Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles, #5)

by Ilona Andrews

Youth isn’t an excuse for willful flouting of the rules, although it is certainly the right time for it.”

“Always remember, knowledge is a product of labor. It is to be shared but never taken. For if you set out to rip knowledge away from others and hoard it like a jealous merchant hoards their wealth, you too will be shunned like this sphinx and banished from the circle of your peers.”

Gaston put his palm on the table. “Dina, I’m here to assist in any way I can. Your goals are my goals. Your enemies are my enemies. Tell me how I can help, and I will do my best.”

“I do not want to be plugged into anyone’s feelings but my own. I don’t like people. I don’t want to like what they like. I make exceptions for family, but there are times when I can barely tolerate even them.”

“Kill your enemies,” Oond’s translator said, its voice soft and sad. “Murder parents. Slaughter offspring. You cannot grow safety this way. You grow memories. They sprout deep in the bellies of the survivors, like sea urchins covered in spikes. They hurt and hurt until those you have crushed return to crush you and rip the source of their pain out.”

The magic tore at me, trying to push me back, but I was anchored. My roots were deep. I would not be moved.

“I’m too tired for secrets. Ask me anything, I’ll tell you.” “Do you love me?”

“Life is stumbling from one catastrophe to another.”