She had always taken a liking to me—we had survived the Purge together—and I knew many of her secrets. When she was young, for instance, she was abandoned at the nuptial altar. Only hours beforehand, her beloved had realized that he was called, not to become a husband, but to becom...
Lord Asriel took out the last slide but left the lantern on, and in the dramatic glare of the circle of light he bent to lever open the box. Lyra heard the screech of nails coming out of damp wood. The Master stood up to look, blocking Lyra’s view. Her uncle spoke again: “If...
As we sat on the couch, four inches or so separated her right thigh from my left. She moved her nails through her blonde hair. She had a new manicure that day, a dark red. I tried to sense what Ruth was hearing through the air that separated us. No doubt she wondered what was ha...