Us Deadly Few (Us Dark Few, #2)

by Alexis Patton

A woman’s worth isn’t in her beauty. It lies in her resilience.

head with the other. Khalani found herself still staring at the pictures. She didn’t normally think about her body. She’d never had a reason to. In Apollo, status depended on wealth, and she’d been at the bottom of the pecking order. But as she gazed at the images, she couldn’t help but compare herself.

??? Say what now?!

Doubts signify the disbelief in yourself.

“You are not your fears. Do you understand?” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “Khalani.” Winnie cupped a cold hand to her face. “Even those who feel the most can feel empty. Do you want to know what it means to be alive? It’s not perfection. It’s not being okay all the time. It’s having fears. Feeling like you aren’t good enough. Trying every day to be better. Your tears reflect how beautifully imperfect you are. What could be more human than that?”

She used to think friends were people you felt comfortable with. But she believed friends were the ones who silenced your doubts.

“What if I’d rather share your pain than have you bear it alone?”

“I used to believe I was afraid of physical pain. But then I felt so much of it that I became desensitized…” She paused. “Now, I think my biggest fear is the one thing I used to crave the most.” His entire body tensed. “And what’s that?” “Being alone.” Saying the words out loud, exposing that raw truth, was like having a hole punched through her chest. That’s why you should be careful about who you love. Love wasn’t just an emotion in your heart. Love was an offering of yourself. When you loved someone, you gifted them a part of you. And if they left, you could never get those pieces back.

“I used to believe the moon was the most beautiful thing on the surface,” he whispered, his gaze flickering back to her eyes.

Fears aren’t always so bad. They remind you of everything you have to live for.”

“Yes. You can train and talk with whomever you wish, Kanes. You’re not mine.” Khalani’s pulse hammered like she was dangling off the edge of a cliff. “I’m not?” “You say that like a question.” She pressed her lips into a thin line, determined not to say another word. Takeshi was the one to break the silence. “No, you aren’t mine, Kanes. If you were, you’d know it.” He leaned closer, his black eyes scorching. “I don’t like to share.”

They became so engrossed with winning, they forgot to care about those who lost.

If we were meant to be alone, we wouldn’t have been given two hands. One to sustain me, the other to cherish you.

She was convinced that when God created Takeshi, He accidently poured an entire bottle of attractiveness over him and muttered, “Shit.”

“I know you have the biggest heart, because in another story, I would’ve wanted you to be my ending.” Takeshi didn’t speak for the longest time. The old Khalani would’ve regretted those words the moment they left her mouth, but she didn’t. Her feelings reminded her that she was still human. And like a candle flickering in the dark, Takeshi let his bleeding heart spill on the floor next to hers. “In another story, you would’ve been my beginning.”

“This has nothing to do with you, man. Just turn around and walk out.” Whatever expression Takeshi wore made the man pale further. “Nothing to do with me?” Takeshi’s voice was so deep it was unrecognizable. “The moment you laid a hand on her, you chose death.”

“It means that no matter how many times I told myself we were done, I knew I’d never be over you. You’re the kind of special no one ever forgets.”

“It’s okay to feel everything. Or nothing at all. Sometimes, emptiness takes up the most space.”