“And in that sliver of time, I felt the power around me coalesce, malice-hard and sharp as crystal.That this analogy occurred to me should have been a warning.”

“Oh, why did nobody warn me?" cried Grimes in agony. "I should have been told. They should have told me in so many words. They should have warned me about Flossie, not about the fires of hell. I've risked them, and I don't mind risking them again, but they should have told me about marriage. They should have told me that at the end of that gay journey and flower-strewn path were the hideous lights of home and the voices of children.”

“I warned you that I’m having a difficult time being a gentleman. Should I assume you’re provoking me on purpose?”

“It struck me, sharp and hard, that I had been given so many chances to save my soul that my entire life had been constructed around these chances! That was my nature - going from temptation to temptation, not to sin, but to be redeemed.”

“I felt nothing all the time, and it had started to feel normal. It should have scared me, but it didn't.”

“Valek coalesced from the shadows and wrapped me in his long lean arms. I soaked in his musky smell, listening to his heart beat. Strong and steady. No indication that he had been sneaking around.”