“This one," Ash growled "is off limits.”

“My eyelids flickered, and Ash made a noise that was almost a growl. "Dammit, Meghan," he snarled, grabbing both my arms. "I am not going to lose you this close to home. Get up!" He rose, pulling me to my feet and, before I could even register what was going on, pressed his lips to mine.-Ash”

“Looks like nobody’s home,” Puck said, turning in a slow circle. “Hellooooooooo? Anybody here?”“Be quiet, Goodfellow,” Ash growled, peering into the shadows with narrowed eyes. “We’re not alone.”“Yeah? How do you figure that, prince? I don’t see anyone.”“The cait sith has disappeared.”“ … Crap.”

“Ash and Puck shared a brief glance, and then Ash pushed himself off the wall to stand beside me. “Lead the way,” he said, nodding into the darkness. “We’ll be right behind you.”“For the record,” Grimalkin stated as we ventured, single file, into the black, “I do not think this is a good idea. But, as no one listens to the cat anymore, I will have to wait until we are completely lost to say ‘I told you so.”

“One night, bored and restless, I found a stack of dusty board games in a closet, and bullied Ash into learning Scrabble, checkers and Yahtzee. Surprisingly, Ash found that he enjoyed these “human” games, and was soon asking me to play more often than not. This filled some of the long, restless evenings and kept my mind off certain things. Unfortunately for me, once Ash learned the rules, he was nearly impossible to beat in strategy games like checkers, and his long life gave him a vast knowledge of lengthy, complicated words he staggered me with in Scrabble. Though sometimes we’d end up debating whether or not faery terms like Gwragedd Annwn and hobyahs were legal to use.”

“Well, don't worry about it too much, princess. Let ice-boy cool off for the night and then try to talk to him tomorrow. He won't stay angry with you too long, I bet. Ash isn't one to hold a grudge. ''''What are you talking about? He's held a grudge against you for centuries!''''Oh, right.”

“Crazy Ash just doesn't have the same ring as Don't-bother-me-or-I'll-kill-you Ash.”