“... Unlike some people, I don't have the urge to go sticking my fingers in it.”

“Cal curled his fingers around mine and raised my left hand to the brownish flower. There was a callus on his thumb that should have been irritating against my skin.”

“Except for the giant sword in his hand."Is that really necessary?" I asked when I walked in, noting that his dagger was also hanging off his belt.His head jerked up, and I thought he might have been relieved to see me. But then he turned back to the Itineris, crouching down to pull something out of a black duffel bag at his feet. "Never hurts to be prepared," he said."It just seems like overkill when you already have a dagger and I have supernatural magic at my disposal.""'Superpowerful?'" He stood up, a gold chain dangling from his fingers. "let me remind you of two words, Mercer: Bad. Dog."I rolled my eyes. "That was nearly a year ago. I'm way better now.""Yeah,well,I'm not taking any chances," he said. For the first time, I noticed there was some sort of holster thing on his back. He slid the sword into it so the hilt rose over his shoulders. "Besides," he added, "I thought you might not come. After what happened the other night..." he paused, studying my face. "Are you all right?""I will be when people stop asking me that.""You know I had nothing to do with that, right?""Yeah," I replied. "And if you did have something to do with it, I will vaporize you where you stand."The corner of his mouth quirked. "Good to know."He closed the distance between us, coming to stand entirely too close to me. "What are you doing?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound as breathless as I felt.He lifted his hands, and with surprising gentleness, placed the chain around both our necks. Looking down at it, I saw that the links were actually tiny figures holding hands. I'd seen it somewhere before."This is the necklace one of the angels is wearing in the window at Hex Hall.""It is indeed."Reaching down to take my hands, he explained, "It's also a very powerful protection charm, which we're going to need."I swallowed as we laced our fingers and stepped closer to the Itineris. "Why?""Because we're going a very long way."I involuntarily squeezed his fingers with mine. The last time I'd traveled through the Itineris, I'd only gone a few hundred miles, and that had made my head nearly explode. "Where are we going?" I asked."Graymalkin Island," he answered. And then he yanked me into the doorway.”

“Cal shrugged. "That's one word for it. I'm not all that thrilled with it either."I pushed the covers off and got out of bed, making sure my nightshirt didn't ride up. "Cal, I already have to deal with an angry dad today. Please don't pull some macho "bethrothed" thing on top of it, okay?"He caught my wrirst. "I'm not. And it's not you I'm pissed at. It's them. They shouldn't have taken you there."His hand was warm on my skin.”

“It just seems like overkill when you already have a dagger and I have superpowerful magic at my disposal.”“‘Superpowerful?’”He stood up, a gold chain dangling from his fingers. “Let me remind you of two words, Mercer: Bad. Dog.”

“I have to go," I said, resting my head against Archer's chest. It occurred to me that my cheek was probably right over his tattoo. Without thinking, I lifted my face and tugged at the neckline of his T-shirt. This time, the stark black-and-gold mark wasn't hidden. No need for that spell anymore, I guess. Still, I covered it with my palm. Archer's hands clutched reflexively on my waist. Our eyes met. "It doesn't burn this time," I whispered.His breathing was ragged. "Beg to differ, Mercer."Magic was rushing through me, and when Archer covered my hand with his own, there was a little blue spark. Slowly, he moved my hand off his chest, then gripped both my shoulders. I thought he was going to kiss me again-and with the way we were feeling, there was a chance we might set the whole mill on fire-but instead, he gingerly pushed me away. "Okay," he said, closing his eyes. "If you don't go now, we're...You should go now."Once we were several feet apart, he lust-fog cleared a little. "We still have no idea what we're going to go."Archer opened his eyes and took a couple of steps backward. "Right now, you're going to go back to Thorne and check in with your dad. I'm going to go back to my people and do the same. Then tomorrow night, we'll meet here. You'll stand over there"-he pointed at a corner-"and I'll stand over there"-the complete opposite corner-"and there will be no physical contact until we've figured something out. Deal?"I smiled,even as I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from grabbing him again. "Deal.Midnight?""Perfect.So." That grin again. "See ya, Mercer."Happiness flooded through me as warm and bright as sunlight. "See ya, Cross.”

“Maybe we can talk to them,' I said, tubbing my nose with the back of my hand. 'Have a little sit-down chat.''With tea.''Ooh, yeah, with the nice china, and those little sandwiches that don't have crusts.”