Now if you’ll excuse me, Death waits for no man. Except me.

Careful, pot," Tod said. "Someone might notice your resemblance to the kettle.

I should have said something. ... But my mouth wouldn't open, and the longer I stood there in silence, the better I can to understand the problem. It wasn't that I had nothing to say to him. It was that I had too much to say.

I couldn't see who swam in the darkness, who wore shadows like a second skin.

Why is this so hard?” I whispered. His pulse leaped crazily at my admission. “Everything worth fighting for is hard.

The queen was my favorite chess piece. Unlike the women I knew in real life, she was powerful. Her job was to defend her husband at all costs, because while he was weak and practically defenseless—only allowed to move one square at a time—she was the strongest player on the board, hindered by no restrictions at all.

Wow," Liv said, when I dropped the mallet back into the drawer. "That looked like fun. I call dibs on the next over-the-top destruction of evidence.