually everywhere between the Bismarck Archipelago and the western edge of Polynesia. Dates from these sites confirmed the age of the culture represented by these ceramics, but they also revealed an unexpected pattern: Lapita settlements across a 2,500-mile swath of the western Pacific—from roughly the Solomon Islands to Samoa—seem to have appeared almost simultaneously around 1000 B.C. Furthermore, east of the Solomons, they appeared to represent a cultural horizon: no one predated them in these islands, archaeologically speaking; no cultural artifacts underlay theirs.
”
”
Christina Thompson (Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia)
“
Shrugging, I glanced at Judd who was watching someone in the corner. When I looked back at Cooper, he was studying the hair in my eyes.
“You look tired,” he said, reaching out to brush away the hair.
Cooper’s hand never reached my face before Judd grabbed his wrist and yanked it away.
In that instant, everything shifted. The men stepped closer, eyeballing each other as the heat of their anger became palatable.
I thought to step between them and calm things before violence broke out. Then, I remembered when I tried to break up a fight between my uncle’s dogs. If Farah hadn’t pulled me out of the way, I’d have been mauled. That day, I learned if predators wanted to fight, you let them while staying as far back as possible.
“I’ll let this go because it’s your woman,” Cooper muttered, dark eyes still angry. “If you pull this shit again and it’s not your woman, you and I will have a problem.”
Once Cooper walked away, Judd finally relaxed.
I just stared at him as he led me to a booth because a group of old timers were at his table. Sitting next to him, I caressed his face, soothing him. He finally gave me a little grin.
Suddenly, Vaughn appeared and took the spot across from us. “Why do you look so pissed off?”
“He almost went feral on Cooper for trying to touch me.”
Vaughn gave us a lazy grin. “So losing his balls makes a man stupid, eh? Good to know. Just another reason to keep mine attached.”
Judd exhaled hard. “You wouldn’t want anyone touching your woman. One day, you’ll know that despite your love affair with your balls.”
“A man should love his balls,” Vaughn said, still grinning. “What if I touch her?” he asked, his hand moving slowly towards my face.
“I’ll stab you in the fucking eye.”
Grinning, Vaughn put down his hand. “You’re pretty damn sexy when you go drama queen, O’Keefe.”
“He is, isn’t he?” I said, sliding closer to Judd. “I wish we were naked right now.”
Both men frowned at me, but I only smiled and Judd adjusted in the booth as his jeans grew too tight. “Stop,” he warned.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“I could make a liar of you.”
“You won’t though because you wish you were inside me.”
Judd exhaled hard like a pissed bull and adjusted in the booth again.
I just laughed and rested my head against his shoulder. “I so own you.”
Vaughn nodded. “He’s a keeper. I remember how poetic he was when I asked him if he could imagine himself as an old man. He turned to me and grunted. Real profound grunt too. Oh, and once I asked if he ever imagined himself as a father. I kid you not, he burped. The man is fucking Shakespeare.
”
”
Bijou Hunter (Damaged and the Knight (Damaged, #2))
“
I saw a pretty shop across the Sidra the other day. It sold what looked to be lots of lacy little things. Am I allowed to buy that on your credit, too, or does that come out of my personal funds?'
Those violet eyes again drifted to me. 'I'm not in the mood.'
There was no humour, no mischief. I could go warm myself by a fire inside, but...
He had stayed. And fought for me.
Week after week, he'd fought for me, even when I had no reaction, even when I had barely been able to speak or bring myself to care if I lived or died or ate or starved. I couldn't leave him to his own dark thoughts, his own guilt. He'd shouldered them alone long enough.
So I held his gaze. 'I never knew Illyrians were such morose drunks.'
'I'm not drunk- I'm drinking,' he said, his teeth flashing a bit.
'Again semantics,' I leaned back in my seat, wishing I'd brought my coat. 'Maybe you should have slept with Cresseida after all- so you could both be sad and lonely together.'
'So you're entitled to have as many bad days as you want, but I can't get a few hours?'
'Oh, take however long you want to mope. I was going to invite you to come shopping with me for said lacy little unmentionables, but... sit up here forever, if you have to.'
He didn't respond.
I went on, 'Maybe I'll send a few to Tarquin- with an offer to wear them for him if he forgives us. Maybe he'll take those blood rubies right back.'
His mouth barely, barely tugged up at the corners. 'He'd see that as a taunt.'
'I gave him a few smiles and he handed over a family heirloom. I bet he'd give me the keys to his territory if I showed up wearing those undergarments.'
'Someone thinks mighty highly of herself.'
'Why shouldn't I? You seem to have difficulty not staring at me day and night.'
There it was - a kernel of truth and a question.
'Am I supposed to deny,' he drawled, but something sparked in those eyes, 'That I find you attractive?'
'You've never said it.'
'I've told you many times, and quite frequently, how attractive I find you.'
I shrugged, even as I thought of all those times- when I'd dismissed them as teasing compliments, nothing more. 'Well, maybe you should do a better job of it.'
The gleam in his eyes turned into something predatory. A thrill went through me as he braced his powerful arms on the table and purred, 'Is that a challenge, Feyre?'
I held that predator's gaze- the gaze of the most powerful male in Prythian. 'Is it?'
His pupils flared. Gone was the quiet sadness, the isolated guilt. Only that lethal force- on me. On my mouth. On the bob of my throat as I tried to keep my breathing even. He said, slow and soft, 'Why don't we go down to that store right now, Feyre, so you can try on those lacy little things- so I can help you pick which ones to send to Tarquin.'
My toes curled inside my fleece-lined slippers. Such a dangerous line we walked together.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl ditch Darius like that,” an amused voice came from behind me and I turned to find a guy looking at me from a seat at a table in the corner.
He had dark hair that curled in a messy kind of way, looking like it had broken free of his attempts to tame it. His green eyes sparkled with restrained laughter and I couldn’t help but stare at his strong features; he looked almost familiar but I was sure I’d never met him before.
“Well, even Dragons can’t just get their own way all of the time,” I said, moving closer to him.
Apparently that had been the right thing to say because he smiled widely in response to it.
“What’s so great about Dragons anyway, right?” he asked, though a strange tightness came over his posture as he said it.
“Who’d want to be a big old lizard with anger management issues?” I joked. “I think I’d rather be a rabbit shifter - at least bunnies are cute.”
“You don’t have a very rabbity aura about you,” he replied with a smile which lit up his face.
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”
“It is. Although a rabbit might be exactly the kind of ruler we need; shake it up from all these predators.”
“Maybe that’s why I can’t get on board with this fancy food. It’s just not meant for someone of my Order... although I’m really looking for a sandwich rather than a carrot,” I said wistfully.
He snorted a laugh. “Yeah I had a pizza before I came to join the festivities. I’m only supposed to stay for an hour or so anyway... show my face, sit in the back, avoid emotional triggers...”
He didn’t seem to want to elaborate on that weird statement so I didn’t push him but I did wonder why he’d come if that was all he was going to do.
“Well, I didn’t really want to come at all so maybe I can just hide out back here with you?” I finished the rest of my drink and placed my glass on the table as I drifted closer to him. Aside from Hamish, he was the first person I’d met at this party who seemed at least halfway genuine.
“Sure. If you don’t mind missing out on all the fun,” he said. “I’m sorry but am I talking to Roxanya or Gwendalina? You’re a little hard to tell apart.”
I rolled my eyes at those stupid names. “I believe I originally went by Roxanya but my name is Tory.”
“You haven’t taken back your royal name?” he asked in surprise.
“I haven’t taken back my royal anything. Though I won’t say no to the money when it comes time to inherit that. You didn’t give me your name either,” I prompted.
You don’t know?” he asked in surprise.
“Oh sorry, dude, are you famous? Must be a bummer to meet someone who isn’t a fan then,” I teased.
He snorted a laugh. “I’m Xavier,” he said. “The Dragon’s younger brother.”
“Oh,” I said. Well that was a quick end to what had seemed like a pleasant conversation. “Actually... I should probably go... mingle or something.” I started to back away, searching the crowd for Darcy. I spotted her on the far side of the room, engaged in conversation with Hamish and a few of his friends. The smile on her face was genuine enough so I was at least confident she didn’t need rescuing.
(Tory)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2))
“
A few days after McGowan’s tweets that October, Weinstein was at the St. James Theatre in New York City for a lavish fund-raiser he’d co-produced for Clinton, which put a further $2 million in her campaign’s coffers.
”
”
Ronan Farrow (Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators)
“
Odin’s Wolves,” Dahl said next to her in a tired voice. “Gods and predators. At what point in all our histories has anything good happened whenever some fool put those on a single banner to march under?
”
”
Marko Kloos (Ballistic (The Palladium Wars #2))
“
Yes. And Mor is my Third. Only a fool would think my Illyrian warriors were the apex predators in our circle.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
Azriel looked once. Into archives in our oldest temples and libraries. All he found was a vague mention that she went in before Prythian was split into the courts—and emerged once they had been established. Her imprisonment predates our written word. I don’t know how long she was in here—a few millennia seems like a fair guess.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
Let’s move on to plants. Most of us have had coffee, tea, and chocolate (derived from cacao). The Brazilians among us will be familiar with the drink Guaraná Antarctica, made from the guaraná plant in the Amazon rainforest. All four plants produce the same chemical desired by humans: a purine alkaloid called 1,3,7-trimethylpurine-2,6-dione—in short, caffeine.9 These four plants may seem to be closely related, but they aren’t. The common ancestor of tea and coffee dates back a hundred million years. Cacao is more closely related to maple and eucalyptus trees than to tea and coffee. Bizarrely, the ancestor of coffee gave rise to potatoes and tomatoes but not tea! Plants have many defense mechanisms against predators, and it appears that some have converged toward the same solution: producing caffeine. Many plants rely on birds to pollinate their flowers. So if a plant depends on hummingbirds for pollination, what should it do? Develop red flowers because red is attractive to hummingbirds. Consequently, eighteen types of plants that hummingbirds pollinate have evolved bright red flowers.
”
”
Pulak Prasad (What I Learned About Investing from Darwin)
“
dominance—those who needed power over another for sexual gratification; hallucinatory—those compelled by voices or visions; objective oriented—those on a mission to exterminate a particular class of people like prostitutes or a racial minority group; and lust—those for whom violence and sex were the same things. No dominance was involved, as the victims had been unconscious during the entire interaction, and dominance killers needed their victims to know they were being dominated. Pharr and River were not from any ethnic, racial, or religious minority groups. The possibilities were that he was being compelled by hallucinations he believed were instructing him to carry out the killings; that he was a lust killer, though the evidence for sexual assault was sparse; or that this was not serial murder at all but murder for money, for revenge, or for hire, with the allusions to Sarpong thrown in to deceive law enforcement. Or this was an entirely unique type of serial predator as yet unidentified by the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. If he was a lust or hallucinatory killer, he wouldn’t stop until he was dead or in prison. Until then, all he could do was keep moving
”
”
Victor Methos (Crimson Lake Road (Desert Plains, #2))
“
Sending a sheep after a predator is merely home delivery,
”
”
Gavin de Becker (Just 2 Seconds: Using Time and Space to Defeat Assassins and Other Adversaries)
“
Masgard drew his sword and swished it to and fro, practising flashy fencing moves as he advanced on her. When he was a few feet away Hester lunged forward and jabbed her blade at his shoulder. She didn’t think she’d done much damage, but Masgard dropped his sword and put his hands to the wound and slithered in the snow and fell over.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (The Hungry City Chronicles, #2))
“
Something hit him in the back and he went forward, face on the cold floor, thinking, This is it, I’m dead, but he wasn’t dead, he could feel the dampness of the stone against his cheek and when he rolled over he saw that an explosion had brought the ceiling down: a big explosion, judging by all the rubble and the dust, and he would have expected it to make a noise, but he hadn’t heard anything, and he still couldn’t hear anything, even though quite large chunks of the roof were coming down and people were flailing about waving torches and shouting with their mouths wide open, no, there was just a whine and a whistle and a buzz going on somewhere inside his skull, and when he sneezed it made no sound, but small, hot fingers closed around his hand and tugged at him and he looked up and saw Hester, white in the sweep and flare of a torch-beam like a floodlit statue of herself except that she was mouthing something at him, tugging and tugging him and pointing towards the doorway, and he scrambled out from under the thing that had fallen on him, which turned out to be Sathya, and he wondered if she was badly hurt and if he should try to help her, but Hester was pulling him towards the door, stumbling over the bodies of men who were quite definitely dead, stooping under the remains of a heat-duct which was all twisted open and smoking as if it had exploded from inside, and as he looked back somebody fired a gun at him and he saw the flash and felt the bullet flick past his ear but he couldn’t hear that either.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (The Hungry City Chronicles, #2))
“
Many kinds of prey had perfected the art of hiding sickness or injury to avoid being singled out when predators were hunting.
”
”
Anne Bishop (Murder of Crows (The Others, #2))
“
I have no plans to fuck you over. Either of you.” She faced Hypaxia, who was giving Bryce that more-than-princess look, too. “We’re allies. Not only politically, but … as females who have had to make some shitty, hard choices. As females who live in a world where most powerful males see us only as breeding tools.” Hypaxia nodded again, but Celestina continued to stare at Bryce. A predator surveying the best place to strike. Hunt rallied his power again. Bryce continued, “I’m no one’s prize mare. I took a gamble with this idiot”—she jerked a thumb toward Hunt, who gaped at her—“and luckily, it paid off. And I just want to say that”—she swallowed—“if you two want to make a gamble with each other, say fuck it to the arrangements with Ephraim and Ruhn, then I’m with you. We’d have to go against the Asteri, but … look what I did tonight. Whatever I can do, whatever clout I have, it’s yours. But let’s start by walking out of this closet in one piece.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2))
“
Humans went from experiential and physical beings to conceptual ones, and one could surmise that in the future we will become even more brainy still. The changes in sedentary lifestyle alone are staggering. Dietary changes might have led to a diabetes since there may be different levels of pancreatic reserve. The explosion of carbohydrate intake that moderns indulge in may surpass the limit of the pancreas to endure, resulting in either childhood diabetes or later onset type 2 diabetes. We must be careful not to outsmart ourselves and in vanquishing the predators that plagues us for millions of years to create new ones. Having moved from chaos to order, we need to appreciate order’s value, to protect and enhance it. Any slide into chaos may well be swift and irreversible.
”
”
Steven Lesk M.D. (Footprints of Schizophrenia: The Evolutionary Roots of Mental Illness)
“
Our love is a dangerous game, a delicate dance of predator and prey.
”
”
Evie Marceau (Silver Wings Golden Games (The Godkissed Bride, #2))
“
Families love young girls to adopt, but so do predators, and I won’t take the risk. At least at home, I can protect her.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Where's Molly (Cat and Mouse, #2.5))
“
As soon I see her, I get a rush of adrenaline. My muscles tighten like coiled springs, and I can feel my pupils dilating. I imagine that I can smell her perfume, light and sweet, over the scent of smoke, alcohol, and sweat. It’s the reaction of a predator when it sights its prey. Because I recognize this girl. It’s Nessa Griffin. The cherished baby girl of the Irish mafia. Their little darling. She’s wandered into my club like an innocent gazelle. Foolish. Lost. Ripe for the taking.
”
”
Sophie Lark (Stolen Heir (Brutal Birthright, #2))
“
when the prey is within the predator’s reach, they become a meal.
”
”
K. Elle Morrison (Prince Of Greed (Princes Of Sin #2))
“
Analog refers to a continuous stream of information, whereas digital is discontinuous. This distinction predates electronics, let alone integrated circuits. Any division of information into discrete steps is a digital process: from counting on our fingers, to calculating using an abacus, to (at least in some musicians’ view) plotting notes on a staff of music.2 Yet our senses remain resolutely analog. When we hear numbers counted aloud, see the beads of an abacus, or feel the vibration of a string, those sensations happen on a continuous scale.
”
”
Damon Krukowski (The New Analog: Listening and Reconnecting in a Digital World)
“
She didn’t worry about bears or mountain lions, but a tourist who didn’t know how to navigate icy roads? Now that was a deadly predator.
”
”
Elizabeth Hunter (Semi-Psychic Life (Glimmer Lake, #2))
“
The real connection between drugs and violent crime lies in the profits to be made in the drug trade. The stereotype is that crack typically causes crime by turning people into violent predators. But evidence from research shattered this misconception. A key study examined all the homicides in New York City in 1988, a year when 76 percent of arrestees tested positive for cocaine. Nearly two thousand killings were studied.4 Nearly half of these homicides were not related to drugs at all. Of the rest, only 2 percent involved addicts killing people while seeking to buy crack cocaine and just 1 percent of murders involved people who had recently used the drug. Keep in mind that this study was conducted in a year when the media was filled with stories warning about “crack-crazed” addicts. Thirty-nine percent of New York City’s murders that year did involve the drug trade, however, and most of these were related to crack selling. But these killings were primarily disputes over sales territories or robberies of dealers by other dealers. In other words, they were as “crack-related” as the shoot-outs between gangsters during Prohibition were “alcohol-related.” The idea that crack cocaine turns previously nonviolent users into maniacal murderers is simply not supported by the data. When it comes to drugs, most people have beliefs that have no foundation in evidence.
”
”
Carl L. Hart (High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society)
“
I back away from the teeth. I’m desperately trying to think what the protocol is when dealing with a large predator, except the largest predator we have in the UK is a fox, and shouting ‘the bins are round the back’ is usually sufficient.
”
”
Hattie Jacks (Draxx (Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii, #2))
“
And if I don’t?” he asked quietly. Morana felt her heart pound slightly but she kept calm, slowly opening the jar for her mask and applying it with her fingers to her face. “You will,” she stated plainly, seeing his eyes flare in the reflection. “Because deep down, Mr. Predator, you’re a good man who has been waiting all his life to be able to share with someone. You just need to trust in this connection, trust in me enough.
”
”
RuNyx (The Reaper (Dark Verse, #2))
“
predators planning to appoint themselves robber
”
”
A.M. Scott (Lightwave: The Sisters of Cygnus (Folding Space #2))
“
I found more than just a bad boy. I found a fucking predator. One who had slipped right under my defenses. And years ago, I promised myself one thing: Never again.
”
”
Brynne Weaver (Leather & Lark (Ruinous Love, #2))
“
Some sea sponges can live more than 2,000 years.7 Despite having bodies that are soft and porous, they have skeletal structures that are strong and durable.8 When sponges are damaged by strong currents or munched on by predators, they don’t necessarily float away or die. Some can regenerate via survival pods:9 cells that allow a new sponge to develop once conditions improve. This capacity to absorb, filter, and adapt enables sponges to grow and thrive. And it’s a capacity that matters a great deal for humans too. Being a sponge is more than a metaphor. It’s a character skill—a form of proactivity that’s vital to realizing hidden potential. Improving depends not on the quantity of information you seek out, but the quality of the information you take in. Growth is less about how hard you work than how well you learn.
”
”
Adam M. Grant (Hidden Potential)
“
Since he’s a predator, it’s only fitting that he look the part.
”
”
Willow Prescott (Breakaway (Stolen Away, #2))
“
I take a minute to admire him as he turns to do another lap, his back coiling while the water cascades down his athletic frame. Powerful, formidable, intimidating. He’s a heartless, soulless predator. And now he’s invading, intertwining our lives just to prove his point, that temporarily, he owns me.
”
”
Kate Stewart (Exodus (The Ravenhood Duet, #2))
“
He was broad like a professional athlete, thick with mature muscle. Probably somewhere close to thirty years old. Confident. Calculating. Deadly. Pure predator.
”
”
Jill Ramsower (Corrupted Union (The Byrne Brothers #2))
“
The Ten Commandments As Interpreted by Robin Palmetier
1. Don’t lie. Unless it’s to the police.
2. Don’t cheat your customers. Robin always made sure her dime bags were just a bit larger than any other dealers’ in the area, insuring loyalty in her clientele.
3. Always be polite. Especially to people who don’t like you, as it will piss them off.
4. Don’t steal from anyone. Anyone meaning people, leaving corporations and the IRS fair game.
5. Don’t kill. This one was also on the Bible’s list but, like many Christians, Robin had a long list of exceptions to this rule. It was okay to kill
sexual predators (unless they were born-again while serving time), liberal commentators, and anyone described as a "bad guy" by the greatest journalist and political leader of all time, Box News commentator Malcolm Wright. Unless, of course, Mr. Wright happened to be talking about one of her
personal friends, which, on occasion, he had.
6. Do not take the Lord’s name in vein. Shit, fuck, cock, pussy, bitch, bastard and their ilk were just fine. Goddamn’s and Jesus Christ’s were no-no’s.
7. Always repay a favor with a favor. Someone does something nice for you, do something nice right back. Being in someone’s debt is a dangerous thing.
8. Affirm that every word in the Bible is true, except the parts that clearly aren’t. Like that thing about eating shellfish—though supposedly an
abomination on par with adultery, murder, poly-cotton blends and paying interest on a mortgage—it could not possibly be God’s will. Robin loved
scallops and knew the good Lord would not wish to deny her this pleasure.
9. Discuss all decisions with God directly and listen closely to his advice. Sadly, when Praline tried this
himself he got nothing but an extended silence, while his mother always seemed to get very detailed instructions.
10. Always remember your mama loves you.
”
”
Marshall Thornton (The Perils of Praline)
“
The nursery reminded me uncomfortably of a pre-Rising thriller that Maggie had forced me to watch while we were staying at the Agora in Seattle: a dinosaur adventure called Jurassic Park, in which scientists with more brains than sense cloned enormous prehistoric predators just because they could. Maybe that’s an oversimplification of the movie’s premise, but really, who looks at a three-ton thunder lizard and thinks, “I should get one of those for the back garden”?
”
”
Mira Grant (How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea (Newsflesh, #3.2))
“
Politicians who justify the lockdown craze often argue that we are ridding our streets and neighborhoods of violent offenders and feared super predators. Policy-makers thus play again on the public’s “common sense” assumption that prisons “keep the innocent safe from the guilty.
”
”
Mark Lewis Taylor (The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America)
“
Chaol had told himself that he was only following Celaena to make sure she didn’t hurt herself or anyone else, but as she’d neared the royal mausoleum, he followed for other reasons. The night provided good cover, but the moon was bright enough to keep him back, far enough away so she wouldn’t see or hear his approach. But then he saw where she had stopped, and realized he had no right to be here for this. He’d been about to turn away when she lifted her face to the moon and sang. It was not in any language that he knew. Not in the common tongue, or in Eyllwe, or in the languages of Fenharrow or Melisande or anywhere else on the continent. This language was ancient, each word full of power and rage and agony. She did not have a beautiful voice. And many of the words sounded like half sobs, the vowels stretched by the pangs of sorrow, the consonants hardened by anger. She beat her breast in time, so full of savage grace, so at odds with the black gown and veil she wore. The hair on the back of his neck stood as the lament poured from her mouth, unearthly and foreign, a song of grief so old that it predated the stone castle itself.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
They can make half of the body pale and the other half dark (see plate 2). And when an octopus is finished matching its background and lifts off to swim away, it can put on a striped pattern, making it harder for a predator to track it. If all else fails, an octopus can squirt out a cloud of ink so the predator loses sight of it.
”
”
Jennifer A. Mather (Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate)
“
And again that strange half-memory brushed mothlike against the Stalker’s mind, the Once-born called Tom kneeling over it in snow and saying, “Miss Fang! It’s not fair! He waited until you were dazzled!” For a moment it felt an odd satisfaction, as though it had returned a favor.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Englines Quartet #2))
“
Critique of the 1 percent’s domination predates, it should be recalled, the “Occupy” movement’s popularizing of the notion. In fact, Martin Luther King, Jr. remarked often on the notion of the 1 percent in his early speeches of the 1950s: “They tell me that one tenth of one percent of the population controls more than forty percent of the wealth. Oh America, how often have you taken necessities from the masses to give luxury to the classes.
”
”
Mark Lewis Taylor (The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America)
“
Her gaze on Vane, Patience wished she could see his eyes. His expression was unreadable. Shoulders propped against the stone arch, arms folded cross his chest, he watched her like a hawk. A brooding, potentially menacing hawk. Or a wolf anticipating a meal.
”
”
Stephanie Laurens (A Rake's Vow (Cynster, #2))
“
Why did you stay?"
He stilled; again, Patience felt the net draw tight, felt paralysis set in as his predator's senses focused on her. It was as if the world stopped spinning, as if some impenetrable shield closed about them, so that there was nothing but her and him- and whatever it was that held them.
She searched his eyes, but couldn't read his thoughts beyond the fact that he was considering her, considering what to tell her. Then he lifted one hand. Patience caught her breath as he slid one finger beneath her chin; the sensitive skin came alive to his touch. He tipped her face up so that her eyes locked on his.
He studied her, her eyes, her face, for one instant longer. "I stayed to help Minnie, to help Gerrard... and to get something I want."
He uttered the words clearly, deliberately, without any affectation. His heavy lids lifted. Patience read the truth in his eyes. The force that held them beat in on her senses. A conquerer watched her through cool grey eyes.
”
”
Stephanie Laurens (A Rake's Vow (Cynster, #2))
“
Bandit or demon, human or beast, none of it made any difference. The bandits had made this a situation of predators and prey. Only living mattered. Everything else was nothing more than an afterthought.
”
”
Drew Hayes (Split the Party (Spells, Swords, & Stealth, #2))
“
That's what I thought I was. A stalker of stalkers. A predator preying on predators.
”
”
Barry Lyga (Game (I Hunt Killers, #2))
“
What I want is clear, since the day I killed Watson. Since that exhilarating moment fifteen years ago, I’ve known exactly who I am, or at least I started to discover. I’m a predator, a deadly one. A skilled hunter with sharp instincts and a fearless heart. One kill, and I was hooked for life. I live for the thrill of the kill, anticipating whom I will choose next, how I will do it, planning every little detail over and over in my head. Counting the minutes until the day of the feast.
”
”
Leslie Wolfe (The Watson Girl (Special Agent Tess Winnett, #2))
“
Second, carceral terror, by implanting fear in the incarcerated, often returns persons broken by fear into their communities. I stressed in the first edition of this book that systems of punitive terror create through brutal prison culture a certain number of predators that often return to the streets, increasing the vulnerabilities of poor neighborhoods.
”
”
Mark Lewis Taylor (The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America)
“
Communities suffering a disproportionate number of returnees from prison are not just filled with predators and “super predators.” This supposition can become another mantra of white caricature of communities of color, and often is used to justify more systemic surveillance and police violence in those neighborhoods. It is more important to recall that even if some return as violent actors, just as many, or more, return as fearful and broken persons into those communities.
”
”
Mark Lewis Taylor (The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America)
“
The first human footprint on a sandy Australian beach was immediately washed away by the waves. Yet when the invaders advanced inland, they left behind a different footprint, one that would never be expunged. As they pushed on, they encountered a strange universe of unknown creatures that included a 200-kilogram, two-metre kangaroo, and a marsupial lion, as massive as a modern tiger, that was the continent’s largest predator. Koalas far too big to be cuddly and cute rustled in the trees and flightless birds twice the size of ostriches sprinted on the plains. Dragon-like lizards and snakes five metres long slithered through the undergrowth. The giant diprotodon, a two-and-a-half-ton wombat, roamed the forests. Except for the birds and reptiles, all these animals were marsupials – like kangaroos, they gave birth to tiny, helpless, fetus-like young which they then nurtured with milk in abdominal pouches. Marsupial mammals were almost unknown in Africa and Asia, but in Australia they reigned supreme. Within a few thousand years, virtually all of these giants vanished. Of the twenty-four Australian animal species weighing fifty kilograms or more, twenty-three became extinct.2 A large number of smaller species also disappeared. Food chains throughout the entire Australian ecosystem were broken and rearranged. It was the most important transformation of the Australian ecosystem for millions of years. Was it all the fault of Homo sapiens?
”
”
Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)
“
Gentlemen," Lily informed the room at large, "I came to tell you I must abandon the game to show my new guest 'round the house. Lansdale, perhaps you would take my place at the table?"
"He will, but not half so attractively," someone remarked. There were assorted chuckles around the room.
Lansdale, a middle-aged man of unusually short stature but possessing a handsome aquiline face, regarded Sara with bold interest. "Perhaps, Lady Raiford, you would keep to the billiards game and allow me to show your guest around."
Sara blushed at the suggestion, while several of the men laughed.
Rolling her eyes, Lily addressed a remark to Sara. "Watch out for that one, my lamb. In fact, don't trust a single of these men. I know them all, and I can vouch for the fact that underneath those attractive exteriors is a pack of wolves."
Sara could see how Lily's remark pleased the men, who clearly liked to think of themselves as predators, paunches and receding hairlines notwithstanding.
”
”
Lisa Kleypas (Dreaming of You (The Gamblers of Craven's, #2))
“
Evolved to Run Walking long distances is fundamental to being a hunter-gatherer, but people sometimes have to run. One powerful motivation is to sprint to a tree or some other refuge when being chased by a predator. Although you only have to run faster than the next fellow when a lion chases you, bipedal humans are comparatively slow. The world’s fastest humans can run at 37 kilometers (23 miles) per hour for about ten to twenty seconds, whereas an average lion can run at least twice as fast for approximately four minutes. Like us, early Homo must have been pathetic sprinters whose terrified dashes were too often ineffective. However, there is plentiful evidence that by the time of H. erectus our ancestors had evolved exceptional abilities to run long distances at moderate speeds in hot conditions. The adaptations underlying these abilities helped transform the human body in crucial ways and explain why humans, even amateur athletes, are among the best long-distance runners in the mammalian world. Today, humans run long distances to stay fit, commute, or just have fun, but the struggle to get meat underlies the origins of endurance running. To appreciate this inference, try to imagine what it was like for the first humans to hunt or scavenge 2 million years ago. Most carnivores kill using a combination of speed and strength. Large predators, such as lions and leopards, either chase or pounce on their prey and then dispatch it with lethal force. These dangerous carnivores can run as fast as 70 kilometers (43 miles) per hour, and they have terrifying natural weapons: daggerlike fangs, razor-sharp claws, and heavy paws to help them maim and kill. Hunters
”
”
Daniel E. Lieberman (The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease)
“
If you find a FEAR predator on your tail, STOP running, turn and face it, with BOLDNESS and declare,"God has not given me the spirit of FEAR! but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. [2 Timothy 1:7]
Take your best shot Devil! then, march on with boldness, confidence, power and strength, as a soldier in the King's army!
”
”
Pazaria Smith
“
Rahab could swim the waters above and below the firmament. It was all her territory. But her special domain was the Abyss. From there, she could access every body of water that ultimately connected to this underwater abode. Her birth waters were Lake Urimiya, where Elohim created her and held her at bay when he established the heavens and the earth. She was in the Lake again at that moment. She had returned to this sacred ground to give birth to her own spawn. The Nephilim paddled on the surface of the water. They were unaware of the nemesis below, a protective mother sea dragon and her very hungry newborn offspring, Leviathan. Leviathan was every bit the armored sea serpent as its parent. Even so young, it was already about half the size of Rahab. But it had something its progenitor did not: seven heads. Seven dragon heads on seven snakelike necks with seven times the predator’s snapping jaws, and seven times the rows of razor teeth. Leviathan’s strike zone was wide and it was more agile and speedier than Rahab. And it had seven times the fury. The Nephilim were oblivious to the shadowy forms approaching them from the darkness below. They filled the waters with their crafts The lead skiffs were only two thirds of the way across. The first casualties came at the front of the line. A huge explosion of water erupted. Pontoons snapped in two, throwing Nephilim into the water. Yahipan screamed, “RAHAB!!” The Nephilim stopped rowing and looked about the water. The huge serpentine armor broke the surface again, crushing a slew of the flatboats and dragging Nephilim into the depths. The spiny back cut through the water and disappeared. The Rephaim yelled orders. The Nephilim rowed for their lives. But it was an easy feast for the monsters of the deep. Rahab simply opened her mouth and scooped up dozens of Nephilim like so many minnows. Leviathan came next, with the seven dragon heads snapping up Nephilim faster than they could get out of the way. Leviathan might be a newborn and smaller than its mother, but already armor covered it. It was even able to launch small pillars of fire from its nostrils. Its youth and speed made up for its size as it darted and dodged around, all of its heads coordinated in a bloodbath of feeding. Inanna wondered where all that food went. Some Nephilim tried to fight back But it was futile and the smart ones made for the shoreline. They hoped they might get lucky and be overlooked by their serpentine predators. That was only the beginning. The sorry paddlers were no match for the worst of all Elohim’s creatures. Another creature came up from the depths. Its body could not be seen, only tentacles bursting from the water and crushing demigods in its grip. Yahipan and Thamaq were in the middle of the mayhem and counted eight of these snakelike appendages grabbing hapless soldiers.
”
”
Brian Godawa (Enoch Primordial (Chronicles of the Nephilim #2))
“
By force-marching his exhausted men through the unknown, rain-swept wilderness of the German-infested Teutoburg Forest, this guy had just made a brain-explodingly boneheaded mistake so amazing in its incompetence that it makes the Roman consuls at Cannae look like a conjoined triplet made out of Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great, and that dude from Total Recall who had the baby coming out of his stomach. In terms of career moves, marching three legions into the Teutoberg was the Classical Age equivalent of coauthoring an academic paper with the Unabomber or asking Charles Manson to write you a letter of recommendation for law school. Unsurprisingly, this came back to bite him in the ass. We don’t know exactly how many Germans were hiding in the woods, watching the column of imperial invaders trudge past. The Germans didn’t bother to write anything down more detailed than “killed sum d00ds 2day lulz,” and the only Romans who managed to run screaming out of this forest alive were the ones who knew better than to sit there and try to count how many GWAR fans were currently trying to brutally dismember them with axes. Let’s just say it was probably a crapload, and that when these long-haired death metal freaks unleashed a bloodcurdling shout and started charging through the forest like a bunch of gigantic mutant Ewok-Wookies ambushing the Imperial Stormtroopers on the Forest Moon of Endor it wasn’t exactly the sort of hilarious laugh riot you might see in an animated GIF involving unicorns, rainbows, and cartoon kitties with Pop-Tarts where their bodies are supposed to be. Bellowing like madmen, these balls-out, frothing-at-the-mouth, beer-swilling sausage fiends went Leeroy Jenkins toward the enemy, blitzkrieging out of the woods from every side seemingly at the same time, their ferociousness magnified not only by their savage blood rage, but by the fact that some of the dudes had taken to painting their entire bodies black with mud to help them hide in the dark forest like how Schwarzenegger hid from the Predator’s infrared vision. It was so damned terrifying that it took every ounce of Roman discipline to not simply spontaneously combust into blood vapor on the spot.
”
”
Anonymous
“
Dragons that, like butterflies, have two stages to their lives. They hatch from eggs into sea serpents. They roam the seas, growing to a vast size. And when the time is right, when enough years have passed that they have attained dragon size, they migrate back to the home of their ancestors. The adult dragons would welcome them and escort them up the rivers. There, they spin their cocoons of sand – sand that is ground memory-stone – and their own saliva. In times past, adult dragons helped them spin those cases. And with the saliva of the adult dragons went their memories, to aid in the formation of the young dragons. For a full winter, they slumbered and changed, as the grown dragons watched over them to protect them from predators. In the hot sunlight of summer, they hatched, absorbing much of their cocoon casing as they did so. Absorbing, too, the memories stored in it. Young dragons emerged, full-formed and strong, ready to fend for themselves, to eat and hunt and fight for mates. And eventually to lay eggs on a distant island. The island of the Others. Eggs that would hatch into serpents.
”
”
Robin Hobb (The Golden Fool (Tawny Man, #2))
“
Charlie-mouse was not about to play with a predator who could eat her alive and not even notice the bones.
”
”
Nalini Singh (Rock Hard (Rock Kiss, #2; Hard Play, #2))
“
Luckily, the threat you uncovered far overshadows things like unauthorized Predator strikes or illegal invasions on Russian soil," he said.
”
”
Steven Konkoly (The Black Flagged Thriller Series Boxset Books 2-4 (The Black Flagged Series #2-4))
“
Now you must tell me a story.” He sighed and nodded. “Very well.” Vincent stepped away from the tree and began. “A young girl was told to bring a basket of food and herbs to her grandmother, who was ill.” Lydia had heard this tale, yet the way Vincent told it with his melodious voice and sinister narrative had her listening with anticipation. She watched entranced as he adopted the persona of the wolf, stalking around the tree like a sleek predator. As Vincent neared the end of the story, he stepped closer to her. “‘What big eyes you have,’ said the girl. ‘The better to see you with,’ the wolf replied.” Lydia sucked in a breath as he circled her, eyes glittering with savage hunger. She could almost believe he was the wolf. Her knees trembled as he continued. “‘What big teeth you have,’ the girl said next. To which the wolf answered, ‘the better to eat you with.’” Vincent snarled and seized her shoulders. Heat flared low in her body at his touch. Lydia shivered as she looked up at him. A trick of the moonlight made his teeth appear sharp and deadly. A gasp tore from her throat as he lunged forward. For a moment it seemed he was going to bite her. She wanted him to. Instead, his lips caressed her neck as he whispered, “Then the wolf swallowed her whole.” Liquid
”
”
Brooklyn Ann (One Bite Per Night (Scandals with Bite, #2))
“
In response to people who inquire as to why God would create such a world where there is predation, suffering and death, and how that could be called “good,” I would say we have to understand how all the pieces fit together. “Good” pertained to the order that was being formed in the midst of non-order. The non-order, then, was not good, though not evil either, but the plan for continued ordering involved a process by which all non-order would eventually be resolved. We know that because that is the eventual result in new creation (Rev 20). God’s creating involved assigning a place in the ordered world. So, it would not be coherent to speak of God creating (in terms of ordering) a world of non-order. The material world would originally have been not yet ordered (Gen 1:2). Whenever God uses a process (and he often does), his intentions are revealed in the final result and may not be evident in the stages along the way. Those who believe that there was no death or suffering before the fall have associated those consequences with disorder rather than with non-order. It is easy to see how that association might be made, but if the evidence fails to bear it out, we can conclude that association with non-order is defensible from a biblical and theological perspective and enjoys more support from history, biology and anthropology.
”
”
John H. Walton (The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate (The Lost World Series Book 1))
“
You are divided," said the High King, simply. "Your father did his best to shape you after his own image. He created a predator. A wolf, if you will. And ever since then, the create that he formed has been masquerading as a princess and attempting to devour the rest of you. the real you.
”
”
Melanie Cellier (The Princess Fugitive: A Reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood (The Four Kingdoms, #2))
“
What big eyes you have,” I whispered before I could stop myself. “Mmm, the better to look my fill of your lush body with, my Little Bird.” “What sharp teeth you have.” He watched me like a predator. “The better to destroy anything that thinks to harm you with.
”
”
Jenika Snow (The Hunter (Monsters and Beauties, #2))
“
personal theory was that the pressure of being in the middle of the food chain was an essential prerequisite for complex intelligence. Like humans (and like Portiid spiders, had he only known), octopuses had developed in a world where they were both hunter and hunted. Top predators, in Senkovi’s assessment, were an intellectual dead end.
”
”
Adrian Tchaikovsky (Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2))
“
[Gaze of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)] – A Hunter who has seen his gaze reflected in the eyes of the Apex Predator and now stares back with equal zeal. A glance that penetrates into the very soul of its prey, the gaze of the Apex Hunter can immobilize or even kill any it sees. Gives the Hunter the ability to paralyze, knock out, and even kill his prey through visual contact. This skill directly targets the soul of the target, ignoring distance, physical defense, and most magical defenses. Passively enhances the Hunter’s eyes, increasing the effect of Perception while also making weak points easier to spot. All effects of Gaze of the Apex Hunter are determined by Perception.
”
”
Zogarth (The Primal Hunter 2 (The Primal Hunter, #2))
“
the Americans and the Chinese collaborated in learning how to make harmless coronaviruses into SARS-CoV viruses, one of which the Chinese would eventually engineer into SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. WE
”
”
Peter R. Breggin (COVID-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey)
“
Not surprisingly, the model of the leader as shepherd fits perfectly the work-and-keep Masculine Mandate of Genesis 2:15. God placed Adam in the garden to work it—to make it grow—and shepherds are leaders who nurture and inspire the hearts of those who follow. God also called Adam to keep the garden—to stand guard over it—and it is the shepherd-leader who protects those under his charge, keeping one eye always on the flock and the other alert for predators. Good shepherd-leadership, then, will always resemble Adam’s servant-lordship as the flock, like a garden, grows and bears fruit of all kinds under the watchful protection of the shepherd.
”
”
Richard D. Phillips (The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men)
“
The first lesson the predator learns is to take down the weakest prey first. Then, fed on that victim, one has strength to pursue more powerful quarry.
”
”
Beth Fantaskey (Jessica Rules the Dark Side (Jessica, #2))
“
I felt it. Felt- him.
The very rock beneath my feet seemed to tremble- a pulsing steady beat.
His footsteps. As if the mountain shuddered at each touch.
Everyone in that room went still as death. As if petrified that their very breathing would draw the attention of the predator now strolling toward us.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
I was not prey any longer, I decided as I eased up to that door.
And I was not a mouse.
I was a wolf.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
Above her young, supple body, beneath her black, beautiful hair, her skin was grey- wrinkled and sagging and dry. And where eyes should have gleamed instead lay rotting black pins. Her lips had withered to nothing but deep, dark lines around a hole full of jagged stumps of teeth- like she had gnawed on too many bones.
And I knew she would be gnawing on my bones soon if I did not get out.
Her nose- perhaps once pert and pretty, now half-caved in- flared as she sniffed in my direction.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
Can you fight like a predator without becoming an animal, without hurting your enemy the way he has hurt you, and thus becoming him?
”
”
Gail Z. Martin (The Blood King (Chronicles of the Necromancer, #2))
“
I saw a pretty shop across the Sidra the other day. It sold what looked to be lots of lacy little things. Am I allowed to buy that on your credit, too, or does that come out of my personal funds?'
Those violet eyes again drifted to me. 'I'm not in the mood.'
There was no humour, no mischief. I could go warm myself by a fire inside, but...
He had stayed. And fought for me.
Week after week, he'd fought for me, even when I had no reaction, even when I had been been able to speak or bring myself to care if I lived or died or ate or starved. I couldn't leave him to his own dark thoughts, his own guilt. He'd shouldered them alone long enough.
So I held his gaze. 'I never knew Illyrians were such morose drunks.'
'I'm not drunk- I'm drinking,' he said, his teeth flashing a bit.
'Again semantics,' I leaned back in my seat, wishing I'd brought my coat. 'Maybe you should have slept with Cresseida after all- so you could both be sad and lonely together.'
'So you're entitled to have as many bad days as you want, but I can't get a few hours?'
'Oh, take however long you want to mope. I was going to invite you to come shopping with me for said lacy little unmentionables, but... sit up here forever, if you have to.'
He didn't respond.
I went on, 'Maybe I'll send a few to Tarquin- with an offer to wear them for him if he forgives us. Maybe he'll take those blood rubies right back.'
His mouth barely, barely tugged up at the corners. 'He'd see that as a taunt.'
'I gave him a few smiles and he handed over a family heirloom. I bet he'd give me the keys to his territory if I showed up wearing those undergarments.'
'Someone thinks mighty highly of herself.'
'Why shouldn't I? You seem to have difficulty not staring at me day and night.'
There it was - a kernel of truth and a question.
'Am I supposed to deny,' he drawled, but something sparked in those eyes, 'That I find you attractive?'
'You've never said it.'
'I've told you many times, and quite frequently, how attractive I find you.'
I shrugged, even as I thought of all those times- when I'd dismissed them as teasing compliments, nothing more. 'Well, maybe you should do a better job of it.'
The gleam in his eyes turned into something predatory. A thrill went through me as he braced his powerful arms on the table and purred, 'Is that a challenge, Feyre?'
I held that predator's gaze- the gaze of the most powerful male in Prythian. 'Is it?'
His pupils flared. Gone was the quiet sadness, the isolated guilt. Only that lethal force- on me. On my mouth. On the bob of my throat as I tried to keep my breathing even. He said, slow and soft, 'Why don't we go down to that store right now, Feyre, so you can try on those lacy little things- so I can help you pick which ones to send to Tarquin.'
My toes curled inside my fleece-lined slippers. Such a dangerous line we walked together.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
I should have felt better. I should have felt better, and I didn’t. I should have felt better, and I didn’t, and I don’t know how to fix it. What happened yesterday was a huge breakthrough, letting the venom out of my system a relief. But while I was lying in a heap on the ground, all I could think of were the pieces of me that were missing. The piece of me that was missing. Yes, I needed to rid myself of Damon’s poison. Yes, I needed to recognize that what happened to me wasn’t my fault. Yes, I needed to stand up to him and out him to my family and the world. Let them know there’s a deceitful predator amongst them. And, in order to do that, I needed to be strong. To believe in myself as much as I would need them to believe me. To take my word over his.
”
”
Celeste Grande (Breathe You (Pieces of Broken, #2))
“
Aefre had been so golden, with her lion-tawny hair and her eagle-tawny gaze. Hazel, he supposed the color was called-but tawny was the right word, for everything about her should defined to terms of predators. Her armour was golden, too, not the gold of metal but the gold of wheat, and so her skin would have been if not for the Exalt stain rendering it a pollen-dusted blue. The sword at her hip gleamed with care and use, and he had wanted to lean over and kiss the stern line between her eyebrows away. But one did not kiss a general before the assembled troops.
”
”
Elizabeth Bear (Chill (Jacob's Ladder, #2))
“
I was a mouse caught in a trap before, scared, and helpless as I was taken between the teeth of an apex predator. But I'm not their little mouse, and they are not Zade. And I will never succumb to them.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2))
“
You could do this for any task you’ve been putting off, such as cleaning your closet. The deadlines might be: Week 1, open the door and stare at the mess. Week 2, tackle anything that’s on a hanger. Week 3, throw out anything that predates the Reagan administration. Week 4, find out if Goodwill accepts skeletons. Week 5—well, you get the picture.
”
”
Kelly McGonigal (The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It)
“
She, who has guided sheep and goats through the Himalayan gorges with an eye out for predators like tigers, leopards and wild elephants, might think the killing of such animals for sport unnecessary, even cruel.
”
”
Alka Joshi (The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (The Jaipur Trilogy, #2))
“
We can only pay attention to something for, on average, about 1.2 seconds and then our eye, driven by our mind, flits to something else. Our minds aren’t built to linger; we keep flitting: it’s the mission statement of every cell in our bodies to keep checking our surroundings for possible danger, otherwise we wouldn’t be here, we would have been on some kebab millions of years ago. Remember: our brain has no idea the caveman days are over so, God bless it, it’s still vigilant for predators.
”
”
Ruby Wax (A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled)
“
I had to honor this request or the Nuans would hate me forever. What could she possibly want? “She wishes to obtain a small predator.” “A small predator?” “Yes.” Nuan Ara nodded. “The silent, stealthy, vicious killer that prowls by night and mercilessly murders its victims for food and pleasure.” Um… What?
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2))
“
Apologies imply that you have accepted some form of responsibility. It implies that you have remorse, and plan to do better. The first time you said it, I believed you. But now?” She regarded me stonily, with the militant, analytical focus of a predator. “I don’t think you are sorry. I think you regret your actions, yes. But I do not think you have any interest in improving, because if you did, you would have done it by now.
”
”
Carissa Broadbent (Children of Fallen Gods (The War of Lost Hearts, #2))
“
Canada, technically; nobody’s sure where the border used to run.” Tom frowned.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Englines Quartet #2))
“
A dog doesn’t have hooves and eat grass like the sheep. A dog has fangs and claws and eats meat … like the wolves, not the sheep. A dog is a close relative of the wolf. That’s why the shepherd chooses a dog to guard the flock, because it takes a hunter to understand and fight a predator.
”
”
Isabella Maldonado (Phoenix Burning (Veranda Cruz #2))
“
Rohan was battling invisible foes, wielding the large, lancelike weapon she had seen in his hand that first night in the great hall. His long hair flowed around his shoulders, wetted with the sweat that streamed from him and made his body gleam with rippling, raw power. He was bare-chested, wearing only loose black trousers that draped his compact buttocks and muscled thighs gracefully.
His bare feet were silent on the flagstones as he lunged, leaped, and spun about, the torchlight flashing crimson on his long, wicked blade.
Kate watched, riveted by the play of shadows and gold torchlight that slid over his sweat-slicked body, gliding across the sleekly muscled contours of his back and massive shoulders, his powerful chest and chiseled abdomen as he thrust, swung, jabbed, then spiraled up to parry an imaginary blow, only to gouge again with precision perfectly balanced with killing force.
His blade sliced through the air with naught but a deadly whisper, each slashing arc of his weapon, like his honed body, under his exquisite control.
In constant motion, he wove through the changing patterns of his regime with a beautiful---an almost otherworldly---prowess, a creature of elegant savagery.
He attacked again with a low war cry, but then suddenly went motionless, standing in a sure-footed stance below her, his chest heaving.
Slowly, he looked up, as though he had felt her there.
Kate found herself looking into the eyes of a predator; she held absolutely still.
”
”
Gaelen Foley (My Dangerous Duke (Inferno Club, #2))
“
They had terrorized this poor, defenseless beauty.
He would make them rue it.
As for Kate, after all she had been through, she had impressed him with her self-possession, to say nothing of her fiery spirit. She had stood there ready to battle him like some spunky little terrier barking at a wolf, aye, and throwing the greater predator into temporary confusion with her unexpected show of ferocity.
Though petite of build, she was large in courage, a little lady of intrepid spirit
”
”
Gaelen Foley (My Dangerous Duke (Inferno Club, #2))
“
I live by the motto, ‘Don’t tell when all you’re going to get is shit for the trouble.
”
”
Jamie Begley (Stand Off (Predators MC, #2))
“
Grace gasped, staring at him with a shocked expression. “I thought you were the nice one in the group.” “I am,” Max said, opening his beer and taking a long drink. Grace stared at him dubiously. “Did you not just hear yourself threatening to rip his head off and piss down his throat?
”
”
Jamie Begley (Stand Off (Predators MC, #2))
“
They were beautiful all right, but it was a huge, inhuman beauty...
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines Quartet, #2))
“
It struck her as odd and faintly sinister, this lonely city creeping north in silence.
”
”
Philip Reeve (Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines Quartet, #2))
“
“Nature works in circles.
Trees lure prey and hide predators.
Predators leave behind carcasses
so that they might be absorbed
into the soil and feed the trees.”
-THE BOOK OF THE ETERNAL ROSE
”
”
Fiona Paul (Belladonna (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #2))