In this manโs smile was all the unfairness of the world in its thuggish seduction. โJust come with me. Weโll take care of you.โ โNo, you wonโt.โ Taylor stroked the manโs cheek. She reached her arms up to cradle the back of his head and, with the skill of a champion, she broke his neck. Then she dragged him into the bushes, took his gun and walkie-talkie, and kept moving.
Libba BrayPeople have a habit of inventing fictions they will believe wholeheartedly in order to ignore the truth they cannot accept.
Libba BrayWhy does everyone want to own me?" Pippa mumbles. She's got her head in her hands. "Why do they all want to control my life -- how I look, whom I see, what I do or don't do? Why can't they just let me alone?" "Because you're beautiful," Ann answers, watching the fire lick her palm. "People always think they can own beautiful things.
Libba BrayShe was too muchโfor Zenith, Ohio. Sheโd tried at times to make herself smaller, to fit neatly into the ordered lines of expectation. But somehow, she always managed to say or do something outrageousโsheโd accept a dare to climb a flagpole, or make a slightly risquรฉ joke, or go riding in cars with boysโand suddenly she was โthat awful OโNeill girlโ all over again.
Libba BrayForget your pain. It was what I said when I took Father's hand in the drawing room yesterday, what I repeated again tonight. But I didn't mean this. I must be careful. Yet what bothers me isn't the power of the magic or how, to a person, they've all accepted it as truth. No, what unsettles me the most is how much I want to believe it too.
Libba Bray