“
I am a descendant of Ranthia Drahl, Queen of Embers. She is with me now and I am not afraid. My friends are behind me, and I will protect them.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1))
“
People talk too much. Humans aren't descended from monkeys. They come from parrots.
”
”
Carlos Ruiz Zafón (The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1))
“
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
”
”
Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1))
“
You know, I really hate Romans, but I have to say their descendants make one fine automobile. (Kyrian)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter #1))
“
The hot-o-meter started ringing like crazy as hot guys descended on me, my car and Tack from two directions.
Boy was I glad I curled my hair.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Mystery Man (Dream Man, #1))
“
I’d rather my sons living, and my daughters safe, than a chance at glory for unborn descendants.
”
”
Katherine Arden (The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1))
“
While an elderly man in his mid-eighties looks curiously at a porno site, his grandson asks him from afar, “‘What are you reading, grandpa?’” “‘It’s history, my boy.’” “The grandson comes nearer and exclaims, “‘But this is a porno site, grandpa, naked chicks, sex . . . a lot of sex!’” “‘Well, it’s sex for you, my son, but for me it’s history,’ the old man says with a sigh.” All of people in the cabin burst into laughter. “A stale joke, but a cool one,” added William More, the man who just told the joke. The navigator skillfully guided the flying disc among the dense orange-yellow blanket of clouds in the upper atmosphere that they had just entered. Some of the clouds were touched with a brownish hue at the edges. The rest of the pilots gazed curiously and intently outwards while taking their seats. The flying saucer descended slowly, the navigator’s actions exhibiting confidence. He glanced over at the readings on the monitors below the transparent console: Atmosphere: Dense, 370 miles thick, 98.4% nitrogen, 1.4% methane Temperature on the surface: ‒179°C / ‒290°F Density: 1.88 g/cm³ Gravity: 86% of Earth’s Diameter of the cosmic body: 3200 miles / 5150 km.
”
”
Todor Bombov (Homo Cosmicus 2: Titan: A Science Fiction Novel)
“
Nothing dies in Hell.
”
”
John Patrick Kennedy (Plague of Angels (The Descended, #1))
“
O Deep Thought computer," he said, "the task we have designed you to perform is this. We want you to tell us...." he paused, "The Answer."
"The Answer?" said Deep Thought. "The Answer to what?"
"Life!" urged Fook.
"The Universe!" said Lunkwill.
"Everything!" they said in chorus.
Deep Thought paused for a moment's reflection.
"Tricky," he said finally.
"But can you do it?"
Again, a significant pause.
"Yes," said Deep Thought, "I can do it."
"There is an answer?" said Fook with breathless excitement.
"Yes," said Deep Thought. "Life, the Universe, and Everything. There is an answer. But, I'll have to think about it."
...
Fook glanced impatiently at his watch.
“How long?” he said.
“Seven and a half million years,” said Deep Thought.
Lunkwill and Fook blinked at each other.
“Seven and a half million years...!” they cried in chorus.
“Yes,” declaimed Deep Thought, “I said I’d have to think about it, didn’t I?"
[Seven and a half million years later.... Fook and Lunkwill are long gone, but their descendents continue what they started]
"We are the ones who will hear," said Phouchg, "the answer to the great question of Life....!"
"The Universe...!" said Loonquawl.
"And Everything...!"
"Shhh," said Loonquawl with a slight gesture. "I think Deep Thought is preparing to speak!"
There was a moment's expectant pause while panels slowly came to life on the front of the console. Lights flashed on and off experimentally and settled down into a businesslike pattern. A soft low hum came from the communication channel.
"Good Morning," said Deep Thought at last.
"Er..good morning, O Deep Thought" said Loonquawl nervously, "do you have...er, that is..."
"An Answer for you?" interrupted Deep Thought majestically. "Yes, I have."
The two men shivered with expectancy. Their waiting had not been in vain.
"There really is one?" breathed Phouchg.
"There really is one," confirmed Deep Thought.
"To Everything? To the great Question of Life, the Universe and everything?"
"Yes."
Both of the men had been trained for this moment, their lives had been a preparation for it, they had been selected at birth as those who would witness the answer, but even so they found themselves gasping and squirming like excited children.
"And you're ready to give it to us?" urged Loonsuawl.
"I am."
"Now?"
"Now," said Deep Thought.
They both licked their dry lips.
"Though I don't think," added Deep Thought. "that you're going to like it."
"Doesn't matter!" said Phouchg. "We must know it! Now!"
"Now?" inquired Deep Thought.
"Yes! Now..."
"All right," said the computer, and settled into silence again. The two men fidgeted. The tension was unbearable.
"You're really not going to like it," observed Deep Thought.
"Tell us!"
"All right," said Deep Thought. "The Answer to the Great Question..."
"Yes..!"
"Of Life, the Universe and Everything..." said Deep Thought.
"Yes...!"
"Is..." said Deep Thought, and paused.
"Yes...!"
"Is..."
"Yes...!!!...?"
"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.
”
”
Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1))
“
I will be known forever as the Puppy who chased a cutpurse and caught fish garbage instead. My descendants will pretend I'm not in their bloodline. No – no one will want to make descendants with me. [from Beka Cooper's journal of her first day as a new Dog i.e. cop]
”
”
Tamora Pierce (Terrier (Beka Cooper, #1))
“
Our ancestors sought knowledge, but we, their descendants, glorify ignorance.
”
”
S.J. Kincaid (The Diabolic (The Diabolic, #1))
“
Asshole.” “Just for that, I expect you to wrap that dirty mouth of yours around my cock tonight.” He narrowed his eyes on me.
I couldn’t believe he’d just said that to me in a fancy restaurant where anyone might overhear. “Are you kidding?” “Babe,” he gave me a look that suggested I was missing the obvious, “I never kid about blowjobs.”
Our waiter had descended on us just in time to hear those romantic words and his rosy cheeks betrayed his embarrassment. “Ready to order?” he croaked out.“Yes,” Braden answered, obviously uncaring he’d been overhead. “I’ll have the steak, medium-rare.” He smiled softly at me. “What are you having?” He took a swig of water. He thought he was so cool and funny. “Apparently sausage.” Braden choked on the water, coughing into his fists, his eyes bright with mirth as he put his glass back on the table. “Are you okay, sir?” The waiter asked anxiously. “I’m fine, I’m fine.
”
”
Samantha Young (On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street, #1))
“
the camp children descended upon me in a raucous, violent flurry of little bodies. I felt like tiny buffalo were stampeding over me.
”
”
Colleen Houck (Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga, #1))
“
I didn't come here to fight with you. I’m here to fight for you.
”
”
Mayandree Michel (Betrayal (The Descendants, #1))
“
What are we celebrating?”
“Our fragile mortality,” Tristan said. “The inevitability that we will descend into chaos and dust.
”
”
Olivie Blake (The Atlas Six (The Atlas, #1))
“
I wish someone had just told me the truth right up front, as soon as I was old enough to understand it. I wish someone had just said: “Here’s the deal, Wade. You’re something called a ‘human being.’ That’s a really smart kind of animal. Like every other animal on this planet, we’re descended from a single-celled organism that lived millions of years ago. This happened by a process called evolution, and you’ll learn more about it But trust me, that’s really how we all got here. There’s proof of it everywhere, buried in the rocks. That story you heard? About how we were all created by a super-powerful dude named God who lives up in the sky? Total bullshit. The whole God thing is actually an ancient fairy tale that people have been telling one another for thousands of years. We made it all up. Like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. “Oh, and by the way … there’s no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. Also bullshit. Sorry, kid Deal with it.
”
”
Ernest Cline (Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1))
“
It makes no difference to me whether I shoot you or you fall to your death.”
“It does make a difference,” I said, my voice small but confident. “You and I share the same blood.” I lifted my hand precariously, showing him my birthmark. “I’m your descendant. If I sacrifice my blood, Patch will become human and you’ll die. It’s written in The Book of Enoch.
”
”
Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1))
“
People whose history and future were threatened each day by extinction considered that it was only by divine intervention that they were able to live at all. I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed.
”
”
Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1))
“
There was still something unfinished around her eyes; she wasn’t done yet. She was a story, not an epilogue. And if she chose to narrate her own life one word at a time as she descended the stairs to meet her newest arrival, that wasn’t hurting anyone. Narration was a hard habit to break, after all.
Sometimes it was all a body had.
”
”
Seanan McGuire (Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1))
“
When lust descends, discretion, common sense and wisdom fly off and what may seem cunning concealment to one in the grip of passion looks like transparently clumsy idiocy to everyone else.
”
”
Stephen Fry (Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology, #1))
“
In visions of the night, like dropping rain,
Descend the many memories of pain
”
”
Aeschylus (Agamemnon (Oresteia, #1))
“
...We got it all wrong, there was no alien swarm descending from the sky in their flying saucers or big metal walkers like something out of Star Wars or cute little wrinkly E.T.s who just wanted to pluck a couple of leaves, eat some Reese's Pieces, and go home. That's not how it ends.
”
”
Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1))
“
It was the truth, and like any truth, it was powerful.
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #1))
“
It's not fair. It's not our fault. We have no say in our own lives. We're living a fairy tale someone else wrote.
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #1))
“
Where there is light, there must be shadow, and where there is shadow there must be light. There is no shadow without light and no light without shadow. Karl Jung said this about 'the Shadow' in one of his books: 'It is as evil as we are positive... the more desperately we try to be good and wonderful and perfect, the more the Shadow develops a definite will to be black and evil and destructive... The fact is that if one tries beyond one's capacity to be perfect, the shadow descends to hell and becomes the devil. For it is just as sinful from the standpoint of nature and of truth to be above oneself as to be below oneself.
”
”
Haruki Murakami (1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3))
“
Who wanted to make lemonade from lemons, when you could make perfectly good lemon grenades?
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #1))
“
Some say the Tudors transcend this history, bloody and demonic as it is: that they descend from Brutus through the line of Constantine, son of St Helena, who was a Briton. Arthur, High King of Britain, was Constantine's grandson. He married up to three women, all called Guinevere, and his tomb is at Glastonbury, but you must understand that he is not really dead, only waiting his time to come again.
His blessed descendant, Prince Arthur of England, was born in the year 1486, eldest son of Henry, the first Tudor king. This Arthur married Katharine the princess of Aragon, died at fifteen and was buried in Worcester Cathedral. If he were alive now, he would be King of England. His younger brother Henry would likely be Archbishop of Canterbury, and would not (at least, we devoutly hope not) be in pursuit of a woman of whom the cardinal hears nothing good: a woman to whom, several years before the dukes walk in to despoil him, he will need to turn his attention; whose history, before ruin seizes him, he will need to comprehend.
Beneath every history, another history.
”
”
Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1))
“
There is simply no limit to the tyrannical snobbery that otherwise decent people can descend into when it comes to music.
”
”
Stephen Fry (Moab Is My Washpot (Memoir, #1))
“
What is that?” I ask.
“It’s my dog.”
“No. No, I have dogs. Dogs are descended from wolves. That’s descended from a rat.” I look again. “An ugly rat.
”
”
Emma Chase (Royally Screwed (Royally, #1))
“
To let one into your mind was to give him or her all your secrets.
”
”
John Patrick Kennedy (Plague of Angels (The Descended, #1))
“
But first, I want the pleasure of telling you that you are fired. I fire you. I fire you and all your relatives. I fire your ancestors and your descendants. I fire the very air you breathe and the ground you walk upon.
”
”
Z.A. Maxfield (Stirring Up Trouble (The Stirring Series Book 1))
“
I am the Eschaton. I am not your God.
I am descended from you, and exist in your future.
Thou shalt not violate causality within my historic light cone. Or else.
”
”
Charles Stross (Singularity Sky (Eschaton, #1))
“
There are those who do not hold that there is any innate goodness to mankind. To them I say, had you lived my life, you would not believe it. I have known the depths to which mortals are capable of descending, and I have seen the heights. I have seen how kindness and compassion may grow in the unlikeliest of places, as the mountain flower forces its way through the stern rock.
”
”
Jacqueline Carey (Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1))
“
I sipped the coffee and lit a cigarette. I can't say that I enjoyed the taste of coffee or the feeling of smoke descending into my lungs, I could barely distinguish the two, the point was to do it, it was a routine, and as with all routines, protocol was everything.
”
”
Karl Ove Knausgård (Min kamp 1 (Min kamp, #1))
“
Meanwhile I am only twenty years old, and the days descend on me un-noticeably like dust, each one just like the rest.
”
”
Tove Ditlevsen (The Copenhagen Trilogy (The Copenhagen Trilogy, #1-3))
“
Very good, Mr.—?”
“Robinson,” the boy supplied.
Ms. Terwilliger produced a clipboard and scanned a list.
“Ah, there you are. Robinson. Stephanie.”
“Stephan,” corrected the boy, flushing as some of his
friends giggled.
Ms. Terwilliger pushed her glasses up her nose and
squinted. “So you are. Thank goodness. I was just thinking
how difficult your life must be with such a name. My
apologies. I broke my glasses in a freak croquet accident
this weekend, forcing me to bring my old ones today. So,
Stephan-not-Stephanie, you’re correct. It’s a temple. Can
you be more specific?”
...
“Indeed it is,” she said. “And your name is?”
“Sydney.”
“Sydney …” She checked the clipboard and looked up in
astonishment. “Sydney Melbourne? My goodness. You
don’t sound Australian.”
“Er, it’s Sydney Melrose, ma’am,” I corrected.
Ms. Terwilliger scowled and handed the clipboard to
Trey, who seemed to think my name was the funniest thing
ever. “You take over, Mr. Juarez. Your youthful eyes are
better than mine. If I keep at this, I’ll keep turning boys into
girls and perfectly nice young ladies into the descendants
of criminals.
”
”
Richelle Mead (Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1))
“
Like a falling star, he descended on the Tarbh Cró, a Cassiline berserker, his sword biting and slashing like a silver snake.
”
”
Jacqueline Carey (Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1))
“
Well, I am the man of your dreams. You just don't know it yet.
”
”
Angeline Kace (Descended by Blood (Vampire Born, #1))
“
Strange how applause was just noise, when you were all alone.
”
”
Janella Angeles (Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards, #1))
“
I am a descendent of Ranthia Drahl, Queen of Embers. She is with me now and I am not afraid. My friends are behind me and I will defend them.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1))
“
The worst of it was that Bambleby had warned me away from the tree - if I descended into a murderous rage, or turned into a tree myself, he would be very smug about it.
”
”
Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1))
“
I will see Master Thorn settled.” Silas paused to sniff the air beside Elisabeth. “Then, Miss Scrivener, I shall draw you a bath. I believe supper is also in order. And—has no one lit the lamps?” He looked aggrieved. “I have hardly been absent for twenty-four hours, and already the world has descended into ruin.
”
”
Margaret Rogerson (Sorcery of Thorns (Sorcery of Thorns, #1))
“
The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines they had (at however great a remove) brought into being: the urge not to feel useless.
”
”
Iain M. Banks (Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1))
“
Make no mistake, I know I don't have to prove a single thing to them. What matters most is what I prove to myself. Giving up would be an insult to everything I know I'm capable of. And I've already come this far.
”
”
Janella Angeles (Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards, #1))
“
But these aren’t just stories,” she’d said. “They’re whole kingdoms. They’re worlds. They’re perspectives and opinions you can’t offer, from lives you haven’t lived. They’re more valuable than any gold coin, and more important than any state luncheon. I should hope you, as king, would know that!
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #1))
“
She had had affairs over the years ... but she had never been pregnant, never been a mother or a wife and it was only when she realized that it was too late, that it could never be, that she understood what it was that she had lost. Pamela's life would go on after she was dead, her descendants spreading through the world like the waters of a delta, but when Ursula died she would simply end. A stream that ran dry.
”
”
Kate Atkinson (Life After Life (Todd Family, #1))
“
There is something to be said about being the object of one’s desire, that you have all the control, but being craved by a blood thirsty vampire is the doom of any soul.
”
”
Mayandree Michel (Betrayal (The Descendants, #1))
“
Hope is what one relies on when one has no control of one’s fate. We, my dear, have nothing in common with those who rely on hope,” Thaddeus proclaimed.
”
”
Mayandree Michel (Betrayal (The Descendants, #1))
“
For the dreamers who rarely saw themselves in stories and on stages. You belong in the spotlight. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.
”
”
Janella Angeles (Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards, #1))
“
Zeus’s line may be powerful, but even Zeus was helpless against Eros. Unless you’d like me to take you into the men’s room and fuck you till you scream for mercy, you’d better go tell Konstantin that this one is ours. Understand?
”
”
Jenna Black (Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass, #1))
“
As the Dark Lord spoke when he saw the Archangel Michael descending upon him: We are in some serious shit.
”
”
C.T. Phipps (The Rules of Supervillainy (The Supervillainy Saga, #1))
“
Will you mess up my bed with me?
”
”
Angeline Kace (Descended by Blood (Vampire Born, #1))
“
I feel her hips push forward against mine.
And any blood left in my body descends, making me harder than I’ve ever been in my life.
Weeks of want and frustration are coursing through me. I’ve brushed with Colgate for far too
long—and it’s tasted like shit.
”
”
Emma Chase (Tangled (Tangled, #1))
“
Anderson sent me to give you this he said. I believe the subtext was kiss and makeup. This time I was sure I made a face. "I rather kiss a copperhead." I grabbed the envelop from his hand.
He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. Don't worry. It was only a figure of speech.
”
”
Jenna Black (Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass, #1))
“
If I had a nickel for every time I'd wished I possessed the power to alter another person's mind, I'd be knee deep in nickels.
”
”
Mayandree Michel (Betrayal (The Descendants, #1))
“
We've been wicked for such a very long time, you know. It does get tiresome after a while.
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #1))
“
Everything always seems sweeter in the minutes before darkness descends.
”
”
Isabel Ibañez (Woven in Moonlight (Woven in Moonlight, #1))
“
The bristling eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. Mesmerized, the boy watched them disappear under the hanging thatch of white hair. There, almost coyly, they remained just out of sight for a moment, before suddenly descending with a terrible finality and weight.
”
”
Jonathan Stroud (The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus, #1))
“
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this, at a distance of roughly ninety million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet, whose ape descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. This planet has, or had, a problem, which was this. Most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small, green pieces of paper, which is odd, because on the whole, it wasn't the small, green pieces of paper which were unhappy. And so the problem remained, and lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches. Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake coming down from the trees in the first place, and some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no-one should ever have left the oceans. And then one day, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl, sitting on her own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth suddenly realised what it was that had been going wrong all this time and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no-one would have to get nalied to anything. Sadly, however, before she could get to a phone to tell anyone, the Earth was unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass and so the idea was lost forever.
”
”
Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1))
“
You have her smile,” people said, and I remember looking into the casket at her face, wondering if that meant I’d taken it from her, and the wave of guilt descended on me.
”
”
Michelle Hodkin (The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions, #1))
“
Forever as it turns out, is a very long time.
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #1))
“
I loved history, any kind of history, and even better if it was hidden, secret, or underground.
”
”
April White (Marking Time (The Immortal Descendants, #1))
“
There is no lock strong enough nor wall thick enough to keep Death out," he murmured, his lips close to my ear so that I could feel the puff of his breath against my skin. The ends of a couple of his braids had found their way under the collar of my flannel night-shirt and tickled the base of my neck.
"Are you speaking literally or metaphorically?
”
”
Jenna Black (Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass, #1))
“
You can't keep resisting my irresistibleness, Natara Stone. You'll give in eventually, and I won't quit until you do.
”
”
Kelsey Ketch (Daughter of Isis (Descendants of Isis #1))
“
Darkness descends to eclipse the Light
Death will take the lives of many, sparing no one.
In deaths of the Doomed, Light shimmers:
The Light that will set the Beholder free.
”
”
Ivan Amberlake (The Beholder (The Beholder, #1))
“
Holding my hands in his, David kissed my knuckles before he swore to me, “I will love every day of the rest of my life.
”
”
Theresa M. Jones (Power (The Descendant Trilogy #1))
“
Archaeologists do something impressive, reflecting disciplinary humility. When archaeologists excavate a site, they recognize that future archaeologists will be horrified at their primitive techniques, at the destructiveness of their excavating. Thus they often leave most of a site untouched to await their more skillful disciplinary descendants. For example, astonishingly, more than forty years after excavations began, less than 1 percent of the famed Qin dynasty terra-cotta army in China has been uncovered.
”
”
Robert M. Sapolsky (Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst)
“
The world is a cancer eating itself away... I am think that when the great silence descends upon all and everywhere music will at last triumph. When into the womb of time everything is again withdrawn chaos will be restored and chaos is the score upon which reality is written.
”
”
Henry Miller (Tropic of Cancer (Tropic, #1))
“
It is as evil as we are positive...the more desperately we try to be good and wonderful and perfect, the more the Shadow develops a definite will to be black and evil and destructive... The fact is that if one tries beyond one's capacity to be perfect, the Shadow descends to hell and becomes the devil.
”
”
Haruki Murakami (1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3))
“
I preferred the booty shorts, but I thought you’d prefer these. ~Mirko
”
”
Angeline Kace (Descended by Blood (Vampire Born, #1))
“
Only in times without did you truly learn what you were made of.
”
”
Janella Angeles (Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards, #1))
“
Having a Coke with You
is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I’m with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles
and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them
I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it’s in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven’t gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn’t pick the rider as carefully
as the horse
it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it.
”
”
Alex Flinn (Beastly (Beastly, #1))
“
Kaladin was the one who had changed, not they. He felt a strange dislocation, as if he’d allowed himself to forget—if only in part—the last nine months. He reached back across time, studying the man he had been. The man who’d still fought, and fought well. He couldn’t be that man again—he couldn’t erase the scars—but he could learn from that man, as a new squadleader learned from the victorious generals of the past. Kaladin Stormblessed was dead, but Kaladin Bridgeman was of the same blood. A descendant with potential.
”
”
Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1))
“
Of all the wishes tonight, yours was almost the loudest, nearly the most hopeful." He smiled. "The second easiest to grant."
"Almost?"
"There was only one louder," he murmured as his lips descended once more. "Mine.
”
”
Erin A. Craig (House of Salt and Sorrows (Sisters of the Salt, #1))
“
You killed them, Reuben. You killed them in their sins! You terminated their destiny on this earth. You snatched from them any chance for repentance, for redemption. You took that from them. You took it all, Reuben. You snuffed out forever the years of reparation they might have lived! You took life itself from them and you took it from their descendants, and yes, even from their victims, you took what their amends might have been.
”
”
Anne Rice (The Wolf Gift (The Wolf Gift Chronicles, #1))
“
Every night, around midnight GMT, the Sun sets on the Cayman Islands, and doesn’t rise over the British Indian Ocean Territory until after 1:00 a.m. For that hour, the little Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific are the only British territory in the Sun. The Pitcairn Islands have a population of a few dozen people, the descendants of the mutineers from the HMS Bounty. The islands became notorious in 2004 when a third of the adult male population, including the mayor, were convicted of child sexual abuse. As awful as the islands may be, they remain part of the British Empire, and unless they’re kicked out, the two-century-long British daylight will continue.
”
”
Randall Munroe (What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions)
“
Another long silence descends while I try to gather my thoughts. I should be angrier, probably. I should demand proof of his trustworthiness, even though I have no idea what that would look like. I should ask lots of pointed questions designed to ferret out whatever other lies he’s told me.
But the thing is, I do believe him. I won’t pretend I know Nate inside and out after a few weeks, but I know what it’s like to tell yourself a lie so often that it becomes the truth. I did it, and I haven’t had to muddle through life almost completely on my own.
”
”
Karen M. McManus (One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1))
“
If the clouds split open and an archangel descended onto the street in all of his heavenly glory and tried to make Rogan see reason, he would fail miserably and have to pack up his flaming sword and go back to Heaven in shame.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy, #1))
“
As they walked, the subtle lamplight of a dirigible washed over them. Finley glanced up, watching the light grow closer, slowly descending from the sky in a whirl of propellers as the ship made its way into the London air dock just a few miles away. How amazing it must be to float so high, to travel so quickly.
Dandy followed her gaze, but they didn’t stop walking. “I was up in one of them flyers once,” he told her. “I climbed over the rail and hung on to one of the ropes. Freeing it was. I almost let go.”
She whipped her head around to gape at him. “The fall would kill you.”
He smiled ever so slightly. “Not afore I flew. Worse ways to go.
”
”
Kady Cross (The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles, #1))
“
Well, he wouldn't get fooled again. He wouldn't give anybody the chance. Quentin felt a new attitude of detachment descend on him. His molten anger and grief were cooling into a glossy protective coating, a hard transparent lacquer of uncaring. He felt how infinitely safer and more sound this attitude was. The trick was just not wanting anything. That was power. That was courage: the courage not to love anyone or hope for anything.
”
”
Lev Grossman (The Magicians (The Magicians, #1))
“
. . . the only legitimate reason that kingship is not attractive to us is because in this age and this world the only kings available are finite and sinful. Listen to C. S. Lewis describe why he believes in democracy:
A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. . . I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less a nation. . . . The real reason for democracy is . . . Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.1
If there could be a king who is not limited in his wisdom and power and goodness and love for his subjects, then monarchy would be the best of all governments. If such a ruler could ever rise in the world—with no weakness, no folly, no sin—then no wise and humble person would ever want democracy again.
The question is not whether God broke into the universe as a king. He did. The question is: What kind of king is he? What difference would his kingship make for you?
”
”
John Piper
“
Faustus, who embraced evil and shunned righteousness, became the foremost symbol of the misuse of free will, that sublime gift from God with its inherent opportunity to choose virtue and reject iniquity. “What shall a man gain if he has the whole world and lose his soul,” (Matt. 16: v. 26) - but for a notorious name, the ethereal shadow of a career, and a brief life of fleeting pleasure with no true peace? This was the blackest and most captivating tragedy of all, few could have remained indifferent to the growing intrigue of this individual who apparently shook hands with the devil and freely chose to descend to the molten, sulphuric chasm of Hell for all eternity for so little in exchange. It is a drama that continues to fascinate today as powerfully as when Faustus first disseminated his infamous card in the Heidelberg locale to the scandal of his generation. In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the choice between these two absolutes also falls to us.
”
”
E.A. Bucchianeri (Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World, Vol. 1)
“
On a fading summer evening, late in the last hours of his old life, Peter Jaxon—son of Demetrius and Prudence Jaxon, First Family; descendent of Terrence Jaxon, signatory of the One Law; great-great-nephew of the one known as Auntie, Last of the First; Peter of Souls, the Man of Days and the One Who Stood—took his position on the catwalk above Main Gate, waiting to kill his brother.
”
”
Justin Cronin (The Passage (The Passage, #1))
“
I lifted my chin. "All right then. You are always very precise when it comes to magic. So I've observed. And really, really don't like to get things wrong. So when you saw there were two young women, that day you came to this house, why did you not even ask about my cousin?"
His crooked smile made my heart turn over. "All right, then. I'll tell you." He paused as if gathering courage, before he forged on. "When I saw you coming down the stairs that evening, it was if I were seeing the other half of my soul descending to greet me.
”
”
Kate Elliott (Cold Magic (Spiritwalker, #1))
“
Sooo, I'm tired of people thinking I'm a freak. I know you can't relate to that but -"
"Get over it already, will ya?" Candace stood. "You're not Smellody anymore. You're pretty. You can get hot guys now. Tanned ones with good vision. Not geeky hose jousters." She shut the window. "Don't you ever want to use your lips as something other than veneer protectors?"
Melody felt a familiar pinch behind her eyes. Her throat dried. Her eyes burned. And then they came. Like salty little paratroopers, tears descended en masse. She hated Candace thought she had never made out with a boy. But how could she convince a seventeen-year-old with more dates than a fruitcake that Randy the Starbucks cashier (aka Scarbucks, because of his acne scars) was a great kisser? She couldn't.
”
”
Lisi Harrison (Monster High (Monster High, #1))
“
The bright hours when the young rebelled against the descending sun had to give way to twenty-four-hour periods called “days” that were named as well as numbered. The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.
”
”
Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1))
“
Unable to sleep, I clear the untouched mess left in the wake of the inquisition on my own and am in the kitchen burning toast and making tea when Mara descends the stairs at dawn, desultory. The sun fades in through the windows, pale and weak.
´Morning,` I say.
´God is dead.`
´Coffee?`
´Fuck you.`
´Again?`
She folds her arms on the counter and lets her head fall.
”
”
Michelle Hodkin (The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions, #1))
“
Difficult days are ahead. Sin is on the increase. Paul foresaw that members of the Church would endure persecution (see 2 Timothy 3:1–13; D&C 112:24–26). Peter counseled, ‘If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf’ (1 Peter 4:16). As Jesus descended below all things in order to rise above all things, He expects us to follow His example. Yoked with Him, each of us can rise above all of our challenges, no matter how difficult they may be (see Matthew 11:29–30).
”
”
Russell M. Nelson
“
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea...
This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
And so the problem remained; lots of people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.
”
”
Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1))
“
For some reason, the sight of snow descending on fire always makes me think of the ancient world – legionaries in sheepskin warming themselves at a brazier: mountain altars where offerings glow between wintry pillars; centaurs with torches cantering beside a frozen sea – scattered, unco-ordinated shapes from a fabulous past, infinitely removed from life; and yet bringing with them memories of things real and imagined. These classical projections, and something in the physical attitudes of the men themselves as they turned from the fire, suddenly suggested Poussin’s scene in which the Seasons, hand in hand and facing outward, tread in rhythm to the notes of the lyre that the winged and naked greybeard plays. The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outwards like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure: stepping slowly, methodically, sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognisable shape: or breaking into seeminly meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance.
”
”
Anthony Powell (A Question of Upbringing (A Dance to the Music of Time, #1))
“
We should expect nothing less from the language that was originally given by God, to His human family. Hebrew was the method that God chose for mankind to speak to Him, and Him to them. Adam spoke Hebrew—and your Bible confirms this. Everyone who got off the ark spoke one language—Hebrew.
Even Abraham spoke Hebrew. Where did Abraham learn to speak Hebrew? Abraham was descended from Noah’s son, Shem. (Ge 11:10-26) Shem’s household was not affected by the later confusion of languages, at Babel. (Ge 11:5-9) To the contrary, Shem was blessed while the rest of Babel was cursed. (Ge 9:26) That is how Abraham retained Hebrew, despite residing in Babylon.
So, Shem’s language can be traced back to Adam. (Ge 11:1) And, Shem (Noah’s son) was still alive when Jacob and Esau was 30 years of age. Obviously, Hebrew (the original language) was clearly spoken by Jacob’s sons. (Ge 14:13)
”
”
Michael Ben Zehabe (The Meaning of Hebrew Letters: A Hebrew Language Program For Christians (The Jonah Project))
“
open the Israeli map, and again study the route that Israelis usually take to the coast. So, after descending to the bottom of the valley on Highway 50, one must turn right onto Highway 1, and stay on it for a long time, without turning right or left. I examine the area along Highway 1, which, according to the map, appears to be primarily populated by settlements. The only two visible Palestinian villages are Abu Ghosh and Ein Rafa. I go back and open the map, which depicts Palestine until 1948, and let my eyes wander over it, moving between the names of the many Palestinian villages that were destroyed after the expulsion of their inhabitants that year.
”
”
Adania Shibli (Minor Detail)
“
A rotten nut, a reeky pear,
A thing the cat left on the stair,
And lots of other things as well,
Each with a rather horrid smell.
These are Veruca's new found friends
That she will meet as she descends,
And this is the price she has to pay
For going so very far astray.
But now, my dears, we think you might
Be wondering-is it really right
That every single bit of blame
And all the scolding and the shame
Should fall upon Veruca Salt?
Is she the only one at fault?
For though she's spoiled, and dreadfully so,
A girl can't spoil herself, you know.
Who spoiled her, then? Ah, who indeed?
Who pandered to her every need?
Who turned her into such a brat?
Who are the culprits? Who did that?
Alas! You needn't look so far
To find out who these sinners are.
They are (and this is very sad)
Her loving parents, Mum and Dad.
And that is why we're glad they fell
Into the garbage chute as well.
”
”
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1))
“
Sometimes I dream about it, I’m walking down this long empty hall. My voice echoes all around, but no one answers, so I walk faster, opening doors, shouting names. I don’t even know who I’m looking for. Most nights it’s my father, but sometimes it’s Robb instead, or my little sister Arya, or my uncle. Even the ravens are gone from the rookery, and the stables are full of bones. That always scares me. I start to run then, throwing open doors, climbing the tower three steps at a time, screaming for someone, for anyone. And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It’s black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don’t want to. I’m afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it’s not them I’m afraid of. I scream that I’m not a Stark, that this isn’t my place, but it’s no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream” -Jon Snow
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
“
Going somewhere?” Tamlin asked. His voice was not entirely of this world.
I suppressed a shudder. “Midnight snack,” I said, and I was keenly aware of every movement, every breath I took as I neared him.
His bare chest was painted with whorls of dark blue woad, and from the smudges in the paint, I knew exactly where he’d been touched. I tried not to notice that they descended past his muscled midriff.
I was about to pass him when he grabbed me, so fast that I didn’t see anything until he had me pinned against the wall. The cookie dropped from my hand as he grasped my wrists. “I smelled you,” he breathed, his painted chest rising and falling so close to mine. “I searched for you, and you weren’t there.”
He reeked of magic. When I looked into his eyes, remnants of power flickered there. No kindness, none of the wry humor and gentle reprimands. The Tamlin I knew was gone.
“Let go,” I said as evenly as I could, but his claws punched out, imbedding in the wood above my hands. Still riding the magic, he was half-wild.
“You drove me mad,” he growled, and the sound trembled down my neck, along my breasts until they ached. “I searched for you, and you weren’t there. When I didn’t find you,” he said, bringing his face closer to mine, until we shared breath, “it made me pick another.”
I couldn’t escape. I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted to.
“She asked me not to be gentle with her, either,” he snarled, his teeth bright in the moonlight. He brought his lips to my ear. “I would have been gentle with you, though.” I shuddered as I closed my eyes. Every inch of my body went taut as his words echoed through me. “I would have had you moaning my name throughout it all. And I would have taken a very, very long time, Feyre.” He said my name like a caress, and his hot breath tickled my ear. My back arched slightly.
He ripped his claws free from the wall, and my knees buckled as he let go. I grasped the wall to keep from sinking to the floor, to keep from grabbing him—to strike or caress, I didn’t know. I opened my eyes. He still smiled—smiled like an animal.
“Why should I want someone’s leftovers?” I said, making to push him away. He grabbed my hands again and bit my neck.
I cried out as his teeth clamped onto the tender spot where my neck met my shoulder. I couldn’t move—couldn’t think, and my world narrowed to the feeling of his lips and teeth against my skin. He didn’t pierce my flesh, but rather bit to keep me pinned. The push of his body against mine, the hard and the soft, made me see red—see lightning, made me grind my hips against his. I should hate him—hate him for his stupid ritual, for the female he’d been with tonight …
His bite lightened, and his tongue caressed the places his teeth had been. He didn’t move—he just remained in that spot, kissing my neck. Intently, territorially, lazily. Heat pounded between my legs, and as he ground his body against me, against every aching spot, a moan slipped past my lips.
He jerked away. The air was bitingly cold against my freed skin, and I panted as he stared at me. “Don’t ever disobey me again,” he said, his voice a deep purr that ricocheted through me, awakening everything and lulling it into complicity.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1))
“
Finding a taxi, she felt like a child pressing her nose to the window of a candy store as she watched the changing vista pass by while the twilight descended and the capital became bathed in a translucent misty lavender glow. Entering the city from that airport was truly unique. Charles de Gaulle, built nineteen miles north of the bustling metropolis, ensured that the final point of destination was veiled from the eyes of the traveller as they descended. No doubt, the officials scrupulously planned the airport’s location to prevent the incessant air traffic and roaring engines from visibly or audibly polluting the ambience of their beloved capital, and apparently, they succeeded. If one flew over during the summer months, the visitor would be visibly presented with beautifully managed quilt-like fields of alternating gold and green appearing as though they were tilled and clipped with the mathematical precision of a slide rule. The countryside was dotted with quaint villages and towns that were obviously under meticulous planning control. When the aircraft began to descend, this prevailing sense of exactitude and order made the visitor long for an aerial view of the capital city and its famous wonders, hoping they could see as many landmarks as they could before they touched ground, as was the usual case with other major international airports, but from this point of entry, one was denied a glimpse of the city below. Green fields, villages, more fields, the ground grew closer and closer, a runway appeared, a slight bump or two was felt as the craft landed, and they were surrounded by the steel and glass buildings of the airport. Slightly disappointed with this mysterious game of hide-and-seek, the voyager must continue on and collect their baggage, consoled by the reflection that they will see the metropolis as they make their way into town. For those travelling by road, the concrete motorway with its blue road signs, the underpasses and the typical traffic-logged hubbub of industrial areas were the first landmarks to greet the eye, without a doubt, it was a disheartening first impression. Then, the real introduction began. Quietly, and almost imperceptibly, the modern confusion of steel and asphalt was effaced little by little as the exquisite timelessness of Parisian heritage architecture was gradually unveiled. Popping up like mushrooms were cream sandstone edifices filigreed with curled, swirling carvings, gently sloping mansard roofs, elegant ironwork lanterns and wood doors that charmed the eye, until finally, the traveller was completely submerged in the glory of the Second Empire ala Baron Haussmann’s master plan of city design, the iconic grand mansions, tree-lined boulevards and avenues, the quaint gardens, the majestic churches with their towers and spires, the shops and cafés with their colourful awnings, all crowded and nestled together like jewels encrusted on a gold setting.
”
”
E.A. Bucchianeri (Brushstrokes of a Gadfly (Gadfly Saga, #1))
“
The chief care of the legislators [in the colonies of New England] was the maintenance of orderly conduct and good morals in the community: thus they constantly invaded the domain of conscience, and there was scarcely a sin which was no subject to magisterial censure. The reader is aware of the rigor with which these laws punished rape and adultery; intercourse between unmarried persons was likewise severely repressed. The judge was empowered to inflict either a pecuniary penalty, a whipping, or marriage, on the misdemeanants; and if the records of the old courts of New Haven may be believed, prosecutions of this kind were not unfrequent. We find a sentence, bearing date the 1st of May, 1660, inflicting a fine and reprimand on a young woman who was accused of using improper language, and of allowing herself to be kissed. The Code of 1650 abounds in preventive measures. It punishes idleness and drunkenness with severity. Innkeepers were forbidden to furnish more than certain quantities of liquor to each customer; and simple lying, whenever it may be injurious, is checked by a fine or a flogging. In other places, the legislator, entirely forgetting the great principles of religious toleration which he had himself demanded in Europe, makes attendance on divine service compulsory, and goes so far as to visit with severe punishment, and even with death, Christians who choose to worship God according to a ritual differing from his own. Sometimes, indeed, the zeal for regulation induces him to descend to the most frivolous particulars: thus a law is to be found in the same code which prohibits the use of tobacco. It must not be forgotten that these fantastical and vexatious laws were not imposed by authority, but that they were freely voted by all the persons interested in them, and that the manners of the community were even more austere and puritanical than the laws....
These errors are no doubt discreditable to human reason; they attest the inferiority of our nature, which is incapable of laying firm hold upon what is true and just, and is often reduced to the alternative of two excesses. In strict connection with this penal legislation, which bears such striking marks of a narrow, sectarian spirit, and of those religious passions which had been warmed by persecution and were still fermenting among the people, a body of political laws is to be found, which, though written two hundred years ago, is still in advance of the liberties of our own age.
”
”
Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America)
“
I ask him if he tried to rape Nyla.
“Laws are silent in times of war,” Tactus drawls.
“Don’t quote Cicero to me,” I say. “You are held to a higher standard than a marauding centurion.”
“In that, you’re hitting the mark at least. I am a superior creature descended from proud stock and glorious heritage. Might makes right, Darrow. If I can take, I may take. If I do take, I deserve to have. This is what Peerless believe.”
“The measure of a man is what he does when he has power,” I say loudly.
“Just come off it, Reaper,” Tactus drawls, confident in himself as all like him are. “She’s a spoil of war. My power took her. And before the strong, bend the weak.”
“I’m stronger than you, Tactus,” I say. “So I can do with you as I wish. No?”
He’s silent, realizing he’s fallen into a trap.
“You are from a superior family to mine, Tactus. My parents are dead. I am the sole member of my family. But I am a superior creature to you.”
He smirks at that.
“Do you disagree?” I toss a knife at his feet and pull my own out. “I beg you to voice your concerns.” He does not pick his blade up. “So, by right of power, I can do with you as I like.”
I announce that rape will never be permitted, and then I ask Nyla the punishment she would give. As she told me before, she says she wants no punishment. I make sure they know this, so there are no recriminations against her. Tactus and his armed supporters stare at her in surprise. They don’t understand why she would not take vengeance, but that doesn’t stop them from smiling wolfishly at one another, thinking their chief has dodged punishment. Then I speak.
“But I say you get twenty lashes from a leather switch, Tactus. You tried to take something beyond the bounds of the game. You gave in to your pathetic animal instincts. Here that is less forgivable than murder; I hope you feel shame when you look back at this moment fifty years from now and realize your weakness. I hope you fear your sons and daughters knowing what you did to a fellow Gold. Until then, twenty lashes will serve.”
Some of the Diana soldiers step forward in anger, but Pax hefts his axe on his shoulder and they shrink back, glaring at me. They gave me a fortress and I’m going to whip their favorite warrior. I see my army dying as Mustang pulls off Tactus’s shirt. He stares at me like a snake. I know what evil thoughts he’s thinking. I thought them of my floggers too.
I whip him twenty brutal times, holding nothing back. Blood runs down his back. Pax nearly has to hack down one of the Diana soldiers to keep them from charging to stop the punishment.
Tactus barely manages to stagger to his feet, wrath burning in his eyes.
“A mistake,” he whispers to me. “Such a mistake.”
Then I surprise him. I shove the switch into his hand and bring him close by cupping my hand around the back of his head.
“You deserve to have your balls off, you selfish bastard,” I whisper to him. “This is my army,” I say more loudly. “This is my army. Its evils are mine as much as yours, as much as they are Tactus’s. Every time any of you commit a crime like this, something gratuitous and perverse, you will own it and I will own it with you, because when you do something wicked, it hurts all of us.”
Tactus stands there like a fool. He’s confused.
I shove him hard in the chest. He stumbles back. I follow him, shoving.
“What were you going to do?” I push his hand holding the leather switch back toward his chest.
“I don’t know what you mean …” he murmurs as I shove him.
“Come on, man! You were going to shove your prick inside someone in my army. Why not whip me while you’re at it? Why not hurt me too? It’ll be easier. Milia won’t even try to stab you. I promise.”
I shove him again. He looks around. No one speaks. I strip off my shirt and go to my knees. The air is cold. Knees on stone and snow. My eyes lock with Mustang’s. She winks at me and I feel like I can do anything.
”
”
Pierce Brown (Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1))
“
Sin quitarme los ojos de encima, acercó aún más su pupitre.
- ¿Sabes una cosa?
- ¿Qué?
- Que he entrado en tu blog.
Ay, Dios. ¿Cómo lo había encontrado? Un momento; la pregunta que debía hacerme era la siguiente: ¿por qué lo había encontrado? Mi blog no podía buscarse a través de Google...Estaba flipando en colores.
- Ya estás acosándome otra vez, ¿no? ¿Tengo que llamar a la poli para que te ponga una orden de alejamiento?
- Ni en sueños, gatita - Sonrió - Ah, espera, que ya salgo en ellos, ¿verdad?
Puse los ojos en blanco.
- Más bien apareces en mis pesadillas, Daemon.
(pág.154)
- ¿Me estás preguntando si me atraen las humanas? - dijo. El pelo le caía hacia delante en ondas. Unas gotitas de agua le recorrían los mechones y acababan salpicándome la mejilla - ¿O si eres tú la que me atrae?
Con las manos apoyadas en la roca, fue acercándose a mí lentamente. Muy pronto nos separaban sólo unos milímetros...Sentía su respiración como si fuera la mía, y cuando movió las caderas abrí los ojos y ahogué un grito.
Vaya que si funcionaba la cosa...Me despejó la duda de un plumazo.
(pág. 240)
- Sí que es importante el helado - dije.
- Es mi vida entera.- Dee tiró el monedero a Daemon, pero erró el objetivo - ¡Y tú me lo has quitado!
(pág. 258 NUNCA TE METAS ENTRE DEE Y SU COMIDA, Y MENOS SI SE TRATA DE HELADO)
- ¿Lo estás pasando bien con...Ash?
- ¿Y tú con tu amiguito el pulpo?
Me mordí el larbio.
- Qué simpático eres, como siempre.
...
- Estás...muy guapa, por cierto. Demasiado guapa para estar con ese idiota.
Me sonrojé y bajé la vista.
- ¿Te has tomado algo?
- Pues no, la verdad. ¿Por qué me lo preguntas, si puede saberse?
- Porque nunca me dices nada agradable.
- Touché.
(pág. 303)
- Recuérdame...que no te haga enfadar nunca más ¡La leche! ¿Eres agente secreto en tus ratos libres?
... Me recorrió la espalda con sus brazos y hundió una mano en los rizos que se me habían soltado del moño.
- No me has hecho caso - susurró contra mi hombro.
- Nunca te hago caso.
(pág. 327)
Daemon murmuró algo en un idioma desconocido. Era una lengua dulce y bonita. Mágica. De otro planeta.
Podría haberlo despertado, pero no lo hice sin saber demasiado bien por qué. La emoción que sentía por el contacto con su piel era más fuerte que todo lo demás.
Daemon tenía una mano en el borde de mi camiseta, y los dedos encima del pedazo de piel que había entre el borde de la camiseta y la cinturilla de los pantalones de pijama. La mano empezaba a abrirse paso por debajo de la camiseta, a través de mi estómago, en la parte en que este empieza a descender. El pulso se me desbocó. Me rozó las costillas con la punta de los dedos. Su cuerpo se movió y sentí su rodilla contra mí.
(pág. 338) O.O o_O OMG
- Gatita
- Ni aunque fueras el último ser con aspecto humano sobre la faz de la Tierra ¿Ahora lo entiendes? ¿Capiche?
...
- Ademñas, no me atraes nada - Mentira podrida - Pero vamos, nada de nada. Eres...
De repente Daemon estaba delante de mí, a apenas un centímetro de mi rostro.
- ¿Qué soy?
- Ignorante
-¿Y qué más?
- Prepotente, controlador...-...- Y un...cretino.
- Venga ya, gatita, seguro que puedes hacerlo mejor - ... - Todavía no me creo que no te sientas atraída por mí.
(pág. 360)
- Seguro que hasta sueñas conmigo - Bajó la vista hacia mis labios y sentí que se despegaban - Seguro que escribes mi nombre en tus libretas, una y otra vez, rodeado por un corazoncito.
Me reí.
- En tus sueños, Daemon. Eres la última persona a la que...
Daemon me besó
(pág.361)
Una sonrisa pícara se le asomó a los labios.
- ¿Te das cuenta de que me encantan los retos?
Me reí entre dientes y me volví hacia la puerta mientras le dedicaba un gesto grosero con el dedo corazón.
- Y a mí, Daemon; y a mí.
(pág. 414)
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (Obsidian (Lux, #1))
“
What did I do now?” He reluctantly pulled the car the curb.
I needed to get out of this car – like now. I couldn’t breathe.
I unbuckled and flung open the door.
“Thanks for the ride. Bye.”
I slammed the door shut and began down the sidewalk. Behind me, I heard the engine turn off and his door open and shut. I quickened my stride as James jogged up to me. I slowed down knowing I couldn’t escape his long legs anyway. Plus, I didn’t want to get home all sweaty and have to explain myself.
“What happened?” James asked, matching my pace.
“Leave me alone!” I snapped back. I felt his hand grab my elbow, halting me easily.
“Stop,” he ordered.
Damn it, he’s strong!
“What are you pissed about now?” He towered over me. I was trapped in front of him, if he tugged a bit, I’d be in his embrace.
“It’s so funny huh? I’m that bad? I’m a clown, I’m so funny!” I jerked my arm, trying to break free of his grip. “Let me go!”
“No!” He squeezed tighter, pulling me closer.
“Leave me alone!” I spit the words like venom, pulling my arm with all my might.
“What’s your problem?” James demanded loudly. His hand tightened on my arm with each attempt to pull away. My energy was dwindling and I was mentally exhausted. I stopped jerking my arm back, deciding it was pointless because he was too strong; there was no way I could pull my arm back without first kneeing him in the balls.
We were alone, standing in the dark of night in a neighborhood that didn’t see much traffic.
“Fireball?” he murmured softly.
“What?” I replied quietly, defeated.
Hesitantly, he asked, “Did I say something to make you sad?”
I wasn’t going to mention the boyfriend thing; there was no way.
“Yes,” I whimpered.
That’s just great, way to sound strong there, now he’ll have no reason not to pity you!
“I’m sorry,” came his quiet reply.
Well maybe ‘I’m sorry’ just isn’t good enough. The damage is already done!
“Whatever.”
“What can I do to make it all better?”
“There’s nothing you could–” I began but was interrupted by him pulling me against his body. His arms encircled my waist, holding me tight. My arms instinctively bent upwards, hands firmly planted against his solid chest. Any resentment I had swiftly melted away as something brand new took its place: pleasure.
Jesus!
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked him softly; his face was only a few inches from mine.
“What do you think you’re doing?” James asked back, looking down at my hands on his chest. I slowly slid my arms up around his neck.
I can’t believe I just did that!
“That’s better.”
Our bodies were plastered against one another; I felt a new kind of nervousness touch every single inch of my body, it prickled electrically.
“James,” I murmured softly.
“Fireball,” he whispered back.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I repeated; my brain felt frozen. My heart had stopped beating a mile a minute instead issuing slow, heavy beats.
James uncurled one of his arms from my waist and trailed it along my back to the base of my neck, holding it firmly yet delicately. Blood rushed to the very spot he was holding, heat filled my eyes as I stared at him.
“What are you doing?” My bewilderment was audible in the hush.
I wasn’t sure I had the capacity to speak anymore. That function had fled along with the bitch. Her replacement was a delicate flower that yearned to be touched and taken care of. I felt his hand shift on my neck, ever so slightly, causing my head to tilt up to him. Slowly, inch by inch, his face descended on mine, stopping just a breath away from my trembling lips.
I wanted it. Badly. My lips parted a fraction, letting a thread of air escape.
“Can I?” His breath was warm on my lips.
Fuck it!
“Yeah,” I whispered back. He closed the distance until his lush lips covered mine.
My first kiss…damn!
His lips moved softly over mine. I felt his grip on my neck squeeze as his lips pressed deeper into
”
”
Sarah Tork (Young Annabelle (Y.A #1))