More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“We live by the Codex—” I try again. “I live by you. When have I ever given a fuck about the Codex or the Code of Conduct?” He cradles my face and leans down, resting his forehead against mine. “I am yours and you are mine, and there’s no law or rule in this world or the next that will change that.”
“And the worst part is I don’t even remember reaching for the source or taking the power during the battle. It was simply there. If Sgaeyl hadn’t…” His chest rises with a deep breath. “She spoke to me for the first time—‘yelled’ is a more accurate term—and I snapped out of it, but the damage was done. I let you down.”
“Just so you know who to hate,” I say over my shoulder once I’m in the hall, “Xaden didn’t kill Varrish. I did.”
“Thinking the Empyrean wasn’t aware for six years tells me all I need to know about where your and your dragon’s priorities are.” Xaden shrugs.
“Have to say, the casual flex of power is pretty hot.” “Don’t,” he warns. “I’m barely keeping my hands to myself as it is. If you knew how often I think about sneaking into your room…”
“I miss your hands.” “Same.” He keeps his eyes on the map, but a band of shadow curls up my leg beneath the table and wraps around my upper thigh. “And your mouth, especially if that’s all I’m allowing myself.”
“Naturally, we’ve passed that order down through the chain of command. Turns out there are lots of us happy to make your life as miserable as possible.”
“If by hiding out, you mean constructing incredibly complex wards that might make even your sister proud, then yes. And it’s not like you’ve been accessible. Bodhi says you’re either reading with Andarna as a backrest or wielding alone in the range.”
“Quest squad?” “Ridoc gave it a nickname and it stuck.”
“I’ve always loved watching you on the mat.” “I know.” Xaden rolls his neck. “I’ve used it to my advantage a few times.”
the man I love doesn’t even look as Loran creeps around his back. No, instead of following his opponent’s moves, Xaden looks my way and fucking winks as Loran attacks from behind,
“I’m either completely in love with your boyfriend or utterly terrified of him,” Ridoc says under his breath. “Not sure at the moment.”
“Both,” Cat answers from his left. “You can be both. Trust me.”
“I’m never scared of him.” Xaden’s eyes find mine, and my pulse skips. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”
“Agreed,” Xaden says. “That’s far too casual a term for what we are.”
A corner of Xaden’s mouth slowly curves upward. “I can teach you to try, but there’s only one person capable of taking me down one day, and it isn’t you, Graycastle.”
“Come on, Violence. Live up to the nickname. I could have killed you a dozen times over by now because you’re reluctant to strike.”
“You have to learn the difference for both our sakes.”
“Only you.”
“Why only me?” I ask, turning endlessly to find him. “You need to be able to find me.”
“Because you’re the only one capable of killing me.”
“I get scared for him, but I haven’t been scared of him since Threshing.”
“Because he’d never hurt me.” I take another drink. “He had his reasons for wanting me dead, and instead taught me how to strike a death blow on the mat—and that was way before Threshing.”
My brightest light, I meant to prepare you but only had time for half the lessons you need, half the history, half the truth, and now time runs short. I failed Brennan the day I watched him walk the parapet, failed Mira when I could not stop her from following, but I fear my death will fail you. Your mother and I trust no one, and neither can you. —Recovered Correspondence of Lieutenant Colonel Asher Sorrengail to Violet Sorrengail
“Did you know that I have Archives duty?” she interrupts, crouching down to the bottom shelf of the cart. “I thought it was kind of fitting, seeing as Liam always went with you when you had it.”
“It wasn’t out of revenge, I swear. I’m sorry I didn’t stop her.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. Powering the stone was going to take someone’s life. If I had succeeded, Xaden, Tairn, Sgaeyl, and I would all be dead. The world needs Brennan, Aaric is…irreplaceable, and I wouldn’t trade you for any ward, Sloane. My mother made the choice she had to. You were the tool, but she gave her own life.”
First love is irreplaceable.
“Which I didn’t mind, since my bed is too cold without you physically in it and too quiet without you screaming my name.”
“Knock me out? You’re usually the one begging for mercy a few orgasms in—” “Want to see begging? All I have to do is swirl my tongue around the tip of your—”
“You started it.” “I’d give anything to be able to finish it.” Xaden’s fingers curl. “You’re going to be the death of me.” “So you keep saying.”
“You ready to join in, Second Squad?” Garrick asks, crooking his fingers directly at Imogen. “You don’t want anything to do with these.” She lifts her hands. “Why don’t you put them on me and we’ll see?” A corner of his mouth tilts and a dimple pops in his cheek. “Oh gods, just stop flirting and fuck already,” Ridoc says.
“Hate to tell you, Sorrengail, but not only did you leave yourself exposed, you also missed.” He grins.
“Did I?” I look pointedly to the smoking hilt of his melted blade behind him, and he follows my line of sight, visibly tensing when he spots the ruined dagger. “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
“By Malek, I fucking love you,”...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
“And the only hair I remember is your professor’s covering your face when I walked in on her riding you. It was auburn, right?”
“And here I thought you’d thank me for offering to step in and agree with you in regard to your upcoming mission.”
Cadet Sorrengail, As per our agreement, here are your requested tomes. I’ve also handpicked a selection from my personal library I hope you’ll find educational. In regard to your search, King Courtlyn of Deverelli has agreed to a single meeting—noble blood only—for the reasonable price of the Amelian Citrine. Queen Maraya has agreed to gift the gem to him but will not be responsible for its retrieval from its display in Anca. Please let me know when you have the citrine in hand so I can schedule our visit. In service, Viscount Tecarus
“If you’re asking if I’m in love with him, then the answer is wholeheartedly yes.” I glance Xaden’s way and find his eyes already on me. “If you’re prodding to see if we’re still together, then let me assure you, we’re adhering to the Code of Conduct in the way you never bothered to do. You can report that to your father.”
Shadows blast straight through the wards and hit Halden in the chest like a battering ram, sending the crown prince of Navarre flying backward—straight into the rock wall. Shit.
“Sorry about that,” Xaden says, his tone implying otherwise. “I was blocking a potentially lethal blow to the first-year and seem to have knocked the wind right out of you.”
“Seriously?”
“He was going to touch you.”
“Let’s get three things straight, Your Highness. First, I have remarkable hearing thanks to the shadows at your very feet. Second, I don’t control Violet. Never have. Never will. But third, and most importantly—” He lowers his voice. “She really, honestly hasn’t thought about you. At least not since the second she set eyes on me.”
“Aimsir. It’s the right answer,” I say, mostly to myself. “My father’s world rotated on the axis of my mother, and they didn’t meet until their third year. Her first real love would have been Aimsir, and she was irreplaceable. Our entire family’s happiness rested on her health and survival.”
Dear Violet, It’s my most sincere hope that you are reading this by my side, laughing at the glorious mess that is a first draft, but I fear that may not be the case. If I now walk alongside Malek with your brother, then guard this manuscript carefully. But if the worst has happened and your mother has joined us, then you must protect this knowledge with your very life. Within these pages, you’ll find my careful study of the second Krovlan uprising, but my daughter—remember what I taught you about history: it is simply a collection of stories, each influenced by those that happened before and
...more
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
“Did you love him?” The question is a low rumble of sound. “Someone is going to see you!” “Did. You. Love. Him?” Xaden lifts his head and pins me with a look that borders on feral. “I have to know. I can handle it. But I have to know.” “Oh, for Amari’s sake.”
“Did you love him?” he repeats. “Holy shit.” My hands fall from his jacket. “You’re actually jealous.”
“Yes, love, I’m jealous.”
“I’m jealous of the armor that holds you when I can’t, the sheets on your bed that caress your skin every night, and the blades that feel your hands. So, when the prince of our realm walks into my classroom and starts talking to the woman I love with what can only be considered intense familiarity, and then has the ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
