Stick." I said in Russian. I had no clue what the word for stake was. I pointed at the silver ring I wore and made a slashing motion. "Stick. where?" He stared at me in utter confusion and then asked in perfect English, "why are you talking like that?

Is it possible to specialize in more than one element?" She laughed and shook her head. "No. Too much power. No one could handle all that magic, not without losing her mind." Oh. Great.

Sometimes the greatest tests of our strength are situations that don't seem so obviously dangerous. Sometimes surviving is the hardest thing of all.

Look at it this way," Ms. Terwilliger said, after several moments of thought. "The callistana thinks of you two as its parents.

For a moment, I was captivated as I studied them side by side. My mother: the perfect picture of guardian excellence and decorum. My father: always capable of achieving his goals, no matter how twisted the means. Uneasily, I began to understand how I’d inherited my bizarre personality.

Dmitri was in my arms.

What hope is there?" I asked. "If even angels fall, what hope is there for the rest of us?