My life had taken a stranger turn than I could've ever imagined. What was I doing on this path? Where was I headed really? Who was I to take on a battle between powers I didn't understand— armed with a runaway cat, a uniquely bad drummer, a pair of garden shears, and an Ovaltine-drinking teen Galileo? To save a girl who didn't want to be saved?

Books?" Ridley looked disgusted. "Carry?

I needed to touch her, like I needed to breathe.

Knowing you don't have much time left changes things. You get kind of philosophical. And you figure things out-more like, they figure themselves out-and everything gets real clear.

The Sisters were Southern Baptist, and they went to church on Saturdays and Sundays, and most other days, too.

They really hate you, yes they do. They hate everyone, how 'bout you?

The more I learned about the world I thought I knew and all the ones I didn't, the more everything threaded together, leading everywhere and nowhere at the same time.