A.G. Howard

“Él alza una mano e incluna su sombrero de ese modo tan sexy. —Me deseas. Admítelo. Aunque acierta en parte, no se lo confesaré nunca. —¿Por qué iba a desearte? Levanta tres dedos para una cuenta atrás. —Misterioso. Rebelde. Problemático. Todas las cualidades que las mujeres encuentran irresistibles. —Qué optimista. —Mi alcoba nunca está vacía. —Lástima que el cerebro sí.”

“Lloras por él, pero por mi sangraste. Habría que preguntarse qué es más poderoso. Más vinculante. Supongo que lo sabremos algún día.”

“Tú comprendes la lógica que hay detrás de lo que no tiene lógica, Alyssa. Tu naturaleza te lleva a encontrar la tranquilidad en medio de la locura.”

“País de las Maravillas y cotidiano. Dos conceptos que nunca deberían estar en la misma frase.”

“One who's naked shouldn't judge apparel,”

“Now, you listen, Alyssa Victoria Gardner. Normal is subjective. Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not normal. Because you are to me. And my opinion is all that matters. Got it?”

“I ache to cry... ache so much, it takes my breath away.”

“Memories, real and irreplaceable, all of them. The happy ones, the bitter ones, the terrified and the poignant.”

“These are my masterpieces... my morbid mosaics.”

“Stop thinking with your head, Alyssa.”

“Some perv lured you here via a magical website?”

“He starts to hum, a haunting melody. No words ride the music, only the familiar notes of a forgotten song.”

“But I do, and the barbed wire tightens once more, until my heart is strangled and broken.”

“No one knows what he or she is capable of until things are at their darkest.”

“You can put me down now," I grump."I don't know. It's a lot easier to save your ass when I have it riding on my shoulder.”

“Raising one hand, he tilts his hat to that sexy slant. "You want me. Admit it."Even if he's partly right, I'll never tell him. "Why would I want you?"He lifts three fingers to countdown. "Mysterious. Rebellious. Troubled. All those qualities women find irresistible.""Such an optimist.""My cup is never empty.""Too bad your brain is." The words bite, but my smile softens with affection.”

“I hate you," I say, the sentiment muffled against his heart, hoping to make it true."And I love you," he answers without hesitation, voice resolved and raw as he holds me tighter so I can't break away and react. "A crossroads, my beautiful princess, that was unavoidable—given our situations.”

“I go where Al goes, dances-with-bugs. And just so you know, if anything happens to her, I'll pin you by your wings to a corkboard and use you for dart practice.”

“He's a contradiction: taut magic coiled to strike, gentleness at war with severity, a tongue as sharp as a whip's edge, yet skin so soft he could be swathed in clouds.”

“I scroll past images every bit as violent and beautiful as Jeb's paintings: luminious, rainbow-skinned creatures with bulbous eyes and sparkly, silken wings who carry knives and swords; hideous, naked hobgoblins in chains who crawl on all fours and have corkscrew tails and cloven feet like pigs; silvery pixielike beings trapped in cages and crying oily black tears.”

“Jeb releases my fingers and cups my face in his hands, barely touching me, like I'm breakable. "It's me I'm losing control of. Hundreds of sketches, and I still can't get enough of your face." He traces the dimple in my chin with his thumb. "Your neck." His palm moves along my throat. "Your..." Both hands find my waist and drag me off the table so we're standing toe to toe. " I'm not wasting another second drawing you," he whispers against my lips, "when I can touch you instead." He presses his mouth to mine.”

“Tearing down the rest of the world won't make you happy. Look inside yourself. Because finding who you were meant to be? What you were put into this world to do? That's what fills the emptiness. It's the only things that can.”

“Sometimes a flame must level a forest to ash before new growth can begin. I believe Wonderland needed a scouring.”

“Some people have no business attending a dignified tea. Gawking as if I belong in a zoo, when they're the ones who have all the manners and the fashion sense of a monkey.”

“I was afraid of...""Go on..." I press."Of unloading my baggage on someone as sweet as you."I can't keep the smile off my lips. "Oh, wow.""What?""I guess we're both oblivious. That's the same reason I kept running from my feelings for you.""Because I'm sweet?" That dimpled, boyish grin flashed over his face.”

“I need to get to that tea party and wake up the guests."Jeb looks at me. "And how are you supposed to do that? Give a magical kiss to the half-baked hatmaker?”

“Because of all the things I've experienced on this journey - shrinking and growing, flying sprites, living chess pieces - not a one of them is more magical than this moment.”

“Did he touch you? Hurt you?" Jeb whispers in the silence."No. He was a gentleman."Jeb frowns. "You mean a gentleroach .”

“Then she (Gossamer) turns to Jeb. "Elfin knight, do you wish for pleasure on your quest? I can provide it, if you so desire."Rubbing his labret with his thumb, Jeb glances at me, adorably bewildered. "Um. No thanks. I'm good.”

“I'm going to fall in love with an artist. And we'll have two kids and live in the country. A quiet life, so we can hear our muses and answer when they call. Tipping up my chin to meet his gaze, he gives me a tender, starlit smile—one that melts my insides. "I like your version better.”

“You're going to be a famous artist." His voice is deep velvet - soothing and sure. "You'll live in one of those artsy, upscale apartments in Paris with your rich husband. Oh, who just happens to be a world-renowned exterminator. How's that for a twist of fate? You won't even have to catch your own bugs anymore. That'll give you more time to spend with your five brilliant kids. And I'll come visit every summer. Show up on the doorstep with a bottle of Texas BBQ sauce and a French baguette. I'll be weird Uncle Jeb.”

“I clench my fingers. "She's right, huh? The morbid and revolting are such fascinating subjects.”

“Do you really think these are Alice's tears?" I ask. "That I'm supposed to make them go away somehow?""I'm the wrong guy to ask. I just saw a skeleton with antlers and a forest of aphid-noshing flower zombies.”

“How long has it been since we've had such delectable visitors?"Jeb eases us into a small clearing in the midst of the chattering creatures and turns me to face him. "Did they just call us 'delectable'?”

“I harden my glare and my heart.”

“His palm rests on the knob so I can't try to shut him out again. Rain droplets glisten along his sleek hair, which no doubt took gallons of glaze and hours to perfect. It's the one part of his appearance Taelor will actually approve of. As for me, I favour the messy look - hair out of sorts, body slicked in sweat with motor oil or watercolours splashed across his olive skin. That's the Jeb I grew up with. The one I could count on. The one I've lost.”

“I've been collecting bugs since I was ten; it's the only way I can stop their whispers. Sticking a pin through the gut of an insect shuts it up pretty quick.”

“Jen said some guy asked you but you didn't want to go. Why not?"I shrug. "I have this character flaw? Called dignity?”