“We talk and tease and bargain with the main dish. Maniacal laughter echoes in the marble halls, sweet to my ears.Theres movement at the banquet halls entrance. A child with my eyes tumbles inall wi...”

“What went on between you and my mom? Did you seduce all the Liddell women? Did you tell them the same pretty words you told me? I curl my legs beneath my dress, feeling small and vulnerable for ev...”

“Shh." I squeeze his hand. His palm feels clammy. "We have to keep it down, okay? We don't want my dad coming in."He grits his teeth against more shivers. "Always knew I'd end up in your bed . . . a...”

“Before I can even ask what he means, he skims his licorice-scented lips across my foreheadjust shy of touchinghis warm breath dragging across my left eye patch, then down a cheek, toward my mouth. ...”

“I grin, and he beams with ”

“I pretend to reach for them, but before he can guess my intentions, I catch one of his wings instead. He flutters, trying to break loose, his one free wing batting my hand.I draw out the decanter a...”

“Live your life. Be happy as you can be, let go of the things that don't matter, and fight.”

“He lowered his eyes to his dad's face. There was fear there. Fear. When your dad was frightened, there was something to be frightened about.”

“Mum is a perfectionist and Dad is a pedant and that was partly why their marriage didn't work so well, Elsa figures. Because a perfectionist and a pedant are two very different things.”

“One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.”

“Everybody has a home team: Its the people you call when you get a flat tire or when something terrible happens. Its the people who, near or far, know everything thats wrong with you and love you an...”

“The more you condemn yourself for thinking or feeling a certain way, the more you feel stuck within your own body and mind.. What if you went the other way and embraced it so totally that it was as...”