“I want her to be happy, and she's most happy with you. Maybe this will make up for... past mistakes." He shook his head and returned to his normal idiocy. "So, either you say, 'Sure, I'd love to have you along,' or you have a big bird dropping things on your head the whole trip.”

“So, either you say, 'Sure, I'd love to have you along,' or you have a big bird dropping things on your head the whole trip.”

“Does a crow become a salmon simply because it wished to? You do not know the first thing about mortality, prince-who-is-not. Why would you want to become like them?""Because," Grimalkin answered before I could say anything, "he is in love.""Ahhh." The Witch looked at me and shook her head. "I see. Poor creature. Then you will not hear a word I have to say"I was in love. With a human.I smiled bitterly at the thought. The old Ash, if faced with such a suggestion, would've either laughed scornfully or removed the offender's head from his neck.”

“I want to know when you're worried, when you're angry or happy or sad. You can probably do the same to me, though I'm slightly better at shielding my emotions. More practice.""A shadow crossed his face, a flicker of pain, before it was gone. "Unfortunately, the longer we're together, the harder hiding it will become, for both of us." He shook his head and gave me a wry smile. "One of the hazards of having a faery in love with you.”

“Are you sure?" His voice was barely a whisper, a ghost in the dark.I nodded, tracing my fingers down his cheek, marveling as he closed his eyes. "We could die tomorrow," I whispered back. "I want to be with you tonight. I don't want to have any regrets, when it comes to us. So, yes, I'm sure. I love you, Ash.”

“Are you all right?”“Never again,” he muttered, almost to himself. His eyes were still closed, and I wasn’t sure he knew I was there. “I will not watch that happen again. I won’t…lose another…like that. I can’t…” “Ash?” I whispered, touching his arm.His eyes opened and his gaze dropped to mine. “Meghan,” he murmured, seeming a bit confused that I was still there. He blinked and shook his head. “Why didn’t you run? I tried to buy you some time. You should’ve gone ahead.”“Are you crazy? I couldn’t leave you to that thing. Now, come on.” I took his hand, tugging him off the post while glancing nervously at the frozen dragon. “Let’s get out of here. I think that thing just blinked at us.”His fingers tightened on mine and pulled me forward. Startled and overbalanced, I looked up at him, and then he was kissing me.”

“Ash shook his head, but I saw the shadow of a smirk on his face. “You know I'm probably going to kill you soon, right?” he muttered as we headed off into the trees.“Old news, ice-boy.” I chuckled, falling into step beside him. “And you know I wouldn't miss it for the world.”