Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1)

by Jay Kristoff

Take hold of my hand, For you are no longer alone. Walk with me in hell. —MARK MORTON

Because if the Almighty is willing to put an end to all this wickedness, but somehow unable to do so, then he’s not as almighty as the priests would have you believe. If he’s both willing and able to put paid to it all, how can this evil exist in the first place? And if he’s neither willing nor able to lay it to rest, then he’s no god at all. The only possibility remaining is that he can stop it. He simply chooses not to.

I never met a minstrel who wasn’t a liar, coldblood. Nor a holy man who wasn’t a cunt.”

“Too much hate will burn a man to cinders, Chevalier.” “Oui. But at least he’ll die warm.”

“There’s no misery so deep as one you face by yourself. No nights darker than ones you spend alone. But you can learn to live with any weight. Your scars grow thick enough, they become armor.

“‘Rid your heart of pity, boy. Light a fire in your chest and burn it out at the root! Our enemy knows not love, nor remorse, nor bonds of fellowship! They know only hunger!’

‘Better to die a man than live a monster.’

“‘Better to end this life than lose your immortal soul. In the finale, that is the choice before every paleblood alive. Live as a monster, or die as a man.’

“The first taste is ever the sweetest. And the darkest.”