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Dain Aetos Quotes

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Dain Aetos Quotes

“Why would you do that to him?' I hurl at Xaden, then shake my head. I don't care why. 'Forget it,' I mutter, then march off, heading back toward the spot where Tairn told me to wait. 'Because you put too much faith in him,' Xaden answers anyway, catching up to me without even lengthening his stride. 'And knowing who to trust is the only thing that will keep you alive- keep us alive- not only in the quadrant but after graduation.' 'There is no us,' I say, dodging a racer as she races past. Dragons land left and right, the ground trembling with the force of the riot's movement. I've never seen so many dragons at flight in the same moment. 'Oh, I think you'll find that's no longer the case,' ...”

“Don't worry- if someone sees us, I'll just say that I was overcome with lust at first sight and couldn't wait another second to get you out of your pants.' 'Ever the smart-ass.' A wry smile tugs at his lips as we start down the hall. 'I can throw in a few oh, Dain cries once we're in your room just for believability,' I offer, and actually mean it.”

“You don't have to worry about me.' ... 'I always worry about you.' Dain's hands curl into fists. 'Don't.' I shake my head. 'I can handle myself.' 'I just don't want to see you get hurt again.' My ribs squeeze my heart like a vice. 'Then don't watch.' I take his calloused hand in mine. 'You can't save me from this, Dain.”

“Everyone saw you lose it,' I whisper, doing my best to mentally block the pain like I have countless times before. It's usually as easy as building a mental wall around the pulsing torment in my body, then telling myself the pain only exists in that box so I can't feel it, but it isn't working so well this time. 'I didn't lose it.' He kicks the door three times when we reach it. 'You shouted and carried me out of there like I mean something to you.' I focus on the scar on his jaw, the stubble on his tan skin, anything to keep from feeling the utter destruction in my shoulder. 'You do mean something to me.' He kicks again. And now everyone knows.”

“You have to know that I would do anything to save you, Violet, to keep you safe,' he blurts, panic in his eyes. 'When Riorson said...' He shook his head. 'I know,' I say reassuringly, nodding even as something cracks in my heart. 'You always want me safe.' He'd do anything. Except break the rules. 'You have to know how I feel about you.' His thumb strokes over my cheek, his eyes searching for something, and then his mouth is on mine. His lips are soft, but the kiss is firm, and delight races up my spine. After years, Dain is finally kissing me. The thrill is gone in less than a heartbeat. There's no heat. No energy. No sharp slice of lust. Disappointment sours the moment, but not for Dain. He's all smiles as he pulls away. It was over in an instant. It was everything I've ever wanted... except... Shit. I don't want it anymore.”

“Violence,' he says softly, 'did Aetos touch you after I told you about Athebyne?' 'What?' My brow furrows, and I shove an errant strand of hair out of my face as the wind swirls around us. 'Like this.' He lifts his hands to my cheek. 'His power requires touching someone's face. Did he touch you like this?' My lips part. 'Yes, but that's how he always touches me. He would n-never...' I sputter. 'I would know if he read my memories.' Xaden's face falls, and his hand slips downward, cradling the back of my neck. 'No, Violence. Trust me, you wouldn't.' There's no accusation in his tone, just a resignation that hurts what's left of my heart. 'He wouldn't.' I shake my head. Dain is a lot of things, but he would never violate me like that, never take something I hadn't offered. Except he tried once.”

“Did you step in?' Dain demands. 'Did I what?' Xaden arches a dark brow and levels a look on Dain that would make a lesser person wither. 'Did I see her outnumbered and already wounded? Did I think her bravery was as admirable as it was fucking reckless?' He turns that stare on me, and I feel the impact all the way to my toes. 'And I would do it again.' I raise my chin. 'Well-the-fuck-aware,' Xaden roars, losing his temper for the first time since I met him on Parapet. I pull in a quick breath, and Xaden does the same, as if he's just as shocked by his outburst as I am. 'Did I see her fight off three bigger cadets?' His gaze pivots to Dain. 'Because the answer to all of those is yes. But you're asking the wrong question, Aetos. What you should be asking is if Sgaeyl saw it, too.”

“Tell him if he harms you, I'll scorch the ground where he stands.' 'Oh, for fuck's sake, Tairn.' I roll my eyes and walk to Dain, whose jaw is locked, but his eyes are wide with apprehension. 'Tell him, or I'll take it up with Cath.' 'Tairn says if you harm me, he'll burn you,' I say as dragons to the left and right launch skyward without their riders, headed back to the Vale. But not Tairn. Nope, he's still standing behind me like an overprotective dad. 'I'm not going to harm you, ' Dain snaps. 'Word for word, Silver One.' I blow a breath out slowly. 'Sorry, he actually said, if you harm me, he'll scorch the ground where you stand.' I turn and look over my shoulder. 'Better?' Tairn blinks. Dain keeps his eyes on me, but I see it there, the swirling anger Tairn warned me about. 'I would rather die than harm you, and you know it.”

“I don't know if I can watch,' Dain says, drawing my attention back to his strong face. His perfectly trimmed beard brackets full lips drawn tight into a frown. 'Then close your eyes.' I have a plan- a shitty one, but it's worth a try. 'What changed between Parapet and now?' Dain asks again, a wealth of emotions in his eyes that I can't begin to interpret. Well, except the fear. That doesn't need any interpretation. 'Me.”

“I shrug. 'They were just dead flowers.' 'They were mutilated violets.' HIs mouth tightens and I go to him, resting my hands on his head. 'It's not like they came with a death note or anything.' I tease, stroking his soft brown hair. He looks up at me, the mage lights making his eyes a little brighter above his trim beard. 'They're threats.' I shrug. 'Every cadet gets threatened.' 'Every cadet doesn't have to wrap their knees every day,' he fires back. 'The injured ones do.”

“I never said I don't think you can cut it, Violet.' 'You say it every day!' I snap. 'You say it when you walk me from formation to class, which I know makes you late for flight line. You say it when you yell at your wingleader when he takes me to the mat-' 'He had no right to-' 'He's my wingleader!' I shrug my tunic over my head. 'He has the right to do whatever he wants- including execute me.' 'And that's why you need to get the hell out of here!' Dain laces his fingers behind his neck, and begins to pace. 'I've been watching, Vi. He's just toying with you, like a cat plays with a mouse before the kill.' 'I've held my own so far!' My satchel is heavy with books as I settle it on my shoulder. 'I've won every challenge-' 'Except today when he wiped the floor with you time and again.' He grasps my shoulders. 'Or did you miss the part when he took every weapon so you knew exactly how easy it is to defeat you?' I raise my chin and glare at him. 'I was there, and I've survived almost two months in this place, which is more than I can say for a fourth of my year!”

“Change your mind.' It's barely a whisper. 'No.' I sound way more confident than I feel. 'Change. Your. Mind.' HIs hand finds mine, concealed by our tight formation as we descend through the passage. 'Please.' 'I can't.' I shake my head. 'Any more than you would leave Cath and run to the scribes yourself.' 'That's different.' His hand squeezes mine, and I can feel the tension in his fingers, in his arm. 'I'm a rider.' 'Well, maybe I am, too.' I whisper as light appears ahead. I didn't believe it before, not when I couldn't leave because my mother wouldn't let me, but now I have a choice. And I choose to stay. 'Don't be-' He cuts himself off and drops my hand. 'I don't want to bury you, Vi.' 'It's inevitable that one of us will have to bury the other.”

“You just want her to be like you,' Dain argues. 'A cold-blooded killer. Soon you'll be telling her that it's all right, you get used to the killing.' I inhale a sharp breath. Xaden nails him with a glare. 'The blood in my veins is as warm as yours, Aetos, and if it's my job you want next year, then you'd better start understanding that you never get used to killing, but you do understand that it's necessary.' He turns back to me, his dark gaze boring into mine. 'This isn't primary school. This is war- and you heard me say it once before, but the ugly truth those not on the front lines choose to forget is there are always body bags in war.”

“Don't do this. Riders are known to die during War Games, and she's safer with me.' Dain argues. 'Anything could happen once we're away from Basgiath, let alone you taking her beyond the wards.' 'I'm not dignifying that with a response. This is an order.' Dain's eyes narrow. 'Or has this been your plan all along? To separate her from her squad so you can use her to get your need for revenge on her mother?' 'Dain!' I shake my head at him. 'You know that's not going to happen.' 'Do I?' he fires back. 'He's made a big deal out of the whole if-she-dies-I-die thing, but do you know it for a fact? Do you know Tairn won't survive your death? Or has it all been a ploy to earn your trust, Violet?' I suck in a sharp breath. 'You need to stop right now.' 'Please do quit while you're behind, Aetos,' Xaden seethes. 'You want the truth? She's a fuck of a lot safer with me beyond the wards than she is with you within them. We both know it.' The look in his eyes is similar to the one in Sgaeyl's, and it dawns on me why she chose him. They're both ruthless, both willing to annihilate whatever stands between them and what they want. And Dain is in Xaden's path.”

“I'm terrified you're not going to make it to graduation, Vi.' His shoulders slump. 'You know exactly how I feel about you, whether or not I can do anything about it, and I'm terrified.' It's that last line that does me in. Laughter bubbles up through my throat and escapes. His eyes widen. 'This place cuts away the bullshit and the niceties, revealing whoever you are at your core.' I repeat his words from this summer. 'Isn't that what you said to me? Is this who you really are at your core? Someone so enamoured with rules that he doesn't know when to bend or break them for someone he cares about? Someone so focused on the least I'm capable of doing, he can't believe I can do so much more?' The warmth drains from his brown eyes. 'Let's get one thing straight, Dain.' I take a step closer, but the distance between us only widens.' The reason we'll never be anything more than friends isn't because of your rules. It's because you have no faith in me. Even now, when I've survived against all odds and bonded not just one dragon but two, you still think I won't make it. So forgive me, but you're about to be some of the bullshit that this place cuts away from me.”

“When you told me that this place strips everything away from you to reveal what's underneath, I was afraid. What if underneath the brittle bones and frail ligaments, there was just more weakness? Only this time, I wouldn't be able to blame my body.' 'You've never been weak to me, Vi-' Dain starts, but I shake my head. 'Don't you get it?' I interrupt. 'It doesn't matter what you think- it only matters what I think. And you were right. But the Riders Quadrant stripped away the fear and even the anger about being thrown into this quadrant, and it revealed who I really am. At my core, Dain, I'm a rider. Tairn knew it. Andarna knew it. It's why they chose me. And until you can stop looking for ways to keep me in a glass cage, we aren't going to get past things no matter how many years of friendship we have between us.”

“What is that look for?' Dain whispers. 'What look?' I ask as the distant roar of a dragon echoes off the stone walls. ... 'The one where someone just sucked the joy out of your world,' Dain responds, bending his head slightly and keeping his voice low enough that only I can hear him. I could lie to him, but that would make our semi-truce even more awkward. 'I was just remembering the guy I used to climb trees with, that's all.' He startles like I've slapped him.”

“You'll break the first time they put you in the sparring ring, and that's before the dragons sense that you're...' He shakes his head and looks away, his jaw clenching. 'I'm what?' My hackles rise. 'Go ahead and say it. When they sense I'm less than the others. Is that what you mean?' 'Damn it.' He rakes his hand over his close-cropped light-brown curls. 'Stop putting words in my mouth. You know what I mean. Even if you survive the threshing, there's no guarantee a dragon will bond you. As it was, last year we had thirty-four unbonded cadets who have just been sitting around, waiting to restart the year with this class to get a chance at bonding again, and they're all perfectly healthy-' 'Don't be an asshole.' My stomach falls. Just because he might be right doesn't meant I want to hear it... or want to be called unhealthy. 'I'm trying to keep you alive!”

“Why, Dain Aetos,' I grin and walk toward him, then grasp the door handle at his side. 'You've seen me in swimwear, tunics, and even ballgowns. Are you telling me it's the leather that does it for you?' He scoffs, but there's a slight flush to his cheeks as his hands covers mine to open the door. 'Glad to see our year apart hasn't dulled your tongue, Vi.' 'Oh,' I toss over my shoulder as we walk into the hallway, 'I can do quite a few things with my tongue. You'd be impressed.”

“I'mnotgoingtothesibes.' So much for not slurring. 'Sibes,' I try again. 'SIBES.' Oh, fuck it. 'Mend me.' 'I will always mend you,' Nolan promises. 'Just. This. Once.' I concentrate on every word. 'If. The others. See I need. Mending. Allthetime, they'll. Think. I'm weak.' 'Which is why we have to use this opportunity to get you out!' Panic rises in Dain's voice, and my heart sinks. He can't protect me from everything and watching me break, watching me eventually die is going to ruin him. 'Walking out of here and going straight to the Scribe Quadrant is your best chance at survival.' I glare at Dain and choose my words carefully. 'I'm not. Leavingtheriders. Just so Mom. Canthrowmeback. I'm. Staying.”

“And look at you! You didn't die!' Irrational, giddy laughter bubbles up. 'I didn't die! You're not an only child!' We both burst into laughter, and tears track down my cheeks. 'Sorrengails are weird,' I hear Imogen state. 'You have no idea,' Dain answers, but when I turn to look, his lips are curved into the first genuine smile I've seen from him in months.”

“Three days?' Dain fires back, leaning in. 'You couldn't make it three days?' 'It has nothing to do with him.' I interrupt, setting my dragon down with a little more force than necessary. 'That's up to Tairn and Sgaeyl.' 'You never considered that it was you I couldn't stay away from?' I crook my right arm and jab it into Xaden's biceps. He doesn't mean that. Not when he's still adamant that kissing me was a mistake. And if he does... I'm not going there... 'Now, now, you'll give our little communication secret away if you can't keep from being so... violent.' He barely restrains a smile, obviously loving that he gets the last word.”

“You ran,' I snarl, wishing I could lunge forward and beat the shit out of him, but forcing my feet to stay planted where they are. 'That day in the field, you fucking ran when it was three on one, and we both know when it comes down to it, you'll run again. That's what cowards do.' Jack flushes, his eyes nearly bugging out of his face. 'Oh, for fuck's sake, Violet,' Dain mutters. 'She's not wrong,' Xaden drawls.”

“Stop,' I put my hand on Xaden's arm. 'Xaden, stop. If you want me to go with you, I'll go. It's that simple.' His gaze shifts to meet mine and immediately softens. 'No fucking way,' Dain whispers, but it reverberates in my bones like a lightning strike. I pivot, dropping my hand from Xaden's arm, but it's obvious by Dain's expression that he now knows there's something between Xaden and me- and he's hurt. My stomach hits the ground. 'Dain-' 'Him?' Dain's eyes widen and his face flushes. 'You and... him?' He shakes his head. 'People talk, and I thought that's all it was, but you...' Disappointment drops his shoulders. 'Don't go, Violet. Please. He's going to get you killed.' 'I know you think Xaden has ulterior motives, but I trust him. He's had every opportunity and has never hurt me.' I move toward Dain. 'At some point, you have to let this go.' Dain looks horrified for a second but quickly masks it. 'If he's what you choose...' He sighs. 'Then I guess that has to be enough for me, doesn't it?' 'Yes.' I nod. Thank gods all this nonsense is about to be past us. He swallows hard and leans in to whisper. 'I'll miss you, Violet.' Then he pivots on his heel and heads for Cath. 'Thank you for trusting me,' Xaden says as I reach Tairn's foreleg. 'Always.”