“Jestine and I lock eyes. She's going to look away first. Even if my eyeballs have to completely dry out.”

“Can you fight?"Jestine nods in my direction. "I can take Cas on pretty easily.""Is that supposed to impress me?”

“As we look at each other, something inside me is trying to click, trying to fall into place. I feel it in my mind and in my chest, like a puzzle piece you know has to go somewhere so you keep trying to push it in from all different angles. And then, just like that, it fits. So perfect and complete that you can't imagine how it was without it there, even seconds ago.”

“She raises her brows at Thomas and Carmel."How do you want to room? The two of you and the two of us? Or boys in one, girls in the other?""Boys in one," I say quickly."Right. Back in a minute." Jestine gets up to make the arrangements, leaving me with my gaping friends."Where'd that come from?" Carmel asks."Where'd what come from?"As usual, playing dumb gets me nowhere.”

“I don’t have my knife,” I mumble. “Don’t start that,” Anna says. She walks away from me sharply. “Arthur without Excalibur was still Arthur.”

“I’m not afraid. Despite the searing between my eyes andthe knowledge that something is coming for me, somethingthat could easily rip out my spleen and pop it like a waterballoon, I am not afraid. She’s with me. She’s my purposeand we’re going to save each other. We’re going to saveeveryone. And then I’m going to convince her that she’ssupposed to stay here. With me.”

“I sigh. “So now what? Can I possibly tell you to go home and forget about this? Is there any way that I can avoid us forming some peppy group of—” Before my mouth can finish, I lean forward and groan into my hands. Carmel gets it first, and laughs. “A peppy group of ghostbusters?” she asks.”