Scarred (Never After, #2)

by Emily McIntire

Besides, sometimes the only way to enact genuine change is by becoming part of the machine and ripping out the broken pieces yourself.

Instead, they got a wild raven-haired female with a sense of adventure and a mouth that speaks out of turn.

If you want to burn down hell, you must learn to play the devil’s game.

“I’m no one’s queen. I’m just the one who will burn the crown.”

and I doubt they’d expect me to show up. Which is exactly why I’ve come.

He stares at me as though he can see into the darkest corners of my soul. Or maybe that’s just his darkness reaching out and trying to find the blackest parts of mine.

It’s hardly the truth, but perception is reality, and not everything is a lie.

The mask she wears for the world drops away when it’s just the two of us.

“It would be such a shame to lose that inquisitive mind,” I murmur. “I don’t wish to stifle it. I wish to break it apart and see what other questions I can find.”

Face value is the only truth, and blind trust is something often found in spades.

people often want to believe the ones placed on pedestals deserve to be there.

But you don’t need to have brawn to subdue and exert power.

True power lies in the ability to harness energy and wield it like a sword, becoming the puppeteer who masters all the strings instead of...

“And just because you have no propensity for morals doesn’t mean it extends to others.”

“I don’t need to be tamed.”

“Water is the most powerful element in the world. Calm when needed and ferocious when tried. Never assume you know something’s power because of how it appears.”

“But power only lies in the hands of those who we let have it,”

“I am everything they say and many things they don’t.”

a heady sensation flooding through me as he dominates every other man in the room just by choosing to be in it.

With acceptance comes clarity.

My little doe is no doe at all. She’s a hunter, pretending that she’s prey.

Because looking at Tristan is like looking in a mirror and seeing the pieces of myself I try so hard to hide.

And the way he stares, as though he’s diving into my soul and seeing every part, makes me feel like I could ask him for the world, and he’d tear it to pieces just to fit it in my hands.

But in a world full of pain, he’s my only respite.

A lesser woman would have broken. Yet here she is, acknowledging her pain and letting it mold her instead.

Put me out of this constant purgatory of needing you without having you.”

“You could burn down the entire kingdom until it’s nothing but charred rubble, and I would crawl over the embers with glee, so long as I could worship at your feet.”

You are mine, and not even death can keep you from me.”