19
" We reached the doors and Jackaby inspected the lock. “It isn’t broken,” he said. “It’s unlocked. From the outside. Wait here.” He stalked down the steps and returned a minute later holding the sky iron chain. It had been sliced into pieces. “The bad news is, she’s gone,” he said. “And worse, she has the black blade.”
“Is there good news?” Miss Lee asked.
“Well,” Jackaby answered gamely, “karmically, I would say we’re due for an upswing on the pendulum of fortune. That’s almost good news.”
“That’s not good news,” Serif said, crossly. “That’s just a very wordy way of saying it’s all bad news. "
― William Ritter , The Dire King (Jackaby, #4)
20
" Miss Rook!” His chocolate brown eyes brightened as he saw me, and he crossed the room at once to sweep me into a warm embrace. I felt his chest rise and fall. I could hear his heartbeat. He smelled like cedar.
“That will suffice,” Jackaby grumbled loudly from behind me. “Yes, yes. You are young and your love is a hot biscuit and other abysmally romantic metaphors, I’m sure. You do recall that you saw each other yesterday?”
Charlie pulled away but paused to brush a hand gently across my neck. His smile was tired but gratified. I straightened and tried to will the flush out of my cheeks. “Normal people do occasionally express fondness for one another.”
“Yes, fine. I’m familiar with the concept,” he groused. “It’s the bubbly auras and fluttering eyelashes that really test one’s limits.”
“My eyelashes do not flutter,” I said.
“Who said I was talking about your eyelashes? Charlie has eyelashes.”
“I apologize, Mr. Jackaby, for any undue fluttering on my part,” Charlie said diplomatically. "
― William Ritter , The Dire King (Jackaby, #4)
