“Wouldn't it be better if the Elves would just shut up and go away? Hey, what if they stopped throwing a fit at you walking across their backyard. It's not like you ate their tulips or dug holes in their lawn. You didn't piss on any trees when I wasn't looking, did you?" The thundercloud that had darkened his face broke apart. He laughed. "I would have if I'd thought about it.”

“She should probably stop calling him "the Djinn." He did, after all, have a name. He was Khalil somebody. According to one of his companions, he was Khalil Somebody Important.Grace wasn't sure, but she thought his name might be Khalil Bane of Her Existence, but she didn't want to call him that to his ... well, his face, when he chose to wear a face ... because she didn't want to provoke him any more than she already had, and she was really, really just hoping he might get bored and go away now that all the excitement had died down.All the excitement was dying down now, wasn't it?”

“I love you. I didn't want to. I fought it. I put up barriers, and they all came crashing down one by one. It wasn't just one thing. It was everything you did, both here in the present and back in the past. It's everything you were, and everything you are. So I just fucking love you, and you are going to have to fucking deal with it. You got that?”

“He kissed the palm of her hand. "It means, you stupid woman, that I am learning too. Now you listen to me. I never stop thinking about you. You're with me everywhere I go but I miss you when we're apart. I've already shown that I will kill for you. I would also die for you. You make me laugh. You make me happy. You're my miracle and my home...I will always come for you, always want you, and always need you. We clear?"She had begun to glow. "Sounds a lot love love to me.”

“Did you kill the Fae horses?”The whuffling stopped. Dragos said in a cautious voice, “Was I not supposed to?”She shrugged. “It just wasn’t their fault.”“If it helps any, I was hungry and ate one.”

“Yes, I know," he said, impatient. "I am going to rend you from limb to limb. Someday. When I feel like it. In the meantime, you will not faint, you will get warm, and you will stop being distressed." His nostrils pinched. "I don't like how it smells.”

“He brought her to the moon with a flourish. The near side facing the Earth, not the far side, since he thought they should take the trip in stages. She turned in his arms to look around at where he brought them."W-what ... ""I told you it would be somewhere special," he said, in the invisible bubble he had created for them.She screamed.He smiled smugly. Yes, this second date destination was worthy of a happy scream. Very few humans had walked on the moon. He knew how rare this opportunity was. Surely it should make up for what had happened on their first date.Grace kept screaming. She turned and clawed at him. "Oh, my God. Oh. My. God. OHMYGOD!"His smile vanished. He tried to get hold of her in a gentle but tight grip. That was more difficult than he expected. She seemed to have acquired a half-dozen arms and legs. He informed her, "You may stop making noise any time now."Somehow she had climbed halfway up his body before he managed to grasp her waist. He plucked her off and set her on her feet. She started to climb up his body again."Are you having fun?" he asked suspiciously."We're on the fucking moon!" she shouted. "There's nothing here!"He stared at her. "I don't think you're having fun.”