“And so, on a night in late May, I found myself standing on the lawn of a Hyde Park mansion of vampires, staring up at the stone-framed visage of a boy in Armani, an enemy who’d become an ally. Ironic, I thought, that I’d given up one ally today but gained another.Ethan ran a hand through his hair.“What are you thinking about?” I whispered up, knowing he couldn’t hear me.Where was a boom box when you needed one?”

“He broke up with me.""Because you weren't in love with him. That's an iffy proposition, and I think he's handling with grace. A lot of teenage boys would sulk, or lurk around under your window with a boom box.""No one has a boom box anymore. That was the eighties.”

“I sat up then, looking at him appraisingly, knowing that was the moment I could stop everything if I wanted to. “Maybe you should go,” I whispered, as I ran my hand through his hair slowly.“Maybe I should stay,” he said, bringing his lips to mine again.”

“I was just thinking of bunding up Cecily and feeding her to the ducks in Hyde Park," said Will, pushing his wet hair back and favoring Jem with a rare smile.”

“Ian squeezed my hand and leaned in to whisper through all the hair. His voice was so low that I was the only one who could hear. 'I held you in my hand, Wanderer. And you were so beautiful.”

“Will you believe me when I tell you there was kindness in his heart? His left hand didn't know what his right hand was doing. It was only that certain important connections had been burned through. If I opened up your head and ran a hot soldering iron around in your brain, I might turn you into someone like that.”