“The pudding lived up to its name. And nothing fell off that wasn't supposed to.”

“It looked like pieces of bread pudding that had been soaked in raspberry syrup.”

“When did I turn into a needywhiny angsty idiot who needed to be swept off her feet? She snorted then started running again, forcing me into a brief sprint to catch up. We're conditioned from birth she said. I swear to god,if I ever have a daughter I'll ban all of the Disney princesses from the house. Except Mulan. She kicks ass.”

“I leveled a scowl at him. “Is thereanything in our agreement that says I can’tcall you names?”He crouched and added a few touchesto the diagram. A very faint smile curvedhis mouth. “No.”My own mouth twitched. “So,hypothetically, if I were to call you anasshole, there’d be no reprisals?” I askedwith an innocent look. “Hypothetically, ofcourse.”Idris glanced up sharply, then hissedand drew back his hand as the sigil he wasworking on stung him.“Nothing of that sort is covered by theagreement,” was Mzatal’s mild reply.I chuckled under my breath. “I thinkI’ll just call you Boss.”He glanced over at me with a raisedeyebrow. I smiled sweetly in response.Mzatal straightened, turned fully to me,hands behind back and head loweredslightly, and still with the faint hint of asmile. “There could be consequences.”I shrugged, still smiling. “What funwould it be if there weren’t?”Mzatal lifted his head. “Nonewhatsoever,” he said, his face betraying ahint of amusement as he moved to thecenter of the diagram.”

“Too easy to lose the way.Too hard to keep from unraveling when there’s nothing to remind you of who youare and where you should be.Another eternity passes in the flick of an eyelash.”

“Lying on the metal table in front of me was a middle-aged man decked out in absolutely nothing at all. A dead man. Buck-ass naked with his little shriveled junk right there for everyone to see.”

“All of a sudden it seemed as if I could smell the brain, and not in a oh-how-gross way, but as if someone had taken the lid off a pot of gumbo to let the aroma fill the room. And I knew it was the brain that smelled so utterly enticing—knew it with every single cell of my being.What the hell was wrong with me?”