“You're strictly a tulip girl—a red tulip girl.”

“Four hundred years of losing out on the girl of my dreams isn't sitting very well with me these days.”

“For the moment, I’m just Daire—a girl straddling two bloodlines. One I was given—one I must earn.”

“But I want you to know that you're a beautiful girl, far more beautiful than I ever was at your age, and that starving yourself to compete with all of those skinny celebrities who spend half their lives checking in and out of rehab is not only a completely unreasonable and unattainable goal, but will only end up making you sick.”

“But my attention’s elsewhere, drawn to that warm wonderful pull, the familiar loving essence that only belongs to one person—only belongs to him—Watching as Damen cuts through the water, board tucked under his arm, body so sculpted, so bronzed, Rembrandt would weep. Water sluicing behind him like a hot knife through butter, cleanly, fluidly, as though parting the sea.My lips part, desperate to speak, to call out his name and bring him back to me. But just as I’m about to, my eyes meet his and I see what he sees: me—hair tangled and wet—clothes twisted and clinging—frolicking in the ocean on a hot sunny day with Jude’s tanned strong arms still wrapped around me.I release myself from Jude’s grip, but it’s too late. Damen’s already seen me.Already moved on.Leaving me hollow, breathless, as I watch him retreat.No tulips, no telepathic message, just a sad, empty void left behind in his place.”

“I pause by the door,schedule in hand, taking a moment to confirm I'm in the right place,since I really don't need to make that particular mistake yet again.Independent study.Right.Last class of the day-praise be,hallelujah, and more.I make my way inside and introduce myself to the man at the podium bearing a squinty mean gaze, a cruel slash of a mouth, a size-too-small T-shirt forced to stretch over a belly that will always arrive well before the rest of him,and a crew cut so tight it's mostly just scalp.Pausing when he places a red checkmark next to my name and tells me to grab any seat.If I've learned anything today,it's that it can't be that easy.It may not be obvious at first sight,but somewhere in this deceptively innocuous classroom, territory has been staked, boundaries drawn,and an invisible wall erected,bearing an equally invisible sign that states clueless new girls like me are not welcome here."Any seat," he barks, shooting me a look that's already pegged me as just another moron in a succession of many.”

“Damen, seriously, you must know I don't love you because you're immortal, I love you because you're you.”