Marie Lu

He is beauty, inside and out.He is the silver lining in a world of darkness.He is my light.

I've always had this interest in sibling relationships because I don't have any siblings. I'm completely a product of the one-child policy in China, so I always kind of wished that I had an older brother or a younger brother or sister just to have that bond, so I find myself constantly writing about that relationship.

We determine whether a book is for boys or girls long before the reader gets a chance to decide: we package them with soldiers and ballet slippers on their covers, war machines and glittering gowns.

I always knew, on some level, that I wouldn't live long. It's simply not written in my stars.

I receive emails from readers that both break my heart and give me a profound sense of connection. Several months ago, I received an email from a teacher who told me that 'Legend' was the first book one of her troubled young students had ever read to the end. He cried when he finished it. Stories like that stay with you forever.

I shake my head. __ know,_ I reply. __ou are searching for her too.__e stand for a moment, staring out at the stars mirrored in the calm seas. I know why Magiano doesn__ look at me. I remind him too much of her.____ sorry,_ I whisper, after a long pause.__on__ be._ A small, sad smile touches his lips. __he chose it.

I want to run. To do what I always do, have always done, for the last five years of my life. Escape, flee into the shadows. But this time, I stand my ground. I'm tired of running.

We are the children of gods and angels.

Watch your back, little wolf, they say. Enemies arise from unexpected places.

It will be impossible to catch all the rats, my love,_ he says. His hand brushes against mine. __ooner or later, one will squeeze through the cracks. You need to be more careful.

I enlarge the photo again. Nope, too blurry

I scream for everything that has gone wrong. I scream for everything broken in our lives.

A crack of lightning, an explosion of thunder, the sound of pounding rain.

Day will move on and live his life. So will I. We will be okay. Someday, perhaps in the far and distant future, we'll find each other again.

I need to let him go.

It__ you,_ he whispers. There is wonder in his voice. __s it?_ I whisper back, my voice trembling with all the emotions I__e kept hidden for so long

My heart's been torn wide open, just like I feared it would be, and I have no willpower to close it back up. Any barrier I might've succeeded in putting up around myself, any resistance I might've built up against my feelings for her, is now completely gone. Shattered.

June will break your heart. I can see it already. She'll shatter you into a million pieces.