Time was our very first king. We all live our lives to the aggressive ticking of the clock. We don't question that our lives are a grid of seconds; even our pulses oblige. No succeeding king can hope to hold this kind of power.

There is a silence so great that I can hear the ice crystals cracking and falling from eyelashes of girls who will never blink again.

I had this feeling like the solution to everything would be down there if only I could dig through all those clouds.

Even the human race can't claim to be natural anymore. We are fake, dying things. How fitting that I would end up in this sham of a marriage.

...maybe hope isn't such a bad thing. Maybe it's what keeps us together.

Poor kid,' Jenna says, and rolls her eyes toward me for a moment. Then she returns to her book. 'She doesn't even understand what kind of place this is.

I can hear my brother's voice in my head. Your problem is that you're too emotional. But how can I not be emotional, Rowan? How can I not care?