“How was your day?” he asked. I faltered, unaccustomed to the question. The look on my face must have been strange because he laughed at me and said, “Okay… don’t tell me then.”Considering the question I asked, “Do people normally want a real answer to that?”I’d only been asked for reports by my father or his team.Julian thought for a moment and shrugged, “I suppose not. Most people say ‘good’ or ‘fine’ even when they don’t mean it.”He mistook my question for simple speculation instead of a lack of understanding. Nodding I snickered and said, “Then it was fine. Yours?”He grinned, “Good.”

“Had I ever truly been free? Though I wasn’t shipped off to different countries did that make me any less of a prisoner?”

“The men my family threw me at were strong and powerful. I could kill this boy with a teaspoon, and for some reason that made me feel comfortable.”

“It is a Siren's burden," she whispered, "So much strength, so much pain. You will feel the weight of humanity on your shoulders, though you are only partly human yourself. Soon you will not have any traces of that left.”

“So what are you saying?” Keath asked, though it was clear he was dreading the answer.“I’m saying is that I don’t want to be a part of this. I want my life to stay the way it is, and that means I can’t be a friend of yours. I don’t want any part of the faerie world.”“That’s how normal people are supposed to react when they find out about all this,” Carlow said, looking pointedly at Kath and Katie, who just shrugged. They had never pretended to be normal.”

“I just stare at him. I want to ask him a thousand questions, but I can tell he doesn't want to be asked. "We make weird friends," I say instead."I've never been into the f-word with people.""I'm privileged, then? Why me?"He thinks for a moment and shrugs again."You're the realest person I've ever known.""Is that good or bad?""It's fucking awful. There's not much room for bullshit, and you know how I thrive on it."We laugh for a moment and begin walking again.”

“We were the creatures desired throughout the ages... foolish humans didn't even realize it, living in their own little world.”