“The other fish think me proudor discontented with my station.The birds think I'm beneath them.Even submerged I am outof my element, which I fearthe Lord in his hasteforgot to invent. I senta letter to him once, pleading:make me this or make me that,limbo is hell upon a fish.I got a message back. It read:Don't despair, I made you purposelythat way—bounding breathlessinto space, the way I madeAdam and Eve, flittingbetween the field and ruined gardensof each other's airy arms.”

“I need my warriors whole. You made each other bleed.” I ignored Ren's bewildered expression. “Now undo the damage.”“You've got to be kidding me.” Shay grimaced.“I can't begin to tell you how much I'm not kidding.” I stepped back, folding my arms over my chest. “Until I choose a mate, I'm the only alpha here; I've made it clear that I'm not making a choice right now. You two answer to me. Prove your loyalty. Heal each other.”

“We lost our everything,she said, which said everythingabout loss. My accumulationdictates my ruin; it’s differentfrom your dismantling, which can happen slowly or all at once.What’s crucial is a totalinventory, which may revealsome one element not obliterated.We lost our everything,she said—we—she repeated,meaning the we-ness remained,which in the end must be the seedof re-beginning, the seed that divines the plow, the ounceof dirt, the memory of digging.”

“Despair threatened to drag me down, but I fought it back, clinging to a single, flickering thought. Shay loves me. He would risk everything to find his way back to my side and set me free. Because that's what love is, isn't it? It has to be.”

“The way you move is incredible.” Ren drew me back to press against him. His fingers slid down to the curve of my hips, rocking our bodies in rhythm with the heavy bass. The sensation of being molded against the hard narrow line of his hips threatened to overwhelm me. We were hidden in the mass of people, right? The Keepers couldn’t see?I tried to steady my breath as Ren kept us locked together in the excruciatingly slow pulse of the music. I closed my eyes and leaned back into his body; his fingers kneaded my hips, caressed my stomach. God, it felt good.My lips parted and the misty veil slipped between them, playing along my tongue. The taste of flower buds about to burst into bloom filled my mouth. Suddenly I wanted nothing more than to melt into Ren. The surge of desire terrified me. I had no idea if the compulsion to draw him more tightly around my body emerged from my own heart or from the succubi’s spellcraft. This couldn’t happen!I started to panic when he bent his head, pressing his lips against my neck. My eyes fluttered and I struggled to focus despite the suffocating heat that pressed down all around me. His sharpened canines traced my skin, scratching but not breaking the surface. My body quaked and I pivoted in his arms, pushing against his chest, making space between us.“I’m a fighter, not a lover,” I gasped.“You can’t be both?” His smile made my knees buckle.”

“I have to tell you I think you've substantially set back your progress," she told me, and though it sounds stupid, I felt tears pricking at the back of my eyes when she said that. I hadn't been aware I'd made any progress, and now I'd gone and set it back.”

“What’s three?” I asked, hoping to move away from this uncomfortable topic.The smile pulled at his lips again.“Three.” One of his hands cupped my face and the other slid around my back. He pulled my body against his and my heart began to pound. I took advantage of my free hand and pushed at his chest.“I don’t think so, Lily,” he said. “If you want to get rid of me, you’ll need to do better than that.”I drew a sharp breath and tried to wiggle away, but he held me firmly in place, watching me struggle. He grinned as he lifted me up onto the sink.“What are you doing?” I started to panic. “Someone could come in!”“If they see us, they’ll just turn around and get out of here,” he murmured, lips touching my ear. “No one crosses me.”His hips pressed against my knees, opening them, pushing my skirt up my legs. I gripped his shirt, clinging to him so I wouldn’t fall into the sink. His hand pushed into my lower back. I gasped as his body fitted against mine.Heat flooded my chest, my pelvis. I thought I would drown in it.“We can’t—” His lips stopped my words. The kiss just made me dizzier. I dug my fingers into his shoulders.“You said you didn’t want to be left alone.” His tongue flicked over my cheekbone. “This is me pestering you.”“Aren’t you breaking the rules?” I could barely get the words out. “What about the union?”“I’d rather have you on my own terms.” His hand slipped between my thighs.All strength fled my limbs. “I can’t breathe.”“That means you like it.” He kissed me again.”