“I knew at once that the left side of her face was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was reborn with every glance. But I also felt, or intuited — that the exotic veil that artfully obscured the other half hid something as unthinkable as it was irredeemable. The thought of what must hide there infected me. It nestled in my breast like a fungus or worm. It chewed in places one should not mention. I felt its tiny teeth, and swore my opposition to its lethal purpose.”

— Half Taken