On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

4 Favorite Characters of 2011

Kaylee Cavanaugh
Series: Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent
Quotes: My Soul to Steal

Long brown wavy hair, blue eyes with an average figure. She is a bean sidhe (banshee) and this means she can sense when someone is about to die, and her wail (a scream to average ears, but a beautiful song to male bean sidhes) helps the souls of the dead to pass over. Kaylee can be considered too brave for her own good sometimes, she always puts others before herself and is willing to do the right thing even if that means putting herself at risk.

I nodded and poured milk into my bowl. That's what I was hoping he'd say. And now that I'd been expressly forbidden from investigating the massively coincidental teacher deaths, I should have felt free from the compulsion to do just that. Right? So why was it so hard to get Mrs. Bennigan out of my head? Why did the soft rise and fall of her back haunt my memory?

Funny how "teenage hero" translates to "teenage delinquent" on my permanent record.

"Oh. Well, thanks, but I'm more than capable of sneaking around the Netherworld on my own for a few minutes." Even if I almost got devoured by man-eating plants and carnivorous kindergarteners... "So you can go polish your shining armor for someone else to admire."

Edgar Hideaki
Series: Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
Quotes: Reckoning

His eyes are an odd pale green, with threads of brown and gold, half-Asian, with a mop of wavy dark hair. He was just your average teenage guy; tall and skinny, until a chance encounter with a werewulf turned him into a Loup-Garou. Now he is dominant, muscular and fit, and won't take crap from anybody, his protective personality is one of his best features, he will fight to keep those closest to him safe, especially if someone is out to hurt the girl that he loves. He's vulnerable but strong enough not to hide his true feelings when it counts.

"Look." He finished rolling up the sleeping bag, snapped the elastic loops over it, and glared up at me. I know I'm just a loup-garou, all right? I know. I'm just the deadweight holding you down. You dragged me along and I'm glad about that. I'm even glad I got bit by that thing up there. I handled everything they threw at me, and told him to go fuck himself more than once. Sergej." He all bit spat the name, and his face twisted up, bitterly. "So quit treating me like a little kid, Dru. I ain't been a little kid for years. I'm not as Billy Badass as some of those stuck-up djamphir, but I'm learning and I'll be hell on wheels when I'm done. You won't ever have to worry again."

"The only one," he murmured. His chin dipped a little bit. "You know that, Dru? You're the only person who's ever believed in me. You know what that'll do to a guy?" What? "I--" "It makes him want to live up to it." A sarcastic, bitter little half-laugh, just like the Goth Boy I used to know. The birdlike one who was a little ugly, sure, until you got to know him and saw what had been under the ugly all along. The true beauty.

"Listen," he said into my hair. "I'm only gonna say this once, so listen good." I nodded, breathing him in, my face in his chest. Squeezed my eyes shut. His breath was a warm spot in my wet hair. The breeze swirled around us, full of the green growing of summer and cut grass. "I'm coming back. But I got to fix myself. The wulfen, they'll help. But here's the thing, Dru. I'm not worth you." He took a deep breath, and the way his arms tightened made the protest die in my throat. "But I'm gonna be. I told you before, but you didn't understand. Hell, you might not understand now. But you've got to trust me on this one." His arms tightened. "You have got to let me go. Can you do that?"

Jillian Conrad
Series: Nightshade Duology by Michelle Rowen
Quotes: Bloodlust

She was once blond and blue eyed, but now her hair and eyes are black due to the Nightshade serum she was injected with. The silky locks fall long and straight to the middle of her back and she is considered very attractive. The Nightshade has made her blood deadly and irresistible to vampires, one taste and they die immediately. She's just your average woman put into an extraordinary situation, she learned pretty quickly to roll with the punches, and she fights for what she believes in and those she cares for.

I wanted to argue with him. One of the reasons I'd had a hard time keeping a job back in my regular life was that I was allegedly "difficult to manage." I liked to do my own thing even if it didn't follow the rules to the letter. This didn't go over too well with management--any management. I guess I just had a very specific way of thinking that didn't jive with most other people. When I got an idea into my head, it was nearly impossible for me to ignore it. Even if it was a shitty idea.

"For the record? I don't think you're ugly. Or a brute." He blinked. "Then what am I?" I leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Hot as hell." Laughter rumbled in his chest. "Yeah, right. And I fit so well into your life." "Maybe not my old life. But screw that. Right now this is the only place I want to be. Here. With you."

He scrubbed a hand over his scalp. "You're his soul mate now because of your bond. He's a king, he's powerful, he's--" "Rich and superhot," I finished for him. "That song and dance is getting old, vampire. Get in the car." He studied me for a long moment. "Yes, ma'am."

Valek
Series: Study Series by Maria V. Snyder
Quotes: Poison Study

Large and muscular, with an athletic body, sapphire blue eyes, black hair. The Commander's personal security chief and leader of the vast intelligence network for the Territory of Ixia. His stride is graceful, balanced and athletic, and light as a snow cat traversing thin ice. A strong angular face that softens when he smiles. He has a hidden talent for carving life-like statues out of stone. He believes in doing what is right and although he shows the world a stoic, unemotional attitude, he has a hidden compassion for those unable to defend themselves.

Valek was liquid motion. As I watched him, one word came to mind: beautiful. His movements had the speed and cadence of a complex dance performance. In comparison, his adversary resembled a newborn colt, lurching and jerking his arms and legs as if it were his first time on his feet. Valek's smooth lunges and graceful parries disarmed his opponent in no time.

Valek released my hands and stood. I sat, watching him with surprise as he swooped down to lift me from the couch. Wordless, he carried me to my room and laid me on the bed. "Get some sleep, Yelena," Valek said softly as he left the room.

"Wait, Yelena, there's one more thing." Valek's manner and tone were strangely stiff and formal. "I want you to have this." He extended his hand. On his palm sat the beautiful butterfly he had carved. Silver spots on the wings glinted in the sunlight, and a silver chain hung from a small hole drilled into its body. Valek looped the necklace around my neck. "When I carved this statue, I was thinking about you. Delicate in appearance, but with a strength unnoticed at first glance." His eyes met mine.