“More to distract her than from any real sense of hunger, he said, “Got any more of that chicken you cook for the dog?” Rune was just too . . . something. In the kitchen, Carling shoved several large pieces of cooking flesh around in the skillet and glared at them.”

“He also ate every scrap of the cold meat she had cooked for him, and good gods, it was pretty awful. Somehow she had managed to wreck the simple task of browning chicken in a skillet. The outside was charred black, and the inside oozed juice that was still pink.”

“She frowned. “Did I do or say something yesterday that I should apologize for?”“Not you cupcake,” said Graydon. “But apparently a lot of other people in the Tower have. Rune thinks we should rename it Melrose Place. I think Peyton Place has a more classic feel to it, don’t you?”“Oh no,” she said. “You got the tablecloth away from Tricks.”Rune grinned. “Not before the little shit bit me.”

“If you fail somehow--if you die--I will search for a way to walk through time to find you. No matter where you are. No matter when. I swear it.' [Rune to Carling]”

“When she's in her manic phase, she's a little like trying crack for the first time," Rune said. He blinked at them, his face bland. "Not that I would know what that feels like.”

“I will never leave you. I will never let you go. I will not let you fall, or fail. I will always come for you if you leave, always find you if you're lost. Always. ---- Rune speaking to Carling”

“You should eat more than that. It must take a lot of lettuce and carrots to keep up any kind of normal body weight.”