“I got a demerit, professor." There was a kind of naughty amusement in her eyes that I found myself really liking.I smiled slowly. "Why did you do, Miss Dearly?""She henpecked Elpinoy in a most spectacular fashion," Renfield offered. "I think at one point she was actually hanging on his back." Nora made a sound of annoyance. "Alas, I was looking at a computer screen with Dr. Samedi at the time, and thus I'm afraid that neither of us can vouch for this with certainty."The laughter bubbled out of me before I could hold it back. "Were you?" I asked her."Define 'hanging.'""Bra,." Elpinoy appeared in one of the lab doorways. He gestured to the exterior doors. "Take her out. Now. Never in my life have I encountered such a little-""Lady?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face."Out.""'Phone call,'" Nora said, affecting his tone of voice and looking right at him. "'Let-ter.'""Not until Wolfe orders it!" Elpinoy marched into his lab again and slammed the door behind him.Nora stood up, her skirt bouncing a bit atop its puffy petticoat. "That man is an infuriating ponce.""And you're an excellent judge of character.”

“Well, Dr. Elpinoy will never admit it, but he suffers from performance anxiety-""Oh, shut up, you old cad," Elpinoy said, finally uncrossing his arms.”

“So, could there be a cure?' Nora looked at me out of the corner of her eye. I found myself looking at the floor. I knew the answer to that one. 'No,' Beryl said. 'Prions essentially cannot be destroyed. We've tried antibiotics, antiretrovirals, acid …' 'Freezing flesh, burning it …' Samedi ticked off. 'Autoclaving works some of the time, but not enough to be thoroughly trusted. Um … industrial cleaners of all kinds …' 'Your mother's cooking …”

“Now. Bram, you are a good friend and an uptanding young man, but I'm afraid that tradition dictates I now attempt to scare you within an inch of your unlife.""Understood," Bram said, taking his arm back as I got myself under control.My father is a gentle-looking man. Thus, why I started laughing again as he attempted to look stern. "What are your intentions concerning my daughter?"Bram cast a look my way, laughing himself, before clearing his throat and doing his best to look scared. "Why, to care for and protect her until I rot away, sir.”

“[after Bram bit Nora at her request] It hit me then that she wasn't half as disgusted as she should be. '[Nora, a]re you … sure you're okay with it?' She pulled her sleeve back up and shrugged. She was quiet for a minute before asking, '[Bram. ]Did you enjoy it?' I decided to tell the truth. 'Yes. You wouldn't believe how good you taste. I don't think i could even describe it.' She laughed. 'Good? Like filet mignon good? Or like … candy good?”

“It was five minutes of screaming, slamming myself against the door, and stamping my feet-and a minute of contemplating the cold, horrible idea that I might have to leave the room to find anyone, and maybe this had been their plan all along, and Oh God, Oh God-before I heard Dr. Elpinoy's nervous voice.”

“I broke away from Samedi and sprinted down the gangplank, screaming out Bram's name. His head turned, and he started limping toward me."Nora!" I heard someone yell.Bram met me halfway. He scooped me up with one arm and pulled my head toward his. I didn't fight it in the least. He kissed me harshly, and I returned it, leaping up on my toes, seeking out his chapped, broken lips with my own, inexpertly, needfully. And then he just held me as I cried, soaking his dirty T-shirt with my tears, his cheek on my head. "I thought you were gone," I managed to get out. "I thought you were really gone...""I thought I was, too," he said, laughing weakly. "But I'd never leave you if I had the choice. I was going to get back to you, or grind to dust trying.”