A Promise of Peridot (The Sacred Stones, #2)

by Kate Golden

“When you first arrived at Shadowhold, Griffin, Kane, and I each tried our best to keep you at arm’s length. Do you know why?” “Because you’re a curmudgeon, Kane was trying not to get in my pants—unsuccessfully, might I add—and Griffin doesn’t like people?”

“I know how frightening it is to allow yourself to want something you know you can never have. Sometimes, we tell ourselves that it’s easier not to care at all.”

“But there is power in hope too. You have no real knowledge of what is in store for you. It’s a long and winding road for all of us, prophecy or not. Do not spend what little time you may have left in this world shutting yourself out of it.”

“Don’t you know why I call you bird?” “Because you locked me in a cage?” His silver gaze simmered like hot smoke. “Because when I met you, for the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt hope. And not just hope that I might beat my father, though of course, I can’t deny that.” Acid roiled in my stomach, but those eyes held mine, and I found myself unable to look away. “That’s what birds represent. Stranded sailors look to the sky to be led by them back to dry land. Birds soar through the dawn each morning, as sure as the sun rising in the east—the promise of something new, regardless of what came before.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Hope always has wings.”

It reminded me of something Dagan had said months ago. “There is only true courage in facing what frightens you.” And in Azurine, how vulnerability was what made us human. Gave us something to fight for.