Bonds of Brass Quotes

“No empire is worth it if I don’t have you too.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“It feels ridiculous to say it now. For gods’ sake, we just caved into this. But two and a half years is more than enough to know, even if you’ve only been kissing for a microscopic portion of them, so it doesn’t feel shameful in the slightest to whisper, “I love you,” into the inches between us.
And it feels a thousand times more ridiculous when Gal whispers, “I love you too,” back.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“I feel like I’m driving you away. And nothing is worth that—if I lose you, I have nothing left.”
“But you will”, I think. “But you won’t,” I tell him.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“My only allegiance is to an empire that doesn’t exist yet, to the possibility of Gal’s future rule. Maybe that makes me a traitor. Maybe it forfeits my soul. But for him—for this disastrous boy sleeping next to me—I would, I will.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“Are you okay? How are you holding up?” His voice is soft—too soft for the thoughts running wild in my head.
I shrug halfheartedly. It’s dead. It’s gone. I can’t carry it with me. “Still flying,” I tell him, trying to convince myself it’s true.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“On my left, power without fathom in the fragile body of a boy. On my right, a nightmare of a girl who should be ruling these streets. And in the middle, there’s me.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“He’s every inch his mother’s son now, and if his hands were around my neck, he’d squeeze.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“Why do I trust you?” Gal asks.
My blood runs cold.
But Gal’s tone isn’t cruel or calculating. It’s hopeful. Warming. He’s on to something. “Maybe you don’t trust me—I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, after everything—but I trust you with my life. I know I can trust you because you throw your life on the line to save me. Time and time again, no matter how little I deserve it. You’ve sacrificed everything for me.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“It’s so clear now, looking at him. I should’ve trusted my instincts from the start—they always point me back in the same direction. Him, him, always him. Save him. Kiss him. Tell him.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“I know what it’s like to walk down that path, feeling as if you have no other route. I know how hard it is to pull yourself back from it once that instinct is ingrained. And I know how easy it is to give in to it when you tell yourself it’s the only way to survive.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“But through all of this, through every part of this mess, the only thing that’s ever mattered is Gal. There’s only one side that has my allegiance. It’s not Archon, which fell and fled, or Umber, which conquered and reshaped. It’s not the past. It’s that possibility of a better future. It’s only ever been Gal.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“Keep flying,” I whisper hoarsely, the roar of the air around us stifling the words as they leave my mouth. “No matter what, keep flying.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“I go where Gal goes.”
“Even if the resistance retakes Rana?”
“I go where Gal goes,” I repeat.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“I can’t lose him, but somehow it feels like I already have.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“And when we break apart, my terror triples. Because it's not enough---all of him, the promise of his future, everything I've thrown my soul away for. It's not worth what we're about to do.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“I mean, you can enjoy the view, but your eyes are making promises you don’t intend to keep.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass

“He's always had my back. And now this carapace is all I have to protect me when I need him the most.”
― Emily Skrutskie, Bonds of Brass