“What is it?' I whispered. 'What's wrong?''Everything but you,' he said hoarsely.”

“What got you through?" I whispered. "Do you remember?"He nodded but wouldn't look at me. When he didn't elaborate, I turned to face him. "What? Is it a secret? Don't I know all the Drake secrets by now?"He shifted uncomfortably. "I guess""What then?""You"I swallowed, stunned. "Me?""Yeah" He stood up and went to the door, where he paused for the barest second. "You got me through".”

“I can do this, Logan," she said confidently. "Kala trained me for this.""What if something goes wrong? I can't exactly wave a magic wand over you. I'm not Harry Potter.""Who?""Never mind.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it?”“What is?”“Treaties and all that. It’s like we woke up one morning and we weren’t supposed to be enemies anymore. It’ll take some getting used to.”“True,” I said. “I think it’s really cool though.”“Unfortunately, not everyone agrees.”I thought of my grandfather and what he would do if he could see me now. “I know. But it’s worth protecting.”“Yes,” he said, and something about the way he was looking at me made me think he was talking specifically about me. “It is.”

“Why are you limping like that?' Nicholas demanded.'I'm swaggering,' I informed him.'You look like you're wearing a diaper.'Charming. And I had a crush on this guy.Wait. I had a crush on this guy?'Now what?' he asked. 'You're making weird faces.''Nothing,' I said quickly. 'Never mind.”

“I love you, too,' he whispered, one corner of his mouth lifting into a smile. I grinned back, then kissed him until I felt light-headed and breathless.”

“Are you serious about leaving?"I touched my aching face. "Yes.But I don't know how.""I'd go with you," Colin said quietly."Really?""You know I would.""If you could do anything, what would you do? Would you go back to Ireland?""Maybe," he said. "I've no family left there but I miss the green hills. I'd love to show them to you, show you Tara and the Cliffs of Moher.We could live in a thatched cottage and keep sheep."I grinned at him. "If you clean up after them.""What would be your perfect day then?" he asked, grinning back at me. "If you don't like my sheep?""Your cottage sounds nice," I allowed. "I'd like to sleep in late and read as many books as I'd like and drink tea with lemon and eat pineapple slices for breakfast.""No velvet dresses and diamonds?"I rolled my eyes, then stopped when the bruises throbbed. "Ouch.And no, of course not.I don't care about that. Only books." I looked at him shyly. "And you.""That's all right then," he said softly.”