Excerpt from A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Her fingers curled into claws scraping along the table as she flung back at him.

Nesta: “And I suppose now you'll tell me that you are the only person who doesn't hate me. And I'm supposed to feel something like gratitude and agree to train with you?”

Cassian: “Now, I tell you I'm done.”

The words rumbled between them. Nesta blinked, the only sign of surprise she’d allow. Azriel tensed as if surprised as well, but she sliced into Cassian before he could go on, "Does that mean you're done panting after me as well? Because what a relief that will be to know you've finally taken the hint.”

Cassian's muscled chest heaved, his throat working, “You want to rip yourself apart, go right ahead, implode all you like.” [chair scapes along ground] He stood, meal half finished [exasperated sigh], “The training was supposed to help you, not punish you. I don't know why you don't get that.”

Nesta: “I told you, I'm not training in that miserable village.”

Cassian: “Fine.”

Excerpt from Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I set myself between Eo and the Tin Pots, but I don't fight. I won't let us die for a simple glimpse of the stars. [clothes rustle] I put my hands out to let them know I will surrender.

Ugly Dan: [ugh] “Hell Divers [malicious chuckle] the toughest, and he’s yet but an ant!” [loud thud and electricity crackles followed by pained grunt]

He swings his thumper into my stomach. [pained gasp followed by soft thud] It's like being bitten by a viper and kicked by a boot. I fall, gasping, hands on the metal grate. Electricity slithers through my veins. [pained exhale] I taste the bile rising in my throat.

Ugly Dan: “Take a swing, Hell Diver!” [weapon clatters to ground] Dan drops one of the thumpers in front of me. “Please, take a swing. Won't be any consequences. Just some fun between the boys. Take a pigging swing!”

Eo: “Do it, Darrow.”

I'm not a fool. [clothes rustle] I thrust my hands up in surrender. [ugh] And Dan's sighs in disappointment.

Excerpt from Magic Burns by Kate Daniels

The Reapers had booby trapped the top of the building. Cleverly done. I hadn't sensed its presence, and we had blundered straight into it.

[fire roars] Pain lanced through me, setting every millimetre of my skin on fire and lifting me off the ground. [pained yell] I clamped my mouth shut as the fire scorched the inside of my mouth. [rapid heartbeat] The thudding of my heart filled my ears with a freakishly loud, rapid beat. I felt myself unravelling, consumed, cell by cell, unable to do anything but jerk and thrash. I rotated on an invisible spit.

Beside me [cloth tearing], Jim's clothes tore, and a were-jaguar spilled forth [gutteral snarl]. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I spat a Power Word: “Daer!" (Release)

The magic tore from me in a blinding burst of agony [pained groan] as if I thrust my hand into my stomach and ripped a clump of entrails out. I saw black and tasted blood. [loud bang] The ward split and vanished. My feet hit the solid reality of the wall [heavy thud followed by pained grunt] and I froze, blind and afraid to move.

Excerpt from Hellboy: A Plague Of Wasps by Christopher Golden

[steady rainfall] Now we were all kitted out - with the exception of Hellboy - in our hazmat suits, which included headgear with a clear plastic window and breathing filter. We started down the trail towards the dig site [heavy booted footfalls through rain], supplies on our backs.

Crowther: “I’ve been insanely curious.”

Hellboy: “Never good.”

Crowther: “And I've been wanting to ask...how the two of you met.”

Anastasia: “...You don't know the story?”

Crowther: “Well, I know it was something for the museum. The BPRD sent Hellboy in, but the rest is just gossip, I guess.”

Anastasia: “What’s the gossip? [soft chuckle] I can't wait to hear this.”

Hellboy: “I’d rather go back to talking about my grooming habits.”

Crowther: “Not trying to pry. I'm just...well...my mum says I'm an incurable romantic.”

Hellboy: “That's sweet, Crowther.”

Crowther: “Not really. She mostly says it while needling me about finding a girlfriend.”

Anastasia: “Her job, isn't it?”

Crowther: “I suppose.”

Hellboy: “I’ll tell her.”

Anastasia: “You will.”

Hellboy: “Chasing goblins, jumped off a train, went to a punk show, then a midnight occult auction. She flirted a lot.”

Anastasia: “I'm sorry, what? I flirted with you?”

Hellboy: “You didn’t?”

Crowther: “This is excellent.”

Excerpt from Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

Kaladin [thinking]: “I can end him. I should end him. Why am I hesitating? Moash…was my friend. We spent hours by the fire, talking about our lives. I opened my heart to this man in ways I didn't to most of the others. I told Moash, like Teft and Rock, of Tien, of Roshone…of my fears.”

He wasn't just a friend, though, he was beyond that, a member of Bridge 4. Kaladin had sworn to the storms and the heavens above - if anyone was there watching - that he'd protect those men.

Kaladin [thinking]: “I failed Moash, as soundly as I failed Dunny, Mart, and Jaks.”

And of them all, losing Moash hurt the most, because in those callous eyes Kaladin saw him himself.

Kaladin: “You bastard!”

Moash: “You deny that I was justified?” Moash kicked at Roshone’s body [heavy thud], “You know what he did. You know what he cost me.”

Kaladin: “You killed Elhokar for that crime!”

Moash: “Because he deserved it! Like this one did. I did this for you too, Kal. You would let your brother's soul cry into the storms unavenged?”

Kaladin: “Don't you dare speak of Tien!”

Kaladin felt himself slipping, losing control.

Excerpt from The Kurtherian Gambit 10: Release The Dogs Of War by Michael Anderle

[unhurried footsteps on deck] He continued to the deck of the first mobile home [hose faucet squeakily turns followed by water pouring] and used the hose to wash his face. He had been digging a large hole in the Back 40 and it had been hot and sweaty work [hose faucet squeakily turns and water stops]. He waited for the rental car to come to a stop and the man to push open the door [car door opens]. The new arrival was holding an aluminum case in his right hand as he stepped from the car [car door closes]. Leonard stepped off the porch and started walking toward the man.

Leonard: [unhurried footsteps on dirt] “Hello! Name's Leonard.”

Johan: “Mine's Johan. I was told to bring this package to you and you would know what to do with it.”

Leonard: “Yes, I do, young man. We have a little way to walk. Come on, then. No need to waste time unless you want to. We all have our parts to play in this little game, and your boss is going to want to know you did your job.”

[unhurried footsteps on dirt]

Johan: “I imagine he will. How do I tell him?”

Leonard: “You won't, son. I'll deal with that. I've got something for you to do after you're given your next orders, caphice?”

The two men walked out into the desert.

Excerpt from First Mountain Man: Preacher's Purge by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone

Preacher had laid the Pattersons down and slipped his flint-locked pistols from his sash at his back. Holding the pistols by the barrels, he extended them to Dempsey. The old hostler took the pistols. [gunfire followed by horses whinnying and neighing] The three balls had burst through the stall a few inches to the left of Preacher's position, “Doh!” The big cur raked his lips back to expose his fangs. [horses whinny]

Preacher removed his hat and peered around the corner of the stall. [horses whinny and neigh] The nearest horse was 20 feet away. He picked up one Patterson in his right hand and tossed his hat toward the end of the stall [whoosh] so that it rose above the railing for just an instant.

[gunfire]

Man 1: “What the hell are you shooting at?”

Man 2: “He was moving.”

Preacher picked up the Patterson he'd laid down. [horses whinny and neigh] He took deliberate aim at the young gunman's leg, [horses continue whinnying] showing beneath the belly of the horse he was using for cover. [gunfire followed by pained yell] The 36 calibre bullet had struck the man in the knee. Blood sprayed [pained groan], and he collapsed. “Get him, Dog!”

Excerpt from Deathlands: Pilgrimage to Hell by Jack Adrian

Her eyes flicked over at the leaning row of rifles and SMGs, and she picked out a Heckler & Koch 9 millimetre. Good weight, short, a nice death-dealing compactness. She took it up, checked it, went back to the box, and tensely fingered through the jumbled massive sticks [bullets clattering], clattering them aside until she found two .30 slug curved mags. One she stuffed into a back pocket, the other she held against the gun, while she began cramming the fourth grenade into an already overstuffed pocket over her right breast.

[loud bang followed by a crash] Suddenly, a pile of cans of food burst apart in a wild spray of tin, and the Sticky erupted out of it. [panicked yell] Christy’s heart felt as if someone had just kicked it. She sprang back, dropping the grenade [grenade rolls on ground]. She also dropped the second mag [gun magazine clatters to ground]. The Sticky came at her like a flying fury, and she had to dance away and flee back to the living area of the barn. Her right hand fumbling at the remaining mag jammed into her back pocket. It wouldn't come out! It had somehow gotten entangled with the pocket lip. [cloth tearing] Christy yanked the mag and it came out, tearing the pocket open at one side.

Excerpt from Demon Days: Born In Fire by K.F. Breene

[background chatter of bar patrons]

“What can I get you?” The bartender leaned against the bar. I reached into my pocket for a five, [groan] one of my last.

Regan: “What's the guy at the end drinking?” I pointed to the far booth, wariness crossed the bartender's bold features.

“Just a beer. But it's full. He doesn't want company.”

The head in the last booth turned a fraction, his awareness now encompassing me: the chick who wanted to buy him a drink. Abnormally great hearing confirmed he was the vampire, and the fact that he could hear me over the racket of the band meant he was old. Very old. Well then, everyone was accounted for, Elder included. “Hm, his loss.” [quickening footsteps] I took off towards the middle booth [clothes rustle followed by effortful grunt], grabbed Baldy and yanked him to his feet.

Man 1: “What the-?“ [punch thudding followed by pained grunt]

I punched him so as to daze him, which made people much easier to transport, [effortful grunt] and threw him over my shoulder. [high shriek] I ignored his companion's shriek, I wasn't here for her, and whether she realized it or not, I was doing her a favour.

[running footsteps] With my mark bouncing on my shoulder, I rushed for the door. I darted a glance behind me as I ran out. No one exited the last booth. Phew, good news.

Jimmy: “Dumb move, girl.”

Regan: “What's he selling?”

Jimmy: “Blood.”

Excerpt from Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

The sound came from outside, perhaps to the north, he wasn't sure. Kelsier burned tin. It was simple for him now, after years of practice. The tin sat with other allomantic metals within his stomach, swallowed earlier, waiting for him to draw upon them. He reached inside with his mind and touched the tin [high-pitched ringing], tapping powers he still barely understood. The tin flared to life within him, burning his stomach like the sensation of a hot drink swallowed too quickly. Allomantic power surged through his body, enhancing his senses [fire crackles]. The room around him became crisp, the dull fire pit flaring to near blinding brightness. He could feel the grain in the wood of the stool beneath him. He could still taste the remnants of the loaf of bread he'd snacked on earlier. Most importantly, he could hear the women with supernatural ears, two separate people. One was an older woman, the other a younger woman, perhaps a child.

Nearby woman: “Poor Jess. That child of hers was a curse. It's better for skaa not to have pretty daughters.”

Tepper: “Lord Tresting was sure to send for the girl sooner or later. We all knew it. Jess knew it.”

Nearby man: “Still a shame, though.”

Excerpt from Halfway To The Grave by Jeaniene Frost

“Hello, Sergio.” [squelching crunch following by choked gurgling] Bones gave a vicious jerk to the stake in Sergio's neck.

Sergio: [strained through choke] “Filthy bastard! “How'd you find me?” It amazed me he could talk at all, with half his throat laid open.

Bones: “I see you've met my friend. Isn't she just wonderful?” Blood was running in rivulets down my arm, which throbbed. Even with that, I managed to get a grim satisfaction out of the look on Sergio's face when his eyes swung back to me.

Sergio: [choked grunt] “You...set me up!”

Cat: “That's right, Pussy Cat. Guess you won't be giving me that tongue bath after all.”

Bones: “She is something, isn't she? Knew you couldn't pass up a pretty girl, you worthless sod. Isn't it fitting that now you're the one who's been lured into a trap? What? Did you grow short on funds? So you had to go out for dinner instead of order in?”

Sergio went still, “I don't know what you say.” From his expression, Sergio did know.

Excerpt from Vampire Hunter D: Volume 1 by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Yoshitaka Amano

D: “Your guard is wounded. If he doesn't come at me again, he might live to a ripe old age. You might, too. Go home and tell your father a dangerous obstacle has cropped up, and that he'd be a fool to attack this farm again.”

Larmika: “Silence! I am Larmika, daughter of Count Magnus Lee, the ruler of the entire Ransylva District of the Frontier. Do you think I can be bested by the likes of you and your sword?” [blast of energy followed by roaring flames]

Before she'd finished speaking, a streak of white light shot toward her breast from D’s left hand. In fact, it was a footlong needle he'd taken out at some point and thrown faster than the naked eye could follow. It was made of wood. As it travelled at that unfathomable speed, the needle burned from the friction of the air, and the white light was from those flames. But something odd had happened. [roaring flames suddenly extinguished] The flames had come to a stop in front of D's chest. Not that the needle he'd thrown had simply stopped there. The instant it was about to sink into Larmika's breast, it had turned around and come back, and D had stopped it with his bare hand. Or, to be more accurate, Larmika had caught the needle with superhuman speed and thrown it back just as quickly. The average person wouldn't even have seen her hand move.

D: “If the servant is no more than a servant, still the master is a master. Well done.”

Excerpt from DRUDEN by Scott Sigler and Adrian Picardi

[continuous rapid automatic gunfire; pained yelling]

Several of the men of First Platoon were gunned down, including Charlie. The others tried to dive for cover, but there wasn't much cover to be had. Their leader was down. They didn't know what to do. They were sitting ducks.

Man: “They're gonna break!” If they do, we're screwed!”

Eric looked around wildly, then shouted to his left, “Rabbi, if you get to that stump on our left, can you take out the gunner?”

Rabbi: “20 yards to that stump. Give me some cover and I'll nail the bastard.”

Eric: “Tibbitts, Palmer, go with Rabbi. Lifter, Abelson, Harris, covering fire on my command.” Lifter readied his bar. Abelson and Harris got ready with their M1s. “Wilson, Potts, with me! We're going right to link up with First. Rabbi, take out that gunner!” Rabinowicz, Palmer, and Tibbitts nodded, their eyes betraying terror. “Covering fire, now!” Harris and Abelson popped up and fired their M1s, lifted and popped up from behind cover and fired tight bursts from the bar.