“Cheyenne snatched back her phone. "Someone took her brave pills today.""And washed them down with stupid juice," Casper added, cocking his gun.”

“Did you hear that?" Casper said."Bats," Cheyenne replied.Casper gasped with horror. "You know I hate bats," he hissed."Bats bats bats bats bats," Cheyenne said."Stop it! We're not kids anymore!" Casper shouted."This way, Braveheart.”

“"Whoaaaaa–AARRRGGGGGGGHHHH...shove two fingers down my throat and pull out my heart...to prove that you love meeee...!" Clutching her iPod, Nellie emerged from the hatch ad lurched towards them, like creature put together from spare parts–a motion that Dan and Amy recognized as dancing. Pulling out her earbuds, she raised her face to the sky and let the rain pelt her for a few seconds. "Whoo-hoo, that is better than a facial!" she cried, running to join Dan and Amy under the overhang."Stick around," Dan said, "for a lava treatment.”

“GGRRROOCCCCK...Ian's knees buckled. The rock outcropping shook the ground, sending a spew of grayish dust that quickly billowed around them.Shielding his eyes, he spotted Amy standing by the figurine, which was now moving toward her. She was in shock, her backpack on the ground by her feet. "Get back!" he shouted. Ian pulled Amy away and threw her to the ground, landing on top of her. Gravel showered over his back, embedding into his hair and landing on the ground like a burst of applause. His second though was that the shirt would be ruined. And this was the shock of it-that his first thought had not been about the shirt. Or the coin. Or himself. It had been about her.But that was not part of the plan. She existed for a purpose. She was a tactic, a stepping stone. She was..."Lovely," he said. Amy was staring up at him, petrified, her eyelashes flecked with dust. Ian took her hand, which was knotted into a fist. "Y-y-you don't have to do that," she whispered. "Do what?" Ian asked. "Be sarcastic. Say things like 'lovely.' You saved my life. Th-thank you.""My duty," he replied. He lowered his head and allowed his lips to brush hers. Just a bit.”

“Once apon a time, Ian's dark, dreamy eyes had made her melt inside. The angle of his head, the wrinkle in the left corner of his lip—they'd obsessed her. And he'd been obsessed right back.Now all Amy wanted to do was throw her shoe at the screen.”

“Finders keepers!" Ian shouted, scooping up the overlay and hopping onto a rock outcropping."You cheater!" Amy was furious. No way was he going to get away with that. She climbed the rock, matching him step for step until she reached the top. There he turned to her, panting for breath. "Not bad for a Cahill," he said, grinning."You --y-y-you--" The words caught in her throat, the way they always did. He was staring at her, his eyes dancing with laughter, making her so knotted up with anger and hatred that she thought she would explode. "C-c-can't--"But in that moment, something totally weird happened. Maybe it was a flip of his head, a movement in his eyebrow, she couldn't tell. But it was as if someone had suddenly held a painting at a different angle, and what appeared to be a stormy sea transformed into a bright bouquet -- a trick of the eye that proved everything was just a matter of perspective. His eyes were not mocking at all. They were inviting her, asking her to laugh along. Suddenly, her rage billowed up and blew off in wisps, like a cloud. "You're ... a Cahill, too," she replied."Touche."His eyes didn't move a millimeter from hers.This time she met his gaze. Solidly. This time she didn't feel like apologizing or attacking or running away. She wouldn't have minded if he just stared like that all day.”

“Ian nodded. Do not question her, he told himself. Not when she is in a state like this.Still, it was a pity to attack them with such force. Especially the girl, Amy. He'd never met anyone like her. Shy. Gentle. With an exciting edge of hostility. So unlike the girls back home, who flung themselves at him so often that his chauffeurs traveled with first-aid kits.Doesn't she know better? Isn't she smart enough to stop the hunt?It was the boy and the au pair. He was a pint-sized hothead. She was a collection of piercings and piggishness. If only Amy and Dan had stayed trapped in the cave in Seoul, at least long enough to get discouraged. Why did they antagonize Mother?They don't know what it's like to live with her."Right you are," Ian said. "They're asking for it. Heaven forbid they listen to the brains of the outfit.""And that would be–?" Isabel asked.Ian looked away. "Well, the sister, I'd say. Amy."He felt a smile inching across his face."Ian?" His mother grabbed his wrist. "If you are having the inkling of a shadow of a thought...""Mother!" Ian could feel the blood rushing to his face. "How could you suspect for a moment...?”