“Forever. He carved the word into his soul. Kiera was his forever, deformity or no deformity.”

“Every spot his mouth touches closes the empty spaces inside.”

“A hand in mine.. hot. Breath on my neck... sweet. The feel of lips on my own... forbidden.”

“There are few things I hate more than feeling weak. Needing help or failing top the list. The worst, however, is knowing that all three just happened.”

“Forever. He carved the word into his soul. Kiera was his forever, deformity or no deformity.”

“I never mastered anything. I am damaged. Broken. And I always will be.”

“My thoughts are quiet, but not calm. There is a terror on the edge of the silence, a terror fed by my burning flesh and the stench of death.”

“A pang of deep longing ripples through me. I’m torn between my promise to send Aydan to the Abyss and my need to keep him safe. The opposing forces fragment what remains of my mind, breaking me down once again.”

“Ien stopped her voice with more kisses, more promises of a world filled with only them.”

“He would die in this room, buried alive by the weight of his life.”

“I press my lips hard against hers, tasting her desire, her pain, her love, her confusion. At once I’m in two lives, two worlds, two places.”