Blacktail Deer Plateau rattlin' bones

If anyone else had told her to tie up loose ends with the Nereides, the adolescent might have told him or her to fuck off. This was Dante, though, and Junior not only liked and admired him, she wanted him to like and admire her as well. She chewed on her lower lip, staring thoughtfully at her small black feet a moment, then glanced up at him. Her mouth opened, then shut, then opened again.

"I'll think about it. But what if they try to trap me or brainwash me?" Junior asked with a flair for the dramatic. "And if you went, they might try to kill you." It didn't occur to her that she might have misconstrued the sisterhood's beliefs, exaggerating their worst aspects. She truly believed that they might try something like that if she and Dante showed up there.

"But if you insist..." she added after a few shallow breaths that were not quite huffs. Smiling sideways at him and fighting the lack of self-esteem demanding she drop her eyes again, Junior said, "I wouldn't mind spending more time with you."