“He hung up on her. She'd just been hung up on by a disembodied brain in a jar. Fantastic.”

“I'm worried he's going to...do something crazy.""He lives in a hole in the ground, dresses funny and occasionally eats his assistants," Eve said. "Define crazy."Claire closed her eyes. "Okay. I think he wants to put my brain in a jar and wire it into the machine."Dead silence.”

“Her phone rang again. “What?” she snapped as she answered it.Myrnin, of course. “Are you on your way?”“No!”“Claire, there are things to do.”“Here, too,” she said. “And I’m staying here, believe me.”Myrnin was silent for a beat, and then he said, “Bob would be very disappointed in you.”“Bob the spider?”“He looks at you like a mother, you know. I’m surprised at your lack of work ethic. Think of the example you set for—”She hung up on him and turned the phone on vibrate and relaxed in Shane’s arms.”

“Want me to warm up the sauce?”“Do we do that? I mean, it’s in a jar, right? Can’t you just dump it over the pasta?”“Well, you can, but it tastes better if you warm it up.”“Oh.” Eve sighed. “This is complicated. No wonder I never cook.”

“I have no idea what that is, but yawn, anyway, just on principle. Eat up. Pancakes is brain food.Apparently not grammar food.Wow.You college girls are mean.”

“He rose to his feet and padded down the last few steps silently, came up behind Kim, and leaned over her to say, “I vant to drink your blood” in a heavy, fake Dracula accent. She shrieked, flailed, and a zombie ate her brains on-screen."!”

“Right. I’ve been missing Nutty McFang anyway.”“Stop making up names for him.”“What about Count Crackula?”“Just stop.”