“Was that really blood sprayed over her chin? Adrienne looked back at the house as prickles ran over her arms. It had only been six or seven drops, but she was struggling to find any reasonable explanation for the red liquid.”
“Beware the woods and the dark, dank, deep. He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.”
“The way he said her name made my heart cramp. In all my years of word collecting, I’ve learned this to be a tried and true fact: I can very often tell how much a person loves another person by the way they say their name. I think that’s one of the best feelings in the world, when you know your name is safe in another person’s mouth. When you know they’ll never shout it out like a cuss word, but say it or whisper it like a once-upon-a-time.”
“I could always give you a teaser. You bookish people love teasers, don’t you?”
“Fall colors are funny. They’re so bright and intense and beautiful. It’s like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary.”
“She’d read books that said two lovers’ hearts could race as one. This wasn’t true for Miyoung. Her heart chased Jihoon’s, speeding in a breakneck sprint to catch up.”
“What are we doing?” she wanted to ask, except she already knew the answer.
They were being reckless and foolish; they were tempting fate; they were breaking the rules; they were falling in love.
But they both knew that last wasn’t true. They had already fallen in love, a long time ago.”
“It’s like these fellows who name their swords ‘Skullbane’ or ‘Souldrinker’ or somesuch.” Tric tied his saltlocks into a matted knot atop his head. “Tossers, all.”
“If I were going to name my blade,” Mia said thoughtfully, “I’d call it ‘Fluffy.'”
Tric snorted with laughter. “Fluffy?”
“Byss, yes,” the girl nodded. “Think of the terror you’d instill. Being bested by a foe wielding a sword called Souldrinker… that you could live with. Imagine the shame of having the piss smacked out of you by a blade called Fluffy.”
“Each of us carries the map of our lives on our skin, in the way we walk, even in the way we grow.”
“Did you know that Gideon and I were trained in Krav Maga?” Charlotte took another step closer to me, and I automatically took one back.
“No, but did /you/ know that at this moment you look like that crazy rodent in Ice Age?”