“If there had been another female for him since we arrived in Salvation, I needed to cut off all her hair and beat her half to death. The strength of that impulse scared me, and I took a step back. Deuce the girl was every bit as vicious as the Huntress, it seemed”

“... Where did you go?”“Down below.”“Ugh,” she said. “I’ve heard they’re little better than animals.”Funny. I thought the same thing about most Topsiders I encountered. Tegan touched my hand in silent sympathy, and I set my jaw. ... I stepped forward and pasted on a false smile. We were in her home, after all. The least I could do was be polite. “I’m Deuce, animal from the underground.”

“I'm not sick, Deuce. You don't know your own charm."My charm? I hadn't been aware I had any. It must be the dress, I thought.”

“A good huntress respected her partners instincts, even if he was socially ignorant.”

“We stood back-to-back, blocking and striking in harmony; sometimes it felt like his arms and legs were an extension of me. I could count on him to keep them off me from behind.”

“I found it curious that people kept animals for companionship and not food. When I'd asked Mama Oaks when she planned to cook the fat creature that slept in a basket in the kitchen, her eyes almost popped out of her head. Since then, she'd kept her pet away from me, like she suspected I meant to turn it into stew. Clearly, I had a lot to learn.”

“My heart raced. He needs you, I thought. Don't let him down. I couldn't remember ever being so happy... or so scared.”