“I wanted someone to gaze at me that way, someone to share a truly incredible moment with. I wondered how long I would have to wait.”

“Too cold,” I mumbled. A second later, I felt a warm sensation, almost as if someone was lowering a blanket onto me. “Charlotte.” It was just a whisper, faint and far away.”

“I froze, my hand on the wall, and listened. Someone was definitely upstairs. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone and took a step back toward the front door. I kept my eyes on the stairs and my hand on the cell phone. A light flashed across the hallway”

“I had learned how to leave a place behind without leaving a piece of myself along with it, but more important, I had taught myself how to be detached. I never joined teams or clubs, and I doubted my picture appeared in a single yearbook. I was, in a way, a ghost: no one could prove I had ever existed once I physically left a location.”

“[Zelden] turned to me. “Wait here. Inform Marcus that we will be setting up in the first-floor kitchen. I believe it may function as a portal to the other realm.”“The demons crawl out of the oven,” Annalise whispered to me as she passed.”

“You could have all the crazy thoughts you wanted, as long as you smiled and kept them to yourself.”

“I see her,” a man’s voice whispered. A chill spread through me. Shane played it again. Never had three little words terrified me so much. I see her.”