Boys like him didn't die; they got bronzed and installed outside public libraries.

It could kill you," Maura said. Then there was the awkward moment that arrives when two thirds of the people in the room know that the other third is supposed to die in fewer than nine months, and the person who is meant to die is not one of the ones in the know.

All that mattered was that something had struck the match, and Gansey was burning.

His mother had told him that when you looked into the eyes of God at the pearly gates, all the questions you ever had were answered. Ronan had a lot of questions. Waking Glendower might be like that. Fewer angels attending, and maybe a heavier Welsh accent. Slightly less judgment.

And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war.

Really, Rachel looked like a sun, bright and exuding energy, holding us two moons in a parallel orbit by the sheer force of her will.

Watch for the devil. When there’s a god, there’s always a legion of devils.