“Good. You are not safe. Not in this castle. Not in this room. You are prey in a world of predators.'
He leaned closer.
'I will never hurt you,' he said softly. 'But I am the only one who will make that promise, and keep it. I will never give you false safety or kind lies. But I will teach you how to wield those teeth of yours.' He smiled, revealing for the first time the full length of his sharp canines- the death blow, surely, of hundreds.
The girl should have found the sight terrifying. And yet, for the first time in a month, she felt... safe.
'Perhaps they are not as sharp as mine,' he went on, 'but they can still kill, with the right bite.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“You never know- not truly- what it takes to make you discard caution until it's happening.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“I left a lifetime of vigilance piled on the ground like a forgotten coat.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“I'm sorry I didn't aim higher.'
He looked pointedly down at himself. 'A little higher, or a lot higher?”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“I've saved your life twice now and presented you with the head of your enemy, and this isn't enough? You're a demanding little thing, aren't you?”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“You don't give an inch, do you?'
My eyes licked coldly up his body.
'Do you? Or is an inch all you have to offer?'
Petty. Stupid. I didn't even know why I said it, except that when he let out a low laugh, I found it oddly satisfying.
'Sleep well,' he said. 'I hope that knife under your pillow doesn't give you a crick in your neck.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“Impressive,' I said.
'Thank you. I've had plenty of practice drinking terrible alcohol.'
'Not that,' I gestured broadly to him, up and down. 'That.'
His eyebrow twitched. 'I've had a lot of practice on my physique, too. I didn't think you'd noticed.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“You aren't my prisoner,' he said. 'You're my queen.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“I can't take credit for everything that you've become, Oraya. Even if sometimes I wish I could. But if I'm responsible for just one small piece of that, it will have been the greatest accomplishment of my life.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
“There are moments in one's life that remain permanently distilled in memory. Some wither within minutes, and others are carved forever into our souls.”
Source: The Serpent and the Wings of Night