“I’d accepted my judgment without question. Agreed to live a mortal life. I didn’t know my memories would come with me; didn’t know I’d relive them every day.Death would have been more merciful.”

“...I didn’t have the guts to start a conversation with him. Knowing me, my mouth would dry up, I’d stutter something nonsensical and probably trip and fal into a bin for good measure.”

“I didn’t have to look to know who it was; this was a voice I would know anywhere—know, and respond to, whether I was awake or asleep… or even dead, I’d bet. The voice I’d walk through fire for—or, less dramatically, slosh every day through the cold and endless rain for.”

“And" – his voice was soft now – "you’re a beautiful girl. If you show the slightest interest in Alec, he’ll want to go out with you. I know I would."My skin prickled with goose bumps, a chill in the hot April evening. My brain knew Grayson didn’t have the crush on me that I’d imagined when he got mad at me at the airport that afternoon. He wouldn’t have asked me to date his brother if he’d been interested in me. But my body didn’t know this, or didn’t care.”

“My whole life I’d fooled myself into thinking I didn’t need his love, but I’d been wrong. Everyone needed their father’s love.”

“And if I didn’t, I’d spend the rest of my life wondering who I could have turned into if only I’d had the guts to try.”