The Contortionist (Harrow Faire, #1)

by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

If souls are the currency of hell, then the devil himself has become the victim of inflation.

“Locks only keep out the honest” was a motto her dad always used to say to her, usually while he was cutting the padlock on some abandoned building so he could take her in to look around.

Living with constant pain was a gradient. Either it hurt, or it hurt worse.

“They will tempt you with things you think you want. They come with terrible costs.”

“You will suffer a great loss. An enormous loss. But if you do not see it for what it is—as a new beginning—it will destroy you.”

He is the rusted shackles of power that have long since ceased to be useful. They must be shattered. A new power must come to bear. But in all coups, whenever power is first overthrown, there is chaos.”

There was no better way to convince a righteous man to do the unrighteous thing than by using his own words against him.

“Mmm, hate is a strong word.” He grinned. “I think ‘loathe to the point where they wish I would burst into flames and spend the rest of eternity screaming in agony’ is a stronger and far more appropriate descriptor.”