More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
I tended to do this thing where I bit off more than I could chew, then refused to admit I might have been wrong.
It wasn’t often I felt left out — and I had no desire to Link myself forever to anyone — but seeing all of my friends start a new chapter of their lives had left me feeling… feelings. I hated feelings.
but there were no TSA guidelines for the size of emotional baggage one could carry. Mine might as well have had a large neon orange HEAVY sticker on it.
His stuffy standards and mine were vastly different, and the only opinion I ever cared about was my own.
Gothic, scary, with a splash of charm, just like me.
Should I have asked for help? Probably. Did I? Abso-fucking-lutely not.
My faith in humanity dwindled with each report, discouraged by how quickly they turned on us, even though their reactions weren’t shocking. Just disappointing.
I glanced at the back of my phone case — a Tardis image I usually kept glamoured to appear black to anyone but me — and sighed. I didn’t know how the Doctor kept up his relentless optimism sometimes.
“Murder and marsala, always an excellent pairing for a summer evening,”
Blaze dramatically cracked his fingers, lifting them high into the air before delicately laying them on the keys. The opening notes of Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings lifted into the air, and I pulled my back from the couch.
“Well, you know how the saying goes: If at first you don’t succeed…” Maisie sighed, her eyes rolling as she finished, “Try —” But I cut her off. “Destroy any evidence you ever tried until you’re positive you can kick some ass.”
That had kept happening to me over the past year for some reason, letting more people into my circle — maybe I was coming down with something.
“Cave paintings would be from the Paleolithic Age, not the Dark Age, but, please, tell me more about my ignorance.”
“And then you stomp in to my black-and-white world like a rainbow explosion of color,” Orion said, slamming his hand on the post above my head, the heat of his body warming me as the motion brought him even closer. I didn’t flinch, baring my teeth in a snarl as I waited for his insults, knowing they were coming. “Like a live wire, electrocuting me every time you open that damn mouth of yours so I can’t see anything clearly.”
I lurched forward, pinning her against the wall in the blink of an eye, and she hissed up at me, beating a fist against my chest.
If you hit me again, I will bend you over my knee and repay you in kind.”
The fact that I could be so physically attracted to such a vile being was probably my biggest personality flaw.
“I’m feeling like this little outfit of yours is the damn sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, and it’s begging me to rip it to shreds.”
The air crackled with the static of my magic, and Devanna shivered as a whisper of it ghosted through her. “Eyes on me, hellcat.”
“Or I’ll spin you around right here in this bell tower, rip this sad excuse for pajamas from your body, and fuck you until you’re screaming louder than that damn bell.”
“Say my name, Devanna. Say who you want to fuck you.”
“Just because I want your dick doesn’t mean I don’t still hate you, Orion.”
“Good girl.”
“Do you get this horny for all your enemies?”
“You have the stupidest haircut I’ve ever seen. What are you, a Mormon choir boy?”
More specifically, my chest covered in ink, usually well-hidden under my button-downs, as tattoos weren’t exactly Council approved for angels.
“Begrudgingly befriending you has been the best decision I’ve ever made. No matter how this ends, it has been an honor being your friend and roommate. Thank you for everything. For making me feel alive.”
“And your secrets are your own; it’s nobody’s business what type of supes you are if you don’t want to share it.”
“Well, Devanna. You’re the first on this continent, in this century, to know… we’re vampires.”
“Oh, my Goddess. The Twilight obsession. It all makes sense now.”
“Mm. Yes. That Taylor Lautner fellow. I can never get enough.”
The beauty of Earth was in the imperfect, and the more I looked around Headquarters, noticing how every angel looked exactly the same, the more I was sure of it. I had a lot to learn from my neighbors in Deadlights Cove, public indecency aside.
Literal fire danced in his eyes, at his fingertips, as he cackled with glee. “Oh, Devanna Rainbow Bailey —” “I told you that in confidence —” “— I thought you’d never ask.”
This town — these people — were worth protecting and I’d do anything in my power to keep them safe and happy.
For some reason, men never expected women to fight back, the idiots.
You’re not giving up your dreams for a male, no matter how big his wingspan is.”
“No more apologizing for stupid shit. Do men walk around apologizing for being too loud or interrupting women? No. They just bulldoze over us, expecting us to make ourselves smaller to appease their tiny little… egos. Take up space. Be passionate. Be loud.”
“Don’t ever tell Kit I said this,” Nimue started, her black eyes looking up at me with a hesitant smile, “because I love him dearly and he is my mate, my husband, my everything. But he’s not my soulmate. You stole that title long before he ever could.”
“His attachment to that creature is almost as intense as your love for Edward Cullen.” “Love blinds you, I suppose,” Caedmon said with a sigh. “I still don’t understand why Bella looked twice at Edward Cullen when Jacob was right there, growling and flinging his luscious hair around.”
“Fine, just be a Devvie Downer today,”
“Wait. What’s Orion’s last name? Do you all sound like you’re part of the Italian mafia?”
Pulling tools from my pack I’d spelled to the likes of Mary Poppins’ carpet bag, I got to work,
Bag of holding!!
“I see you’re finally having that nervy B you’ve been edging for three months now,”
For that one night, I’d been able to forget all my other responsibilities. I’d thought I was taking something for myself for once, but really, I’d given myself to her — and it had freed something in me I hadn’t known had been trapped.
“I thought you had a plan to get us out of here. Unless the idea of being trapped with me is making your mind wander to ways we could pass the time together.”
“Hereby changing my name to Ethan Hunt. I just made this Mission: Impossible my bitch.”
“Men always pronounce assertive wrong when they’re talking about women.”
No one needed me. I was the spare — there were no expectations on my life at all.”
No, this wasn’t a kiss. Orion had me pinned in place, and he took my mouth in a plundering. He devoured me.
How dare he make me feel this way about him? How could I have let him?
