β
I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I'm not going to die," she said. "Not till I've seen it."
"Seen what?"
Her smile widened. "Everything.
β
β
V.E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I apologize for anything I might have done. I was not myself.β
βI apologize for shooting you in the leg.β said Lila. βI was myself entirely.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
For the ones who dream of stranger worlds.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Sure I do,β countered Lila cheerfully. βThereβs Dull London, Kell London, Creepy London, and Dead London,β she recited, ticking them off on her fingers. βSee? Iβm a fast learner.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Hesitation is the death of advantage.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
As Athera. To grow.
As Pyrata. To burn.
As Illumae. To light.
As Orense. To open.
As Anase. To dispel.
As Hasari. To heal.
As Travars. To Travel.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
You know so little of war. Battles may be fought from the outside in, but wars are won from the inside out.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Some people steal to stay alive, and some steal to feel alive. Simple as that.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
The bodies in my floor all trusted someone. Now I walk on them to tea.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Bad magic, Kell had called it.
No, thought Lila now. Clever magic.
And clever was more dangerous than bad any day of the week.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
A life worth having is a life worth taking.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
But the thing about people, Kell had discovered, is that they didn't really want to know. They thought they did, but knowing only made them miserable.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
He would see her again. He knew he would. Magic bent the world. Pulled it into shape. There were fixed points. Most of the time they were places. But sometimes, rarely, they were people. For someone who never stood still, Lila felt like a pin in Kell's world. One he was sure to snag on.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Aren't you afraid of dying?" he asked Lila now.
She looked at him as if it were a strange question. And then she shook her head. "Death comes for everyone," she said simply. "I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here." She swept her hand over the room, the tavern, the city. "I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
You look more ready to storm a city than seduce a man.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Lila Bard knew in her bones that she was meant to be a pirate.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
His magic is powerful, intoxicating. I'm a butterfly caught in his net, unable and unwilling to escape. I'm his ....... totally his". (Ana to Christian)
β
β
E.L. James (Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, #2))
β
Looking for trouble, he'd say. You're gonna look til you find it.
Trouble is the looker, she'd answer. It keeps looking till it finds you. Might as well find it first.
Why do you want to die?
I don't, she'd say. I just want to live.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Time isn't the same for the mad and the blind.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Word of mouth was its own kind of magic.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Lila Bard lived by a simple rule: if a thing was worth having, it was worth taking.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I'm not going to die," she said. "Not till I've seen it."
"Seen what?"
Her smile widened. "Everything.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Are you ready ?" she asked, spinning the chamber.
Kell gazed through the gate at the waiting castle. "No."
At that, she offered him the sharpest edge of a grin.
"Good," she said. "The ones who think they're ready always end up dead.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
What are you?" she asked.
"A monster," said Kell hoarsely. "You'd better let me go."
The girl gave a small, mocking laugh. "Monsters don't faint in the presence of ladies."
"Ladies don't dress like men and pick pockets," retorted Kell.
Her smile only sharpened. "What are you really?"
"Tied to your bed," said Kell matter-of-factly.
"And?"
His brow furrowed. "And in trouble.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I love you, Kell, but I had no interest in matching tattoos.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
You have a house if not a home," she spat. "You have people who care for you if not about you. You may not have everything you want, but I'd wager you have everything you could ever need, and you have the audacity to claim it all forfeit because it is not love."
"I--"
"Love doesn't keep us from freezing to death, Kell," she continued, "or starving, or being knifed for the coins in our pocket. Love doesn't buy us anything, so be glad for what you have and who you have because you may want for things but you need nothing.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Delilah Bard,β she said. βWeβve met before. And you looked worse.β
Rhy laughed silently. βI apologize for anything I might have done. I was not myself.β
βI apologize for shooting you in the leg,β said Lila. βI was myself entirely.β
Rhy broke into his perfect smile. βI like this one,β he said to Kell. βCan I borrow her?β
βYou can try,β said Lila, raising a brow. βBut youβll be a prince without his fingers.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell managed an echo of her smile, and [Lila] gasped. "What's that on your face?"
The smile vanished. "What?"
"Never mind," she said, laughing. "It's gone.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Where did you get this?" he asked.
"In a pocket in your coat," said Lila, stretching. "By the way, did you know that your coat is more than one coat? I'm pretty sure I went though five or six to find that."
Kell stared at her, slack-jawed.
"What?" she asked.
"How did you know what it was for?"
Lila shrugged. "I didn't."
"What if it had been poison?" he snapped.
"There's really no winning with you.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
A fine idea,β said Rhy. βBut no. We must go out, you see, because weβre on a mission.β
βOh?β asked Kell.
βYes. Because unless you plan to wed me yourselfβand donβt get me wrong, I think weβd make a dashing pairβI must try and find a mate.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell wore a very peculiar coat.
It had neither one side, which would be conventional, nor two, which would be unexpected, but several, which was, of course, impossible.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I thought you saidβ"
"I said Rhy forgave them. I never said I did.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Heβs β¦ charming and spoiled, generous and fickle and hedonistic. He would flirt with a nicely upholstered chair, and he never takes anything seriously.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell wore a very peculiar coat.
It had neither one side, which would be conventional, nor two, which would be unexpected, but several, which was, of course, impossible.
The first thing he did whenever he stepped out of one London and into another was take off the coat and turn it inside out once or twice (or even three times) until he found the side he needed. Not all of them were fashionable, but they each served a purpose. There were ones that blended in and ones that stood out, and one that served no purpose but of which he was just particularly fond.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Do you know what makes you weak?β said Holland. βYouβve never had to be strong. Youβve never had to try. Youβve never had to fight. And youβve certainly never had to fight for your life.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
men who waded into waters claiming they could swim should not need a raft.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
One adventure at a time.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Magic made things simple. Sometimes, thought Kell, it made things too simple.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I apologize for shooting you in the leg," said Lila. "I was entirely myself.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Looking for trouble, heβd say. Youβre gonna look till you find it. Trouble is the looker, sheβd answer. It keeps looking till it finds you. Might as well find it first.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Battles may be fought from the outside in, but wars are won from the inside out.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell stared at her, at a loss. Was her bravado a front, or did she truly have so little to lose? But she had a life, and a life was a thing that could always be lost.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Barron's kindness was like a curse, because she knew she had done nothing to deserve it.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
The queen considered him, her pale lips curling at the edges. βThe bodies in my floor all trusted someone. Now I walk on them to tea.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
She dragged her head up and saw Kell standing in the road, the strange magical boy in his black coat, looking breathless and angry. Lila couldnβt believe it.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Such is the quandary when it comes to magic, that it is not an issue of strength but of balance. For too little power, and we become weak. Too much, and we become something else entirely.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
We can't all turn blood and whispers into weapons.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
A respectable prison is still a prison.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
No,β he said. βThatβs not magic, Lila. Thatβs just murder.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
No London is truly without magic
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell frowned deeply. It is amazing, thought Lila, that he doesnβt have more wrinkles.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
What are you?β she asked.
βA monster,β said Kell hoarsely. βYouβd better let me go.β
The girl gave a small, mocking laugh. βMonsters donβt faint in the presence of ladies.β
βLadies donβt dress like men and pick pockets,β retorted Kell.
Her smile only sharpened. βWhat are you really?β
βTied to your bed,β said Kell matter-of-factly.β
βAnd?β
His brow furrowed. βAnd in trouble.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Stay with me,β said Kell. βStay with me. Rhy. Listen to my voice.β βSuch a nice voice,β said Rhy quietly, his head lolling forward. βRhy.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Some thought magic came from the mind, others the soul, or the heart, or the will. But Kell knew it came from the blood.
Blood was magic made manifest. There it thrived. And there it poisoned. Kell had seen what happened when power warred with the body, watched it darken in the veins of corrupted men, turning their blood from crimson to black. If red was the color of magic in balanceβof harmony between power and humanityβthen black was the color of magic without balance, without order, without restraint.
As an Antari, Kell was made of both, balance and chaos; the blood in his veins, like the Isle of Red London, ran a shimmering, healthy crimson, while his right eye was the color of spilled ink, a glistening black.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
He was taught early that magic reclaimed magic, and earth reclaimed earth, the two dividing when the body died, the person they had combined to be simply forfeit, lost. Nothing lasted. Nothing remained.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Pretty thing," whispered an old woman from a doorway in Maktahm. "Pretty skin. Pretty bones."
"This way, Master," called another.
"Come inside."
"Rest your feet."
"Rest your bones."
"Pretty bones."
"Pretty blood."
"Drink your magic."
"Eat your life."
"Come inside.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Magic bent the world. Pulled it into shape. There were fixed points. Most of the time those points were places. But sometimes, rarely, they were people.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Are you afraid of dying? Holland had asked him in the alley. And Kell was. Had always been, ever since he could remember. He feared not living, feared ceasing to exist. Lila's world may believe in Heaven and Hell, but his believed in dust. He was taught early that magic reclaiemd magic, and earth reclaimed earth, the two dividing when the body died, the person they had combined to be simply forfeit, lost. Nothing lated. Nothing remained.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Lila, one of these days, you're going to get yourself killed."
"Would you miss me?" she asked.
"Like an itch," he shot back.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell looked her in the eyes. βYou will be trapped there,β he said. βWhen it is over.β
Lila shivered. βPerhaps,β she said, βor perhaps I will go with you to the end of the world. After all, youβve made me curious.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Power in Balance. Balance in Power.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Love doesnβt keep us from freezing to death, Kell,β she continued, βor starving, or being knifed for the coins in our pocket. Love doesnβt buy us anything, so be glad for what you have and who you have because you may want for things but you need for nothing.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
You donβt know anything about these worlds,β he said, but the fight was bleeding out of his voice. βSure I do,β countered Lila cheerfully. βThereβs Dull London, Kell London, Creepy London, and Dead London,β she recited, ticking them off on her fingers. βSee? Iβm a fast learner.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
My life is mine to spend," she said. "And I will not spend it here, no matter how nice your city is, or how much safer it might be. We had a deal, Kell. And now you have Tieren to guard your story and heal your brother. I'm of no use to him. Let me be of use to you.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Lila would rather steal a thing outright than be indebted to kindness.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Lila Bard knew in her bones that she was meant to be a pirate. All she needed was a working ship.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
What child didn't wish to know if his bedtime stories were the stuff of fiction or of truth?
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
It seemed like a good plan, or at least, like the best of several bad ones. But
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Crime isn't that complicated. People steal because taking something gives them something. If they're not in it for the money, they're in it for control. The act of taking, of breaking the rules, makes them feel powerful. They're in it for the sheer defiance. Some people steal to stay alive, and some steal to feel alive.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Lila knew what it felt like to want something, knew the way it whispered and sang and screamed in your bones. And this felt like that, but wasnβt. An impostor of longing.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell had a strange feeling about the girl, but he pushed it aside.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
How did you lose it?β he asked. Lila frowned. βLose what?β His weathered fingers drifted up beneath her chin. βYour eye.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
All of them screamed by the end.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Lila. A soft name but she used it like a knife, slashing out the first syllable, the second barely a whisper of metal through air.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
The air was full of blood and magic,
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
There is nothing I would not give you.β Kellβs chest ached. βI know.β βYou are my brother. My closest friend.β βI know.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
When this is over,β she said, tucking the watch into a fold of her cloak. βI want to be the one to slit his throat.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Walls aren't always where they ought to be.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Death comes for everyone... I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab
β
The owner of the Stoneβs Throw was built like a brick wallβif a brick wall decided to grow a beardβtall
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Hesitation is the death of advantage,
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Like I said, you can never have too many knives.β Kell
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I am not empty. I am not Hollow. I am not dead. I am Rhy Maresh. I am the king of Arnes. And I am unbreakable.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (Darker Shade of Magic / A Gathering of Shadows / Vicious)
β
Trouble is the looker, sheβd answer. It keeps looking till it finds you. Might as well find it first.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
And to my readers, both the loyal and the new, because without you, Iβm just a girl talking to myself in public.
This is for you.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell looked down at Delilah Bard, a cutthroat and a thief, a valiant partner and a strange, terrifying girl.
He would see her again. He knew he would. Magic bent the world. Pulled it into shape. There were fixed points. Most of the time those points were places. But sometimes, rarely, they were people. For someone who never stood still, Lila still felt like a pin in Kellβs world. One he was sure to snag on.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
I wish you wouldn't indulge him," said the Prince Regent, whose name was also George (Kell found the Grey London habit of sons taking father's name both redundant and confusing) with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It gets his spirits up."
"Is that a bad thing?" asked Kell.
"For him, yes. He'll be in a frenzy later. Dancing on the tables talking of magic and other Londons. What trick did you do for him this time? Convince him he could fly?"
Kell had only made that mistake once.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
But time isnβt the same for the mad and the blind.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell had told his brother about the deals he struck in Grey London, and in White, and even on occasion in Red, about the various things heβd smuggled, and Rhy had stared at him, and listened, and when he spoke, it wasnβt to lecture Kell on all the ways it was wrong, or illegal. It was to ask why.
βI donβt know,β said Kell, and it had been the truth.
Rhy had sat up, eyes bleary from drink. βHave we not provided?β heβd asked, visibly upset. βIs there anything you want for?β
βNo,β Kell had answered, and that had been a truth and a lie at the same time.
βAre you not loved?β whispered Rhy. βAre you not welcomed as family?β
βBut Iβm not family, Rhy,β Kell had said. βIβm not truly a Maresh, for all that the king and queen have offered me that name. I feel more like a possession than a prince.β
At that, Rhy had punched him in the face.
For a week after, Kell had two black eyes instead of one, and heβd never spoken like that again, but the damage was done.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
They have little in common, save for their geography, and the fact that each has a version of this city straddling this river on this island country, and in each, that city is called London.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Magic was a living thing---that, everyone knew---but to Kell it felt like more, like a friend, like family. It was, after all, a part of him (much more than it was a part of most) and he couldn't help feeling like it knew what he was saying, what he was feeling, not only when he summoned it, but always, in every heartbeat and every breath. He was, after all, Antari.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
He would see her again. He knew he would. Magic bent the world. Pulled it into shape. There were fixed points. Most of the time those points were places. But sometimes, rarely, they were people. For someone who never stood still, Lila still felt like a pin in Kellβs world. One he was sure to snag on. He
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
She handed back the cigar and dug the silver watch out of her vest pocket. It was warm and smooth, and she didn't know why she liked it so much, but she did. Maybe because it was a choice. Taking it had been a choice. Keeping it had been one, too. And maybe the choice started as a random one, but there was something to it.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Magic,β he said. Black magic. Strong magic. Dead magic. βBad magic.β Finally, Lila slipped. For the briefest moment, her eyes flicked to a chest along the wall. Kell didnβt hesitate. He lunged for the top drawer, but before his fingers met the wood, a knife found his throat. It had come out of nowhere. A pocket. A sleeve. A thin blade resting just below his chin. Lilaβs smile was as sharp as its metal edge. βSit down before you fall down, magic boy.β Lila
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
And then, Kell watched with horror as his echo began to unfasten his tunic, one button at a time.
Kell gave a small, strangled laugh. "You've got to be kidding me." Lila only smiled and rolled the stone in her palm as the Kell that wasn't Kell slid slowly, teasingly, out of his tunic and stood there, bare chested. His fingers began to undo the belt at his waist.
"Okay, enough," said Kell. "Dispel it."
She sighed. "You're no fun."
"This isn't fun."
"Maybe not for you," she said with a smirk as the other Kell continued his striptease, sliding the belt from its loops.
β
β
Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))
β
Kell frowned. 'I've never met anyone like you.'
He hadn't meant it as a compliment but Lila took it that way, flashing him a grin. 'What can I say,' she said, 'I'm one of a kind.'
Well managed an echo of her smile, and she gasped. 'What's that on your face?'
The smile vanished. 'What?'
'Never mind,'she said, laughing. 'It's gone.' Kell only shook his head--he didn't grasp the joke--but whatever it was, it seemed to delight Lila, and she chuckled to herself all the way to whit bury.
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Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic 3 books set: Darker Shade of Magic / A Gathering of Shadows / A Conjuring of Light)
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Astrid Dane. . . Her long colorless hair was woven back into a braid, and her porcelain skin bled straight into the edges of her tunic. Her entire outfit was fitted to her like armor; the collar of her shirt was high and rigid, guarding her throat, and the tunic itself ran from chin to wrist to waist, less out of a sense of modesty, Kell was sure, than protection. Below a gleaming silver belt, she wore fitted pants that tapered into tall boots (rumor had it that a man once spat at her for refusing to wear a dress; sheβd cut off his lips). The only bits of color were the pale blue of her eyes and the greens and reds of the talismans that hung from her neck and wrists and were threaded through her hair. . .
βI smell something sweet,β she said. Sheβd been gazing up at the ceiling. Now her eyes wandered
down and landed on Kell. βHello, flower boy.
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Victoria E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1))