“I hold up the heartstone. It’s burnin hot now. He’s on th’other side. The sound of a heartbeat. In my head, all around me, everywhere. So loud.”

“I grab his face an' kiss him on the lips. Then I step back. We stare at each other. All the air gits sucked outta the tunnel. The heartstone burns into my skin. The blood pounds in my ears.Yer timin stinks, he says.”

“Yer in my blood, Saba, he says. Yer in my head. Yer in my breath, yer in my bones...gawd help me, yer everywhere. You have bin since the first moment I set eyes on you.”

“He turns around, all impatient. Now what? I wanna say something to you. I wanna say . . . I dunno . . . more. I could bust apart with all I'm feelin inside of me right now. What with fightin off the hellwurms an gittin my shoulder tore open, an how I felt when I woke up an seen you an, now, here I am, being so close to findin Lugh an I dunno what's gonna happen an--Jack's lookin at me, frowning. What's the matter with you, Saba? he says. I grab his face an kiss him on the lips.”

“Before I know what he's up to, he grabs my hand. Hey! I try to pull it away but he holds it even tighter. Saba, he says, I dunno what happy star sent you lookin fer me but I'm mighty thankful it did. If you hadn't of turned up, I'd be dead by now.”

“I gasp.All around me, the dead are risin.Another leg bone bobs to the muddy surface. Then a skull. A arm bone. They swing lazily. The current grabs 'em an carries 'em away.Wreckers must of used the dry riverbed as a mass grave an now the heavy rain's churnin it all up.I snatch my hands from the water, hold my arms high, outta the way. Slowly I turn in a circle, blinkin the rain away from my eyes.Ohmigawd, I says. Ohmigawd ohmigawd ohmigawd.The river's alive with dead men's bones. It's thick with 'em.My breath's comin shallow an fast.I feel somethin touch me. I make myself look down. A skellenton's wrapped itself around my chest. The skull grins up at me.I shove it away. But when I pull my hands up agin, the whole top half of the skellenton comes with 'em. I'm stuck in the ribcage. The skull's right in my face.I scream. Shake myself loose. Scramble to git away. Lose my footin.I fall. I go unner.An the current sweeps me away.”

“I close my eyes. My bones sob. Throb. I'm so weary with tryin to hold myself together. Tryin to hold back the darkness.”