“She collapsed at the bottom of the trail, at the edge of the ghost town. Dekka sat on Edilio and pressed down on the wound. The force of the blood was weaker now. She could almost hold the blood back now, not a good thing, no, because it meant he was almost finished, his brave heart almost done beating.Dekka looked up straight into the glittering eyes of a coyote. She could sense the others around her, closing in. Wary but sensing that a fresh meal was close at hand.”

“She could smell the pages. She could almost taste the words as they stacked up around her.”

“He was so close she could almost hear the movement of his thoughts, the role of the tide; she had slipped inside his skin.”

“Yes, he would be gone, but she knew now what it meant to love. She might not knowwhat it meant to be loved, but loving was almost as good.”

“Sometimes she teased me that she’d eventually catch up to me in age and be my older sibling. Looking at her now, with that determined glint in her eyes and the confidence in her voice, I could almost believe her”

“Rieker's hand slid from her wrist to her hand, and his fingers entwined around hers. Before she could move, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close. Instead of being afraid, Tiki felt an odd sense of safety.”