“Excuse me, but aren't boys forbidden on this floor?' Macey said on our way to the suite.'That's the advantage of being the only boy,' he (Zach) said. 'No one actually comes right out and makes rules like that.”

“I heard someone's playing hooky,' Zach told me. He smiled. Standing there, it felt almost like nothing bad had ever happened- or would ever happen again'There's a boy in my life,' I told him. 'He's a very bad influence.'Then Zach nodded. 'Bad boys have a way of doing that. But they're worth it.”

“Look at the way the walls curve,' Macey said, her gaze panning around the strangely shaped room. 'it's almost like...''The library,' Liz said, and immediately I knew that she was right. It was exactly like the library at the Gallagher Academy, from the position of the fireplace to the tall windows that overlooked the grounds.'How do you know?' Zach asked.Liz looked totally insulted. 'Because...uh...library.''Okay.' Zach threw up his hands. 'Point taken.”

“You look disappointed to see me, Zach," Macey teased. "Don't you like my jacket?”

“Wordlessly, she slipped off her shoes. Gently, she placed a palm on the floor, shifted to stand, but that was when Macey felt another hand pressing down on hers.Hard. Too Hard."Just what do you think you're doing ?" Hale hissed in her ear. His fingers burned into her skin. And Macey knew if she was going to take out the gunman, she was first going to have to neutralize the boy beside her."Why don't you let me go and I'll show you," she said with only a modicum of flirt in her voice."Why don't you put your fancy shoes back on and sit there like a good little girl?""First of all, I'm good at a lot of things. Taking orders from bored billionaires isn't one of them. Second of all, he's alone, and I can take him," Macey said."No!" Hale said. "You don't know anything about this guy.""I know he's left handed and has an old injury to his right knee---probably a torn ACL at some point but the details don't matter. And the way he keeps his finger purposefully away from the safety of that gun means he's never fired it. And he doesn't want to.""You're kinda scary.”

“Most people believe me when I lie. I've learned how to say the words just right. I have a trusting kind of face. But the boy in front of me was a trained operative, so Zach knew better. And besides, Zach new me.”

“Maybe Liz was right and she'd wanted someplace safe. Maybe Mr. Solomon really did understand that running was the only way Macey would find out if we'd run after her. Or maybe, like me, she just wanted to disappear for a little while”