“Lukas grinned at me. "I didn't know how badass you are. That's kind of hot.”

“He crossed toward me, a grin curving his mouth-then he stopped. "Should I get the other blade?"I looked at the sword in my hand. "I'm waiting for the Rake."He raised a brow. "The Rake?"Oh, right, we'd never talked about him. "He's a ghost. Your ancestor. The Bennett you're named after.""What?" Bennett laughed in surprise. "Here? When did he show up?""Um...a couple days after you brought me here from San Francisco.""Why didn't you tell me?""He's private. And you're both Bennetts. It'd be like...I don't know. Traveling back in time and meeting yourself.""And you call him 'the Rake'?""Well, he's all swagger and devilish charm," I explained."In that case, how can you tell us apart?”

“I'm just a--" I looked at Yoshiro. "An unimpressive girl who doesn't want to battle ghosts and kill wraiths. There's only three things I want. To find my family. Dispel Neos. And to--" I stopped suddenly, and didn't know where to look."Yes?" Yoshiro said. "The third thing?""To be with me," Bennett said.”

“All I know is that I'm in love with you," he said, almost angrily. "That the sight of you, the scent of you, the sound of your voice - I can't help myself, I can't stop it, I can't think of anything else. You've made me completely useless.”

“A message had been sent to EmmaVaile at an account I didn't recognize. It was from BennettStern at the same network.Four words: "I'm grateful for you.”

“You know you've got a problem when baristas greet you by name. You know you've got another problem when it's the warmest social interaction of your day.”

“Besides, how could I trust them, when I couldn't even trust myself?”