More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Not only was he an entitled, fragile man-child, but he was a fucking idiot as well.
mmm so I love drue
When she rejoined the others, it was Wilder Hawthorne who shook his head in Coltan’s direction. ‘I can distract the others if you want to beat him senseless.’ So they had heard it all. But to her surprise, Wilder’s offer coaxed a laugh from her. ‘I’ll let you know.’
‘Do you think we should tell him it works best to corral the poor thing uphill?’ Talemir had asked his oldest friend. ‘Nah.’ Malik’s enormous frame took up the entire rock he leant against, his grey eyes bright as he tracked his younger brother’s movements. ‘He’ll figure it out. Eventually.’
baby wilder I’ll cry
‘Got him,’ he declared, leading the horse towards them. It was a beautiful black thoroughbred, with kind, golden eyes; a fitting match for the young warrior. ‘Took you long enough,’ Malik snorted. ‘Please,’ Wilder scoffed. ‘Torj told me it took you two days.’ Malik nearly choked on his liquor. ‘That pretty boy has barely wet his blade. What would he know?’ Wilder shrugged. ‘Enough, apparently.’ Talemir observed this exchange with amusement. He loved watching the siblings of Thezmarr interact, for no matter how old they were, they always reverted to their childhood habits.
‘Settled on a name?’ Talemir prompted the youth. Wilder looked relieved. ‘I was thinking —’ ‘Biscuit,’ Malik declared, his face deadly serious. Wilder blinked at his brother. ‘You’re drunk.’ ‘We had to entertain ourselves somehow.’ Malik grinned. ‘But your stallion seems to like the name.’ ‘It makes no sense,’ Wilder argued. ‘Does too. His eyes are the colour of that gold shortbread Cook makes.’ Talemir’s shoulders shook with laughter. ‘Biscuit…’ To both the older warriors’ delight, the horse seemed to warm to the name, whinnying softly.
‘Don’t underestimate the skills you can learn from a romance book.’ He laced his words with innuendo. ‘And no matter what I read, I could still kill all of you in my sleep.’
Okay I love talemir
‘Malik fell first. I only knew because I heard Wilder’s scream from across the battlefield.
Im sobbing
slay them all for what they’d done to the midrealms, to him, to Malik… To punish them for the stain they had left on his now black heart, and for the way they’d hardened Wilder, the boy, now man, who had once been so carefree.
Ouch!
Drue and Adrienne fighting back to back, Drue wielding a beautiful sword while Adrienne hacked at wraith limbs with a battleaxe.
I get why wilder dated her
A wraith’s festering talon had carved through flesh, tissue and muscle, splitting Wilder apart. Talemir swallowed the bile rising in his throat. ‘Doesn’t even hurt, Tal,’ Wilder said through gritted teeth. ‘But I could use some of that fire extract about now.’ Talemir tried to sound casual, but the words came out strained. ‘Thought you hated the stuff.’ ‘Not really in a position to be fussy at the moment.’
Smiling, he offered it to her – the heart of a wraith. ‘I considered flowers, but I thought you’d like this more…’
‘Did I scare you?’ he heard himself ask. ‘Before…?’ She turned her head to him, her beautiful face illuminated by the moonlight. ‘No.’ ‘Good.’ ‘They’re…’ She trailed off, a blush spreading across her cheeks before she tipped her chin back to the sky. ‘What?’ he pressed. ‘They’re beautiful, you know. The wings.’ For the first time in a long while, Talemir’s eyes prickled. ‘Oh.’ ‘Don’t let it go to your head.’ He laughed, suddenly feeling lighter than he had all day. ‘I absolutely will. Any more niceties to share this evening?’
He strained against its hold, desperate to go to Malik, or at least stop Wilder from seeing him like this —
Breaks my heart
‘Someone told me there are all kinds of darkness in this world. And that it’s what you do with it yourself that matters most.’ A smile broke across that beautiful face. ‘She sounds brilliant.’
‘Mead it is.’ Drue placed the bottles down and rolled out a half-barrel from somewhere behind her. ‘We’re going to drink all that?’ Talemir raised a brow. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Drue rolled out another. ‘This too.’
She did, beating him fairly and with no sense of modesty whatsoever.
Wilder shook his head. ‘At least tell me there’s some mead inside.’ ‘I can do you one better.’ ‘I doubt it.’ ‘There’s wine.’ Wilder’s eyes bulged. ‘Don’t toy with me, Tal. I’ve just crossed shark-infested waters for you.’
‘You were never that nice to me,’ Wilder said dryly, as the boy scampered off to show the others what he’d learnt. ‘You were never that polite.’ ‘Horseshit. I was a saint.’
There had always existed a magic to make the sanest man go mad, and it was not shadows and darkness, but love: deep, unending love.
Wilder stormed towards them. He looked dishevelled and unhinged, that same rage he’d carried with him since the moment they’d met still simmering below the surface. That, more than anything else, grounded Drue.
No way Wilder’s unending rage is the one constant rn
‘That’s not Angus Castemont, I tell you,’ another deep voice boomed. A heavy silence followed before — ‘Yes I fucking am,’ a youthful voice shouted over the rest. There was a moment’s pause. ‘Sorry for cursing,’ came a mutter from behind them.
I knew I loved Gus
Gods, one day, the midrealms wouldn’t stand a chance against Wilder Hawthorne.
