So much for keeping things business when it came to Jenna Darrow. If this had been a test, he figured he’d just failed it with flying colors.

I consciously try not to play favorites with my characters or my books.

Everything good in there, T? Niko quipped. You need backup or anything? Bag of marshmallows to roast over that little campfire you just started?

You would quit the Order for her? Niko asked, the youngest only behind Dante, and a warrior who relished his duty perhaps even more than Dante had himself. I would quit breathing for her, if she asked it of me.

She wanted to feel him pound away her fears, a hammer to smash through all her guilt and pain and emptiness.

From a writer's standpoint, each character and story presents its own unique challenges and delights. I'm deeply curious about all of my characters, and I love peeling away their layers to see what's underneath their skin, or secreted deep within their hearts.

I want to take my girls home.