It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay. You can let go of the sword." "I can’t. I can’t leave him alone. I have to protect him." "You have.

We had just paid the check when Dimitri's cell phone rang. "Hello?" he answered. And like that, his face transformed. That fierceness I so associated with him softened, and he practically glowed. "No, no. It's always a good time for you to call, Roza." Whatever the response on the other end was, it made him smile.

Did you know that it's a lot harder to put organs back in the body than it is to get them out?

If I propose, you'll know it. For one thing, I'll be hyperventilating.

Bless you, daugher of man," Carter said, his eyes luminous and almost silver now. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and caught my breath. His lips were both burning hot and icy cold.

See? There it is again. My flame in the dark.

I left the clinic in a daze that had nothing to do with my head injury. Clear up in a week or so? How could Dr. Olendzki speak so lightly about this? I was going to look like a mutant for Christmas and most of the ski trip. I had a black eye. A freaking black eye. And my mother had given it to me.