“The sexual attraction between a shifter and one of the marked was always strong and for some that was enough. Even though it might mean spending the rest of your life bound to a woman who wanted to screw you every time she looked at you, but hated you while she did it.”

“Megan noisily sucked in air for a scream that froze in her lungs. The cat stood in front of the open fire escape window, tail twitching, eyes focused intently on her face. Cursing inwardly at the stupidity of leaving the window open even a little bit, she made a mental note to never do it again…if she lived.The sheer size of the body under that sleek black coat was breathtaking, not to mention the power evident in those muscles. Megan whimpered as she caught sight of the sharp claws just visible on its feet. “Holy crap, someone up there has a really sick sense of humor. When I said I should get a cat, this is not what I meant!” she whispered. The cat snorted and her heart lodged in her throat.”

“She was hurt, Artie. And I don’t think I could tell you how scared I was. It was like watching a flashback of you, dying. I couldn’t protect you. And I couldn’t watch that again.”

“You can spend your money and spend your time. At the end of the day, you can look in your wallet and know how much money you have left. That's the difference between money and time.”

“I know that you’re just in a hole in the ground. I know that you’re long gone. I don’t even know why I write you these letters anymore. Probably to feel closer to you. I’ve never stopped loving you. There have been other girls, besides you, but you’ve never had competition. My mind always drifted back to the sweet little girl with glittering eyes.”

“I don’t know when I’ll get to send you another balloon. I know it probably won’t get to you. You’ve never answered and I know that even if you got my letters, you could never write back.”

“And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.I want to repeat one word for you:Leave.Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.”