FABLEHAVEN: None who enter will leave unchanged. Trespassers will be turned to stone.

It was an emergency!" Seth blurted. "Read my lips - emergency reading - not some demented idea of fun. If I was starving, I would eat asparagus. If somebody held a gun to my head, I would watch a soap opera. And to save Fablehaven, I would read a book, okay, are you happy?"You had best be careful, Seth," Grandma warned. "The love of reading can be contagious."I just lost my appetite," he declared...

Although her heart had been dead for years, she clasped her hands over her breast to protect what rested underneath.

Forgive my brother," Camira apologized. "We don't normally let him out of his cage when guests are present.

He's stubborn," Tux warned in a singsong tone."Stay out of this," Mark spat."And touchy," Tux added.

Please," Kendra said. "Think of all the lives that will be destroyed.""I have," Mark said. "Believe me, darling, I grasp all aspects of this, I really do. But how much has the public I'm protecting worried about me? My sanity, my happiness, my right to find peace?""They made no promises," Bracken said. "They are not preventing the end of the world. Those who know about your sacrifice appreciate you immeasurably. Your life may not be fair, but it is absolutely necessary.