“Bear heard Rose in the background saying, 'Why thank you, Mr. Fish.''Good redhead. Helpful redhead,' Fish returned.”

“I won't get killed,' Rose protested.Is that a promise?' Fish asked dryly, stirring his tea. 'If you break your word, I'll never believe you again.'Rose shook her head at him. 'How can you even taste your tea if you put that much sugar in it?'Don't change the subject. I don't want to be responsible for depriving the world of Rose Brier. Under no circumstances are you allowed to help us do anything more dangerous than...change the oil in my car.”

“Fish sighed and reached for the hotel phone. 'How do you say, "Bring me steak and eggs or I'll slit your throat" in Italian?' he asked.”

“She couldn’t picture anyone falling madly in love with such a person as Fish. What a name, Fish...Fish: think cold, slippery, detached. Benedict: think dry scholarly monk from the Dark Ages. Denniston: think English preparatory school, stolid country squire. Nothing about his name sounded the least bit romantic.”

“I'm not afraid," she said defensively. Now he seemed humored. "Of course. You're not afraid of anything. At least you think you're not. That's why I'm sending you home." Thank you for your advice." Rose thrust her chin in the air and marched away, not looking back. She was almost sure she heard him laughing softly behind her.”

“Evil isn't beautiful on its own. You know?''Well, good people are sometimes ugly-' Blanche said at last.'I don't know about that. Not really,' Bear shook his head. 'If the good's there, and you look for it, you'll see it in some way.''I think Bear is right,' Rose said decidedly. 'Fairy tales teach you that. No one who's really good ever stays ugly. It's always a disguise.”

“Do you know, I always imagine that the subway trains are dragons,' Rose said to Bear as they clung to his coat for support in the swaying car. 'Tearing back and forth across the city in their underground caves, devouring people and spitting them out at random destinations.”