The Second Death of Locke Quotes

“What is love, without freedom?" she murmured against his skin. He leaned close to kiss her shoulder, then to whisper in her ear. "What is life, without you?”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Why must you always sacrifice yourself, and call that love?”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“I suffer and I suffer, and yet. And yet, you ask me to suffer still?”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“A pause. A breath. How nice it would be, Grey thought, to lie next to him and die. For all this to be over.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“It is a mighty, powerful thing for someone to see your worst faults [...] and want all of you anyway.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“He never used to much of her, no matter what she said, and that was the truth - however much he needed was just as much as she was willing to give.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Ruthlessness was, she agreed, its own kind of safety.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“But being afraid is better than being hopeless.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Take my freedom, Grey. Everything I have is yours. Everything I am is yours. Take my freedom, and keep your power, and keep my life. If you are here, I want to live. Even if it requires haunting this godforsaken rock for the rest of my life, never being more than an hour’s walk from you at any time – because, honestly, that’s how we would be anyways.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“You are a vision, even with blood clots in your hair. But I don’t know if all would share my depraved tastes.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Live, little bird. It's all we've ever wanted for you.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“She was glad she remembered meeting him. She was glad she had half a memory of life without Kier, if only because it reinforced the understanding that she felt unmoored without him. They’d known each other so long, grown into each other like roots of neighboring trees rather than neighboring children until Kier was so intrinsically tied with her understanding of magic that she sometimes had trouble separating the two.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Grey, if I don't spend the rest of my life washing gore out of your hair, then it's not a life worth living.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“I thought you loved her," Maryse cried, unable to make sense of it all. Upstairs, someone shouted — one of the crooks.

"I love you more," Severin said fiercly.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Power in bravery.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“She squeezed his hand. "Never ask me to leave you," she said, voice cracking. "Use my power well. Protect me. It has always been this; it has always been us. Let it be us until the wars end or we find our deaths—whatever comes first.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“She pressed a hand to Kier's cheek to steady herself, then pushed to her toes and kissed him, once, her mouth to his in a move that was almost chaste. It was the only goodbye she could manage.

She broke away — and one of his hands was at the small of her back, pulling her hard against him. His hand found her hair, his fingers spearing through, thumb sweeping across her temple.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“She loved him in every way it was possible to love a person. And for the most part, she knew he loved her back, in his own way - but she stared into the emptiness of the mountains, she wondered for the first time if that would be enough.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Her fingers continued tracing through Grey's hair as if the movement was compulsive, beyond her control. Grey remembered a thousand moments like this, on the edge of falling asleep as her mother told her a story.
Maybe that was what death was like. Maybe this was a mercy, and it would be like falling asleep, safe, in her mother's arms.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“And will it hurt? If I go back?"
Alma smoothed her thumbs over Grey's hands. "Of course it will," she said. "Living always will."
Grey swallowed hard, battling past the pain. "And dying?"
"That's its own kind of pain," Alma said. "And its own kind of peace.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“The things I wish I could say to you…” He caught himself again. “Losing you”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“Use my power well. Protect me. It has always been this; it has always been us. Let it be us until the wars end or we find our deaths—whatever comes first.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“I thought you loved her," Maryse cried, unable to make sense of it all. Upstairs, someone shouted — one of the crooks.

"I love you more," Severini said fiercly.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“He pressed a kiss to her temple that was mostly the vibration of his mirth against her skin, and because she had no sense at all, a shiver of excitement fluttered down her spine. "I suppose you could tempt me.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke

“It’s not magic when I have it. It takes you to make it into something.”
― V.L. Bovalino, The Second Death of Locke