“Hey back,' I say, my voice low beside her ear. She shivers. I love that.”

“I'm the bride," Rebecca said from the doorway,bringing the room to momentary silence.Her remark brought every eye in the room to her, inculding Rupert's. "You forgot to say lucky bride, didn't you?" Rupert asked in a low voice as he stood beside her.That was the usual response of a new bride, she supposed,but it definitely didn't apply to her. "No,I didn't," she whispered back with a false smile. "But I managed to withhold the 'unlucky' that was on the tip of my tongue. You can thank me later.”

“She glides to a stop in front of me, all grace and luscious skin. Her bare chest and shoulders glow in the low light. I want to touch her, caress her, so much so that I ball my fingers into tight fists to keep them to myself.“You look beautiful.” My voice sounds strained, even to my own ears.”

“I looked back at my cousin who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth--but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered 'Listen,' a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.”

“His hand took hold of hers, and as she said something low in his ear he turned toward her with a rush of emotion. I think that voice held him most, with its fluctuating, feverish warmth, because it couldn’t be over-dreamed —that voice was a deathless song.”

“Then she did something that really surprised me. She blinked back tears and put out her arms.I stepped forward and hugged her. Butterflies started turning my stomach into a mosh pit."Hey, it's... it's okay." I patted her back.I was aware of everything in the room. I felt like I could read the tiniest print on any book on the shelves. Annabeth's hair smelled like lemon soap. She was shivering.”