“Mallory!" Catcher's voice boomed down the stairs.Mallory fixed her mouth into a tight line and walked me into the kitchen. "Ignore it," she advised. "Much like the bubonic plague, it'll go away if you give it enough time.""Mallory! You weren't finished! Get back in here!"I glanced up the stairway. "You didn't leave him handcuffed to the bed or something, did you?""Jesus, no." I incrementally relaxed, until she continued. "My headboard's a single piece of wood. There's nothing to handcuff him to.”

“Mallory, I lo—""Wait!" This was from Amy, and she looked at Mallory. "I'm sorry, but don't you think you should tell him about the car before he finishes that sentence?""No," Mallory said, giving Amy the evil eye. She wanted the rest of Ty's sentence, dammit!Ty frowned. "What's wrong with the Shelby?""Nothing," Mallory said quickly."Nothing," Amy agreed. "Except for the dinged door where she parked too close to the mailbox.""Oh my God," Mallory said to her. "What are you, the car police?""The classic car police," Amy said smugly."You parked the Shelby on the street?" Ty asked Mallory incredulously.She went brows-up."Okay," he said, lifting his hands. "It's okay. Never mind about the car.”

“She's not here," I tell him. Buttercup hisses again. "She's not here. You can hiss all you like. You won't find Prim." At her name, he perks up. Raises his flattened ears. Begins to meow hopefully. "Get out!" He dodges the pillow I throw at him. "Go away! There's nothing left for you here!" I start to shake, furious with him. "She's not coming back! She's never ever coming back here again!" I grab another pillow and get to my feet to improve my aim. Out of nowhere, the tears begin to pour down my cheeks. "She's dead, you stupid cat. She's dead.”

“Catcher shrugged, refolded the paper, and stuffed it back into his pocket. "Anyone wanna dance?""Oh, Jesus," Mallory muttered."Dance?" I asked. "I could dance. I need to change, but I can dance." I could always dance. My hips didn't lie.Mallory tucked her tongue into her cheek, then gave Catcher a look of mock irritation. "Nice going, Gandalf. You'll rile her up, and I'll never get her tucked in. You wanna give her candy and caffeine while you're at it?”

“He glared accusingly at her while he made short work of his clothes. "You didn't wake me up."She rolled her eyes as she speared a piece of sausage with her fork. "I did wake you up. Three times in fact. Each time you threw something at me and went back to sleep."Jason gaped at her. "And you gave up? You know our routine, woman. You have tokeep at it until I'm forced to get off the bed to find something to throw at you.”

“Do you need to reschedule? There are some other things I could take care of while I’m in town.”Mallory waved him off. “No, today’s fine. It’s going to be on the exam, so I might as well do it.”“Oh, my God, you are Harry Potter,” I said, pointing a finger at her. “I knew it!”She rolled her eyes, then looked at Catcher.”