“Xervish Flydd, to Nish. 'You took your bloody time, Nish. I expected you nine years ago.”

“You realize something once, when you are nine, and then you realize it again when you are ten, and you realize when you are eleven, twelve, but every year you see that what you thought you understood a year ago, no, wait it is ten times worse. And your heart fills up with lead.”

“No, you wont,” Sarah grinned. “That means you’d have toactually see him partially naked, and you’d vomit before youcould fi nish the job.”“True,” Travia amended.“Hey!”“Um, can we stop talking about my little brother’s ballsand shit?” Eiríkr asked with a disgusted grin.”

“You are just as annoyingly cocky as you were nine years ago.”“Yes,” Kyle’s gaze fell to her lips. “And we both know how that turned out.”

“I'm glad that when I was on the sidewalk on the square in town with you and Casey all those years ago, I decided for the first time in my life not to play it safe.""I'm glad too, Ivey, seriously fuckin' glad you took a chance on me.”

“I think that’s Miss Victorine now with your breakfast. Are you hungry?”“Do you expect me to sit here like a bloody fool and eat a meal?”“You’ll always be a bloody fool, there’s nothing to be done about that, and I don’t care if you starve to death.” Moving to the bottom of the stairway, she took the tray from Miss Victorine’s hand. “But right now you have to maintain a modicum of health or we won’t get our money.”