Legacy of the Brightwash (Tainted Dominion, #1)

by Krystle Matar

She wished for a moment she could give it back to him, this thing that she had taken, that she could fold his emotions back into his chest so he could feel that they had never been exposed at all.

When you prepared yourself for tragedy, it took the mind a while to switch tracks.

The toymaker thrust out a hand and Tashué accepted the shake. They shared something in that handshake that bore the full weight of their military service and all the mixed feelings that went along with it.

He seemed to be just a collection of scars, tissue cobbled together with twine, knitted together by sheer force of will.

Every choice we’re faced with makes things ‘different.’ But don’t convince yourself that ‘different’ is the same as ‘better.’

“Everyone’s tired, Captain. Everyone is just bones and exhaustion in this city.”

And that’s why he didn’t do it anymore, because it got harder and harder to get himself together again, harder and harder to brace himself for the way things would hit him when he was done hiding.

His whole world seemed to revolve around blood again, just like it used to when he was a soldier. Everything that mattered was blood and death and he couldn’t fix all the broken pieces of people.