“A naked blade hid nothing, feared nothing. She wanted to be like that. Because that was how you found yourself, created yourself. You didn't hide. You didn't wait for the perfect moment to settle on you like a butterfly, like magic.You went out and made magic. Made your own wishes come true.”

“The razor blade hanging from her neck made her feel brave. Honest. A naked blade hid nothing, feared nothing. She wanted to be like that. Because that was how you found yourself, created yourself. You didn't hide. You didn't wait for the perfect moment to settle on you like a butterfly, like magic. You went out and made magic. Made your own wishes come true.”

“It seared her senses; it made her feel alive, even as it sucked that life away - and she kept coming back to it, again and again. Waves of sensation pulled her under - drowning her. But Blue made drowning feel like the loveliest thing. Like she was losing her breath, but she didn't need it, didn't want it, only wanted him.”

“Can't handle your alcohol, Mira?" Blue called over."I didn't expect it to go everywhere! Now I smell like beer.""It could be worse," Blue said. "You could smell like Rafe's sex life, like Caspian does." Poor Caspian was huddled in the blanket, staring longingly out to sea, oblivious to their conversation."That was low," Freddie said, hiding a grin.”

“You couldn't hide from bad things and pretend they didn't exist–that left you with a dream world, and dream worlds eventually crumbled. You had to face the truth. And then decide what you wanted.”

“Blue smiled. He had one of those devastatingly charming smiles that made you hate him even more when you noticed it. It was like he was fighting dirty.”

“Freddie dropped down beside them, distressed. "Let go of her, Blue; that looks really bad.""Feel free to stop him," Mira said, "instead of frowning at me like a sad puppy.""Hey!" Freddie said, looking like a sadder puppy."I'm not going to molest you," Blue said."You're molesting my wrist," Mira said. "I don't want you touching me.""I didn't want you to knee me in the lungs, so I guess we're even.”