Escaping from Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3)

by Kerri Maniscalco

What morbid creatures we were, craving danger and mystery in place of happily-ever-afters.

There is no greater show of power than continuing to live when you’d like nothing more than to lie down and let the world fade.

I pretended each emotion was a balloon that needed to be released into the universe, and I let it all go.

We are all fascinated by death—it’s the one thing each and every one of us has in common. No matter our station in life, we all must die. And we never know when it’s coming for us.

“We are, all of us, desperate for a way to overcome the biggest threat of all: death. At the same time, we’re all hungry when it comes for someone else. You may hate the truth, deny it, curse it, but the fact remains you are equally enchanted by it.

I was focused on two things: the steady war-drum beat of my heart, and the realization that I’d fight a thousand battles and die a thousand ways before I allowed any harm to befall my love.

I love you, I thought, rallying against the blackness. More than all the stars in the universe. In this life and ever after. I love you.