Mephala

“One day soon, you’ll hear a car pull up to your curb, an engine cut out. You’ll hear footsteps coming up your front walk. Like they did for Edward Wayne Edwards, twenty-nine years after he killed Timothy Hack and Kelly Drew, in Sullivan, Wisconsin. Like they did for Kenneth Lee Hicks, thirty years after he killed Lori Billingsley, in Aloha, Oregon.

The doorbell rings.

No side gates are left open. You’re long past leaping over a fence. Take one of your hyper, gulping breaths. Clench your teeth. Inch timidly toward the insistent bell.

This is how it ends for you.

“You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark,” you threatened a victim once.

Open the door. Show us your face.

Walk into the light.”
― Michelle McNamara, I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

“Happiness. That’s what books smell like. Happiness. That’s why I always wanted to have a bookshop. What better life than to trade in happiness?”
― Sarah MacLean, The Rogue Not Taken

“Oh no. Oh God. I couldn't possibly be so stupid."

"Don't limit yourself. You can be anything you wish.”
― Tessa Dare, A Week to be Wicked

“Do you think 'Duke' is a good name?' she asked.

His face blanked for a second before it cleared. He glanced at the dog in consideration. 'I don't think so. He would outrank me.”
― Elizabeth Hoyt, The Raven Prince