Shadows So Cruel (Court of Ravens, #2)

by Liv Zander

“Yes, you fucking broke her heart, shattering it into so many pieces, her primal forced a shift to escape the agonizing pain. You made sure I was out of the way long enough for you to make her believe you loved her. How can you be so cruel? So vicious?”

“Deception’s most profound irony is how it can make the realest truths look like the greatest deceits.”

“The moment I learned of Lord Brisden’s discovery from my maid, I abandoned the stables to find you,”

“Fate is woven with precision, not chance; every thread perceived woven wrong is nothing but an essential right in the complex tapestry of a life.”

Owls, enemies, vicious winds… on my life, nothing would ever harm her. Except for me. Just like I’d feared.

“The illusion of choice is a comforting lie that we succumb to while fate guides our every step. Trust me. I tried to avoid fate for years, only for it to end up in my arms.”

“I have three reasons,” Malyr had told me when I’d accused him of solely wanting to bond with me to strengthen his power, “all utterly, wretchedly, unforgivably selfish.”

Each time, those shadow-infested eyes had foreboded his most atrocious acts. “They are… vicious beings, eating him from the inside.” Asker ran a palm over his braid, his lips pinching until they paled for a moment. “I cannot imagine what it must feel like to carry this plight for nearly a lifetime, only for it to… strip you of your agency, leaving you behind to deal with consequences not entirely of your making.”

Maybe he was not the monster I’d made him out to be, but its prey.

“Love is a mother giving up her daughter so she may live. Love is a father dying to protect her gift. Love is a nursemaid keeping a girl’s secret.” She stepped closer, squatted beside us, and placed her hand on top of mine where it rested on Malyr’s chest. “Love is another mother giving up her life so the girl may escape death.”

“You actually do love her, don’t you?” Loved her so much, he was willing to give her up to ensure her safety and happiness. “None of it was feigned.” He gave a pat on my shoulder, then turned for the door. “None of it.”

Every perceived wrong was nothing but an essential right in this thing called fate—a

“I would rather suffer the Endless Ache until my dying breath than risk hurting you even one more time.”

Shadows ever so cruel.

“My love is not gentle, or tender, or easy. But it is real, grown from hate and pain deep inside a chest sullied by shadows. It is cutting and biting, leaving behind scars as unfading as my love for you.” His warm lips scathed my jawline. “And once we are gone from this earth, I will continue to love you among the stars. I will be the night, the darkest patch of sky around you, just to ensure that everyone can see how you sparkle. And once your light starts fading, I will take you into my black embrace, and that is where I will love you beyond death.”

“I’m no easy man—I know this—but I am irrefutably yours, heart and soul, left with a lifetime to strive to walk in your light.”

“If there’s love in this pain, then I want it. I just don’t want there to be any pain in this love.”

“I never said this before, but… thank you for bringing me back to life. Thank you for giving a chance to redeem myself in my own eyes. Even just a little.”

“Did I do it?” Sebian’s mouth opened and closed as if gasping for air. “Did I… did I save her?”

Sobbing

The tremble stopped, all tension fading away from my muscles as if, suddenly, death didn’t sound so bad anymore. “I… I save her?”

Crying

“I hope you saw that just now. I’m sure she pushed her toes beneath my calf a hundred times already while I was asleep. I’m glad that I was awake for it once, but brother, how did you handle it? Her toes are bitterly cold.”