The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam (Hart and Mercy, #3)

by Megan Bannen

Dr. Levinson snorted at this, earning her a baleful look from the chief, a glare the marshals under her command referred to as Maguire’s Ire.

“Everyone hates funerals.” “I know, but…” He weighed his words. “You hate them for your own special Rosie Reasons.” “True, but I love you more than I hate funerals, so I’m going. End of discussion.” “Gods, thank you.”

Rosie had zero romantic interest in the man, but those forearms could inspire sonnets.

It's always the arms

Adam Lee adjusted his glasses, which did not appear to need straightening.

Between the arms and the glasses, I'm picturing Jonathan Bailey in Jurassic World Rebirth

“I’m trying to figure out how someone that boring can be so intimidating. I bet I’ve got five inches on him, but he makes me feel tiny for some reason.” “It’s the Greatness Vibe rolling off him. He’s got class in spades.”

The absolute silence of those seconds reminded her of how it felt to die without really dying. And then she came out the other side, where the bizarre otherworld of Tanria greeted her.

He was striking in the best possible way when he chose to wear his feelings.

As far as Rosie could tell, the evacuation was going smoothly. Maybe people were more cooperative when they realized that this was not a drill.

“You are difficult to forget.” “Well, you could’ve fooled me.” “One does not forget a stunning woman with eyes like garnets.”

The last thing she thought before she died was That’s my handkerchief.

💙

Duckers sidled up to her. “Wow, that was so embarrassing, it had to hurt.” “Fuck you very much,” Rosie told him before riding ahead.

even though Ralph had been at least a foot shorter than she’d been in middle school.

Our girl loves a short King!

A sense of calm settled over her then, and she realized that it didn’t come from within but from without—from the dragon. Eloise seemed to be telling her, No worries, sister. I’ve got you.

Where to? Eloise asked, not in words so much as in pure vibes.

“Thank you for telling me,” he said, his friendship as warm and comforting as Rosie’s favorite sweater on a crisp autumn day.

The dragon’s antlers communicated sentiments rather than words, so Rosie wasn’t certain what Eloise wanted to tell her. The emotion she sent through her rider’s bloodstream now was thick and sorrowful. If Rosie had to name it, she would have called it pity.

I’m a different person now—a better one, I hope. And Pen has changed, too. It’s just that… You never stop being who you were, do you? You may be here of the novel that is your life, but that doesn’t mean here no longer exists. Pen and I had a lot of pages together in the early chapters, so it’s weird being here with him all of a sudden in the middle of the book.”

For the first time in her life, he appeared to care about her, and she didn’t know what to do with the emotion that came with this revelation, and she resented having that emotion foisted upon her.

“Fuck my life,” she muttered a half second before a bolt of lightning struck her and she died for the third time in a week and a half.

“You enjoy a man’s yearning and suffering?” “Fictionally speaking? Very much.”

She halted, letting the two simple syllables wash over her. It was the first time he had uttered her name aloud, a weary supplication that savaged his voice.

“You asshole! This whole time, I could have been calling you Ödam?” “No. I have not been Ödam in a long time, and I don’t want to be that man again. You can call me Ödam when you are angry with me. Tonight, I am Adam. I am your Adam.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her into him, and kissed her long and deep. “Come sleep with me on a bed of tablecloths, my ruzhkel.”

“Lidojozháis Mäkherkis Ödamika.” The warden took him by the upper arms and said firmly, but not unkindly, “Your brother is supposed to be there, but not you, not yet. Do not make the same mistake twice.”

“It’s so odd,” she said, taking in the deterioration of the ancient homes. “You think of gods as being permanent, but nothing is permanent, is it?” “Nothing but the stars.”