Daddy looked at her hard, and right before my eyes, he changed. I watched him inflate again, shake off his own emotions and puff himself up for her. Become her man. Her rock. I smiled. I loved him so much. He'd dragged mom kicking and screaming from grief once before and I knew I could rest easy that he would never let grief steal her from him again. No matter what happened to me.

He didn't just kiss, he claimed ownership. Took her mouth with urgency, as if his life depended on his kissing her.

You mean you have to be epic already, for it to make you more epic?

Beautiful women rarely possess sufficient depth of character to survive without their pretty feathers.

I'd rather live a hard life of fact than a sweet life of lies.

Turn it off," Ryodan says without even looking at me. "You're distressing Dani. No one distresses Dani but me.

He stepped into the morning feeling more alive than he'd felt in months. Hold fast and believe in me, love, he whispered across the centuries. Because love and belief were serious magic in and of themselves.