“There’s no getting better, Storm. This is it.” There’s no coming back from the dead.”

“There’s something different about him, and I don’t have to think hard to see it. Something about the way he takes over a room, the way he looks at me, like he has already identified and can disarm every one of my defense mechanisms with no effort, like he sees through them to the disaster lying beneath. And he wants it.”

“Storm is hounding me like a hyena around a carcass.”

“Hope. Hope that something beautiful may come from this tragic story.Fear. Fear that it won’t.Forgiveness … forgiveness.”

“And you must be Princess Mia? I've heard about you."Her lips pucker and she leans out just a bit further from Storm's cover. "You have?!He nods. "Well, I heard about a Princess Mia who likes ice cream. That must be you, right?"She nods slowly and whispers, "Did you hear that, Mommy? People know I'm a princess!”

“And if that’s all he’s looking for then we’ll set fire to his balls.” “What?” Storm’s face twists in a mixture of shock and amusement.I shrug. “What can I say, Storm? I’m into some weird shit.”

“Society is better off with me in a gym.”