“I give it a fifty-fifty chance of total failure. If Kai refuses to repay a debt he legitimately owes, he'll be dishonoured in front of his entire Flight. Thunderbirds always avenge their dead, honour their word, and pay their debts. Those seem to be the only laws they have." Based on what little time I'd spent with them. Marc frowned. "It's the 'legitimately owes' part that worries me." "Thus the fifty-fifty shot of failure." I stared up at the nest, watching for any sign of activity. "It all depends on whether or not I'm able to bullshit him into thinking he owes us." "The odds are always in your favour when bullshit's involved." Jace grinned, and I couldn't help returning his smile.”

“We need you to do some reconnaissance. A simple flyby over our ranch. All you have to do is count the cars and tell us how many men you see hanging around the property.”Kai shook his head without a moment’s hesitation. “Not even if you fed me your firstborn, still wet and screaming.”I blinked, but for a long moment, his words made no sense. Not the refusal. The part about cannibalizing my theoretical future child. “Well, isn’t that…gruesome? Who are you, Rumpelstiltskin?”Kai frowned, as if I made no sense to him. “No thunderbird would claim a name so senselessly flamboyant.”

“What could thunderbirds want with us?" I wondered aloud [...]"We'll find out when Big Bird wakes up," Marc said.My father shook his head. "We'll find out now. Wake him up and make him sing.”

“Will there be enough to go around, or must we compete for our kills?""Unfortunately, I suspect there will be plenty, but that really depends on how many of you are willing to come." And that's when I lost track of who was speaking. They called out from everywhere, having apparently forgotten I was even there."All of us!""We will all go...""It's only far...""Someone must stay with the children...""Someone must stay to hunt...""Then we'll draw quills. Feathers into the pile! The twenty drawn will go and fight!""Wait!" I had to shout to be heard. "Don't you want the details?"Kai frowned, one of the few birds paying me any attention. "No. We want the fight, and the feast.""No! I said there will be no feasting! It's a war, not a f***ing dinner banquet!" I threw up my hands in exasperation. Mentioning war to a Flight of thunderbirds was evidently like dangling candy in front of a class full of children! Ruthless, deadly children...”

“I wasn't going to toss off words like love and forever until I was sure. Until he was sure. Forever can be a very long time for a n=Bean sidhes, ans so far his track record looked more like the fifty-yard dash than the Boston marathon.”

“Give me a minute to get dressed.""You're not dressed?"I smiled in spite of myself at the lighthearted quility of his jest. Until my broken door began to move. "Jace!" I shouted, trying to keep from laughing as I vaulted off the bed and scrambled to stop him. He wasn't seriously trying to sneak a peek; if he had been, he wouldn't have made any noise. But if I let him get away with a joke today, he'd try it for real tomorrow. Jace yelped as I ripped the door from his grasp and leaned it against the frame. Then he sulked, his eyes roaming just far enough south to see my tank top and shorts. "Liar!" he accused, the smile in his eyes ruining his pout. "You're not naked.""I meant I wanted to change."He grinned. "So, go ahead.""Nice try.”

“Why do I always have to be the one who says 'stop'?" I demanded, my voice little more than a moan."You don't. In fact, at this point I'm considering a petition to that word stricken from the English language." His grin was almost lazy, the gleam in his eyes an effortless challenge. "If I did, would you sign?”