“He was just the first mortal to figure out how to work with life with the same skill as the Gods.”“No, what the Gods make is inspired by Rithi!...It’s art. It’s functional and beautiful and majestic!”“Pretty words.”My fists clenched. My entire body shook. Pretty words. “Do you want Biomancer Vebrin to live again?” I demanded. I shook the amulet at him. “He’s right in here. You want him to befoul the world again with his craft?”Theophil’s cheek twitched.“Is that all that matters to you? Making. They had seen the outside of the Roman Colosseum from the bus and were anxious to get back to see the inside. Of course, you couldn’t come to Rome and not visit the Vatican and see the Sistine Chapel. Sitting down with the hotel’s concierge, they received excellent advice on the best ways to see the things on their list.The concierge, Luca, was a delightful young man who was happy to suggest the things in his city that would send them home with the best memories. First, he suggested that they. Not long ago, I'd discovered that my mother and I enjoyed sharing a sunrise. It was also our time for serious conversations, a time when we revealed more about our inner selves, our strengths, our weaknesses, and laid these inner selves in the other's cupped hands, trusting that applause wouldn't follow.We'd just talked about my non-arrangement with Sherry Crane, and satisfied that she understood that situation, Mom had switched topics. She'd wanted to know about Dean Gibson."Mom, I know less. “I can’t wake him up.”It was just instinct for Mindy to crawl into bed on the other side of him, to stretch her own body out and press herself against him, making a sort of sandwich of love, trying to sooth him.And maybe that worked, because he did calm and thrash less, though his low moans still wrenched the hearts of both women. Or maybe it was two pairs of hot lips gliding over his skin that sucked the fear and tension out of his body, and allowed him to relax, until, finally, he simply lay,.