“So,” I said with a sly grin as we walked over to the clearing. “The holly king wins on the Summer Solstice, right? You’ll get to put me on my back this time.” Lonan shot me a tiny smirk. “I put you on your back every night, seelie.” I laughed, my gut clenching with lust. “We’ll see.” “We will.”

I swallowed and crossed the room to open the door, refraining from rolling my eyes when Jora went bright red at the sight of me. But then she gave a tiny smile and said, “I believe this is the most dressed I’ve ever seen you, King Ash.” I heard a tiny choked sound come from Lonan behind me before I burst out laughing. It helped to chase away some of the nerves. “Enjoy it while it lasts,” I told her, which made her blush again.

But before I fell unconscious, I wept. For everything I had done to Ash. All the pain I had caused him, even as I’d tried to stop it. For everything I had lost—the only thing that had ever truly mattered to me. Part of me hoped that I wouldn’t wake up.

“Your gift. If you don’t have a son, it could die with you, forever.” But the healer’s magic still didn’t change, his face just as stubborn as before. “And?” he said, his voice lower. “I do all I can to honour my gift, and share it with those in need. I don’t owe the world another whole living being, who’ll then be obligated to give his entire life to this, too.”

I tapped my temple. “It would be a little harder to replace what’s wrong with me. Everything that makes me me is in here, along with all the faulty wiring. I have to be all right with it. Mostly, I am. I try to look at my strengths rather than dwell on what other people call my weaknesses.” His smile warmed and he reached over to tap my chin. “Eh, I like you wired the way you are. Let me get the stuff you need.”

They were simple words, nothing I hadn’t heard a million times before from different blokes, but they felt extra dirty coming from Vail’s innocent lips. The devil’s words from an angel’s mouth. Sinful. Delicious.

Mifflin was hot, in an I’d like to fuck him over that desk at the front of his lecture hall way, but he seemed to be away with the fairies most of the time.

"It’s not about blame, Uncle Leo. All that matters is healing."

“I could use another body in the bed tonight.” “My pleasure.” Bari continued to hug Jay’s arm. “Though I’m exhausted, darling, so if you decide to get frisky, you might lose a limb.” Jay couldn’t laugh, but he did manage a smile. “For you, it would be worth it.”

"I’m a total cover whore. Half the time I don’t even read the book jackets. It’s a terrible habit.” Chuckling, Jay leaned over the table to rest his hand atop Bari’s that had slapped down beside his empty plate. “I read the last page of a novel first.” “You monster,” Bari gasped.

“And you must be Ethan.” Reggie grasped one of Ethan’s hands in both of his the same way. “What a lovely face to have forever. I’m almost jealous. I hope the firing squad—I mean welcoming committee—hasn’t been too terrible to you?” Ethan stared at him, no response, not even a blink or mouth dropping open to indicate he’d try to say something. “Helloooo?” Reggie pulled up one of his hands so he could tap the center of Ethan’s forehead. “Bats in the belfry, love?” “S-sorry!” Ethan stammered, as if having been lost in a very vivid daydream.

“I can’t believe you just called Dr. Modrak ‘dude’.” Adam chuckled, “He’s seventy years old, practically sneezes spiderwebs and moths.”

“Orange juice."
The barman frowned. “You the designated driver or something?”
“No, I just want an orange juice.”
Donnie paid for his half pint of orange juice before making his way over to Ranger. Ranger looked at Donnie with the same expression as the barman.
“What?”
“Orange juice?”
“What gave it away, the color?” Ranger’s confusion intensified.
“Was the fruit named after the color, or the color after the fruit?”
Donnie groaned as he sat down.
“I don’t know. I only wanted an orange juice. Didn’t realize it came with skepticism and a headache.”

Ranger rubbed his hands together.
“Well, we know what you’ve gotta do.”
“Kill Elliot as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, but I didn’t mean that. I meant it’s time you get your hair cut.”
“My hair’s fine.”
“It looks like someone dumped a load of egg whites on it.”
“Thanks for the feedback.”
“As I see it, you owe me. And I’m kinda fed up of looking at that mess…”
Donnie sighed. “Do I have a choice in this?”
“Yeah, there’s a choice. You either get your hair done, or you go home and drink yourself into oblivion.”
“Clearly gonna choose the latter.”
“But if you do that, I’ll break into your apartment while you’re asleep and shave all your hair off—actually, I’ll shave one line down the center of your head.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Ranger lifted his chin, grinning. “I so would.”
“Fine. I’ll get it cut.”

No one knew me better than me, and I wore my trauma like a badge of honor because if life didn’t hurt sometimes, we wouldn’t have a frame of reference when things were going good. I didn’t want to be fixed, I wanted to be loved for my brokenness.

“How can you be so sure you’re in love with me?” “Because it’s been six years. That’s seventy-two months, one-hundred and ninety-two hours, forty-three minutes, and twenty-eight seconds, and I still haven’t been able to talk myself out of it. I give up. Tell me you’ll throw in the towel, too.”

“No. I had no right to. And my love for you didn’t hinge on the name you addressed me by. Still doesn’t. I wanted you safe, warm, fed, and I did my best to see to that. Other than respect, you didn’t owe me anything.”

“I’ve missed you so much I’ve gone blind. Feeling my way through life. My senses are fucked, Clint. Nothing looks the same since you, nothing smells or tastes the same. The world is bland.”

“Hello,” I greeted him. When he spoke, it was more a snarl than words, but I understood him just the same. “I saw you last night in the sky with your man, you vile sodomite.” I scowled. “Must not have been too vile since you stayed to watch.” It was fun to see his eyes nearly pop out of his head. “You’d think anyone who was the guardian of the word would be a bit more tolerant,” I began flatly, “but then again, maybe not.”

Old people, dogs, kids, they all loved me. It would have been nice if hot men did, too, but you couldn’t have everything.

From the bathroom, Nico’s voice floated out. “You know, I just realized this, but when you order a pizza, you’ve basically become an NPC giving an adventurer a fetch quest with the promise of money upon completion.”

“Okay, so, I’m in Ikea, right?” Anh started, looking done with life. “And I’m trying to pronounce some of the names on these tags. Somehow—I have no idea how—but somehow I managed to summon a demon. He’s demanding the reason for his summons. What do I do with him?” Bel’s face lit up with pure mischief. “I mean, what’s the demon look like?”

“You have a train of thought?” Wicky asked, mock-surprised. “Wooow, really? Like, on rails and everything? I have a Roomba of thought. It can move ahead, but it likes to bump into things, get stuck where it’s not supposed to, and spin off in totally different directions.” “Yeah?” Nico gave him a nod, like Wicky was speaking his language. “My mind’s like the kitchen junk drawer has been emptied out onto a trampoline.” Wicky held out a fist to bump. “Right on. It’s not like we’re distractable.” “No, absolutely not,” Nico agreed, bumping the fist. “It’s just that there’s so much to pay attention to, am I right?” “Unquestionably, that’s exactly the problem.” Wicky beamed, a truly joyful expression.

“My name is Nicholas di Rocci. You threatened my mage. Prepare to die!”
And then he promptly started making lightsaber noises as he cut into two ROUSes. “Vrãu, vrãu—”

“Aren’t familiars supposed to be more…fuzzy?” Nico croaked. “Last I checked, I didn’t have a tail. Or fuzzy ears. Not that I wouldn’t rock them, but pretty sure I didn’t come equipped with those.”

Levi’s eyes snapped to the man who had entered. Ashmedai. The Shadow King. Every time Levi saw him, it was as if his stitched-together limbs were about to unravel, and he felt both unable to move and as if he might collapse to the ground in pieces at any moment. The king was just so beautiful. Levi didn’t even know if he understood beauty, but to him, Ash was it.