Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark, #1)

by Veronica Roth

“Honor,” I said with a snort. “Honor has no place in survival.”

“Hard to think of a man like that being afraid.” “Yeah, well, we’re all afraid.” I sighed. “The angry more than most, I think.”

The thought brought a chill to my bones. I understood doing things for “the greater good” in theory, but in practice, I didn’t have any interest in it. I had always protected myself, and now I protected Akos, when I could. Beyond that, there weren’t many I wasn’t willing to cast out of my path. And maybe it meant I was evil, but it was true regardless.

“Besides, I can handle a few nightmares.”

“I wanted to kill him,” he said. “I hate that I wanted to do something like that.” He shuddered again, and stared at his hands. All cracked from hitting things, the same way Vas’s had been. Cyra waited awhile before responding. “It’s hard to know what’s right in this life,” she said. “We do what we can, but what we really need is mercy. Do you know who taught me that?” A grin. “You.”