“Kim was more than a little inclined to snarl at him, but in the past few days she had learned that snarling at Mairelon did little good. He simply smiled and corrected her grammar.”

“Smarmy little prig,” Will snarled, leaning father forward, as if he longed to reach through the magical portal and strangle Gabriel. “When I get him alone…” “I ought to go in with her instead,” Gabriel went on. “I can look out for her a bit more. Instead of simply looking out for myself.” “Hanging’s too good for him,” agreed Jem, who looked as if he were trying not to laugh. “Tessa knows Will,” protested Charlotte. “She trusts Will.” “I wouldn’t go that far,” muttered Tessa.”

“You're barely older than me.''Than I,' he corrected me with a little smile.”

“Is he really so much like the monster James tracked across Siberia?"Her eyes popped wide open, and then began flickering wildly from Edward to Seth to me, around and around."Not the same?" she snarled in her little girl's soprano. "Impossible!”

“Kim lifted the lid. Inside, on a small pillow covered in white velvet, lay a gold sunburst the size of her thunbnail, hung on a delicate chain. It looked a little like the first spell she had ever cast, a small explosion of light re-created in metal, and she was not really surprised to find the card with the single word "Mairelon" scrawled across it.”

“I didnt notice the small, black streak of fur hurtling in my direction untill it she was only a few feet away. Noah whisked the dog into the air just as it charged for me. "You little bitch," Noah said to the snarling dog. "Behave.”