Empire of the Damned (Empire of the Vampire, #2)

by Jay Kristoff

The road is black ahead,’ I told her. ‘And it’s hard to keep walking when you can’t see the ground beneath your feet. But that’s what courage is. The will to keep walking in the darkness. To believe the end is just beyond your outstretched hand, rather than a million miles away. And while some might falter, some might fail, some might curl up like babes rather than walk on through that lonely night, you are not that girl.’

This world won’t give you what you want just because you asked nicely, girl. Not respect. Not love. Not peace. You get what you earn. You eat what you kill.’

“‘Gabriel, the last horse I named hurled herself off a cliff a few days later.’ “‘And your theory is that happened because you gave her a name?’ “‘I’m just saying I ended up sleeping inside her,’ the girl said, still looking queasy about it. ‘So you’ll pardon me if I’m not in a hurry to name another.’ “I glanced at Dior’s beast, lips pursed. ‘What about Blanket?’ “‘Oh, God, STOP IT!’ she wailed, burying her face and kicking her heels.

🤣🤣🤣

“‘Enough,’ I snapped. ‘First things last, we need to get the hell away from here. If the Untamed return, we’re fucked harder than a bishop at a cardinal’s convocation.

“Better to be a bastard than a fool.” Jean-François smiled. “You are not a bastard, de León. You are a cunt.” “Well. You are what you eat, vampire.” “Charming.” “My wife certainly thought so.”

The wise man learns more from his enemies than the fool from his friends, but even the fool can learn if his friends are willing to call him one. Surround yourself with folk who confront you. If you’re not being challenged, you’re not learning anything. If you’re the smartest man in the room, you’re in the wrong fucking room.

We don’t get broken. We’re made broken. We are not whole alone. But if we’re blessed, if we’re brave, we might find those few whose edges fit against our own. Like pieces of the same puzzle, or shards of the same shattered blade. Those people who, in their own broken way, make our broken edge complete.’

Her body was an untamed realm, wild and beautiful, and I was aflame with the need to know every inch; to let my lips light fires among those hills and valleys, to brave the dangers of her darkest places.