I think Illium can take care of himself.” “Not if he keeps flirting with you.” A fine, almost elegant tendril of heat, champagne and sunshine, decadence in the light. “Raphael’s not the sharing kind.

No, Nathan, no." She wrapped his face in her hands. "I just need you--all of you--so much that I'm going crazy. I need your laugh. I need your company. I need you to sleep beside me and I need you to wake when I wake. I need you with everything in me.

It’s Adria’s face I see when I think of home.

Once, he hadn't been able to touch her without causing himself pain. Now, it only hurt when he didn't touch her.

And if she fell, he'd fall with her.

And he realized... that fragile, mortal life wasn't just important to him. It was more important than his own.

Under her palm, his heart beat strong and sure. It was such a human sound, so honest, so real.