“He opened the front door and Gwen said, “Lock?”He stopped immediately. “Yeah?” Did he have to sound so eager when he was the one making the decision to go? Damn him! “Uh…could you leave him here? He kind of comes with the place.” Frowning, Lock glanced down. “Oh, jeez!”Oh, jeez?“Sorry about that.” He immediately dropped the lion he’d dragged from the couch to the door, back to the couch, and back to the door. “Habit. Usually I bat my prey around until they stop fighting and drag them off to the brush to…well…you know.” He looked down at Mitch. “Sorry about that…uh…”“Mitch,” she told him. “Mitch. Right. Sorry about that, Mitch. And nice to meet you.”

“Uh…could you leave him here? He kind of comes with the place.” Frowning, Lock glanced down. “Oh, jeez!” Oh, jeez?”

“Lock grinned at Gwen. “He’s fun,” he said, reaching out and cuffing Mitch without even looking at him. “He just keeps trying to get back up.” Bam! “It’s great.” Bam! “Like ‘The Little Lion Who Could.’” Bam!”

“She glanced down at the ground and the inert form of her brother. “What happened to Travis?”Mitch winced. “I hit him with the door after I tore it off. It was a total accident.”“Marry me,” she spouted before she could stop herself.”

“What's the hurry?" he said"This door is locked," Tully told him."So?""Can you pick a lock?""I'll give it a try.""Be my guest" Tully said, stepping to one side.Pap blew the lock away with the shotgun. He pushed the door open with the barrel.”

“I'd get out of here," he said. "Go someplace where no one knew me. Start over. Go to Paris like you did or go to — I don't know — Prague. Somewhere." He looked toward the window, like he could already see himself gone."Oh," she said, because it hurt that he was thinking about that when she was thinking about him. She narrowed her eyes. "What's stopping you?"The boy looked down at the book of fairy tales. "Nothing," he said.Lila wanted to be the one to stop him.”