Cameron "Cam" Briel Quotes

Cam turned to her and smiled. "What's your poison?"

"I don't care," Luce said. "I don't really have a poison."

"You were drinking champagne at my party," Cam said. "See who's paying attention?" He nudged her with his shoulder. "Your finest champagne over here," he told the bartender, who through back his head and let out a snide hacking laugh. (15.52-54)

To bring the Cam + food = danger equation full circle, here we have him bringing Luce to a legitimately dangerous place to talk to her, a seedy bar called "Styx"…like that's not ominous. In this chapter, a few important details become clear: Cam can get in and out of Sword & Cross at will, he has disposable income to get himself and Luce to these places (hello, hired limo), and he thinks he can browbeat Luce into liking him with fancy things. On top of this, he does steamroll Luce with flirting and promises of delectable food and riches, things she chooses to accept because she likes his attention. But here Luce decides that it's all too much, and that Cam's promises can only go so far. He can't make her happy.

"Can't live on bread alone, can you?" [Cam] asked. (9.14)

This is a direct reference to a line from the Bible, a line that appears in different places and in different iterations, but the gist is that humans need more than just the basic necessities—they need meaning, too. Here, Cam is using the quote jokingly—he's offering Luce worldly goods beyond the basic ones. Yeah, Cam, the Bible certainly wasn't pushing for more materialism…