Now lemme get this straight," she said in a throaty, nasal voice. "You put the lime in the cocanut and drink 'em both up--whoa, long faces. What am I interrupting?

The best part was now. That was what she would take with her from her journeys through the ages: He was worth everything to her and she was worth everything to him. The only way to experience that deep level of their love was to enter each new moment together, as if time were made of clouds. And if it came down to it these next nine days, Luce knew that she and Daniel would risk everything for their love.

She would not stop until she beat the devil.

They could steam up windows with their kisses, but as soon as they started using their mouths for other things—like talking—everything got so complicated.

Oh that moment when Daniel thought he’d lost her to Cam’s starshot! His wings hat felt too heavy to lift. Colder than death. In that instant , he’d given up all hope.

The tender pressure of his lips soothed her, like a warm drink in the dead of the winter, when every part of her felt so cold.

Gorgeous, glowing rays of light...This was what true beauty and goodness looked like-- a spectral, luminescent gathering of beings so pure it hurt to look directly at them, like the most glorious eclipse, or maybe Heaven itself.