Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)

by Brynne Weaver

how would you like me to refer to her?” “I don’t know, asshole. How about Queen. Or, Your Highness. Fuck off.” I groan as Lachlan’s laugh surrounds us again, even louder than before. “Fuck Off it is. ‘Pleased to meet you, Fuck Off. I’m your brother-in-law, welcome to the family, Fuck Off

“You’re right.” My brow quirks. “About what?” “That you’ll probably never meet someone like him again. That he’s probably the only one out there like you. That you could mess it up. Or he could let you down. Or that maybe your friendship could go up in flames. You’re right about all those worries that are circling around in your head. Maybe all of them are true. But maybe it shouldn’t matter, because everyone messes up. We all let each other down once in a while. And sometimes the best things come out of the fire.”

“What are you doing here?” Dying an agonizingly slow death of mortification, clearly.

“You’ll love me someday.” The next day is not that day.

I’ve taken a vow of obstinance—

There’s art in our scars. There’s wonder in the way we can heal.

I’ve never really tried and meant it before,

“You’ll love me someday.” One of my steps falters. Today is that day. Maybe yesterday too. And the day before that. Maybe for a while, in fact.

Maybe I was right. We’re not normal people. We are monsters. But if we’re monsters, we’ll thrive in the dark. Together.