Burning Falls Quotes

“She would rather remain silent, but her voice is no longer something to fear. It’s strong. Powerful. A weapon of emotions.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Time keeps ticking away, unaware of the suffering each second generates. Time doesn’t care, because if it did, it would’ve reversed.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Why won’t you look at me?” she murmurs.
He doesn’t speak, seemingly at a loss for words.
“It’s my scars.” It comes out as barely a whisper.
Horror spasms across his face. “What? No,” he says, a bit breathless. “You’re beautiful. All of you.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Summer turns and marches away, fed up with being handled like a child. Like she’s a glass doll that might break at any minute. She hasn’t been a child since the day she was whipped into muteness. Anxiety might strangle her sometimes, but she’s not some baby needing to be coddled.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Love’s sharp teeth sink into her. She surrenders to his possessive arms. They anchor her to his body and to this strange, new reality. With her ear situated against his chest, she listens to his steady heartbeat. It’s strong and reassuring. Her own is jarring in comparison, a rapid rhythm crashing its way through her.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Slowly, he lifts the flashlight. Her shorts are torn and frayed, her shirt ripped from chest to naval, exposing her black bra and dirty stomach. And then he raises the light so it reflects off her face, off the crimson tears streaming from the girl’s eyes. Her boney hands fly up to protect her face, and her head tilts sharply as she hisses.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“The aftermath of bearing shackles is an exquisite devastation, fraught with the ravages of survival. Even though one is no longer held captive—be that from a person, a government, or one’s inner self—the scars are deeply engraved into one’s psyche, and there’s no remedy for the soul. Many have the misconception that freedom equals happiness forever and ever.
That’s a wicked delusion.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Landon drops the bloody knife and stares at Summer like he doesn’t even know her anymore. The truth is, she’ll never be the girl she was seven months ago. Too much has happened. Too much has changed.
“Why’d you do that?” Summer cries.
“To save you,” he says.
But there’s nothing left to save.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Death and his scythe do not come. No sweeping black capes or ethereal escapes. There’s no pearly gate, no prisms of colors as his soul slips away. The stillness is cold steel. The silence is empty with no memory to mend it.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Her gaze travels back to the lie twisted in a tempest of mud and blood. She witnesses the culmination of her recklessness through a curved lens. Absorbed in life uncoiling, unaware of the world beyond this ridge. His light hair, darkened by rain. His stiff shoulders, full of pain. The vision poisoned with truth. With rust-stained hues.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“I’m sorry,” he says. No two words were ever truer.
Still, she says nothing. Once a shield, now her taciturnity is brandished like a blade, carving away his sanity. She’s the flaw in the paragon of life—the reason angels choose to dive to their downfalls in fiery comets of stardust.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Dreams deny her the freedom she truly seeks. Darkness consumes. Leg muscles burn. She runs away, even while lost in the paradise of sleep. Gravity is a crushing force bearing down on her chest, shattering wings and refusing her flight. A whisper in her mind. You don’t belong here.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“She feels him scoot closer, the heat of him radiating off his chest and absorbing into her skin. His legs straddle her from behind, and he places delicate kisses along her shoulder, her back, the very center of her spine. Each time is like an electric current surging through her, soul stirring and lovely.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“She waits for his reprimand or words of disapproval.
He kisses her instead. Hard. Lips demanding, fingers tightening on her chin. He consumes her with this single act.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“He holds her for an eternity. Time cascades into the void of the past. She inhales his scent. Full of man and strength and yearning. And she wonders why she ever doubted their relationship. Why she let Julian’s soothing touch coax her into loving him too. Gage is everything. Gage is hers.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Struggling transforms her captor into a Chinese finger trap. She’s suffocating. Sucking in air without relief. Her lungs expand. Contract. Expand. They fill with lies and broken promises. With despair and lost hope. Each inhale is empty. Invisible hands reach into her body and constrict around her windpipe. She watches her friends collapse like supernovae, their cognizance disappearing into a black hole. A black hole she’s quickly cascading into. The dark consumes, bleeds into her vision. She blinks. Catches icy blue eyes peeking out from the shadows.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“That,” she says, then clears her throat. “That’s a bit terrifying.”
His lips twitch. “Isn’t that a side effect of love?”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“He’s focused on something—or someone—over her shoulder.
The harmonious warbling of the rainforest morphs into organized disarray, as if a primitive maestro has thrown conducting to the wind and let Mother Nature take over. Birds trill a warning as the breeze rustles the plant life. Wings flutter overhead. A crescendo of stridulation changes tempo, the insects seemingly performing a sonata as the rhythm shifts yet again.
“What—who is it?” Summer asks in a strained whisper.
His gaze lands on her, his brows furrowing. “The Forsaken.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“He smiles at her before ever opening his eyes. The innocence in his face ensnares. Wraps her heart in a cocoon.
They did this to him. The Society. Constructed that smile with malicious expectations. Now she must rip it off his face. Because she doesn’t deserve his love. Or Gage’s. This madness coils around her throat, darkening every inch of her soul.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“She reaches into the unknown and claims his hand, clasping it as if he might evaporate into the night. She’s petrified. Not of the monstrosities prowling the island, but of the demon inside herself. The one about to rip apart her heart and mind to attain a selfish freedom. And it might all be a lie, placed there by the Society.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Terror builds inside him. The reality that tonight will be his last leaves a sour taste in his mouth. The Tainted will eat him, or on a more terrifying note—if that’s even possible—maybe turn him into one of them. He’d rather die. But first, he’ll take as many of those bastards out as he can. He throws his pack into the throng and jerks the blade from his belt. With a thudding heart, he slices through them. Blood arcs over him, onto him.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“As he plods behind Cameron and Summer, he can’t help but stare at Summer’s exposed, glistening skin. His thoughts aren’t depraved or even mildly in the splasher. In fact, he focuses on the marks of cruelty crisscrossing her back, stomach, and shoulders. He trudges along, drenched, feet swollen, constantly searching for even a hint of a breeze, all while being forced to stare at the alarming network of burns traversing Summer’s delicate skin. This latticework of hate reveals a brutal truth—one he can scarcely comprehend. Yes, he’s glimpsed and felt her scars before, but this is the first time he’s really, truly seen the severity and extent of her life as a slave. With each step, he must digest the monstrosities of her past, leaving him utterly devastated.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Refusing to listen to him any longer, Julian backs up. “Whenever you realize working together is in Summer’s best interest, come find me, Boy Scout. Until then, I’ll just pretend you don’t exist.” Then he walks away.
Gage glares at Julian’s retreating form. His hand scrapes through his hair as he fumes. A guttural roar of rage crawls up his throat, and he kicks the sand.
Damn him and his stupid logic. He’s right. And Gage knows he’s right. But that doesn’t mean he has to like it.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Why aren’t you smiling?” Cameron asks. She picks up the Astropad and stops the video.
“Because this is the beginning, not the end.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Time is a thief. A killer. Time is killing him.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“If this is my final moment,” she says, “then I can die happy.”
“Is that why you’re saying all this? Because you think we’re going to die?”
“I don’t know,” she admits.
“Dammit, Summer.” He clings to her waist, grip desperate, eyes heavy with torment. “You’re saying everything I want to hear, but I don’t know if I can trust it.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Dammit, Gage. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t,” he shouts. “I was upset she wanted to stay, and I lost it.”
Ethan scoffs. “Yeah, you did.”
“I’m an idiot.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Shut up.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Seconds ebb and wane. She’s not afraid of her voice anymore, but she’s not entirely sure she trusts it. She’s seen the damage caused with a single word. Right now, each one is a weapon, a conduit of war, and she won’t just throw them out there all willy-nilly.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“Just in case you’re wondering,” Gage says, breaking the silence, “this alliance of ours doesn’t mean I like you.”
“Feeling’s mutual.” Julian tosses him a disdainful look.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls

“You should’ve told me,” she repeats. “Because here’s a news flash: You might’ve wanted to shelter me, but there’s nowhere you can hide me that’ll keep me safe from what’s inside my head.”
― Laura Kreitzer, Burning Falls