Vicious (Villains, #1)

by V.E. Schwab

“you could pick any name. Why pick Ever?” “Why not?” “No,” said Victor, waving his drink. “No, Eli. You don’t do anything like that.” “Like what?” “Without thinking. You had to have a reason.” “How do you know?” “Because I know you. I see you.” Eli drew his fingers through a ring of water on the table. “I don’t want to be forgotten.” He said it so softly he worried Victor wouldn’t hear, not over the chatter of the bar, but he clamped his hand down on Eli’s shoulder. For a moment he looked so serious, but then he let go and slumped back in his seat. “Tell you what,” said Victor. “You remember me, and I’ll remember you, and that way we won’t be forgotten.” “That’s shit logic, Vic.” “It’s perfect.” “And what happens when we’re dead?” “We won’t die, then.” “You make cheating death sound so simple.” “We do seem awfully good at it,” said Victor cheerfully. He lifted his glass. “To never dying.” Eli lifted his. “To being remembered.”