“Sydney sighed and stood up, smoothing her rumpled clothes with dismay. 'I need a coffee shop or something.''I think I saw one in a cave down the road,' I said.That almost got a smile from her.”

“I need you to take Amanda shopping for clothes. The Daimons burned her house down and she has nothing except the clothes on her back."Nick arched a brow. "From what I saw, she had no clothes whatsoever on her back. Her front neither.”

“I asked the girl at the coffee shop out on a date. Unfortunately she said no, probably because I asked her out to coffee.”

“I was ten years old, and I was still playing conkers and knocking off sweet shops while she was sitting on the linoleum floor of her cell sawing at her wrists with a bit of broken glass she'd got from heaven-knows-were. Cut her fingers up, too, but she did it all right. They found her in the morning, sticky, red, and cold.”

“Her siren smile lit up my world. “Noah.”“Echo. You look …” I let my eyes wander up and down as I approached the car. “Appetizing.”Her laughter tickled my soul. “I think we’ve had this conversation before.”I settled between her legs and cradled her face with my hands. “And I think at the end of that night something like this also happened.”Her lips feathered against mine and she giggled. “You ready for a new normal?” she whispered.I kissed her lips one more time and plucked the keys from her hand. “Yes, and I’m driving.”

“It was at that moment that something bizarrely divine happened. Something I could have almost blown off if it hadn’t happened before my eyes. Two nuns walked in the door with their arms loaded down with packages. I’d never seen shopping nuns before, but it was all the sign I needed. “I want to go to school at Saint Catherine’s.” Mom gasped. “That all girls school?”“Yes.”“That Catholic school?”“Yes!” I continued looking at the nuns. One of them caught my eye, and she smiled. I returned her smile. Mom glanced over her shoulder. “Are you trying to tell me you want to become a nun? Because if you are, I’m taking you to the fucking hospital right now!”