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Description edit
He looks completely out of place in Dela Reese’s Beijing hotel room—like the tragic hero of some epic tale, exotic and poignant. He is like nothing from her world, neither his variegated hair nor his feline yellow eyes. Yet Dela has danced through the echo of his soul, and she knows this... read more
Summary edit
Long ago they roamed the earth; plentiful and powerful, men with form of beast. Dragons, tigers, crows: shape-shifters. Their world was magic. That world is gone, but some remain.
HERS TO COMMAND
He looked completely out of place in Dela Reese's Beijing hotel room--like he belonged...
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(warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Hari: A shape shifter, he was tricked by a magi and enslaved. He has to obey any orders from the one that opens the box.
- Delilah Reese: A metallurgical touch telepath, buys the box Hari is trapped in,
- Roland Dirk: Dela's friend and relative. He runs the office in San Francisco for Dirk & Steele
- Magi: Trapped Hari in the box.
- Suri: Hari's sister.
- Eddie: Works for Roland at Dirk & Steele as an agent, he is pyrokinetic.
- Adam Yao: Della's assistant.
- Long Nü: The woman who sold Delilah the puzzle box.
- Nancy Dirk: Dela's grandmother, co-founder of Dirk & Steele.
- William Steele: Dela's grandfather, co-founder of Dirk & Steele.
- Yancy Steele: She runs the office in New York, for Dirk & Steele.
- Dean Campbell: one of Dela's bodyguards sent by Roland.
- Max: Dela's older brother.
- Kitala Bell: one of Dela's friends.
- Artur Loginov: one of Dela's bodyguards sent by Roland.
- Wen Zhang: he wants revenge because his niece was killed.
- Blue: one of Dela's bodyguards sent by Roland.
- Dame Rose: owner of Kosmo Klub.
- Koni: a shape-shifter, he flies as a crow.
- Pierre LeBlanc: former member of the French Resistance, now a chef in America.
- Lise Amarro: Magi's daughter.
Quotes edit
-
“Those weapons offered her nothing. She knew quality when she saw it, age and history when she felt it. A simple thing, when one worked with steel as much as she did. When it sang its secrets inside her head.”
Dela -
“Which is why I am going to do you a favor. For one yuan, you may have this riddle box.”
The old woman. -
“If you want my name, you will have to command it from me.”
Hari -
“If you did not bring me here to kill or fight, then I was summoned to pleasure your body.”
Hari -
“I laughed because this is all completely, impossibly, insane. I saw the light and I saw you appear, but men don’t come out of boxes like genies from a bottle. It’s ridiculous, and I want to know what the hell is going on. I can believe a lot of things, but this is too much even for me.”
Dela -
“I am getting sick of arguing with you about things I don’t understand. I won’t deny that you’re real, or that you came out of that box, but defying the laws of physics will only get you so far. You tell me something, Hari—something I can use. Who the hell are you, and why are you here?”
Dela -
“You ask me who I am. I am a slave. Your slave, until the day you die. The inscription states the terms of my enslavement, the words you must speak to command me—just as hundreds of men and women before you have so done.”
Hari -
“I don’t know what you’re trying to prove, but you’re not my slave, Hari. I’m not your master. I won’t ask you to do anything against your will.”
Dela -
“You think very highly of yourself, don’t you?”
Dela -
“You don’t have the right to tell me what I can or cannot do,” she said. “You poof into this room, scaring the shit out of me, and then unload a bunch of crap about us being stuck together until the day I die—and you have the nerve to tell me I don’t need to know you?”
Dela -
“He hurt you, didn’t he? Well, then. I think that’s reason enough to stop someone from stabbing you.”
Dela -
“Her unexpected protectiveness startled him. It was another strange reversal of that to which he was accustomed, and he fought the urge to speak of it, to point out the needlessness of her consideration.”
Hari -
“Come on. You haven’t eaten in six hundred years. Pig out.”
Dela -
“I am going to kiss you.”
Hari -
“No, not fur. When the Magi stole my skin, he stole a piece of my heart. A piece of my heart, in the shape of my sister. To find my skin, I have to find my heart, and I do not know how to do that with my family dead.”
Hari -
“… AND DON’T YOU HOLD THAT PHONE AWAY FROM YOUR HEAD! I CAN SEE YOU, AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!”
Roland -
“Sarcasm will get you everywhere, babe. Don’t worry, Dirk & Steele is officially on the case.”
Roland -
“Swallow your pride, Hari. I’ve got plenty for both of us. Worry about taking care of yourself after we break your curse.”
Dela -
“I thought you were dead. Dust to the ages. It was one of my few pleasures, but even that… even that you deny me. How many did you sacrifice in order to survive?”
Hari -
“You are a very interesting young woman. A surprise, and I encounter few of those.Did you know, Hari, that your new mistress is herself a Magicker?”
Magi -
“But I am not a broken man, and everything you have done—your actions and words—has reminded me of that. I have not believed in anything for a very long time, Delilah, but I think I am beginning to believe in you.”
Hari -
“Do not ever be sorry for who you are. This power is part of you, just as the tiger is part of me. You would not expect me to be sorry for the things I can do, would you?”
Hari -
“Right on, babe. He’s down there like some Rambo wannabe, stirring up rival guerrilla groups, trying to get them at each other’s throats so he can ferry some kidnapped tourists out of the Amazon. A distraction, he calls it. He’s going to start World War III, just for a simple snatch and grab.”
Roland -
“You do that and I’ll show you just how hot a forge can get. I’m going to take a shower now. All of you, be nice to Hari. Everything he tells you is the truth. Pray to God none of you gets on his bad side.”
Dela -
“She kissed you. In front of us. Dela doesn’t kiss anyone in front of us. She loves you. Or at least, likes you a lot .”
Dean -
“It is true my life depends on Delilah, but I tell you now, my life means nothing without her. My desire to keep her safe has nothing to do with the box, and everything to do with taking care of the only friend I’ve had in two thousand years. I would never betray Delilah. Never.”
Hari -
“Not all things must happen now. I just want to hold you. I have been alone for so long, Delilah, that just being able to put my hands on your body is a gift.”
Hari -
“Never have that fear, Delilah. Even without the curse, I am yours forever.”
Hari -
“I wasn’t really thinking clearly when I did it. I felt the bullet leave the gun, recognized the metal casing inside my head, and just told it to… stay.”
Dela -
“This is sane, Dela. No, it really is. I’ve got friends I don’t have to hide from, I’m helping people, saving lives, getting the bad guys. As far as I’m concerned, this is it. The Dream. So what if things get dicey every now and then. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Blue -
“No. Every day I would do this, if it kept you safe. There is joy in these sorrows, Delilah. So much joy, because we are together, because you are my true friend. It is as I have said: A little pain is a small price to pay, compared to the alternative.”
Hari -
“I will never hurt you. I will be with you always, Delilah. You own me, heart and soul, regardless of any curse.”
Hari -
“They’re not my clan, but I’ll take your word for it, one shifter to another.”
Koni -
“I am—was—not obsessed. What you don’t and can’t understand is that when our kind catches each other’s scents, we get tunnel vision, start running on instinct. It’s worse, now there are so few of us. We have to find the other shifter, look ‘em in the eye. Comes out of the old days, when territory was more important, when the animal was free to emerge.”
Koni -
“A man who would kill in self-defense, correct? If you could kill to save yourself, then the capacity is there. It isn’t shameful, but it’s there. There, to be used against you.”
Dela -
“You selfish son of a bitch. A dream, huh? I guess you’d rather have the dream than the real thing. And what about me, Hari? I’d be living out the rest of my life alone, except I wouldn’t have the luxury of hiding in the dark, pretending. I’d have to face my pain, every day.”
Dela -
“I’ve been hearing stories about your new boyfriend. Sounds like a useful guy to have around.”
Roland -
“What’s wrong, Roland? You sound depressed. Gone celibate again?”
Dela -
“When it comes to your safety, you are inconsiderate, and a fool. You have been so from the beginning. I wonder, how many times must you be near death and murder before you listen to a little common sense? Or will you always bare your neck to the blade ?”
Hari -
“So we can be frightened together. I have told you shape-shifters mate for life, Delilah. If you ever reject me, there will be no other.”
Hari -
“When you die, Delilah, so will I. I will be dead to the world, and that is the way it should be. I do not want to be summoned again. Let me fall into the earth at your side, and I will be content. An eternity, dreaming of you.”
Hari -
“I wasn’t hurt bad. I think my pride more than anything else. Things should have turned out differently. I should have reacted… better.”
Eddie -
“You healed me. You healed my heart and gave me back my skin.”
Hari -
“I cannot tell you how shocked I was to wake and find that not only had I changed shape, but that you were still looking at me as a man.”
Hari -
“You were never scared of me, Delilah. You saw past two thousand years of masks wrought from pain, and found the man who had been lost.”
Hari -
“All I care about now is being separated from your life. Your curse . Do you know the price I paid, Hari? Immortality, yes—but my magic turned against me, turning my power into pain.”
Magi -
“I have no time to explain. Only, their lives are linked. Each is the other’s weakness. They are not immortal to each other, Dela. If Hari kills the Magi, he will die, too.”
Long Nü -
“Part bear, part lumberjack, and part GI Joe, Roland had been a member of Dela’s inner circle and family for almost ten years. He was dirty, twisted—a criminal mastermind of the lowest order—and one of her favorite people in the entire world.”
Dela -
“It is too dangerous for you, Delilah. Or have you forgotten the recent attempt on your life?” “No, I haven’t forgotten, but I’ll be in a public place. Lots of people, witnesses. Besides, you can’t go out dressed in a towel. Women will have spontaneous pregnancies. Hairy men will go bald. Dogs will start wearing clothes and smoking cigarettes. Chaos everywhere.”
Hari and Dela -
“Are there any particular customs I should be aware of before we leave?” “Don’t kill anyone, and don’t start a fight.”
Hari and Dela -
“That’s a kick-ass piece of lingerie" “My cod-piece is full of love.””
Blue and Dean
-
I’ve got a black-belt in crazy, and I know where you live.”
Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers -
Love is a leap of faith. You must leap, and believe Hari will catch you as you fall. And if he does not, that is the way of things. You will not be the only girl to have ever suffered a broken heart.
Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers -
Besides, you can’t go out dressed in a towel. Women will have spontaneous pregnancies. Hairy men will go bald. Dogs will start wearing clothes and smoking cigarettes. Chaos everywhere.”
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
It was us or them, and the first law of survival: Always choose yourself.”
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
“Why am I called Hari Dasypygal?” Dela growled. “That’s the last name Roland gave you. It’s an obscure Greek word that means … having hairy buttocks.”
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
Is the soul stronger than the opportunity, the anger? When a man has been truly broken, the answer is no, because nothing matters. Not life, not honor.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Chinatown: a part of New York.
- New York: one of the city's where the agency has an office.
- Beijing: the city where Dela was sent for a job.
- Pan Jia-Yuan: the Dirt Market.
- Rose Apple: Dela's house.
- Kosmo Club: a good place to go out at night.
Organizations edit
- Dirk & Steele: a detective agency.
First Sentence edit
Dela had mysterious dreams the night before she bought the riddle box. A portent, maybe. She did not think much of it. She was used to strange dreams, only a few of which had ever come true.
Table of Contents edit
Chapters 1 - 19
Epilogue
Series & Lists edit
This is book 1 of 13 in Dirk & Steele. (standard series)
Followed by Shadow Touch.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Marjorie M. Liu (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Love Spell
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0505526263
Page Count: 342
Publisher: Love Spell
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0505526263
Page Count: 342
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: CPB Box no. 2362 vol. 13
- Dewey: 813
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
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