β
Sometimes an understanding silence was better than a bunch of meaningless words.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I lost my heart to you. And, Bree, in case you're wondering, I don't ever want it back.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Try to believe that maybe more light shines out of those who have the most cracks.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Someday β¦ when we're old and gray, I'm going to look at you lying in bed beside me, just like this, and I'm going to look into your eyes and know that it's only ever been you. And that is going to be the great joy of my life.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I stand by my logic though. I think love is a concept, and each person has an individual word for what sums it up for them. My word for love is Bree.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
You brought the silence,
The most beautiful sound Iβd ever heard.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I'm afraid to love you. I'm afraid that you'll leave and that I'll go back to being alone again. Only it will be a hundred times worse because I'll know what I'm missing. I can'tβ¦β He sucked in a shaky breath. βI want to be able to love you more than I fear losing you, and I don't know how. Teach me, Bree. Please teach me. Don't let me destroy this.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
..the loudest words are the ones we live.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I knew I loved her β fiercely and with every part of my heart, even the broken parts, even the parts that felt unworthy and without value. And maybe those parts most of all.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but I thought if I sat on your porch, you wouldn't be scared. You wouldn't be alone.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I CAN SPEAK. I JUST LIKE TO SHOW OFF MY NICE PENMANSHIP.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Each night before I fall asleep, I make it a point to turn to my wife and silently say "Only you, only ever you". And her love slips quietly around me, holding me, anchoring me, reminding me that the loudest words are the ones we live.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I didnβt know enough to dream you, Bree, but somehow you came true anyway. How did that happen?β He rubbed his nose along mine, pausing and then pulling back again. βWho read my mind and knew exactly what I wanted, even when I didnβt?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Maybe there was no right or wrong, no black or white, only a thousand shades of gray when it came to pain and what we each held ourselves responsible for.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Loving another person always means opening yourself up for hurt
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
...not all great acts of courage are obvious to those looking in from the outside.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I want to be able to love you more than I fear losing you
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
And sometimes, that's all it takesβone person who's willing to listen to your heart, to the sound no one else has ever tried to hear.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I'm here for you. I'm here because of you. I'm here because you saw me, not just with your eyes, but with your heart. I'm here because you wanted to know what I had to say and because you were right...everyone does need friends.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the thing you most wanted."
Archer received this strange communication in silence. His eyes remained unseeingly fixed on the thronged sunlit square below the window. At length he said in a low voice: "She never asked me.
β
β
Edith Wharton (The Age of Innocence)
β
I realized that people's reactions had more to do with them, more to do with who they were, than anything about me
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
How do you teach a man who has lost everything, not to fear it happening again?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Bad things don't happen to people because they deserve for them to happen. It just doesn't work that way. It's just⦠life. And no matter who we are, we have to take the hand we're dealt, crappy though it may be, and try our very best to move forward anyway, to love anyway, to have hope anyway⦠to have faith that there's a purpose to the journey we're on.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
This is that burden I was talking about, Bree. This is what the burden of loving me looks like.β
βLoving you isn't a burden. Loving you is an honor and a joy, Archer.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
It suddenly occurred to me that Archer Hale had taught himself an entire language, but hadn't had a single person to talk to. Until me.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
He smiled back and put his lips against mine, mouthing, βI love you, too,β against my mouth, as if he was breathing love into my body.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Youβre my everything, Bree.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Did you⦠want me to kiss you yesterday? Did you want me to touch you? His lips parted slightly, and he watched me for my answer like his life depended on it.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Only you, only ever you.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Bad things don't happen to people because they deserve for them to happen. It just doesn't work that way. It's just... life
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Iβm in love with you too. I am so desperately in love with you. Is it enough, Bree?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
love was all about learning to speak a person's language.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
There is nothing to find out. What I know, is that you walked through my gate that day and I lost my heart. But not because it could have been any girl-because it was you. I lost my heart to you. And, Bree, in case you're wondering, I don't ever want it back.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Heather turned her voice up full volume. βGabriel Michael Archer, wake up this minute!β
With his eyes still closed, he grumbled, βMy middle name isnβt Michael.β
βI donβt care. Wake up!
β
β
Chelsea Fine (Avow (The Archers of Avalon, #3))
β
Itβs like, the second I saw him, my life started.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I try to believe that something beautiful can result from something ugly, and that there will come a time when I'll get to see what that is.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I guess if it wasn't beautiful, the tragedy ultimately wouldn't be sad.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
You brought the silence, The most beautiful sound I'd ever heard, Because it was where you were. And now you've taken it away. And all the noises, all the sounds in the world, Aren't loud enough to pierce my broken heart. I look up at the stars, endless and forever, and whisper, Come back to me, Come back to me, Come back to me.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I didn't know enough to dream you, Bree, but somehow you came true anyway. How did that happen?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I know you like my hands in your hair. Show me other ways you like to be touched. Teach me what you like, he said
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
She had told me my voice mattered, and her love had made me believe it might be true. And sometimes, that's all it takesβone person who's willing to listen to your heart, to the sound no one else has ever tried to hear.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Can we kiss some more? he asked, his eyes shining with desire
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. I wish you could read my mind so that you would know how much I want you, no one else. There could be three hundred men after me right now, and it wouldn't matter. Because none of them are you, Archer Hale. None of them are the man I love.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I'm here for you. I'm here because of you. I'm here because you saw me, not just with your eyes, but with your heart.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I was glad he didnβt try to come up with something encouraging to say. Sometimes an understanding silence was better than a bunch of meaningless words.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Youβre here.
Iβm here for you.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
the loudest words are the ones we live.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
God, thatβs sexy,β Melanie said. βItβs like you two are talking dirty right out in the open.β
Archer smiled over at her and I laughed. I shook my head. βMaybe you two should learn sign so you can join us.β I grinned.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I want to be able to love you, more than I fear losing you, and I donβt know how.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Chiron's wound symbolizes the transformative power of sufferingβhow personal pain, both physical and emotional, can become the source of great moral and spiritual strength.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
They don't know who you are, Archer. They have no idea. And they don't deserve to know. Don't let their judgment hurt you.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Oh, good, it worked,β Archer said, his ghostly face relieved. Unlike Elodie, his voice came in loud and clear, and so familiar that my heart broke all over again.
I stood frozen, my back against the door. Even though he was faint, I could see him smirk.
βUmβ¦Mercer? Havenβt seen you in nearly a month. I was expecting something like, βOh, Cross, love of my heart, fire of my loins, how Iβve longedβββ
βYouβre dead,β I blurted out, pressing a hand against my stomach. βYouβre a ghost, and you thinkββ
All the humor disappeared from his face, and he held up both hands. βWhoa, whoa, whoa. Not dead. Promise.β
My heart was still hammering. βThen what the heck are you?β
Archer almost looked sheepish as he reached inside his shirt and pulled out some kind of amulet on a thin silver chain. βItβs a speaking stone. Lets you appear to people kind of like a hologram. You know. βHelp me, Sophie-Wan Kenobi, youβre my only hope.ββ
βDid you steal it from the cellar at Hecate, too?β Archer had collected all sorts of magical knickknacks back when we had cellar duty at Hex Hall.
βNo,β he said, offended. βI found it at aβ¦store. For magical stuff. Okay, yes, I stole it from the cellar.
β
β
Rachel Hawkins (Spell Bound (Hex Hall, #3))
β
I felt him smile against my skin, but he didnβt raise his head and he didnβt attempt to move, his body laying half on me, and half on the bed so I wasnβt being crushed.
βHey,β I said softly, βyou alive there?β
I felt another slow grin against my neck and then he shook his head, no.
I laughed softly and his head came up, a sweet smile on his face.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but I just thought if I sat on your porch, you wouldn't be scared. You wouldn't be alone.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
..."my wounded healer, my beautiful Archer.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I was finally home. Not the place, but his arms. Archerβs arms were my home- the only place I wanted to be, the place where I felt safe. The place where I felt loved.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I couldnβt have known that Archer Hale existed somewhere in this crazy world, and that he had been made just for me.
And in that moment, I knew. I was falling in love with the beautiful, silent man staring down at me. If I hadnβt already fallen.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
No, Iβm surprised he didnβt say goodbye.β
βWell, of course he didnβt say goodbye.β Heather put down her mug. βYou would have convinced him to stay.β
βThatβs not true.β
βOh, please.β Heather rolled her eyes. βYou would have been like Oh, Tristan, please donβt go. Stay with me so I can crush on you and giggle at everything you say.β Heather nodded. βThatβs what it would have been like. In that high-pitched voice and everything.
β
β
Chelsea Fine (Awry (The Archers of Avalon, #2))
β
And then that voice from behind her said her name again.
"Celaena."
They had done this.
Her bloody fingers slid down Dorian's face, to his neck. He just stared at her, suddenly still.
"Celaena," a familiar voice said. A warning.
They had did this. They had betrayed her. Betrayed Nehemia. They had taken her away. Her nail brushed Dorian's exposed throat.
"Celaena," the voice said.
Celaena slowly turned.
Chaol stared at her, a hand on his sword. The sword she'd brought to the warehouse- the sword she'd left there. Archer had told her that Chaol had known they were going to do this.
He had known.
She shattered completely, and launched herself at him.
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
β
There's nothing any of us can do about the possibility of loss
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
My eyes moved over his face. 'Why did you do it?'
He was silent for a couple beats, looking down, taking his bottom lip between his teeth before he brought his hands up and said, 'I don't know.' His expression turned thoughtful, his eyes meeting mine, and then he continued. 'When you were in the trap, I couldn't speak to you to reassure you. You can't hear me...I can't help that.' He looked down for a second and then back up at me. 'But I want you to see me.' An expression of vulnerability washed over his face. 'Now you can see me.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I wans to be able to love you more than I fear losing you, and I don't know how. Teach me, Bree. Please teach me. Don't let me destroy this.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my arms, kissing her lips and falling in love with her, just like I still did a thousand times a day.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
And try to believe that maybe more light shines out of those who have the most cracks.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
He was so beautiful. I felt something catch in my chest and knew it was just him, taking my breath away.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
He smiled. I still wasn't used to getting them, and this one made my heart speed up just a little bit. They were like a rare gift that he gave out. I snatched it up and stored it somewhere inside of me.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I think love is a concept, and each person has an individual word for them. My word is Bree.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I don't want to be with anyone except you. I didn't want her, I only want you. I only want you, Bree.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
What I know, is that you walked through my gate that day and I lost my heart. But not because it could have been any girlβbecause it was you. I lost my heart to you. And, Bree, in case you're wondering, I don't ever want it back.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Whatβs on your happy list?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
He brought both hands up and said, You can speak the old-fashioned way. I can hear you, remember? I blinked at him and after a few seconds brought my hands up. If it's okay with you, I'd like to speak your language. I smiled a small smile.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
No matter who we are, we have to take the hand we're dealt, crappy though it may be, and try our very best to move forward anyway, to love anyway, to have hope anyway... to have faith that there's a purpose to the journey we're on... And try to believe that maybe more light shines out of those who have the most cracks.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
You're my everything, Bree."
"You're mine too, Archer. Everything. And now, when a thunderstorm comes, I'll think of you. Not anything other than you.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
It's like, the second I saw him, my life stated.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
There has only ever been you. There. Will. Only. Ever. Be. You.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
He stared back like I was an advanced math problem he couldn't interpret.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
And her love slips quietly around me, holding me, anchoring me, reminding me that the loudest words are the ones we live.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I had never actually seen an eight-pack, but there it was, right in front of me. I guessed that even slightly strange, silent hermits werenβt exempt from exceptional physiques. Good for him.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
This is that burden I was talking about, Bree. This is what the burden of loving me looks like,
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
But I want you to see me. An expression of vulnerability washed over his face. Now you can see me.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Dandelion seeds were scattered across the glass, and as a light breeze blew, the fluffy ends were caught in the moving air and danced delicately off my windshield as they took flight, moving away from me, in the direction the man had gone.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Since I had met him, it had occurred to me that it would probably be amazing what we could all see and hear if we would just shut our mouths a little more, and stop trying to constantly hear our own voice.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
And the hell of it was, I knew I loved herβfiercely and with every part of my heart, even the broken parts, even the parts that felt unworthy and without value. And maybe those parts most of all.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
As I stood there holding onto him, it occurred to me that not all great acts of courage are obvious to those looking in from the outside. But I saw this moment for what it wasβa boy who had never been made to feel that he was wanted anywhere, showing up and asking others to accept him. It made my heart soar with pride for the beautiful act of bravery that was Archer Hale stepping into this small town diner.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
You didn't know if you could, but you made it another day, didn't you?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
Loving another person always means opening yourself up for hurt. I don't want to lose more than I already have either, but isn't it worth it? Isn't it worth giving it a chance?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I thought about my dad the whole time I sat there, remembering special moments, we'd shared, reminiscing about the little quirks he had, picturing his face so clearly in my mind. I focused on what I had had, on what some people never got for even a minute. I had had him for twenty-one years. I was lucky-I had been blessed.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I thought about how Bree and I were so different... and yet so similar. She carried the guilt of not fighting when she thought she should have, and I carried the scar of what happened when you did. We had each reacted differently in a moment of terror, and yet we both still hurt. Maybe there was no right or wrong, no black or white, only a thousand shades of gray when it came to pain and what we each held ourselves responsible for.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I was sitting in this small coffee shop a couple days ago and I saw this old man sitting at a table across from me. He looked so lonely, so sad. I was too, but it suddenly occurred to me that some people go through their whole lives never being loved or loving as deeply as I love you. There's always going to be the chance that I could lose you in this lifetime. There's nothing any of us can do about the possibility of loss. But in that moment, I decided that I was more interested in focusing on the great privilege I've been given in having you at all.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
One day, he put a bowl of potato chips out while I was preparing us lunch and as I snacked on them, I noticed that they were all the folded ones that I loved, but usually had to hunt for. I looked down at the chips and then up at Archer, confused. "All these chips⦠they're all folded," I said, thinking I sounded crazy. Aren't those the ones you like?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
An intercom popped on and Paris dais, "Knock. Knock."
Static and then a woman's voice said, "Who's there?"
Kat raised a brow at me, and I shrugged.
"The interruption cow," Paris said, glancing at Luc, who shook his head.
From the intercom, "The inter-"
"Moooooo!" Pars dais, snickerin.
Kat giggled.
Archer rolled his eyes and shook his head.
There was an audible huff from the intercom. "That was stupid. The gate is opening. Give ist a sec."
"That was pretty lame" I said.
Paris chuckled. "I saw it on the Internet. Made me laugh. I got more. Want to hear them?"
"No." My rebuttal was joined by Archer's. Something we agreed on. Huh. Go figure.
"Too bad." Paris eased forward as the gated split, spreading wide. "That wasn't even my best one.
β
β
Jennifer L. Armentrout (Origin (Lux, #4))
β
Archer had this way of doing things that was so sexy and supremely male, it made my heart skip a beat at how naturally and unknowingly he did them. He would lean a hip against the counter in a certain way, or stand in a doorway holding on to the moulding above him as he watched me β things he had no idea affected me the way they did. It was just him being him, and somehow that made it even more appealing.
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die-
No.
Heather took a deep breath and tried to think about something else. Anything else.
Like ponies.
Ponies were a happy thought. They were nice and gentle and they never kidnapped people or strapped them to cold warehouse pillars.
Ponies, ponies, ponies-
"Tie him up by the girl and for God's sake don't kill him!" Clare's - er, Raven's - voice was like nails on a chalkboard as it floated into Heather's ears.
Any attempts to think of ponies came to an abrupt halt.
β
β
Chelsea Fine (Avow (The Archers of Avalon, #3))
β
What are your dreams, Archer?" I whispered, wanting to know what was in his heart. He looked at me for another couple beats and then pushed himself back onto his knees and pulled me up so that I was straddling his lap. I smiled at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, but pulling back to let him speak. He brought his hands up and said, I didn't know enough to dream you, Bree, but somehow you came true anyway. How did that happen? He rubbed his nose along mine, pausing and then pulling back again. Who read my mind and knew exactly what I wanted, even when I didn't?
β
β
Mia Sheridan (Archer's Voice)
β
The sun was just beginning to rise when we reached the corn mill, which surprised me until I remembered that A) England has freakishly early sunrises in the summer, and B) we'd been gone nearly two hours. I was pretty sure I'd never been so wiped out in my entire life. I felt hollow and exhausted, and as I looked at Archer, almost unbearably sad. I tried to tell myself that it was just because I'd been nearly squished by the space-time continuum,but I knew that wasn't it.
I think Archer was feeling something similar, because his hands shook slightly as he lifted the chain from around our necks. It hit the floor with a heavy thump, sending up a cloud of dust motes. They sparkled in the shaft of pale pink light that fell between us, looking surprisingly pretty for dirt.
Archer's face was streaked with sweat, and there was a smudge above his left eyebrow, as well as a dark stain on his torso that was probably ghoul blood. I had a feeling I looked just as rough.
"Well," he said at last, his voice slightly hoarse. "That was the worst first date I've ever been on.
β
β
Rachel Hawkins (Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2))
β
What is a writer?
A writer is a magician who can create a masterpiece
With a wave of a pencil
A writer has the key to a new world
Capturing readers and taking them on a roller coaster ride away from reality
But a writer can be a commanding tyrant
Or a hypnotist stealing minds
What is a writer?
A writer is a powerful being, an intelligent thinker
And an artist creating mind pictures through words.
A writer is a keeper of secrets
Or like a roomful of words waiting for a book
But a writer is also a puppet master taking control
With no strings attached
What is a writer?
A writer is a true friend
Using words to spread smiles to the world
A writer isβ¦..
The voice of the hear
β
β
Carol Archer
β
Someone on my other side nudged my shoulder, and I shifted closer to Jenna to make room. And then a hand closed over mine.
Before I even turned my head, I knew.
βMercer.β Archer smiled down at me. βFancy meeting you here.β
As much as I wanted to, I couldnβt just throw my arms around his neck and kiss the heck out of him. And I really wanted to. So I settled for lacing my fingers with his and pulling him slightly closer.
Archer here, safe, his hand in mine. And Jenna, pressed tight to my other side. My heart was so full, I could hardly breathe, and even though I tried to keep it light, my voice was strained when I said, βOf course. Everything going to hell, and you turn up. I shouldβve know.β
He shrugged, even though his eyes were burning with the same emotion currently racing through my veins. βEh, Italy was getting boring. Figured I might as well see what you ladies were up to.
β
β
Rachel Hawkins (Spell Bound (Hex Hall, #3))
β
But as I stood across from Archer, I couldn't forget that I was completely, stupidly in love with the one person I could never have.
The laughter died on my lips, and I dashed at my eyes with the back of my hand. "I need to get back," I said.
"Right," he replied. He was still holding his sword in his right hand, and he twirled the hilt, the point sratching the wooden floor. "So this is it. We're done."
"Yeah," I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat. "And I have to say, the world's first and last Eye-demon reconnaissance mission went pretty well." It was a struggle to meet his eyes, but I managed it. "Thank you."
He shrugged, his dark gaze full of something I couldn't quite read. "We were a good team."
"We were." In more ways than one, I thought. Which is why this sucked so bad.
I stepped back. "Anyway, I should go. See ya,Cross." Then I laughed, only it sounded suspiciously like another sob. "Except I won't, will I So I guess I should say goodbye." I felt like I was about to shatter into a million tiny shards, like the mirrors I'd broken with Dad. "okay, well, best of luck with the whole Eye thing, then. Try not to kill anyone I know." I turned away, but he reached out and caught my wrist.
I could feel my pulse hammering under his fingers. "Mercer, that day in the cellar..." He searched my face, and I could sense him struggling for what he wanted to say. Then finally, "I didn't kiss you back because I had to. I kissed you because I wanted to." His eyes dropped to my lips,and it was like the whole world had shrunk to just me and him and the shaft of light between us. "I still want to," he said hoarsely. He tugged my wrist and pulled me into his arms.
My brain registered the sound of his sword clattering to he ground as his other hand came up to grab the back of my neck, but once his lips were on mine, everything else faded away. I clutched at his shoulders, raising up on my tiptoes, and kissed him with everything I had in me. As the kiss deepened, we held each other tighter, so I didn't know if the pounding heartbeat I felt was mine or his.
How stupid,I thought dreamily, to have ever thought I could give this up. Not just the kissing, although, as Archer's hands cupped my face, I had to admit that part was pretty awesome. But all of it: joking with him and working beside him. Being with a guy who was my friend and could still make me feel like this.
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Rachel Hawkins (Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2))
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Taking deep breaths, I gathered my power until I could feel it crackling in my fingertips. "Let him go!" I commanded in what I hoped was my most "I am a powerful demon" voice. Probably would've been better if my voice hadn't cracked on the last word. I released the magic in my hands, which felt kind of like snapping a giant rubber band.
A bolt of power flew from my fingertips, crashing into a nearby tree with a thunderous crack. There was a bright flash like lightning, and a branch fell to the ground. The ghouls startled, which meant the one holding Archer jerked his head back even farther. The smallest one made a noise that might have been distress, but they certainly didn't seem under my control.
And they weren't letting Archer go.
Okay, so my first experiment with necromancy was an epic fail.Take two.
I fought panic and frustration. Shooting off my magic at the ghouls was no good, but what else was I supposed to try? "Think,Sophie," I muttered under my breath.
"Yeah,please do that," Archer replied, his voice slightly strangled. The ghoul holding him had wrapped a hand around Archer's throat. The thing's expression wasn't threatening, just curious, like he was little kid trying to see what would happen if he just kept squeezing.
I slammed my eyes shut. Okay, they were dead. Yucky dead things. That smelled like-okay, those thoughts were not helpful.
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Rachel Hawkins (Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2))
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You guys could handle this on your own. Why risk getting kicked out of your He-Man-Monster-Haters Club?"
"Because we can't handle this on our own. At least I don't think we can."
"You said yourself you already have some Prodigium working with you. Why not go to them?"
"We have a handful," he said, frustration creeping into his voice. "And most of them suck. Look, just consider it a peace offering, okay? My way of saying I'm sorry for lying to you. And pulling a knife in your presence, even if it was just to open a damn window to get out before you vaporized me."
Most girls got flowers. I got a dirt put used for demon raising. Nice.
"Thanks," I replied. "But don't you want in on this?"
He looked at me, and not for the first time, I wished his eyes weren't so dark. It would have been nice to have some idea of what was going on in his head. "That's up to you," he said.
Mom always liked to say that we hardly ever know the decisions we make that change our lives,mostly because they're little ones. You take this bus instead of that one and end up meeting your soul mate, that kind of thing. But there was no doubt in my mind that this was one of those life-changing moments. Tell Archer no,and I'd never see him again. And Dad and Jenna wouldn't be mad at me, and Cal...Tell Archer yes, and everything suddenly got twistier and more complicated than Mrs. Casnoff's hairdo.
And even though I'm a twisty and complicated girl, I knew what my answer had to be.
"It's too much of a risk, Cross. Maybe one day when I'm head of the Council, and you're...well, whatever you're going to be for L'Occhio di Dio, we could work on some kind of collaboration." That brought up depressig images of me and Archer sittig across a boardroom table, sketching out battle plans on a whiteboard, so my voice was a little shaky when I continued. "But for now, it's too dangerous." And not just because basically everyone in our lives would want to kill us if they found out, I thought. But because I was pretty sure I was still in love with him, and I thought he might feel something similar for me, and there was no way we could work together preventing the Monster Apocalypse/World War III without that becoming an issue.
Not that I could say any of that.
Archer's face was blank as he said, "Cool. Got it."
"Cross," I started to say, but then his eyes slid past me and went wide with horror. At the same time, I became aware of a slithering noice behind me. That just could not be good; in my experience, nothing pleasant slithers.
Still, I was not prepared for the nightmares climbing out of the crater.
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Rachel Hawkins (Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2))