Marie Lu

He was the last thread suspending me in the light. Without him, I can feel myself spiraling downward, falling to a place where I can no longer pull myself back up.

After a lifetime of darkness, I want to leave something behind that is made of light.

Said the man to the sun, "How I wish you could shine your light on every day of my life!"Said the sun to the man, "But only with the rain and the night could you recognize my light."---Domaccan poem, translated by Chevalle

So, when I thought June might take you away, I didn__ know what to do. I felt like she was taking everything that mattered to me. I felt like she was taking away from you all the things that I didn__ have. That__ why I__ sorry. I__ sorry because you shouldn__ have to be everything to me. I had you, but I__ forgotten that I had myself too.

In the mirror, I look the same. But I am a different person inside.I am a prodigy who knows the truth. I know exactly what I'm going to do.

Your strengths might make you hard to approach, and might make your words sound uglier than what you actually mean, but they also make people look up to you.

I laugh at him, and behind us, several Inquisitors stir in surprise at the sound. Only Magiano can coax joy out of me so easily.

Few people ever kill for the right reasons.

I belong to no one. On this night, I swear to you that I will rise above everything you__e ever taught me. I will become a force that this world has never known. I will come into such power that none will dare hurt me again.

Through the whirlwind, I hear my father's harsh whi

I laugh with him. I imagine mixing poison into his tea, then watching his face turn purple and anguished; I picture myself leaning over him, looking on patiently, with my chin resting in my hands, admiring his dying, writhing body as I count out the minutes.

Enzo inherited a throne. Giulietta relied on her royal blood. Queen Maeve rules Beldain because she was born to it. But true rulers are not born. We are made.

I have spent my entire life thinking of the Inquisitors as things, soulless creatures. But they are just men. Men can be swayed, and I have the power to do it.

No. I cannot let him control me.You are mine, Adelina, Enzo growls. Turn your powers against your own fleet.

You have goodness in your heart, but your darkness overwhelms it all; your desire to hurt, destroy, and avenge is more powerful than your desire to love, help, and light the way.

The king is dead. Long live the queen.

You cannot harden your heart to the future just because of your past. You cannot use cruelty against yourself to justify cruelty to others.

My heart's been torn wide open, just like I feared it would be, and I have no willpower to close it back up.