Marie Lu

Well enough,_ I reply. __emember, you__e drunk. And happy. You__e supposed to be lusting over your escort. Try smiling a little mo

I will hunt you down. I will scour the streets of Los Angeles for you. Search every street in the Republic if I have to. I will trick you and deceive you, lie, cheat and steal to find you, tempt you out of your hiding place, and chase you until you have nowhere else to run. I make you this promise: your life is mine.

I have earned my revenge on everyone who hurt me. My father, who tortured me every day - I crushed his chest and his heart. Teren, sick and twisted and mad - I took away his beloved just as he took away mine. Raffaele, who betrayed and manipulated me - I seized control of the prince he loves, and I made sure he watched his prince destroy in my name. And Violetta, darling, dearest sister who turned her back when I needed her the most. I cast her out. I finally said everything to her that I wanted to say. I have hurt back.

The world__ deadliest mercenaries choose to serve you, the whispers say, because they have yet to meet me.

I am still alone, broken and small, the butterfly fighting for life in the grass.

Already, I'm starting to forget the face of the man I killed.

I'd gotten someone killed.The price people seem to pay for crossing my path.

I suppose you come in here often, then,_ I say, half teasing. __ringing your maids and admirers?__agiano frowns at that. He shakes his head. __ou think I__ bedding every maid I speak to?_ he says and shrugs. __lattered, Your Majesty. But you are very wrong.___o, what you__e telling me is that you come to this secret space alone?__e tilts his head in a flirtatious way. __hat__ wrong with a thief wanting a little private time now and then?_ He comes closer. His breath warms my skin like the fog that hovers over the water. __f course, here you are. I suppose I__ not alone, after all.

Can one mistake really destroy a lifetime together?

I have never known the mind of a wolf hunting a deer, but I imagine it must feel a little like this: the twisted excitement of seeing the weak and wounded cowering before you, the knowledge that, in this instant, you have the power to end its life or grant it mercy. In this moment, I am a god.

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Before I can say anything else, he steps forward and takes my face in his hands. Then he's kissing me one last time.

At this moment, all I'm thinking about is what I'd give up for the chance to kiss her or to run my fingers through her dark hair.

I ALMOST KISSED THE GIRL LAST NIGHT.

When Compasia took pity on me, she reached down into the Underworld, touched the shoulder of Moritas, and asked her forgiveness. Then Compasia took my sister in her arms and placed her in the sky, where she, too, turned to stardust.Magiano looks at me, his eyes wide. It seems as if he already, somehow, understands.__y goddess made me a promise,_ I whisper.Only now do I realize that I have never seen him cry before.In the stories, Compasia and her human lover would descend each night from the stars to walk the mortal world, before vanishing with the dawn. So, together, we stare at the sky, waiting.

To those who, in spite of everything, still choose goodness.

Dust everywhere... and out of that emerged this beautiful boy with the bluest eyes I'd ever seen, holding his hand out to help me to my feet.

You risked an awful lot for someone you hardly know.' I narrow my eyes. 'THAT doesn't say much about your character. Perhaps you should wait until someone's about to be executed for a mistake YOU made.