“Mia,” Kim said, an edge of warning in her voice signaling the end of her patience. “You’re starting to act like one of those girls. Do you need to get me a gun?”

“Girls like her, my grandfather once warned me, girls like her turn into women with eyes like bullet holes and mouths made of knives. They are always restless. They are always hungry. They are bad news. They will drink you down like a shot of whisky. Falling in love with them is like falling down a flight of stairs. What no one told me, with all those warnings, is that even after you’ve fallen, even after you know how painful it is, you’d still get in line to do it again.”

“Me being in love with a girl and wanting her to be with me, doing what I need to do to make her stay with me; it affects no one, yet it’s terrifying to people and they think you’re a monster.”

“He picked up her gun. Pointed it at her. Pulled the trigger.Isabet jumped like a startled lizard.He handed the gun back to her. 'First tip. Get a new gun. As soon as a Ras Tiegan gun gets sand in it, it's useless. They don't work out here.'Isabet's hand was trembling as she took the gun back. 'You seemed very certain of that.''Nyx unloaded it while we were arguing,' he said. 'If you want to keep up, you'll need to start paying attention.”

“I’ll leave you guys to get acquainted. Somebody show Leo to dinner when it’s time?” “I got it,” one of the girls said. Nyssa, Leo remembered. She wore camo pants, a tank top that showed off her buff arms, and a red bandanna over her mop of dark hair. Except for the smiley-face Band-Aid on her chin, she looked like one of those female action heroes, like any second she was going to grab a machine gun and start mowing down evil aliens. “Cool,” Leo said. “I always wanted a sister who could beat me up.”

“I need Emilia to challenge me with that quiet voice of hers, to keep me interested with all those little quirks she has. I need her because she gets me.”