“Please, ground, just open up and let me fall into an endless crevasse till I hit the center of the earth and combust. Please. Is that too much to ask?”

“Please, please be some sex-starved nutcase who wants to kidnap me and make me your love slave, I begged silently.”

“But I also meant that loving someone really opening your heart to them is just asking to have your heart smashed and handed back to you in little pieces.”

“The heart that loves must one day grieve. Love and grief are the Goddess's twined gifts. Let the pain in, let it open your heart to compassion. Let me help you bear your grief and then may your heart ease and open to greater love. May the love that flows eternally through the universe embrace and comfort you. p.85”

“Come with me," Reyn said. "I want to show you something." Frankly, I had expected something more original. "Really?" I asked, "That's it? That's what you came up with?”

“It was all I could do to not knock him down right there in front of Asher and climb on him. If I stunned him with a frying pan first, he might not struggle too much.…”

“You went to all that trouble just for my body?" I said, amazed and so grateful.Reyn looked up, irritation on his face. "Yeah. We were going to have you stuffed, as an example to future students."I grinned, "You could put me on wheels, move me from room to room.”