“You're Gideon's friend."I laughed. Gideon's friend, of course. "Only because his mother pays me to hang out with him.""Can she pay me?" Elspeth asked.Iris, moving into the room, rolled her eyes at her sister.”

“Remind me again why I put up with you?" ''Cause you sold me your soul for five bucks, and now you must submit to my will?' I still had the sheet of paper, written in his untidy fifth-grade scrawl. Gideon David Belmonte. One soul.”

“And still the light kept coming. It poured out of me, boundless and violent. But even as it swelled, it didn't leave me. I felt myself moving with it, a part of it, moving through earth and air, soaking up shadow. And I felt connected to everything. I felt the city, the motion of engines and tires and feet, of doors opening, of throats trembling with sound. I smelled soil and snow, grease, garbage, sweat, breath, heat. I felt the earth, and everything beneath and Beneath.”

“I glowered back up at him. "Did you need something?"He didn't move. "Where are you going?""To plot your downfall," I snapped. I bent to retrieve my bag and then sneaked beneath his arm. It wasn't the most dignified exit, but it worked.”

“I already made icing. I told you not to buy any.""Oops," I said, taking another scoop. "Looks like I messed up again. Guess I'll have to eat this."He glanced toward me, giving a pointed look to the two containers I had set beside me. "All of it?" he asked."Maybe if you're nice, I'll share...But considering you've already met your niceness quote for the year, I wouldn't bet on it. And you can't have any sprinkles.""There goes my reason for living.""I thought that was to make me miserable.”

“Rule #47 of living with a superhero. Don't mess with her costume.”

“I loved Granny Belmonte, but she didn't need a costume to look undead.”