Goldfinch (The Plated Prisoner, #6)

by Raven Kennedy

As long as there is breath in my lungs and a heart in my chest, I will fight for her with everything that I am.

You have your own light, little sun. So you must carry it with you when it grows dark.

“Like I told you before, you’re the best mistake I want to make. Over and over again. For the rest of our lives. So what do you say?”

Kissing him is like the first sip of warmed mead during a snowstorm.

That means you do whatever the fuck feels good for you.

“is a symbol of that. We are Culls. But more than that, we are the dragon-wielders of old.”

“After five generations of Cull blood, someone in our line finally manifests both scales and spikes, but you still cannot call forth a dragon.”

I have to be the light, so I can break through this dark.

I told her I’d be the villain for her, and I was. Now, I need to also be the hero she would want me to be.

needed to make sure you were okay too, you giant oaf!”

They’ve already tried to break me, but instead, I broke free.

For the first time, I’ve just manifested a fully physical dragon.

They say old spirits are drawn to the dawn. That they can’t help but haunt the light. That’s what I feel like. Without her, I’m caught in endless darkness.

“Slade…” “I’m here, Auren.” I’m finally here. Right where I belong. With her.

“My heart didn’t work without you,” I tell her.

you and I.” It feels like I said those words so long ago, and hearing her repeat them now makes my chest

The bond is demanding that we pair. In every way.

“I keep every part of you you’ve ever given to me,” he murmurs. “Your heart, your soul, your mind, your bond, your body…and your ribbon.”

“Sometimes, feelings build up and become our foundation. Shame and guilt aren’t like pages in a book. I couldn’t simply turn it over and move past it. This regret…I’ll carry it for the rest of my life.”

How utterly devastating that someone decided what my life was worth.

Then I walk away, leaving him to rot. Because that is exactly what he did to me.

“Why is it that some men seem to shake their heads and say don’t worry? As if it is a woman’s affliction?”

Then, I realize that sitting here and facing the edge of the world is actually quite…liberating.

We are only two specks sitting at the fringe of a world. A world that has seen so many other people. And something about that makes me feel like this threat we face is small enough that perhaps we just might overcome it.

Sometimes, you have to live on faith.”

We fight, Lady Rissa. But even if we win, we still lose.”

“You are magnificent,” I tell her. Her pulse quickens. “I’m just me.” I nod. “Yes.” Exactly.

While my aggravated bond wants me to protect her, I also recognize how fucking strong she is, and how much she needs me to acknowledge that strength. How it will empower her even more because I have complete confidence in her.

After a lifetime of trauma and emotional manipulation and abuse, I have finally healed and grown enough to realize that. To say it to myself.

“Come on, come on,” I say, teeth gritted, fear pumping

Maybe sometimes, time doesn’t help. It just…stretches. Widens the gap between the loss and the after.

This made me think of my dad..... ugh this one got me