Someone could cut through the mess in our house and look at it like one might look at rings on a tree or layers of sediment. They'd find the black-and-white hairs of a dog we had when I was six, the acid-washed jeans my mother once wore, the seven blood-soaked pillowcases from the time I skinned my knee. All our family secrets rest in endless piles.

If you keep it," Daneca says, "he'll have his claws in you." Everyone has their claws in me. Everyone.

Flattery will get you everywhere," Sam says, "Except, apparently, off a roof.

Crippled things are always more beautiful. It's the flaw that brings out beauty.

The problem with cell phones is that you can’t slam them down into a cradle when you hang up. Your only option is to throw them, and if you do, they just skitter across the floor and crack their case. It’s not satisfying at all. I close my eyes and bend down to pick up the pieces.

Let me look out for you. Let your enemies become mine.

I'm a powerful being... a wizard," Corny said. "So don't try anything." "Yes," said the little faery, blinking black eyes rapidly. "No. Try nothing.