Michael Grant

Quotes by Michael Grant

• Caine's a guy who needs to win. He needs to win before he poofs. Or he needs to win before I poof. The point is, he's not going to just accept us freeing all these kids from Coates and taking over Perdido Beach,— Sam said. "So we need to be ready. And we need to be ready for something else, too: tomorrow is my birthday." He made a wry face. "Not a birthday I'm exactly looking forward to. But, anyway, we need to decide who takes over for me ifwhen I step outside."Several of the kids made sympathetic or encouraging noises about how Sam maybe wasn't going to blink out, or maybe it would be a good thing, an escape from the FAYZ. But Sam hushed them all."Look, the good thing is, when I go, so does Caine. The bad thing is, that still leaves Drake and Diana and other bullies. Orcwell, we don't exactly know what's going on with him, but Howard's not with him. And Lanawe don't know what happened to her, whether she left or what."The loss of Lana was a serious blow. Every one of the Coates refugees adored her for the way she had healed their hands. And it was reassuring to think that she could heal anyone who was injured. Astrid said, "I nominate Edilio to take over ifyou know. Anyway, we need a number two, a vice president or vice mayor or whatever."Edilio did a double take, like Astrid must be talking about some other Edilio. Then he said, "No way. Astrid's the smartest person here.""I have Little Pete to look after. Mary has to care for the prees and keep them out of harm's way. Dahra has responsibility for treating anyone who gets hurt. Elwood has been so busy in the hospital with Dahra, he hasn't dealt with Caine or Drake or any of the Coates faction. Edilio's been up against Orc and Drake. And he's always been brave and smart and able." She winked at Edilio, acknowledging his discomfort."Right," Sam said. "So unless someone has an objection, that's the way it is. If I get hurt or I ditch, Edilio's in charge.""Respect to Edilio," Dekka said, —but he doesn't even have powers.——He has the power to earn trust and to come through when he has to,

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• Caine has Drake and Orc, Panda and Chaz, and I hear Mallet has made peace with him. And maybe a half dozen other guys.—"Are you afraid of them?" Astrid asked him."Yeah, Astrid, I am.""Okay," she said. "But you were scared of going into a burning building, too.""You don't get this, do you?" Sam demanded with enough heat that Astrid took a step back. "I know what you want, okay? I know what you and a bunch of other people want. You want me to be the anti-Caine. You don't like the way he's doing things and you want me to go kick him out. Well, here's what you don't know: even if I could do all that, I wouldn't be any better than him.""You're wrong about that, Sam. You're" —"That night when I first used the power? When I hurt my stepfather? How do you think I felt?""Sad. Regretful." Astrid looked at his face like the answer would be written there. "Scared, probably.""Yeah. All that. And one more thing." He held up his hand and inches from her nose squeezed his fingers into a tight fist. "I also felt a rush, Astrid. A rush. I thought, oh my God, look at the power I have. Look what I can do. A huge, crazy rush.""Power corrupts," Astrid said softly."Yeah," Sam said sarcastically. "I've heard that.""Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I forget who said it.""I make a lot of mistakes, Astrid. I don't want to make that mistake. I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be Caine. I want to" He spread his arms wide, a gesture of helplessness. "I just want to go surfing.""You won't be corrupted, Sam. You wouldn't do those things." He had moved back. She moved to close the distance."How can you be so sure?""Well, two reasons. First, it's not your character. Of course you felt a rush from the power. Then, you pushed it away. You didn't grab at it, you pushed it away. That's reason number one. You're you, you're not Caine or Drake or Orc."Sam wanted to agree, wanted to accept that, but he felt he knew better. "Don't be so sure."—And reason number two: you have me,

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