More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Who am I, then?”
“In Rome, you are no one. A slave. ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
“Caesar forgets,” added Trajan. “There are some Romans who have familial ties to slaves.” My mother’s face flashed to mind, her kind smile, her kinder eyes. “No. He doesn’t forget. He’s simply missing that part of himself that would remind him of that.”
“What part do you mean?” he asked. “A heart.”
“Know this, soldier,”
“If she isn’t yours, don’t touch her.”
“And if you ever touch mine again, I’ll rip your spine from your b...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
She had not merely entertained me with a whirling dance, she’d captured me entirely. The dragon too. And though I’d had a fleeting thought of a life where a Dacian girl fit into mine, I dismissed it at once.
“A philosopher once said that while we cannot always control our circumstances, we can control how we react to them. It is better to take advantage of the smallest of gifts in these hard times. Take what you can, cherish what will give you peace and strength for the difficult roads that lie ahead.”
“Because you don’t behave in a subservient way,”
“My direct gaze?” I huffed in anger. “So you’re saying I invite the attention of other men?” “Yes.”
“You may not mean to, Malina, but that fire burning in your eyes is a challenge to any man. But to a Roman and especially to a dragon, it’s like a summoning, a siren’s call. Not to mention the rest of you.”
“What about the rest of me?”
“Your defiant spirit,” he whispered, almost like he was sharing a secret, his timbre rough, “coupled with your beauty.” He shook his head. “It is dangerous. So very dangerous.” “For me?”
“Or is it dangerous for you?”
“Both, sweet firebird.” His voice was a velvety, dark caress. “We might both burn for what’s to come.”
“I know you’re thinking of ways to escape,”
“I would be if I were you.”
“I’m the emperor. I can have whatever I want. Open your thighs.”
about her was both like a balm to my soul and an ache on my heart.
I had an insane need to haul her to my bedchamber. To have her near me so I could protect her.
He was right, of course. I could no more part with her than I could shove my blade through my own heart. Not when the gods had given her to me, not when she was designed to be mine.
I could never part with her: Treasure.
“You don’t know?”
“Do you remember our first meeting?”
“Of course I do. You gave me the gold piece. The aureus. Your mother’s.”
“You wore it all these years,” he declared. “You could’ve used it for any number of things. Food, shelter, weapons for your Celts. But you didn’t. Why?”
“I couldn’t.” “Why not?”
“It was given to you by a Roman centurion. A stranger you’d never see again.”
“I couldn’t part with it.” “Because of its value in gold?” “No.” “Because of its connection to Fortuna, then. You thought the goddess would protect you if you kept it.”
“Partly.” My voice was shaking now. “And what of the other part?” “I…”
“Tell me of the other part.”
“Tell me,” he urged. I shook my head. “I can’t.”
I couldn’t admit that I was wholly attracted to the Roman who’d enslaved me, who spent his life killing and enslaving others to grow an empire of malevolence and malice.
“I’ll tell you since you’re too coward to admit it.”
“You kept this coin, because it tied you to me. The gods had bound us together. Your gods, mine, it doesn’t matter.”
“I never thought to see you again either. But I’d never forgotten you. Do you know there were so many nights I lay alone in my tent in some foreign part of the world, feeling disconnected from everyone and everything in my li...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
“I’d see my firebird dancing across that stage. I should’ve known that night that you held magic inside of you. You bewitched me with that first glance. I’d wonder where you were in the world. Who you were dancing for. Who had the privilege to watch you.”
“Why do you worship Proserpina and not Pluto?”
“Because she rules the underworld.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“Trust me,”
“She does.” “How does she do this?”
“Because she rules her king’s heart. He will do anything for her. Therefore, supreme power is always in her hands. Not his.”
“I told you without any hesitation.” “Oh, Malina.”
“I won’t ever betray them.” His thumb stroked the crest of my cheek. “Or you.”
“I thank you for not betraying them”—I pointed down the road where we’d come—“but there is no bond or trust between you and me that can be broken.”
“You didn’t leave me?”
“No.”
“Wait. You want me to ride on top of your dragon?”
