Marie Lu

Why can__ I be like that? Why can__ I be the father who just shrugs off the love of his daughter? Why can__ I be the Lead Inquisitor who enjoys watching his pleading victims burn at the stake? Why can__ I be the one who befriends a lonely, lost girl and then casts her out? Why can__ I be the one to strike first, to hit so early and with such fury that my enemies cower before they can ever think of turning on me? What is so great about being good?

Love is illogical, love had consequences--I did this to myself, and I should be able to take it.

June has never looked more beautiful than she does now, unadorned and honest, vulnerable yet invincible.

We might not return from this voyage. None of us. We might all lay down our lives when we reach the end, and not ever know whether our sacrifice changed anything for the better.___t will be for the better,_ Magiano replies. __e cannot just die, not without trying. Not without fighting.___o you really believe that?_ I ask. __hy are we doing this, anyway? To preserve my own life, and yours__ut what has the world ever done for us in order to deserve our sacrifice?__agiano__ brows furrow for a moment, then he leans in closer. __e exist because this world exists. It__ a responsibility of ours, whether or not anyone will remember it._ He nods at me. __nd they will. Because we will return and make sure of it.

Well enough,_ I reply. __emember, you__e drunk. And happy. You__e supposed to be lusting over your escort. Try smiling a little more._ like I__ lusting? This is me, lusting._ His lashes flutter at me. better.

Where I come from, we're more about efficiency,' he replies. 'A knife like this'll skewer food, smear butter, and slit throats all at the same time.

If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system.That's much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.

You think me cruel.___o._ Magiano hesitates for a long moment. __aybe a little._____ not branding them because I am cruel,_ I say calmly. ____ doing it as a reminder of what they__e done to us. To the marked. You__e so quick to forget.___ never forget,_ Magiano replies. This time, there is a slight sharpness to his tone. His hand hovers near his side, where his childhood wound continues to plague him. __ut branding the unmarked with your crest will not make them any more loyal to you.___t makes them fear me.___ear works best with some love,_ Magiano says. __how them that you can be terrifying, yet generous._ The gold bands in his braids clink. __et the people love you a little, mi Adelinetta.

Like fear and fury. It is energy from another realm, threads from beneath the sur­face, an immortal place never meant to be disturbed. Raffaele trembles.Something is poisoning the world.

If I__e learned anything from my past and my present, it__ the power of fear. You can give your subjects all the generosity in the world, and still they will demand more. But those who are afraid don__ fight back. I know this well enough.

Fear is your sword

Don__ be afraid,_ he says with a half smile. __ou__e with me._ His hand tightens around my wrist, tugging me down again playfully. And this time, I feel safe enough to take a deep breath of my own and do as he says.

Forever and ever, kid, until you're sick and tired of seeing me.

Fear motivates, more than love or ambition or joy. Fear is more powerful than anything else in the world. I have spent so long yearning for things__or love, for acceptance__hat I do not really need. I need nothing except the submission that comes with fear. I do not know why it took me so long to learn this.

I don't know if anyone's ever told you this", he begins. He doesn't blush, and his eyes don't dart away. Instead I find myself staring into a pair of oceans - one perfect, the other blemished by that tiny ripple. "You're very attractive." catches me off guard. But it startles me so much that without thinking I blurt out, "I could say the same about you." I pause. "In case you didn't know."A slow grin spreads across his face. "Oh, trust me. I know.

June laughs. "I have to say, you look better than most people I see. I've heard a lot about you.""I hear about you a lot too," Eden replies in a rush, "mostly from Daniel. He thinks you're really hot.

Time heals all wounds. But not this one. Not yet.

The irony of life is that those who wear masks often tell us more truths than those with open faces.