Lisa C.

“Sage shifted beneath me. I put one of my hands back into his thick hair and left it there, pretending I needed to hold him. It took all my willpower not to start playing with it.

“I guess you don’t do this very often,” I told him, my voice cracking slightly.

I couldn’t see his face but I could feel him smile. “No. Usually my head’s turned the other way around.”
― Karina Halle, The Devil's Metal

“He told himself a story. Not at first. At first, there wasn’t time for thoughts that came in the shape of words. His head was blessedly empty of stories then. War was coming. It was upon him. Arin had been born in the year of the god of death, and he was finally glad of it. He surrendered himself to his god, who smiled and came close. Stories will get you killed, he murmured in Arin’s ear. Now, you just listen. Listen to me.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Winner's Kiss