“The princess stared wide-eyed after her silent teacher. She lifted the hem of her robe and followed. "Is this your secret geomancer society?""No. Could you please not say 'secret geomancer society' out loud?”

“A secret society within a secret society.”

“Connor felt that he could stare for hours into her eyes and he would still not understand her secrets. He knew for certain that she had secrets. For in that short moment when their eyes had met, he had seen her secrets. And he wanted to know them. Something else though, he had seen the flare of recognition in her eyes. Had they met?”

“It was part of their mission as a secret society--as it is part of the mission of most secret societies, actually--to not be entirely secret.”

“My eyes darted to her, dreading to see the pain I knew I would find. Please, Melanie, you have to know I only wanted this with you. I couldn't say the words out loud, but I prayed she would understand, that she could see it in my eyes.”

“Love is a secret society, a community for two.”