There was that half-smirk again, playing around his lips, as if he was deciding whether the situation was amusing enough to warrant a full smile.

It's here somewhere," I assured him. "Please tell me you haven't lost it already." "We did fall out of the sky, you know," I said indignantly. "It's easy for things to go missing.

Be quiet or I'll be forced to flick you." "Ooh," he mocked. "The ultimate threat. I don't think I've ever been flicked before." "Are you suggesting I can't hurt you?" "On the contrary, I think you have the power to do great damage.

I kept interrupting the movie by asking a lot of questions that Xavier managed to answer with endless patience. "How old do you think Bell is supposed to be?" "I don't know, probably our age." "I think the beast is sweet, don't you?" "Do I have to answer that?" "Why does the crockery talk?" "Because they're really the prince's servants that the beggar woman put a spell on." Xavier frowned suddenly and looked mortified. "I can't believe I know that.

Actually Gabriel’s an archangel,” I corrected. “But otherwise, yes.” “Well, that explains why he’s so hard to impress,” said Xavier flippantly

There was an extensive collection of cookbooks in the well-stocked library, and he took to pouring over these in the evenings.

i swore i could feel my lies slithering inside me like snakes, wrapping themselves around me and constricting. i felt they were squeezing the air from my lungs, tightening around my heart.