“I told you, God is not coy. He's more likely to hit you across the forehead with a two-by-four than whisper in your ear”

“You big crybaby," I whispered into his ear. "Now you know why your mom warned you not to hit girls. Sometimes they hit back.”

“You need to choose Leah," Duffy breathes into my ear as he drags his lips lightly across my cheekbone. He rests his forehead against mine. "I won't be your second choice.”

“I waited two thousand years for you, Grace Alexander,” he whispered in her ear. “And you were worth every second of it.”

“You are Shenkt? I expected more.”“Pray to whatever god you believe in that you never see more.”“I do not pray.”Shenkt leaned close, and whispered in his ear. “I advise you to start.”

“So we're going ghosting. Our stories lie everywhere, just like our bones, more wild rides than you ever dreamt of, all the daring you want, and all the beauty. Freedom wasn't dull and plodding; it flamed across that Victorian sky like a rocket, it sang in the wind, it made a whole generation into world-changers. And we're going to tell it, if we have to howl in through your keyholes and the cracks in your walls; if we have to haunt your children, and steal across your borders to whisper legends in the ears of strangers.”