Clancy had taught me well.

Nope," he whispered, when I tried to tug it away. "Mine now.

I'm a monster, you know. I'm one of the dangerous ones. No you aren't, he promised. Your one of us.

You get a good review, and it’s like crack. You need another hit. And another. And another. I know authors are like Tinkerbell and generally need applause to survive, but it’s a slippery slope.

But there was another, secret Ruby. This one was as thin as a wisp of air, and had struggled for so long just to be. This was the one that Liam carried with him, without knowing. The one that would ride in his back pocket, whisper words of encouragement, tell him he was born to chase the light.

But inside or out, I was alone, and I was beginning to wonder if I always had been, if I always would be.

But there's a beginning in an end, you know? It's true that you can't reclaim what you had, but you can lock it up behind you. Start fresh.