“I nodded and smiled enthusiastically. "Party!""Lend'll whine.""He's cute when he whines.""There's something wrong with you," she said.There were a lot of things wrong with me, but loving Lend was definitely not one of them.”

“Lend and I certainly didn't start off on the right foot"-only Raquel would refer to Lend punching her and then us imprisoning him in an IPCA cell and interrogating him as being the "wrong foot"- "but he's always been good to you,and I have no doubt you two will be able to work this out.”

“Lend.”“Lend?” Raquel asked.“Yes, as in, lend me your self.” He shimmered into Raquel again.“Why not Borrow?” I asked. “Better yet, Steal?”

“I followed the sensation,thinking of Lend. What it felt like to hold his hand. Watching him draw.Those precious times when he got to be nothing but himself around me. The way he laughed. The look he got in his eyes when he was about to say something he knew was clever. The way he looked at while I talked, like I was all he had ever wanted in the entire world.”

“Wait, aren't they notoriously lusty?"There was a pause at the other end of the line."Oh,you are not going to that lab again."Lend laughed and I closed my eyes, picturing how he would look in front of me. "Trust me, there's only one paranormal I'd like to be notoriously lusty for me."I sighed. "Okay, but I don't think I can find a hag on such short notice.”

“So, are you two going to get married already or waht?"I laughed. "Excuse me?"Carlee rolled her eyes. "Please. You don't even look at other guys. And I have never seen a guy that crazy about a girl before. You're like, his entire world."I shrugged, smiling. "I can't imagine ever finding someone better than Lend. He just--knows me. Totally. Everything. And miraculously he still likes me.""Likes? Girls, he head-over-heels-freaking-loves you.""It's mutual!”

“He smiled at my reaction, the stupid smile of his that was like he knew something you didn’t. And he knew something I didn’t pretty much all the time, so it was pretty much every smile on his face.”