A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1)

by Brigid Kemmerer

“Because that is all that exists at the end of this path. I am sure of it. This was never a curse to be broken. This is a death sentence. The true curse has been the thought that we might find escape.”

I can understand why Evalyn would immediately think of an engagement to align distant nations. Harper speaks in a manner that leaves no room for disrespect. Like a ruler, not a subject.

“I’m not going to fall in love with you,” she says. Her words are not a surprise. I sigh. “You won’t be the first.”

“You’re good with kids,” I say. “That’s like the most … incongruous thing about you.” “Is it?” he says, his voice dry. “Truly, my lady?”

And then, because fate seems content to surprise me this season, she steps forward, presses her face against my chest, and wraps her arms around my waist.

“I don’t think I can keep hating you.” “Such sweet words of affection, my lady.” I play a ten of hearts. “You honor me.”

“My father once said we are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose—just as a poor hand can win—but we must all play the cards fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.”

“In matters of the heart, I am clearly hopeless.” He puts down his final card—a prince. A wild card. I stare at him, stunned. It didn’t matter what I played. He would have won anyway. “In matters of strategy,” he finishes, “I am not.”

“Yes.” I pause. “You are not angry about what Lilith has done?” “Oh, I’m furious. But not about my face.” “Then what?” Her voice fills with steel. “I’m mad I missed.”

“When my sister died,” Freya says quietly, “it was very sudden. I had no time to say goodbye. But she knew I loved her. I knew she loved me. It is not the moment of passing that is most important. It is all the moments that come before.”

“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.”