But – ” I start to say. “It never helps to start a sentence from behind,” Katherine says, trying to add some lightness to the conversation.

Sometimes it’s best to hide in plain sight.

When I’m sixteen and reach the midpoint of my life, I’ll have my first child. Not ’cause I want to, or ’cause I made a silly decision with a strapping young boy after sneaking a few sips of my father’s fire juice, but ’cause I must. It’s the Law of my people, the Heaters; a Law that’s kept us alive and thriving for many years. A Law I fear.

If you’d have told me two weeks ago that one day I’d be part of a not-so-merry band of Necros seeking to exterminate a couple of other magic-born gangs, I’d have given you directions to the strait-jacket factory.

They can never hope to fight for equality if the very weapons they have to fight are not equal.

Words can split logs and start fires and break stones, but they can also hug you and warm you and fight the wars you don’t have the strength to fight.

No beast of reality, or creature of imagination, is as terrible as mankind.

If they ever create an award for best conversationalist, let me know and I’ll apply. Until then, have a sip from my bottle of I-Don’t-Give-A-Crap and keep on walking. – Laney.

All I know is that my life feels like a giant April Fool’s Joke most of the time. Either that or a mysterious box that has something different in it every time you open it.

Happy moments are like stars. They appear so close you think you can touch them, but really they’re fleeting and a million miles away. Enjoy them from afar and don’t come to expect them. In your life there will be more cloudy nights than clear ones.