"What?" Alex just blinks at him, her eyes wide and she starts to pull her hands away from his. "What are you talking about, Richard?" He'd asked her before if he scared her, and he'd been scaring her off and on for the last twenty-four hours, but the way he says that sends a shiver down her spine.

"No." It's firm and sharp and she just stares at him. "Don't even think about it, Richard. If I'm supposed to be here to remind you of your humanity, then I have to be human. Besides you don't even know for sure if I'd end up like you and Richard or Simon and his demon. For all you know I could just end up broken and a shadow. Is that what you want?"