“I didn't tell him that what I was most scared of, most haunted by, was something I didn't understand and could never run away from. It was myself.”

“And I didn't tell mom what happened. She'd already warned me that bad things could hide in the most unlikely places.”

“Mostly, I could tell, I made him feel uncomfortable. He didn't understand me, and he was sort of holding it against me. I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else. But really there wasn't much point, and I gave up the idea out of laziness.”

“It didn't mean forever but for right now I wanted Rush to be my first. He wouldn't be my last. A stop I might never forget or get over. That was what scared me the most. Not being able to move on.”

“Vee never needed a reason to do something stupid. Sad thing was, most of the time I didn't either.”

“I didn't want to fight with him. And yet I could not promise him what I most wanted to give - my love, the promise that I would stay with him in the Winter Court, that I would throw caution aside and be with him.”