Wordlessly I looked back at him, astonished that a kiss on the palm could be so intimate.

Memories were short and history unkind. It was the way of the world.

His full name is Matthew Gabriel Philippe Bertrand Sebastien de Clermont. He was also a very good Sebastien, and a passable Gabriel. He hates Bertrand and will not answer to Philippe.

She was like a camera that had been chronically out of focus until someone came by and twisted the lenses into alignment.

Remember the past - and await the future.

With knot of one, the spell's begun. With knot of two, the spell be true. With knot of three, the spell is free. With knot of four, the power is stored. With knot of five, the spell with thrive. With knot of six, this spell I fix.

It was a brutal picture, a tug-of-war between two equal but opposing impulses. It had the ring of truth, however.