“I certainly hadn't expected to walk away from today's trip with joint custody of a miniature dragon.”

“Turning away, I stared at the long road winding off ahead of me.I sighed. This trip might take awhile."Then start walking, Rose," I muttered to myself.I set off, off to kill the man I loved.”

“The incident with Dawn hadn't been one of my finer moments. I honestly hadn't expected to break any bones when I shoved her into a tree. Still, the incident had given me a dangerous reputation. The story had gained legendary status, and I liked to imagine that it was still being told around campfires late at night. Judging by the look on the girl's face, it was.”

“Taking a deep breathe, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life.I walked away.”

“I just rely on natural talent," said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon's Lair. "When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.”

“And besides . . . I don’t want to leave you. Er, you guys.”He smiled, and it lit up his whole face. “Well, ‘we’ are certainly happy to hear that. Oh, and I’m also happy to watch our darling little love child dragon while you’re in St. Louis.”I grinned back.”

“I gave him a smile that I hoped was as dazzling as one of his. "I realized I'm in love."Marcus, startled, looked around as though he expected to see my object d'amour in the car with us. "And you just realized this? Did you just have some sort of vision?""Didn't need to," I said, thinking of Wolfe's ill-fated trip to the Orkneys. "It's always been right in front of me.”