We Set the Dark on Fire (We Set the Dark on Fire, #1)

by Tehlor Kay Mejia

we’re not all free, none of us are free. You remember that.”

She couldn’t help it; she had expected more. Wanted more, even. But this was just intimidation. Manipulation. The same kind perpetrated by all boys who thought they were stronger than girls.

The way you slip into a lie like it’s a whole new person. You’re a hundred shades of a girl. You hold those shadows and bring them to life when you need them, and they’re flawless. Look how far you’ve risen, how many people you’ve fooled.”

“I’m talking now,” she said, and he closed his mouth. “I don’t need you to tell me how impressive I am, or how well-suited to your task. I’m well aware of my own skills. You think you can see something in me first? Give a purpose-starved girl a compliment and turn her to putty in your hands? Think again. I know I’d be good at what you’re asking. But you said it yourself: I value myself and my potential above all. So what you’ve failed to tell me, besides some run-of-the-mill attempt at blackmail, is why I’d want to risk my life for you.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, the door closing behind his eyes as quickly as it had opened. “Be useful.”

“And the more threatened the privileged feel, the more drastic the measures they’ll be able to justify in the name of ‘safety.’”

But Dani knew now that to crack open what you thought you knew, to allow it to scar with truth, that was what made you truly strong.

That she’d confessed, then kissed an open flame of a girl in a rainstorm.

Dani had worried and wondered so often what came after kissing, but there had been no need. Kissing was a kingdom all its own, with a million secret places to be explored.

“The bad stuff will be there,” Carmen said, kissing the side of Dani’s neck. “If we want to fight it, we have to find joy where we can. We have to find beauty. We have to take our moments to be happy. Because the joy is what keeps us strong and reminds us we have something to fight for.”