“No, thats not how it happened... Mr crepsley dropped. He was impaled on the stakes. He died. And it was awful... His cries as he writhed there, bleeding and dying, burning and screaming, will stay with me till I die. Maybe I'll even carry them with me after I go.”
“Be with me, Jack, I says. Burn with me. Shine with me. I'll stay till moonpath fades, he says.”
“What about stakes in the heart?" I asked now. He frowned, the center of his mouth pursed while its corners curled downward. "Anyone will die from a stake in the heart," he said. "And anyone will die if they're severely burned, including vampires.”
“if he goes and dies on me now, I know I'll go completely insane.”
“He's splitting me open, I thought. He'll break me and then I'll die.”
“If I die," he whispered in the dark, "dinna follow me. The bairns will need ye. Stay for them. I can wait.”