“If I hold her hand she says, ‘Don’t touch!’If I hold her foot she says ‘Don’t touch!’ But when I hold her waist-beads she pretends not to know.”

“I don’t know how to dance!” she said. His arms tightened around her when she tried to pull away. “Then just let me hold you.”

“I hold her. I don’t tell her it’s okay.“Be mad,” I say. “Be hurt. Be broken. Cry.”

“She holds the brightly colored wires in her hand. "Well, that did the trick," she says, smiling.”

“I don’t want Tiamat to go back,” said Jeremy sullenly. “I want her to stay here with me.”Miss Priest laughed. It was not a horrible laugh at all. “What a terrible idea!” she said. “Why do you want her to stay?”Because I love her. I don’t want to lose her.”Miss Priest reached out and took his chin in her hand. She looked into his eyes. “You silly boy,” she said. “Nothing you love is lost. Not really. Things, people—they always go away, sooner or later. You can’t hold them, any more than you can hold moonlight. But if they’ve touched you, if they’re inside you, then they’re still yours. The only things you ever really have are the ones you hold inside your heart.”

“Livia pictured herself holding Blake’s hand on a walk in the forest, the sun prickling through the leaves to dance on his face. She pictured his smile. She imagined she felt the gentle touch of his finger on her cheek. She pressed her lips together. He will kiss me again. I know it.”