“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.”

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

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

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

“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?”

“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.”

“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.”