“Sam…”“What?” she whispered.“Tell me what to do to fix it.”She shook her head and closed her eyes as though she couldn’t bear to see him. “You can’t fix it.”He had to. Failure here was not an option. “Let me try.”

“Griffin, please,” she whispered.“Do you want me?” he asked.“Yes!” She tossed her head restlessly. She’d explode if he didn’t give her release soon.“Do you need me?” He kissed her nipple too gently.“Please, please, please.”“Do you love me?”And somehow, despite her extremis, she saw the gaping hole of the trap. She peered up at him blindly in the dark. She couldn’t see his face, his expression.“Griffin,” she sighed hopelessly.“You can’t say it, can you?” he whispered. “Can’t admit it either.”

“He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t tell her how much she had come to mean to him. She could destroy him with her rejection. If she had feigned her feelings for him – if he’d bought into her lies and her quest for freedom…. He wasn’t sure what he would do. He could hurt her." Caleb.”

“What are you doing?""What I've wanted to do for a long time."She couldn't move, couldn't think. She was lost in his dark eyes, and as he slowly lowered his head toward hers, she whispered, "Are you going to throttle me, then?"He was laughing when he kissed her.”

“Brightpaw's eye opened and she fixed a cloudy gaze on Fireheart."What happened?" he repeated. "What did this?"A thin wailing came from Brightpaw, which gradually formed into words. Fireheart stared at her in horror as he made out what she was trying to say."Pack, pack," she whispered. "Kill, kill.”

“I have heard of daydreams – is she in a daydream now? Her eyes are fixed on the floor, but I am sure they do not see it – her sight seems turned in, gone down into her heart: she is looking at what she can remember, I believe; not at what is really present.”