Of Dreams And Dragons Quotes

“I thought I could protect my heart by keeping it closed off to love, but Kaden snuck in, and now I realize that we only cripple ourselves when we close ourselves to love. To family. To community. We humans are not islands. We need each other.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Security is mostly a superstition," Kaden quotes. "It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“I go to the world beyond, where I will once again see the face of my father, and feel the warm embrace of my mother. I go to be with my people, to hear them share their tales and this time share my own. Once, I lived in shame of who I was, but then I met you, and I learned to embrace all that I am. I thank you for that, friends." His words are cut short by a cry of pain, but it does not deter him. He squeezes my hand. "I will tell your stories in the world beyond, but I know they are not finished yet. And one day, you will have to tell me the endings. But I like a long and happy tale, so do not rush to greet me.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Don't you see? The man was just using me to cover up his misdeeds, as all men are wont to do. It's in their nature—men—to abuse and use and demand and cover up and do it all again and again and again. They grab the power and abuse the power and create dark spots everywhere, over everyone's eyes, and in their mouths and on their faces and in their noses. Dark spots everywhere. Full of blood. Full of decay. Full of dead things pretending to be living.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“How did you know it was mine before?" "It's silver. No one in this village can afford silver. Except the council. But the others, they wear gold. You like to imagine yourself a man of the people. You like to offset their ostentation with your own insincere humility.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“This isn't as altruistic as it looks. Men like this don't do anything out of kindness. There's always something in it for them.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“If I didn't find this man so vile, and this whole thing so questionable, I might believe him. His words make a certain kind of sense, if viewed through a lens I don't possess.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“This man has the depth of a teaspoon," I say. Kaden winks at me. "That's probably an insult to teaspoons.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Occasionally Bix makes a joke, then laughs at it so loudly and with such abandon that we can't help but join in. Even if his jokes aren't funny, or we don't understand them, his boundless joy always cheers us.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Love takes a piece of our soul, of our heart, and holds it hostage. I don't have any pieces left to give right now.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Too often we judge people by our own standards and preconceptions and miss the truth of the thing entirely.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“But at the core, we all want love, happiness, connection, and moments of unfiltered joy. We all want to live in a just world of fairness and truth. Well, most of us do.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Her sobs echo in the chamber, filling our space with her grief, until, eventually, they slowly subside and she finally looks up and stares at the ceiling. "Why do they hate me?" "Because they hate themselves," I say. "They hate their own weakness. And you remind them of just how much they have left to learn.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“What kind of life do you think she would have had to make her into such a weapon?" I stand there silently, forcing each of them to consider my question. To really think about what that poor girl has endured.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“I feel a kinship with him over this tragedy. All of life is transient, no matter how permanent and unyielding we like to imagine it. Everything we think matters can be swept away in a moment. From fire. Death. Floods. War. Life. Which begs the question: What really matters in the end? If all that we cling to is just illusion, what is the truth? What is real? What will last?”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“. Sometimes a person needs a taste of freedom to realize they have never been free. After, they can never go back to being who they once were. They are forever changed by what could be.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“If you can't get someone out of your head, maybe they are supposed to be there’.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Did you know, the French don't really say, 'I miss you'? They actually say, 'tu me manques,' which translates to, 'you are missing from me.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“For what is time, but a measure of things that have already happened or have not happened yet? What is time, but a measure of nothing.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Unseen, unheard, but always near. Still loved, still missed, and very dear.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Those we love don't go away; they walk beside us every day”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“She protected us all from Pat's wrath and alcoholism as best she could. I don't know why she never left him. Maybe her religious beliefs prevailed. Maybe she, like me, worried what would happen to the kids if she did. Maybe she was charmed by his good days, because he did have them.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“I'll be right as rain tomorrow." He snickers at that. "Tomorrow you'll have a black eye and feel like something that exited the back end of a sick dog." "Thanks for the optimistic prognosis, doc.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Sometimes, the anticipation of pain is worse than the pain itself.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“I should have kept my mouth shut. I know better, especially when he's like this. Hard liquor rather than beer was his poison of choice today. I can smell it on him. And I know what that means. But knowing changes nothing. I seem pathologically incapable of biting my tongue. A character flaw I would be happier without.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“It's when I unlock the door and walk inside that the truth of my home life hits the hardest. That's where the shadows live, behind the closed doors and draped windows of houses that look like everyone else's. Skulk past the white-washed exterior and you'll find the rot fast enough. But most don't care to dig even that deep. They may smell the decay, but they don't want to deal with the reality.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Saudade—originating in Portuguese and Galician—takes hiraeth another step, though. It is often defined as "the love that remains" after someone or someplace is gone—or even if that person or place is still in your life, but it has changed so much that you mourn the past or future.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“I initially discovered hiraeth on social media, and it made me suck in my breath as something stirred deep within me. It's Welsh, and there's no direct translation into English, but it's defined as a kind of homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over a person or place that is lost to you. It carries with it a sense of longing, nostalgia and wistfulness,”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Discovering there is a word for what I've always felt does help ease the sorrow some, but only in the way that identifying the monster helps ease the fear. It's still a monster. It still hunts you. But now you know its name.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons

“Those we love don't go away; they walk beside us every day," a deep voice says, startling me. It's the man with the scarf, but I can't tell if he's speaking to me or to the grave. His voice is resonant, and his accent sounds British. “Unseen, unheard, but always near. Still loved, still missed, and very dear.”
― Karpov Kinrade, Vampire Girl 8: Of Dreams and Dragons