[...]
Zawsze wolałem noc — nie wrona, ja. Lubiłem ciszę i spokój w tych godzinach. Kiedyś nie rozmawiałem zbyt wiele, nadal nie rozmawiam, chyba że z Magnolią. Nie lubiłem, gdy ludzie na mnie patrzyli, nie lubiłem być w centrum uwagi. Jedyną osobą, która mnie zauważyła, była ona.

[...]
I brushed the hair away from her face. Even in sleep she looked tired. My beautiful, wild, tortured, brave, maddening-as-fuck, little witch.
I swiped my thumb over the scar on her forehead, the one she’d gotten the day we first met.
One of many scars Magnolia had on her body now.

[...]
My best friend, my mate, didn’t want me the way I wanted her. She didn’t recognize that part of the bond between us and thought of me only as family—maybe even a brother.
She was my everything, and being by her side the last six years had been a privilege and an honor, it was what I’d been born to do, but the last couple of years, after someone tried to take her from me during her sister Willow’s trial, everything had changed.
I’d changed.
And so had Mags.

[..]
I let her hug me, the coolness of her cheek brushing mine. The damage from her ex-boyfriend, Brody’s, attempt to kill my sister had left a permanent black mark on her face. I squeezed her in return, though it was hard today. When I was like this, full of banked rage, I didn’t want to be touched. I felt every scar as if it were a fresh slice, heard every twisted word that’d been muttered in my ear on repeat. The monsters were only in my head, but they were as real to me now as they were back then—when I’d made the biggest mistake of my life, breaking a blood oath and almost causing the death of my entire family.

[...]
Two and a half years ago, Cora and her grandson Brody had plotted against our family, and with the help of Clayton Whitlock, they’d made their move. Cora had murdered the previous Keeper of our coven in the hopes the position would pass to her grandson, but instead of her branch of the family, it went to ours—and she’d almost succeeded in killing us all to get what she wanted.
Willow was Keeper of our coven now.

[...]
Stałam się kimś innym, kimś pełnym gniewu, kimś pozbawionym jakiejkolwiek kontroli – kimś, kogo wcale nie lubiłam.
Minęło dwa i pół roku, a ja wciąż nie wiedziałam, jak znów żyć we własnej skórze. Byłam zagubiona i nie byłam pewna, czy kiedykolwiek znajdę drogę powrotną.

[...]
Magnolia była dla mnie wszystkim, niezależnie od tego, czy była moja naprawdę, czy nie. I zawsze tak będzie. Bez względu na to, co się między nami wydarzy, taka była prawda, która nigdy się nie zmieni.

[...]
-You weren’t ready to see it, and maybe you aren’t totally ready now, but you have to decide if you want to be. Don’t let this slip through your fingers. - Her voice changed, becoming more forceful. - Don’t you fucking dare do that. Nothing will ever compare to what you could have with him…with your mate. - Shockingly, her throat worked, emotion filling her eyes. -The years I had with Boone were the best of my life. You’re scared, I get that. But you know what’s scarier? A lifetime never knowing a love like that, happiness like that. Never sharing a connection with someone, a connection that even if I tried, I couldn’t explain the enormity of it. I could never describe the way it feels. -She shook her head.
-Ash…I had no idea. - She’d been mated.
She shrugged.
-I don’t talk about it, because it’s mine, and because he still lives with me in here.- She pressed a hand to her chest. -I try to make the best of the time I have left on this earth, because Boone would want me to. But I’m just killing time until I’m with him again. He was it for me. There will never be anyone else who could take his place. You need to think about that when you make your decision. There is no one either of you will ever want the way you want each other.

[...]
The demons heeded that warning and avoided the crows’ territory. They’d learned long ago that getting too close would cost them their heads. Crow shifters were a rare breed, dark and deadly and preferring their own company. Most of the people here barely left the area or ventured to the city.

[...]
Pokręciłam głową.
-Nigdy mnie nie stracisz - Przesunęłam palcami po ogolonych bokach jego głowy. -Na chwilę zgubiłam drogę, ale odnalazłam drogę powrotną… z powrotem do ciebie.