Laura Winter > Quotes

“I want to know how you fight. I never want to be caught off guard like I was that night.” Brela looked ready to argue against it, so Farrah stepped back and lifted her chin. “If I figured out that the Night Terror was a Veil Worshipper, others won’t be far behind. You need to throw them off your trail, especially if you’re also hiding shadow magic, which means you need different targets. Teach me so I can help. Teach me so I can make sure no woman ever suffers like we did again.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Farrah, I don’t care about what you did, and you never have to explain yourself—to me or to anyone else—unless you choose to. I’m smart enough to figure out that he was a monster, and we can leave it at that. I will never ask you anything more about it. But I need you to understand something.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Neither of us are alone any longer. I’m here for as long as you’ll have me.” Brela grinned and flashed her teeth. “Then you better get comfortable.” She pressed a quick kiss to Farrah’s lips, this time nipping slightly as she pulled away and gestured to the cottage. “Welcome home, Farrah.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“I have no desire to fondle a shadow-cursed blade from that cult,” Cason replied, his eyes returning to the crowd. “But, even if I dislike those Veil Worshippers, I don’t believe in disrespecting their history, especially with that cursed dagger.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“Brela focused on the flicker of freedom from her debts — the flame that rested far on the horizon, but still burning — and she put it out. “It seems I’ll be walking into that dragon’s lair after all.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“When you glare like you’re going to burn down their forest, they’re going to think you want to burn down their forest.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“I didn’t say anything about your herbal affinity because one day, you’re going to find your people. The people you don’t have to be embarrassed in front of or hide your gift.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Arms and face dripping with sweat—and some blood, from wounds she didn’t remember getting—she surveyed the pit. Silence surrounded her—not just in the arena, where at least one hundred males and females lay unconscious or incapacitated, but above her. Sand sprites stood motionless in the crystal stands around the pit. Not even the sand trembled underneath her.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Brela cursed her traitorous eyes that had first scanned his visible, very well-defined muscles, then cursed her lungs for releasing an uncharacteristic sigh when she realized he wasn’t hurt. She bit her tongue before it betrayed her too.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“She would prove them wrong. She would prove them all wrong.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Something cold pressed into her hand as she looked down. Her dagger. Tybost was putting the dagger back in her hands, not taking it away. “Run, Brela. Escape,” he whispered, thumbs wiping the tears from her cheeks. “No, Tybost—dad, please.” “Survive, sweetie. Live to fight another day. Protect the other children, you’re the only one who can.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“You aren’t afraid of my magic?” “No,” she replied. “Even if you hadn’t saved our lives, I would never be afraid of shadow magic. My mother told me that it wasn’t magic that was bad, but the people who wield it with closed minds.” After a beat of silence, she whispered even quieter, “Whatever you just did with your magic, I’m thankful for it. For you.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Working with Cason and his wildfire—showing the man behind the magic—would change the minds of many. Working with Brela could change the minds of an entire kingdom. The three of them, though? They could change the world.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“He may have loved harder, but his cruelty grew just as quickly.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“This was the kiss where they moved together as if they’d been practicing for years. As if this made them whole. Gods, hadn’t she been searching for that since she escaped Valisea? Something to fill that empty pit in her chest as she longed for some place she called home? To replace the missing love from Tybost and Lilla? She had tried to fill it with so many things. Kills. Pranks. Distractions. She’d laughed before, but it was never real. She’d smiled, but it never reached her eyes. She’d even quietly started collecting money for her freedom. Dernian’s house would always be a roof, but never a home. No part of this prison would ever fill that chasm of darkness inside her. Everything about her now was wrong.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“I’m better known for my unladylike noises,” she replied. Flawless recovery.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“You are not tainted. You are not weak for bearing scars. You are not a burden.” She breathed. “You survived. You are brave and strong and worthy of the magic inside you. Of the love and beauty inside you. And you are worthy of being loved and protected. It doesn’t make you weak, it makes you strong to accept a hand and trust that you are not alone or lost in this world. And, if you want, you will never be alone again.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“His eyes landed on Brela who had a wild smile on her face as she watched him. Dozens of thoughts crossed his mind about the woman—brilliant, beautiful, bold—but one description stood out among the rest. Empress of Chaos.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“No. Brela sank back to the floor of the cellar. She would prove them wrong. She was capable of fighting by their side. She knew enough about her magic to protect them and herself. When her parents were gone, when the shadows whispered to her and told her that no one was guarding her makeshift prison, she used her shadow magic to break the lock.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“She’d been trained to resist that pull of her emotions. Trained to ignore the strength and depth of magic inside her. Because that’s what fueled her feelings—the protective instinct to draw her cursed shadow magic first—and Dernian had made sure he’d beat that urge out of her when she’d arrived.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Averlyn just so she could taste freedom… and then starved for weeks because freedom didn’t fill her stomach.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“If you’re interested in this whore’s opinion”—she gave a pointed look to the soldier who averted his gaze—“that book is probably the most valuable artifact in this hall.” Serill nodded toward her. “I think Cason would disagree with both halves of that statement.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“When Ovir slid in front of her, there was no delay between her lips crushing his and his arms finding every possible way to keep her close to his body. She could be this, for him and for herself. It was still her choice, and she wanted it to be real. Maybe, just maybe, that pit of darkness inside her wasn’t endless. Perhaps she could still love after everything she’d been through. Perhaps someone could love her back.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“This break in was meant to send a message to Gerrart—not to kill him, but to make a point. To make him afraid. To make the man who hunted Veil Worshippers and stole their artifacts go from superstitious to paranoid. To taunt him before the assassin was hired to kill him and every other collector in gruesome ways.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“Brela pointed the dagger at Dernian. “Fine, we will follow you. But if you hurt any of us, I’ll kill you.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“While you count, I imagine a fortress. I picture their words and glares as claws, trying to scratch through my walls to release the anger or shame. They want me to feel and act like the chained creature I am, but they only win if I break.” Cason frowned at her phrasing, and she seemed to understand his question. “We’re all chained to something, Cason. Money, power, magic, our past… Something will always hold us back until we learn how to break”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“She had a knife sheathed against her belt and leg.” Serill choked on his drink, eyes wide. “Your hands were on her enough to feel that? I’m tempted to stop in Averlyn on the way home so we can find this woman. I’ll propose to her for you.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“I don’t have a home anymore. That was stolen from me, just like my family.” “Make one.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand

“Her fingers curled around the hilt of the Veil Scholar’s dagger, bringing it to her lips as she breathed soft and claimed the blade as her own with a name—a promise. “You are home, Night Carver.”
― Laura Winter, The Curse of Broken Shadows

“Whatever that last look meant, it was gone as he looked back into her eyes and spoke. “My name is Dernian. I’m here to get you to safety through the tunnels.”
― Laura Winter, The Bones of Crystal Sand