"He would have killed us," she started again, but unenthusiastically; even she knew that he wasn't the same person he had been, that the past seven or eight months had made all the difference in the world.

Changing tracks, she narrowed her eyes and said, "If you ever tell anyone that I'm moping over cake because of Tieria, you'll be sorry! It's just because I want to go back too, got it?"