"She had no idea she could feel so protected. So beautiful. So cherished. He made her feel all those things. She could give him his art- and it was beautiful."

"He was a Rider. A shadow rider. It was who he was. What he was. A rider no choice but to do what he'd been trained for from the age of two -- even before that. It was in his bones, in his blood, he couldn't live without it. He dispensed justice to those the law couldn't touch."

"Ricco went absolutely still. The pitch was low and sweet. That tone pushed into his chest, right into his center, as if it were a key unlocking something tight and hard in him. He moved his hand over his heart as an unknown emotion seized it hard, wrenching, twisting, forcing that lock to open so that his own music could be heard pounding in his ear, beating like a lost drum seeking the right rhythm."

"The lights threw her Shadow into sharp relief behind her on the wall. The shadow was dark and thin, but threw out strong tubes, feelers reaching toward other shadows. When there were none, the feelers reached farther for connections, elongating, seeking, prompting another step from her."

"For the first time in her life she had the urge to turn around and flee. She knew danger when she saw it, and Ricco Ferraro was pure danger."

"She was mixed--Japanese and American. Nothing. A nothing. A nobody. The 'kanji' in her last name meant "female devil." She didn't even know what her real last name was because she'd dishonored the family simply be being born."

"Her "family," the ones so gracious and honorable to take in two orphans, were harsh with her for her own good so she wouldn't become the whore her mother had been."

"He leaned into her, his mouth against her ear. "Breathe for me, Mariko. Just breathe."

"She kept her arm firmly around his waist, fitting under his shoulder when she never would have walked so Intimately with a man. Strangely, she didn't mind. In fact, she liked thinking of him as hers to take care of..."

"She had more practice than any other rider that she knew of in hiding how she felt, yet Ricco read her."