01c. 1975 ADI don't care if you danced naked on the roof of the Little Palace with him. I love you, Alina, even the part of you that loved him.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
02c. 1975 ADI have loved you all my life, Mal," I whispered through my tears. "There is no end to our story.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
03c. 1975 ADThe moment our lips met, I knew with pure and piercing certainty that I would have waited for him forever.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
04c. 1975 ADThey are orphans again, with no true home but each other and whatever life they can make together on the other side of the sea.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
05c. 1975 ADThey had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things-if love can ever be called that.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
06c. 1975 ADWhat is she to you anyway?""Here's my answer captain. She's the thing that made this all okay-the threadbare coats and the old boots and the guns that jams when you most need them to fire, the loneliness of knowing that you don't matter, that you will never matter, the fact that you're just another body, another uniform to be sent into the fold or the frost, another good boy who knows his place, who does his job, who doesn't ask questions, who will lie down and die and be forgotten. What is she? She's everything, you dumb son of a bitch.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
07c. 1975 ADHave any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?""Guns?" asked Jesper."Ships?" queried Inej."Bombs?" suggested Wylan. "Political bribes?" offered Nina. They all looked at Matthias. "This is where you tell us how awful we are," she whispered.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
08c. 1975 ADDo you answer a question directly?""Hard to say. Ah, there, I've done it againLeigh Bardugo / quote ↗
09c. 1975 ADGreed is your god, Kaz."He almost laughed at that. "No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
10c. 1975 ADYou have your own problems right now, Zenik, said a voice in her head. Stop worrying about saving the world and save your own ass. Sometimes her inner voice could be very wise.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
12c. 1975 ADGood luck, Oretsev. Find the firebird, and when this is over, I'll see you well rewarded. A farmhouse in Udova. A dacha near the city. Whatever you want.""I don't need any of that. Just..." He dropped Nikolai's hand and looked away. "Deserve her.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
14c. 1975 ADWylan summoned every bit of bravado he'd learned from Nina, the will he'd learned from Matthias, the focus he'd studied in Kaz, the courage he'd learned from Inej, and the wild, reckless hope he'd learned from Jesper, the belief that no matter the odds, somehow they would win.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
15c. 1975 ADSometimes when we find love we pretend it away, or ignore it, or tell ourselves we're imagining it. Because it's the most painful kind of hope there is. By indifference . By death.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
16c. 1975 ADThere is something more powerful than any army. Something strong enough to topple kings, and even Darklings. Do you know what that thing is?”I shook my head, inching away from him.“Faith,” he breathed, his black eyes wild. “Faith.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
17c. 1975 ADAnd what god do you serve, then?”“Whichever will grant me good fortune.” “I don’t think gods work that way.” “I don’t think I care.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
18c. 1975 ADWaiting was the part of the criminal life so many people got wrong. They wanted to act instead of hold fast and gather information. They wanted to know instantly without having to learn. Sometimes the trick to getting the best of a situation was just to wait. If you didn't like the weather, you didn't rush into the storm - you waited until it changed. You found a way to keep from getting wet.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
19c. 1975 ADWe can't help the way we're born. We can't help what we are, only what life we choose to make for ourselves.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
20c. 1975 ADJesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. “Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”Brekker’s lips quirked. “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.”“My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,” Matthias said primly, and then wondered if the sea air was rotting his brain.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
21c. 1975 ADYou're very welcome," she said, giving my hair a hard tug. "You should be used to being gawked at by now.""And yet I'm not.""Well, if it gets too bad, give me a signal, and I'll get up on the banquet table, toss my skirt over my head, and do a little dance. That way no one will be looking at you.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
22c. 1975 ADMal snickered. "What's so funny?""I just pictured the Darkling being cornered by a sweaty duchess trying to have her way with him.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
23c. 1975 ADYou just punched a prince, Alina. I guess we can add one more act of treason to our list.”I shook out my sore hand. My knuckles smarted. “First of all, are we so sure he really is a prince? And second, you’re just jealoLeigh Bardugo / quote ↗
24c. 1975 ADI may not have been completely honest about that.""You? Less than truthful? I'm shocked, Nikolai. Shocked and horrified.Leigh Bardugo / quote ↗
