“You'll have the use of my body, Breck, until my mother is dead, but that's all you'll have of me. Not one word of tenderness, not one ounce of compassion or concern. If you're tired, if you're hurt, if you're sick, plan to go elsewhere for succor, because you won't find it with me! Those are my terms, Breck, and they're the only terms you'll get from me.”

“My mother told me...if you're going to get anywhere, you're going to have to do it yourself, because no one is going to do it for you.”

“You'll Never See It My Way, Because You're Not Me!”

“My own daughter a streetwalker! If you have any consideration for your parents at all you'll do the only decent thing.What's that?You'll leave this house and not come back until you're a virgin.”

“And you're the biggest coward," I hissed, then caught my breath in my throat as his blade cut deeper."Don't call me a coward," Tobias said, "I'm not!""Have you come here to kill me?" I asked. "Because I'll scream when you do and it'll wake up the princess and probably a whole lot of other people and you'll get into trouble.""You'll be dead.""Yes, but you'll be in trouble.”

“Here's what we're gonna do. You're going to give me that doubt. You're just going to hand it to me, and I'm going to hold it for you. I'm going to keep it for as long as you need me to. For the rest of our lives. I will be your safe place. The place you get to be soft. Right here, just like this. When you leave my arms, you leave whole. Because you already are.You're not broken sweetie, you're human. You're incredibly strong. You're a wonder. You'll return to your team as the warrior you've always been. And you'll know that at any time, you can come to me, and you'll know my arms are strong enough." Sigh”