“He reached forward to cup my cheek, the touch surprising me. Please understand that no matter what I am or what has happened in the past, I am yours. I am devoted to you above all else, including my own life. I exhaled after holding my breath for what felt like forever. That s pretty heavy, Will. His expression was impassioned, and the backs of his fingers brushed the side of my neck. It is a burden I am glad to carry.”
“Well, sometimes I worry that my whole life will be based about what s comfortable and easy. I ll care too much about what makes me feel good to ever really reach for anything. And then I worry that even if I do, I won t succeed.”
“Mercy is for the weak… let me show you how much of an Unseelie I still am.”
“She was his princess. No. She was his goddess. With her golden skin and golden hair. She was his light. His life. His everything. He loved her more than anything else in this world.”
“I decided to deflect her attitude by giving a long, Southern answer. I come from people who know how to draw things out. Annoy a Southerner, and we will drain away the moments of your life with our slow, detailed replies until you are nothing but a husk of your former self and that much closer to death.”
“Raffin appeared again, a floor above her, on the balconied passageway that ran past his workrooms. He leaned over the railing and called down to her. Kat! What is it? You look lost . Have you forgotten the way to your rooms? I m stalling. How long will you be? I d like to show you a couple of my new discoveries. I ve been told to make myself pretty for dinner. He grinned. Well in that case, you ll be ages. His face dissolved into laughter, and she tore a button from one of her bags an hurled it at him. He squealed and dropped to the floor, and the button hit the wall right where he d been standing. When he peeked back over the railing, she stood in the courtyard with her hands on her hips, grinning. I missed on purpose, she said. Show off! Come if you have time. He waved, and turned into his rooms.”
“Ellie, you need to understand, he said softly. I exist only to serve you and fight by your side. Whether that fighting is to preserve your life or to make sure you smile, that is what I am built to do. You re all I have, and I will watch over you forever.”
“Did you recently turn into a jerk or have you been one since birth?”
“Why had my life suddenly become a Nancy Drew mystery from hell?”
“He didn’t save me, though. He allowed me the freedom to save myself, which is the very best type of rescue.”
“I did some research on this a couple years ago, Augustus continued. I was wondering if everybody could be remembered. Like, if we got organized, and assigned a certain number of corpses to each living person, would there be enough living people to remember all the dead people? And are there? Sure, anyone can name fourteen dead people. But we re disorganized mourners, so a lot of people end up remembering Shakespeare and no one ends up remembering the person he wrote Sonnet Fifty-five about”
“It s one of those dumb days where nothing s really wrong but nothing s really right either and the sky can t even choose to be white or gray.”
“Do I look like I want to be involved in your teen love saga? Ask someone who cares.”
“They say love is blind...but it isn t. Love is perfect sight. Love is the ability to see a person, I mean really see him-his strengths, his weaknesses, his flaws, all his past triumphs and mistakes-and view that person not as the world says you re supposed to see him, but as you see him-as that special someone you know you will always embrace, body and soul, no matter what anyone else says or thinks I know I can t tell anyone what I ve been through. I know they wouldn t understand. They don t see him the way that I see him. All they know is the legend, the darkness. They don t know the inner beauty, the warmth and the joy more intense than anything I ever thought was possible to experience. They don t know the truth behind the name. My angel. My only. Lucifer.”
“Ceaseless. Almost too much for this small frame. You make me part of the sky.”
“She s familiar. My only familiar thing in a world of inconsistency and confusion.”
“Anyone ever teach you to run away from danger ” “Don’t be stupid Ellis.” I open the door. “That’s where all the fun is.”