“There was a hole inside her, and it twisted.”

“Blue eyes glittered. A shock of golden hair - gone. The dust in the air swirled, coalesced into a thorn-twisted Shaman tattoo.”

“Well, duh. You're cuter than she is." He said it like he might say, Grass is green or, Gravity works.Something warm opened up inside my chest. It was a nice feeling.”

“I got the idea she'd done her makeup up special for this. Not that she needed much. She was utterly and completely beautiful, except for the hate shining in her eyes.”

“Next to her, even the prettiest djamphir boys looked gawky.”

“Oh, dear me." Nathalie sank back down in the chair and examined her Uggs. "The sarcasm could've started dripping off her and stained the floor. "Is it conspiracy, treachery, murder, or open warfare? I'll have to choose my lipstick accordingly.”

“Okay. I'll deal with Benjamin. You're safe, okay? Nothing's gonna happen." His mouth pulled tight against itself. And now I was having some sort of heart attack. Because when he looked at me like that, my chest started to feel like it was turned inside out. "Promise."And that—the promise, the way he said it with utter certainty—was enough to make me tear up again.”