“I’ll wait for you to find me again. So don’t take too long.”

“I shouldn’t ask you to,” he said, devotion in every word, “but I’m going to. Wait for me, Jess. I’ll come back to you.” Naked emotion turned the sea green into hidden emeralds. Pressing her fingers to his lips, she shook her head. “You never have to ask, Galen. Forever, that’s how long I’d wait for you.”

“Illium grinned, unrepentant. “Want to try again? I’ll move extra slow — you are both so much older, after all.” The last words were a conspiratorial whisper. Galen glanced at Raphael. “How has he survived this long?” “No one can catch him.”

“He couldn’t say the words, had spent too long in Silence, but he’d learned other ways to speak. Taking the paperweight she’d knocked off her desk out of his pocket, he put it in her hands. “It’s fixed. As long as you don’t mind more than a few scars.”

“If you die, Lily ... I’ll steal your soul and take you to the Abyss, where I will keep you in my magical dungeon so you can never escape.”

“If you ever find something worth singing for again", she said, a silent, fierce hope in her heart for his song, "I hope you will invite me to listen.”

“I’ll need a sparring partner.” “Karate?” Those completely human-seeming eyes brightened in interest. “Katana.” “Hot damn. Let’s do it.” Lucas coughed. “If you two have stopped flirting, we have business to discuss.” Indigo grinned but stayed silent. Mercy wasn’t so reticent. “So that’s what it takes to get into Dorian’s pants. I’ll let the sentinel-chasers know.” Her packmate’s growl only widened her smirk.”