Listen. This will probably be the worst pain you have ever experienced in your life. Everything in your body will tell you to let go, but you have to hold on. You have to hold on, Maddy, no matter what. No matter how badly it hurts. You can never, never let go. Can you do that for me?
Scott SpeerWill you listen to me just this once?โ he nearly yelled. โI . . . I like you, Maddy. I mean, more than just as a friend. Are you so stubborn you canโt see that? Maybe last night meant nothing to you, but it meant something to me.โ His eyes were vulnerable, almost tortured. โDid you ever even consider that I might love you, you stubborn, impossible girl?
Scott SpeerHe stopped and pointed an accusing finger at her. โI didnโt ask for this. But I felt something in that back room with you, and itโs stayed with me ever since. I want to be with you. I need to be with you.โ His tone was both angry and helpless.
Scott SpeerThe Strength of a hero is not in her abilities. In her weapons. These things are important, but they are not the source of her strength. The source of her strength is in her belief in an idea โ the idea that those who are strong, and those who are able, protect those who are not, and those who cannot protect themselves. The idea that the good, and the right, will triumph. She is willing to put herself in harmโs way โ in mortal danger โ to prove her belief in this idea.โ โThat it is the duty of those who have within themselves the power, and the gift, to help others.
Scott SpeerHow did you learn to drive like that?" Gwen yelled over the howl of six hundred horses. "Watching Jacks." She gunned the engine and slipped around another car. "What?" "You know, watching his shifting." Gwen gasped. "You've been looking at his SHIFTER?
Scott SpeerI want to give you something.โ He slid the ring off his finger. โUp until this week, Iโve never wanted anything more in my life than to wear this ring. Not as a piece of jewelry, but because I thought I could find meaning in saving others, in being a hero. But the meaning Iโve finally found in my life is from meeting you.โ He set the ring on the palm of his hand and held it out. โI want you to have it.
Scott SpeerYou know, thereโs something when you just know you fit together. And I fit with you. I donโt care what you are, human or anything else. Itโs like a need, Maddy. So please.โ He stopped and looked at her desperately. Nakedly. โGive me a chance, Maddy.
Scott SpeerThat's the funny thing, she thought. You always want things to get better, but you never know how good you already have it.
Scott SpeerYou sleep like an angel" Jacks said. The shock of his words in the dark room sent Maddy's stomach leaping into her throat. She didn't even realize she had screamed until it came out of her mouth. "Don't be frightened," Jacks said, sounding worried. "It's just me. I'm sorry, I so didn't mean for that to sound creepy. Let me start over.
Scott SpeerJamie glanced at her notes. "So let's be honest, Jacks, can we? What is the best part of being an Angel? Is it the lifestyle? Is it the parties? The fame? What's your favourite part?" "Just having this chance," he said after considering. "And what chance is that?" Jamie asked. Jacks's blue eyes twinkled. "The chance to be a hero.
Scott SpeerJacks stood beside her. Instead of saying anything, she felt his fingers trace up her palm and then lace into hers. He had taken her hand before, quickly and for functional reasonsโusually to drag her off to someplace she didnโt want to goโbut he had never held her hand. Not the way couples did in parks or lovers did in old movies. Maddy stood there and felt the heat of his grip. It made her think of that first night in the diner, when they had talked about pretend memories and she had felt so connected to him.
Scott Speer