“When he came back, he fed the fire, rolled out his pallet, turned off the light and laid down. After several minutes of quiet darkness, she heard his voice. "Sorry if I scared you. I don't roar that often."-Ian to Marcie”

“The door jerked open and he glowered at her. "What do you want?""Hey! Why are you mad at me? I just want to talk to you.""I don't want to talk," he said, pushing the door closed. With inexplicable courage, she put her booted food in it's path. "Then maybe you can listen.""No!" he bellowed."You're not going to scare me!" she shouted at him.Then he roared like a wild animal. He bared his teeth, his eyes lit like there were gold flames in them, and the sound that came out of him was otherworldly. She jumped back, her eyes as wide as hubcaps. "Okay," she said, putting up her hands, palms toward him. "Maybe you do scare me. A little."-Ian and Marcie”

“This cook, Preacher? He's unbelievable. I had some of his venison chili when I first got to town and it almost made me pass out, it was so good."Hi slips curved in a smile. "You at venison, Marcie?""I didn't have a relationship with the deer," she explained."You don't have a relationship with my deer either," he pointed out."Yeah, but I have a relationship with you--you've seen me in my underwear. And you have a relationship with the deer. If you fed him to me, it would be like you shot and fed me your friend. Or something."Ian just drained his beer and smiled at her enough to show his teeth. "I wouldn't shoot that particular buck," he admitted. "But if I had a freezer, I'd shoot his brother.""There's something off about that," she said, just as Jack placed her wine in front of her. "Wouldn't it be more logical if hunters didn't get involved with their prey? Or their families? Oh, never mind--I can't think about this before eating my meat loaf. Who knows who's in it?"-Ian and Marcie”

“What the hell was that?""Puma," he said. "Mountain lion.""I knew that was a lion." She stopped suddenly. "You didn't hurt him, did you?""Marcie, he wanted to eat you! Are you worried about his soul or something?""I just wanted him to go away," she said. "I didn't want him to go dead."-Marcie and Ian”

“As he looked down at her, his eyes were both warm and curious. "You don't look as tough as that.""I don't know how tough I am--look at me, sick as a pup. But I bet I can match you for stubborn."A sound came out of him."Holy shit, Ian--was that a laugh?""A cough," he lied. "You probably got me sick.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?""Well, you can take a nap, read a little of my book, or close your eyes. Or you could stare--get the thrill of your life.""She put her hands on her hips. "You really wouldn't care, would you?""Not really. A bath is a serious business when it's that much trouble. And it's pretty quick in winter." He started to chuckle. "What's so funny?" she asked, a little irritated."I was just thinking. It's cold enough in here, you might not see that much."Her cheeks went hot, so she pretended not to understand. "But in summer, you can lay in the tub all afternoon?""In summer, I wash in the creek." He grinned at her. "Why don't you comb the snarls out of your hair? You look like a wild banshee."She stared at him a minute, then said, "Don't flirt with me. It won't do you any good."-Marcie and Ian”

“Don't worry, Ian. I totally protected your anonymity. I told her you were my brother.""Great," he pouted."Now she's going to ask me about you. And I told you--I'm friendly and pleasant and then I move on.""You can do that. She'll find you perfectly understandable.""Oh? And why's that?""Well, she wondered about you. Said you ask for some heavy reading sometimes, but that you didn't make much conversation.""Oh, really?""Yes," Marcie explained. "I said you were brilliant, but not a very social animal. I said she shouldn't expect a lot of chitchat from you, but you were perfectly nice and there was no reason to be shy around you--you're safer than you look.""Is that so? And how did you convince her of that?""Easy. I said you were an idiot savant--brilliant in literature and many other things, but socially you weren't on your game.""Oh, Jesus Christ!"-Ian and Marcie”