Amy A. Bartol

“ That is what courage is: it is acting in the face of fear.”

“Reason doesn't always stand up to pain and come out the victor. ”

“Sometimes it's better to drop the anchor when you can't steer.”

“If you don't want to know, don't ask.”

“Sometimes we don't know that it's best to run. Hanging on in desperation seems to be our way.”

“The evil you know is better than the evil you don't.”

“Boys sometimes don't remember a good thing when they see it. Just remember that you're special.”

“I have learned something in the length of time that I have been here. This is temporary. Everything changes, whether you will it to or not. What you feel now will eventually fade and you will cease to remember it, until you need the information that you learned from it to survive, then it will be there for you.”

“Did she go postal?” Russell grins at him, “You know, for pullin’ her portal on the island and sendin’ her to your safe house before the fight?”“Define postal?” Zephyr counters, his brows pulling together further.“Insanely angry,” Russell says.“Yes,” Zephyr nods his head adamantly, pointing at him. “She has not called me ‘sweetie’ since.”“Oooo,” Russell says, ducking his head and wrinkling his nose. “Doghouse.”

“Russell?”“Yeah! You got my back now?” Russell asks in a sour tone, looking over the railing from the tower above. “’Cuz one of them freaky demon things almost ate me after y’all left!”“A Riser nearly ate you?” Reed asks with humor in his tone“Yeah, whatever—it’s not funny!” he calls down, sounding irritated. “Next time, I want Zee for my wingman.”“That is because I am the ultimate assassin,” Zephyr replies from behind Reed.”

“I have to kiss her again; I start with her lips. When I taste her on my tongue, I want more. I need more. Tugging on her bottom lip with mine elicits a soft groan of pleasure from her. I live in the sound of it.When our bodies fit together, like pieces falling into place, I’m nearly undone by it and by her eyes. They narrow and her forehead leans forward to rest against mine. Through her eyes, I can almost see inside her soul. That’s where I long to be: centered near her soul, wedged between it and her heart. ~ Reed's POV”

“Reece…Reed…isn’t that a silly coincidence?” he asks, his mouth twisting in a grim smile that neither reaches his blue eye nor his green one.”

“Reed’s face inches closer to mine on the pillow as he says, “Let me try to explain something to you, Evie. All of these years that I have been here, it is as if I have been sleeping. I have to always pretend to be something that I am not—pretend to be human. When I am not pretending to be human, then I am hunting evil, vicious angels who want nothing more than to…” his voice trails off and there is hollowness in his tone that reflects the loneliness of his existence. “But now, I am awake, for the first time in my existence, and not only am I awake, but I feel flames when you are near me. You have changed things for me. There is no reason to pretend around you. If I had to live without you now…now that I know what I have been missing…” The need in his voice makes me want to promise him anything, give him anything, just to fill that void in him. “I cannot go back to sleep, Evie. You are the only thing that makes me want to live. If you leave here, if you ascend to Paradise, or even if you are cast into the abyss, or taken there by the Fallen…I will have to follow you, no matter where you go. Even if I have to pursue you into the dark…if you cease to be, then so will I. You are my sin and my redemption.”

“Reed's blood is now mixed with mine, so that he is always with me, no matter where I am.”

“Dying in your arms sounds like bliss to me.”

“I miss the outline of your body pressed to mine and the feel of your breath on my neck when you sleep. I miss the sound of your voice. I need you. I have to go soon, but I will be back for you. I promise you. Then, I will show you that there is still beauty in the world -- not a future full of despair. I promise you, I will.”

“If the currents do conspire against us, know that I will find you, I will never stop looking for you.”

“If I had but one wish, it would have been to find someone like you.”“And if you were a coin, I’d throw you down a well without making a wish.”

“Well, that feels a little bit like stealin’ yer parent’s car keys for a joy ride and ending up crashin’ it, huh?”“We kind of hijacked the sun, Russell.”

“I will never want anything as much as I want you. I will never love anything as much as I love you.”

“Instead of asking youself how you can change that aspect of you, maybe you should be asking yourself why you were created that way. For what purpose do you exist the way that you are?”

“Instead of asking yourself how you can change that aspect of you, maybe you should be asking yourself why you were created that way. For what purpose do you exist the way that you are?”

“Do I pray for her life or mine? They're one in the same...Be this soul in Thine hands...I stop, unable to pray for her ascension. I cannot let her go, I think in agony. I try again, May this soul in Thine hands be with me...always.”

“Zee replies grimly, 'I understand that problem...Buns is a force of nature.' 'She is,' I say with a reluctant smile, 'you're kind of screwed, dude. She's definitely got her own ideas.'Zee grins too. 'Do not laugh too hard, playa, yours is a Throne..karma...' he says, noddin' his head before grimacin' and addin', 'ouch'. My smile broadens involuntarily. 'Zee, when did you become funny?' I ask.'It is difficult to be funny in Human,' he says, before lookin' at his watch and than graspin' the cover of the portal computer. 'Learn my language and you will think I am hysterical.”

“Xavier...he is afraid of losing you-He is also insane for you. Insane for you without the soul to join yours or the deep attraction to awaken you...but with the devotion to endure this Godless place for you.”

“How do y'all say, 'hoorah' in Angel? Rude Car.”

“Her heart begins to sing to me, the Siren's song that's calling me to shipwreck. I go to it willingly. When her lips meet mine, I know I'm lost, I'm found - I'm home.”

“To ache from the knowledge that I may never hold you again - to count the moments, like grains of sand, while we were parted only to escape the sky and find that you still only know me as a boy from school...”

“When a soul arrives in Paradise after a lifetime on earth, it will sometimes pine for the soul mate that was left behind.""He has that look?""No... he has the other look.""The other look?""The look of that soul when it reunites with its soul mate.”

“How ex are we talking?""The kind where you have to take everything that he ever gave you and bury it in the backyard so there will be nothing to remind you of how much you loved him.”

“He can still taste you on his lips, smell your scent in his memory, remember when you smiled just for him, and the thought of never having that again is...harrowing. So, he's willing to hurt you because he's focusing on the pain to try to kill everything that you were to him... so that he can survive it.”

“Just when you think that maybe Brennus is running' out of crazy, he shows up with a brand new can of it... economy size.”

“You're art that cannot be concealed... danger that cannot be tamed... love that cannot be measured... a new law that denies a probable outcome.”

“You were afraid of me? Don't you meet with the Fallen in Sheol?""Yes, but none of them had ever stolen my heart nor left me without words to ponder its loss.”

“There is nothing remotely ordinary about you, accept it. I'll show you what you are.""And what am I?""Mine. I will tear open the sky to make you see it.”

“If they took you from me, it would be like they concealed my heart from me.”

“Evie's head is pressed tightly to my chest; I would pull her inside of me and have my heart beat for us both if I could.”

“As our bodies mesh as one, I know that this is the heaven I want to fight for: the one in my arms.”

“Ye're na meant for a tepid existence, so maybe 'tis time ta leave da sandbox. Brennus”

“He must know that we have more game than Mattel.”

“I wil never fight you,” she replies in a stern tone, like I have said somethin’ completely ridiculous.“Why not? You thought I was gonna hurt ya, why not fight back?” I retort, rememberin’ how she cringed like I was gonna hit her and the shame of what I just did is back ful force.“You’re my best friend,” she says, like that is an explanation.“Yes, but ya thought I was gonna hurt ya so I’d say, at that point, al bets should be off,” I state clearly.point, al bets should be off,” I state clearly.“No. I won’t fight you for real. Ever. We can practice together, but I can’t look at you like you’re my enemy. It’s impossible for me,” she says firmly.“So y’al would let me hurt you, rather than defend yerself?” I ask, like she has lost her mind.“Yes,” she says.“Why?” I ask again, ‘cuz I have to understand her reasons before I tel her how stupid I think she is for havin’ them.“Because you’re my soul mate and I love you,” she says like I’m dense.”

“I wanted you before this, for who you are—so intelligent, brave— delicate and beautiful. But now, you have power and strength, too. Danger, thy name is Evie. You are something from a dream and I just want…” he trails off.”

“You’re what I want. No other angel, or man, will ever stand above you in my esteem, in my regard, or in my love.”

“Hold onto the string, love, until the current shifts and we can be together again.”

“Reed, I know that you think that it's better to wait until I evolve fully, but I don't think I can wait any longer..... You are my blood now and I'm yours. We are bound to each other in every way possible but one and I.. I don't know where I'm going, I don't even know what I've become, but I know that if I am with you, then I'm free...I'm home. Let me show you what you mean to me. Let me pull you into my world, as you have pulled me into yours.”

“I ask God to bind my life to your life so that my mind will be one with your mind," I repeat the words Phaedrus says while I gaze at Reed and hold his hand. "My heart may be one with your heart," I recite it with a small smile on my face, "and my body may be one with your body," I blush a little when I say this part, seeing desire register in Reed's eyes. "From this moment through eternity, so let it be.”

“May what lies ahead of this warrior or behind him never take from me what is inside of him, for it is mine.”

“Sometimes, I think I have made you up just to torture myself- and there are other times that I know you must be real because I couldn't have dreamed such perfection.”

“I slump against the cushion. “How am I going to protect him, if I’ve completely alienated him? He thinks I’m creepy…” I say sadly.“You are not creepy,” Reed says soothingly, taking my hand.“You’re not a good judge of creepy, Reed, since you’re creepier than I am,” I say warily, looking over at Zephyr when I hear him laughing at my comment. “I wouldn’t laugh too hard, pal, because you’re the creepiest one of us all.”

“Reed lifts his lips from mine, and looking into my eyes, he murmurs, “I want those thousand years with you, Evie, you have no idea how much I want them. I want a thousand years, and then I want a hundred thousand more.”