“ "Even with your face in such a state, I can see you are quite lovely. I'j used to certain...standards. You will look good traveling on my arem, as part of my entourage."His words make me want to hurl."You may find I am not the monster you imagine.""Oh, no, " I say. "I bet you're a real prince.""King, actually," he says with a slow grin." ”

“You gotta be kidding me!" I clench my fists. "I am NOT Bilfro Baggins. You are not a wizard with a pointy hat, and this is not the one ring of power." I raise my finger toward the jagged stone.Jeff's brows rise. "Bilbo? Bilbo Baggins?""Whatever!”

“There are friends, I think we can't imagine living without. People who are sisters to us, or brothers. Jimmy was one of those. I never thought I might have to go through life without him. I never thought he might be killed by a drunken driver or anything else. Who thinks about things like that when you're seventeen? If I had known ahead of time what was going to happen to him, I would have gone crazy. I guess I did go a little crazy. My Aunt Lo, who's a hospital psychiatrist, says grief travels a certain route-that if you could plot it out on a map you'd have a line that twists and weaves and eventually ends up near the point of departure. I say "near" because althoughyou may survive the grief, you won't ever be exactly the same. It took me a long time to learn that, and sometimes the whole experience comes back on me and I have to learn it all over again.”

“I forget my own name when he smiles like that.”

“What am I without him? My heart is burnt out, void, like the cold remnant left after a supernova.”

“We're going to die. We're going to die...""We're not going to die," he barks. "Do YOU want to drive?"My head shakes violently. "No way.""Then stop...side seat driving!”

“You know I want you?”“Yes.” Though it sounded breathless, she was proud to be able to utter even a single word.“I usually get what I want.”A slight smile tickled at her lips. “Do I have a say in the matter?”