“Well, I have my angel--""Yes, let's place our faith in that sparkling 'Frisbee' because he's done so much to help you already.”

“Well, you can't be a vampire." I struggled to make it sound like I was teasing, not feverishly wishing. "You're not sparkling.”

“Don't worry about it. He's just moody because it's been about nine months since he's gotten laid, and he thinks I'm going to get some tonight."I almost choked on the pancakes.Oz put his hand on his belly and looked down. "Don't make that face." He tried unsuccessfully to keep himself from laughing. "I know it's not happening. Besides, I don't you well enough yet. You could be scary."I forced the uncooperative bite of pancake down my throat. "You think I'm scary?" I squealed. "I hope you realize this is coming from the guy who said he wasn't human.”

“The four of us were together at last--me, the angel, the devil, and my demon. I felt like the moment should have seemed more momentous, or at least more pleasant, like we should have made jokes as we meandered down to the beach, collected driftwood for a fire, and leisurely toasted marshmallows. Instead, I was struggling to keep my eyes open, the angel was looking at the ground, Oz was glaring at the trunk, and for some reason I just knew that Forneus, locked down and wrapped in a sheet, was glaring right back.”

“Oz suddenly looked very guilty. "About that. Um, that's because I marked you last night."My smile froze on my cheeks, making my face ache. "What?"He suddenly found the half-eaten pancakes on his plate fascinating. "While you were sleeping on the couch, I rolled you over and..."The blood left my face. "What exactly does marking someone entail?""Nothing so bad. I just bit your back.""You bit me?""Yeah. I injected some venom into your bloodstream that would make you feel better around me. I like holding your hand but I didn't think it was very practical."I lifted my shirt, pulled down my pants, and almost fell over. My lower back looked...it looked..."You gave me a festering tramp stamp?" I shrieked."You don't think it's cute?”

“Maybe this kind of devotion is sinful," I continued. "Perhaps it was even the origin of sin. But you and I are already damned.”

“To Oz's credit, he didn't say anything, probably because he'd decided that trying to converse with someone so temperamental wasn't worth it.”