He let you have the pants anyway?" she asked. I had started talking about Maxon as soon as I could, eager to know how their conversation had gone. "Yeah. He was very generous about it all." "I think it's charming that he's a good winner." "He is a good winner. He's even gracious when he's gotten the raw end of things." Like a knee to the royal jewels, for example.

You ask for such simple things, I can't deny you.

I don't know if I'm supposed to be holding on or letting go. I don't want to give up, but if there's nothing for me to hope for, then tell me.

I know there was a time, when our country was new, when the assignment of these numbers helped organize something that was on the brink of not existing. But we are no longer that country. We are so much more now.

The Angeles air was quiet, and for a while I laid still, listening to the sound of Maxon breathing.

Oh, yes. She’s still here,” Maxon said, not letting his eyes wander from Gavril’s face. “And I plan on keeping her here for quite a while.

For you, someone kind of quiet and mysterious-" "I'm not mysterious," I interrupted. "You are a little. And sometimes people don't know whether to interpret silence as confidence or fear. They're looking at you like you're a bug so maybe you'll feel like you are one.