Lauren Kate

“Do I love him? Yes. But when the final battle comes, I'll have to kill him. That's just our reality. We both know exactly where we stand."- Francesca”

“If you two were going to be that obvious about it, why didn't you guys come down in your Team Daniel and Team Miles T-shirts?""We should order those," Shelby said."Mine's in the laundry," Arriane said.”

“Daniel didn't have to shoulder his punishment alone anymore. It was something they could do together.”

“Well, as much as I love kicking asses and taking names, it's way past curfew for you three"- Arriane”

“Yeah,there was a whole chapter on you in my eight grade History of Angels textbook," Miles said.Arriane clapped. "And they told me that book was banned!”

“Callie always said Luce was incapable of brutal honesty and that was why she got herself stuck in so many crappy situations with guys whom she should have just told no.”

“Fight for the only thing she knew was good enough, noble enough, powerful enough to be worth risking everything... Love.”

“Luce didn't know how to pull away from Cam.”

“Daniel Grigori!" Arriane hooted through her hands."No!" Daniel hooted back without missing a beat.”

“Soooo," Arriane said. "Now you've met Randy.""I thought his name was Cam.""We're not talking about him," Arriane said quickly. "I mean the she-man in there." Arriane jerked her head toward the office where they'd left the attendant in front of the TV. "Whaddya think-dude or chick?""Uh, chick?" Luce said tentativley. "Is this a test?"Arriane cracked a smile. "The first of many. And you passed. At least, I think you passed. The gender of most of the faculty here is an ongoing, schoolwiide debate. Don't worry, you'll get into it.”

“Before Luce could reply, a skinny, dark haired girl appeared in from of her, wagging her long fingers in Luce's face."Ooooooh," the girl taunted in a ghost-story-telling voice, dancing around Luce in a circle. "The reds are watching youuuu.""Get out of here, Arriane, before I have you lobotimized," the attendant said, though it was clear from her first brief but genuine smile that she had some coarse affection for that crazy girl.It was also clear that Arriane did not reciprocate the love. She mimed a jerking-off motion at the attendant, then stared at Luce, daring her to be offended.”

“You know everyone loves to hate a happy pair of lovebirds.”

“Trust is a careless pursuit at best. At worst, it's a good way to get yourself killed.”

“You don't really know either of us," Cam said, standing and stepping away, "but you're prepared to choose right now, huh?”

“Are you okay?" Daniel whispered, his voice soft, his lips so close to hers. "Yes." She could feel the beating of his wings. "You caught me." "I will always catch you when you fall.”

“Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can't always understand them, but we have to trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith.”

“He's not-" Daniel started to say. He watched a red-tailed hawk land in an oak tree over their heads. "He's not good enough for you."Luce had heard people say that line a thousand times before. It was what everyone always said. Not good enough. But when the words passed Daniel's lips, they sounded important, even somehow true and relevant, not vague and dismissive the way the phrase had always sounded to her in the past."Well, then," she said in a quiet voice, "who is?"Daniel put his hands on his hips. He laughed to himself for a long time. "I don't know," he said finally. "That's a terrific question."Not exactly the answer Luce was looking for. "It's not like it's that hard," she said, stuffing her hands into her pockets because she wanted to reach out for him. "To be good enough for me."Daniel's eyes looked like they were falling, all the violet that had been in them a moment before turned a deep, dark gray. "Yes," he said. "Yes, it is.”

“Please don't worry. I will always come for you. I won't let you go until you understand that.""Then I refuse to understand," she said.”

“[Daniel] was still glowing, as if lit from within. She could still clearly see his violet-gray eyes and his full mouth. His strong hands and broad shoulders. She could reach out and fold herself into her love's light.He reached for her. Luce closed her eyes at his touch, expecting something too otherworldly for her human body to withstand. But no. It was simply, reassuringly, Daniel.She reached around his back to finger his wings. She reached for them nervously, as if they could burn her, but they flowed around her fingers, softer than the smoothest velvet, the plushest rug. The way she'd like to imagine that a fluffy, sun-drenched cloud would feel if she could cup it in her hands."You're so...beautiful.”

“Gorgeous, glowing rays of light...This was what true beauty and goodness looked like-- a spectral, luminescent gathering of beings so pure it hurt to look directly at them, like the most glorious eclipse, or maybe Heaven itself.”

“I've already had to wait so long.""How long?" Luce asked."Not so long that I've forgotten that you're worth everything. Every sacrifice. Every pain.”

“You're an angel," she repeated slowly, surprised to see Daniel close his eyes and moan in pleasure, almost as if they were kissing. "I'm in love with an angel.”

“She buried her face in his shoulder. And while the truth still scared her, being in his arms made her feel like the sea finding its shore, like a traveler returning after a long, hard, distant trip-- finally returning home.”

“Daniel's face-- the way it had been bathed in violet light when he'd carried her home this morning-- appeared before her eyes. His gleaming golden hair. His tender, knowing eyes. The way one touch of his lips transported her far away from any darkness. For him, she'd suffer all of this, and more.”

“The good news is" he paused, carefully choosing his words, "I kissed you, and you're still here.”

“I do all of these things," Daniel said, leaning into her so that their foreheads touched, "because you're my love, Lucinda. For me, you're all there is.”

“It's such a beautiful question, Luce. I adore you for asking it, and I wish I could explain it better. All I can tell you is this: The only way to survive eternity is to be able to appreciate each moment.”

“I get to live forever," he repeated. Luce was still lost, but he kept talking, a stream of words pouring out of his mouth. "I get to live, and to watch babies being born, and grow up, and fall in love. I watch them have babies of their own and grow old. I watch them die. I am condemned, Luce, to watch it all over again and again. Everyone but you." His eyes were glassy. His voice dropped to a whisper. "You don't get to fall in love--""But...," she whispered back. "I've...fallen in love.”

“She had sand in her mouth and between her toes, the briny wind raising goose bumps on her skin, and the sweetest, spellbound feeling spilling from her heart.She could, at that moment, have died for him.”

“Would he find her?Without question.Would he save her?Always.”

“I have to go," he said at last, getting to his feet. "I shouldn't even be here, but I cannot keep my self away from you. I worry about you in every waking moment. I love you, Luce. So much it hurts.”

“And the way he looked at her was so intense, his big green eyes probing into her, like he approved of everything she held inside.”