“Come thaw my frozen heart, my little arctic kitten.”Unable to resist, Aria jumped in and picked up the next line. “No chance, my yeti man, I’d rather be frostbitten.”“Let me be your snowman. Come live in my igloo.”“I’d rather freeze to death than hibernate with you.”

“Come back with me, Aria. Be with me.”

“It ruffles me a bit, not being able to tell apart my best friend from my girlfriend from this distance. But then one of the figures dashes across the sandy trail and jumps into my arms and I'm reasonably sure it's Liv and not Perry.”

“The boy who was taken," she said. "Is he your son?""How old do you think I am, Dweller?""I'm a little shaky on the fossil record, but I'd say fifty to sixty thousand years.""Eighteen. And no. He's not my son.”

“You know, glass is pretty easy to break, Aria." Roar was watching here, his gaze thoughtful.”

“In the sounds of the night Aria heard footsteps, far off and faint, but she recognized them instantly.She shot into the darkness, letting her ears guide her. She followed the crunch of his feet on stones and small twigs, coming faster, louder, as his walk became a jog, then a run. She chased the sounds until all she heard was his heartbeat and then his breath and his voice, right by her ear, telling her, in tones as warm as fire, exactly the words she wanted to hear.”

“Perry could no longer deny that it was common knowledge. Aria was the safest path to him.”