His gift is slower than Jane's. It creeps. It will touch us in a few seconds.

What kind of an idiotic question is that?

He’s playing every bit as hard as I am, only he knows what he’s doing and I don’t. Don’t blame me because he’s a better manipulator than I am — I haven’t been around long enough to learn all his tricks.

I took his hand, and suddely he yanked me―too roughly―right off the bed so that I thudded against his chest. "Just in case," he muttered against my hair, crushing me in a bear hug that about to broke my ribs. "Can't―breathe!" I gasped.

I was thinking, while I was running..." He paused. "About not hitting the trees, I hope.

"And you're worried, not because you're headed to meet a houseful of vampires, but because you think those vampires won't approve of you, correct?” “That's right,” I answered immediately, hiding my surprise at his casual use of the word. He shook his head. “You're incredible."

We did not hope for the same things, but we all hoped.