“What do you say when someone takes on a really bad ass, murdering sucker for you? There just aren't words for that.”

“First you find out what you have , Dad would say. Then you figure out how to make it work for what you need, 'cause you don't get what you want. You get just what you have and no more. ”

“I sensed him leaning forward. It's weird to feel someone's attention on you that way, like you're the only thing in the world they're listening to. Most of the time people are distracted, or just thinking about what they're going to say next.”

“It was the same old crap-someone thinking they can push you around because you're young, because you're helpless. You had to just sit there and take it because you were under a certain number, because you weren't a real person yet; you could be picked up and dropped like a toy, left behind or thrown away-”

“Death did not play favorites—He loved all equally.What you cannot escape, you must fight; what you cannot fight, you must endure . The god's voice—not quite words, just a thread of meaning laid in my receptive mind—”

“Can I…I mean, do you mind if I sleep up here? If you don't, I, um, understand. I just—""Yes." The word bolted out of me. "Yes, please. Maybe I'll be able to sleep if you're here.”

“Sometimes you can pick who buys you, and for how much. That's what power really is.”