“Helena abruptly stopped, cursing herself for deciding to go on this stupid trip to the ruins. If only she’d stayed at the hotel with her friends, none of this would’ve happened. Now her life was basically over; she’d end up dinner or a prisoner of some deranged nudist vampire.”

“He was struck by the sensation she’d made it happen in some way, that his life was simply a story the old woman was making up in her head.”

“She’d already decided to be with him. If only to wipe him from her mind, get him out of her system andstop the fantasies plaguing her. If only to prove to herself that being with him would not be pleasurable forher.”

“All her life, Claire had had a problem figuring out where other people ended and she began. All her life, she’d taken on the world’s hurt; she held herself responsible. But why?”

“she’d packed up her mother’s life in boxes for storage”

“Eve commanded her hostage to open the door and look calm. She didn’t turn around again, but Beckett knew what she’d done. She’d crossed some line she’d drawn for herself. She’d said his name, kissed him, and saved him.She’d done what he couldn’t do for himself.”