“His eyes traced the elegant line of her neck as she swiveled around to face him, her eyes sparking like collapsed stars swallowing up the surrounding light. She was a dark star, a black hole in the endless sky, and if he got too close, he would surely disappear. He knew all this, but even then, he couldn’t turn away from her.”
“What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?” he whispered.
“If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed.” The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.
“No.” His hands dropped to her waist. “Destroy me.”
“She had never known that ice could take on so many shades of blue: sharp lines of indigo like the deepest sea, aquamarine shadows, even the glint of blue-green where the sun struck just so.”
“If my hair was on fire and llamas came to put it out, he’d tell me the shot was great.”
“It’s true, I’m no murderer. But I do have an impulse control problem. And a sword.”
“I hadn’t known that a light could be a feeling and a sound could be a color and a kiss could be both a question and an answer. And that heaven could be the ocean or a person or this moment or something else entirely.”
“Tink was there … Slung over his shoulder was a…Wonder Woman backpack. I parted from Ren, walking up to him. “Where did you get that?”
“I stole it from a little fae girl.” He paused. “Hashtag thug life.”
“Love is a terrifying choice. That’s why I’ve built walls. He wasn’t supposed to tear them down. I wasn’t supposed to let him knock them to rubble with all his kisses, and his tender touches, and his sweet and dirty and thoughtful ways with me.”
“I kiss her back. Because. . .well, she’s so present. So alive. So magnanimous. And when she is kissing me, all the death of the last week disappears.”
“Water has always been my siren song. Any kind of water—oceans, lakes, pools. There’s something about being weightless that makes me think anything is possible. My whole body exhales in a way that it can’t when I’m standing on land.”