Shadow's Edge Quotes

“The myth of true love is one of the greatest self-deceptions ever embraced by the female sex. It’s right up there with the ridiculous notion that money can’t buy happiness and size doesn’t matter.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“People hate what they can’t understand, what is different from themselves. They hate it and they want to eradicate it. Violence and intolerance are woven through the fabric of human nature like a scarlet thread.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“She had that aching feeling again, that feeling she knew was happiness. It seemed not only unfamiliar but terribly fragile—and frightening. She wondered how people managed to live with it. Like a skittish wild animal, it appeared poised to bolt at any moment.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“His father had known he wouldn’t really run away, Leander understood that now. Or perhaps he knew all Leander really needed was the choice. No man could truly lead if it was forced upon him, if the need to serve and protect was not as much a part of him as the heart that beat within his own chest. And on that night so long ago he’d chosen to stay, because Sommerley was his kingdom and his heritage and his lifeblood. He loved it. He realized he would never forsake it, nor would he forsake those who depended upon him.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Things change, Leander. Day by day, the future comes nearer, the past recedes. Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“They don’t know you as I do. To them you are only a threat, an unknown quantum.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Do not ever underestimate a woman, son, or make the foolish mistake of trying to bend her to your will. She may flatter you and smile and even seem to agree, but in the end she’ll cut out your heart, feed your body to the wolves, and then enjoy a good night’s sleep. With another twist in his gut,”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“tell them a thing. I’ll even help you get out of here. You have my word.” The choked passion in Morgan’s voice convinced her.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“But you can have anything you want, Jenna. Don’t you understand? Because you are who you are, you can leave, you can stay, you can have what I’ve wanted my entire life.” Morgan leaned forward and gently took Jenna’s hand in her own and held it there with careful pressure. “Which is what, exactly?” “Freedom,” she breathed. “You can have your freedom.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Morgan nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Now they’ll have to do exactly as you say.” Jenna barely had the strength or the interest to answer her. “They?” “The Assembly,” Morgan enunciated. “If you’re the Queen, that means you can do as you please. It means you can come and go and live your life and to hell with all of them...” Morgan trailed off to a whisper, then gave a final, amazed sigh.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Queen,” Morgan finished for her, calmly and quietly. “And yes, like it or not, I believe that is exactly what you are. And not only that, but Leander...is your mate.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Marie Antoinette herself was blessed with. It means you are bound to us all, in a way we’re not even connected to each other. “As a matter of fact,” Morgan inclined her head and sank into a low, proper curtsy, one knee bent elegantly with the other behind, “it means you are the Queen.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“The Ikati aren’t dogs, Jenna. We’re not like a wolf pack, though we have Alphas and hierarchies and rules upon rules upon rules,” she said slowly. She swallowed before continuing. “We are CATS. And every pride of cats has a queen.” She paused again. “Though the Ikati haven’t had one since Marie Antoinette. She was the most powerful Alpha of her time, more Gifted than any male Alpha. She was our last true Queen.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Well, little bird, you’re grounded until that foot heals anyway,” Morgan said. Jenna came instantly alert. “Why?” “Because we can’t Shift when we’re wounded. Even a little cut will do the trick. You’re not going anywhere until that foot heals.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“It’s just that only an Alpha can sense another Alpha like that. Specifically.” She giggled, a lighthearted, girlish sound that seemed distinctly out of place for the circumstances. “And only with the Alpha to whom they’re mated.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“How is it, I wonder, you were able to evade all Leander’s guards in the forest and around the manor and walk right in without a single soul getting wind of your arrival?”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Clear, cold water ran from a little brook just twenty paces beyond the cottage, there was wild mustard and raspberries, and even a patch of morel mushrooms poked their pale heads through a scorched patch of earth from some recent fire. She had shelter, she had food, she had water.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“The Law is nothing more than control and oppression, especially for a woman, and if Jenna has any sense she’ll keep as far away from this shining prison as she possibly—”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“A lone tear tracked down her mother’s cheek. She didn’t bother to brush it away. “You’re like your father,” she said, and the desolation was back. “You look like me, but you’re like him, strong and fast and...different. And like him, you’ll be hunted. So you need to learn to pretend to be something you’re not, because I won’t always be around to protect you.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“A full-Blood Ikati can stay in animal form forever if we want to because that’s what we really are. It’s our true nature. Our human shape is a disguise, a clever adaptation that’s allowed us to live alongside our enemies, to survive. We can only hold our form as human or vapor for so long.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“That’s true,” he finally said, quietly and without a shadow of sarcasm. “More true than you know, Jenna. I’ve been groomed to succeed my entire life, expected to lead and make decisions, trained to win. I take neither my responsibility nor my position lightly. I can’t. I’m the Alpha. There are scores of people who depend on me, women and children and families I must protect, at any cost. It’s a privilege, yet also a burden, because I’ve no one to share it with, no one who understands how I fear losing. If I fail, the Ikati fail. If I lose...” He turned toward her. “We all lose.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“When we first settled here generations ago, every-one was assigned a particular job according to his or her Gifts. The most Gifted were members of the Assembly, the least Gifted were servants, with a dozen different layers in between. It’s stayed mostly the same since then. Many of the maids and cooks and footmen here now had great-grandparents who served my great-grandparents.” “And I suppose no one gets a vote in all this? The Alpha’s word is law?” Leander’s lips twisted into a smile. “This isn’t a democracy.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Hiding is never the answer. I can tell you that from personal experience.” She raised her gaze to Leander’s face. His beautiful eyes narrowed. “Whatever you’re running from will eventually find you, whether you like it or not.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“The Expurgari?” Jenna interrupted. Daria lifted her pale gaze to Jenna’s face. “The purifiers,” she said in a hushed tone, as if merely saying the word would invoke them. “They’re a small branch of the Church—trained assassins, very brutal, very militant, with unswerving faith in their dogma of death. All across Europe cats were burned, drowned, tossed from church belfries, used as archery targets. Once again the Ikati retreated into secrecy to survive. Though our strength and wiles have helped us thrive, though we’ve amassed wealth and our leaders have risen to become Sir and Your Honor and My Lord in the human world, we are not safe. And we never will be. So though it may seem incredible that creatures such as we have been forced to do so, we’ve endured the centuries by simply...hiding.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“We learned to blend in,” Daria agreed, stroking a finger along the delicate curve of painted flowers and bone china under her hand. “We interact with humans when necessary, of course, for trade or other purposes, but we never let them know what we really are. It’s far too dangerous.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Now it was Leander’s turn to speak. “You really thought the Sistine Chapel was created by something so—simple—as a human?” He looked vaguely disappointed. “Silly me,” Jenna murmured as her eyes moved over the gallery of portraits. Her surprise turned to shock as she read all the names. Amenemhet”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Just out of curiosity,” she said, swallowing a bite of the delicious carpaccio, “why do you have a portrait of Marie Antoinette on the wall?” Daria and Leander shared a glance. He nodded, almost imperceptibly. “The doomed Reine de France was an ancestor of ours, my dear,” Daria replied, patting a corner of her rosebud mouth with a linen napkin. “The last full-Blooded Queen of the Ikati.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Guard the colony. Take every precaution. No one comes in, no one goes out. Edward,” he said, turning to look at the pale face of Viscount Weymouth, “convene a meeting of the Council of Alphas to take place immediately, here at Sommerley.” He drew in a long breath that felt like acid scoring his lungs and spoke the words that acknowledged their fears, that would change all their lives from this moment forward. “They’ve found us again. Prepare for war.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“There is nothing the human mind despises more than diversity, no matter what you’re led to believe. You are either the same, or you are Other.” Her voice went flat. “And being Other equals being the enemy.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge

“Is there anything else you want to ask me, Jenna?” He waited patiently for her to respond. He waited for a very, very long time.”
― J.T. Geissinger, Shadow's Edge