“Ah, my daughter,ʺ he said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“What the hell?" I asked. Is this daring escape being sponsored by Honda?”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“From behind Lissa, I heard Christian say, "Worst. Timing. Ever." Adrian studied Lissa and then looked at Christain sprawling on the bed on the far side of the suite.
"Huh," Adrian said, letting himself in. "So that's how you're going to fix the family problem. Little Dragomirs. Good idea." Christian sat up and strolled toward them.
"Yeah, that's exactly it. You're interrupting official Council business.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“What was love, really? Flowers, chocolate, and poetry? Or was it something else? Was it being able to finish someone's jokes? Was it having absolute faith that someone was there at your back? Was it knowing someone so well that they instantly understood why you did the things you did—and shared those same beliefs?”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Abe held my gaze a bit longer and then broke into an easy smile. ʺOf course, of course. This is a family gathering. A celebration. And look: hereʹs our newest member.ʺ
Dimitri had joined us and wore black and white like my mother and me. He stood beside me, conspicuously not touching. ʺMr. Mazur,ʺ he said formally, nodding a greeting to both of them. ʺGuardian Hathaway.ʺ
Dimitri was seven years older than me, but right then, facing my parents, he looked like he was sixteen and about to pick me up for a date.
ʺAh, Belikov,ʺ said Abe, shaking Dimitriʹs hand. ʺIʹd been hoping weʹd run into each other. Iʹd really like to get to know you better. Maybe we can set aside some time to talk, learn more about life, love, et cetera. Do you like to hunt? You seem like a hunting man. Thatʹs what we should do sometime. I know a great spot in the woods. Far, far away. We could make a day of it. Iʹve certainly got a lot of questions Iʹd like to ask you. A lot of things Iʹd like to tell you too.ʺ
I shot a panicked look at my mother, silently begging her to stop this. Abe had spent a good deal of time talking to Adrian when we dated, explaining in vivid and gruesome detail exactly how Abe expected his daughter to be treated. I did not want Abe taking Dimitri off alone into the wilderness, especially if firearms were involved.
ʺActually,ʺ said my mom casually. ʺIʹd like to come along. I also have a number of questions—especially about when you two were back at St. Vladimirʹs.ʺ
ʺDonʹt you guys have somewhere to be?ʺ I asked hastily. ʺWeʹre about to start.ʺ
That, at least, was true. Nearly everyone was in formation, and the crowd was quieting. ʺOf course,ʺ said Abe. To my astonishment, he brushed a kiss over my forehead before stepping away. ʺIʹm glad youʹre back.ʺ Then, with a wink, he said to Dimitri:
ʺLooking forward to our chat.ʺ
ʺRun,ʺ I said when they were gone. ʺIf you slip out now, maybe they wonʹt notice. Go back to Siberia."
"Actually," said Dimitri, "I'm pretty sure Abe would notice. Don't worry, Roza. I'm not afraid. I'll take whatever heat they give me over being with you. It's worth it.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“I don’t belong to anyone. I make my own choices."
"And you’re with Adrian," said Dimitri.
"But I was meant for you.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Don't blame us," said my mother. "We didn't blow up half of Court, steal a dozen cars, call out a murderer in the middle of a crowd, or get our teenage friend crowned queen."
"Actually," said Abe, "I did blow up half of Court.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Who is he?"
"An idiot, said Adrian. "Makes me look like an upstanding member of society.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“I always love seeing what worries you. Strigoi? No. Questionable food? Yes.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“I loved you!" he yelled. He jumped up out of his chair so quickly I never saw it coming. "I loved you, and you destroyed me. You took my heart and ripped it up.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“What?" I asked uneasily. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
He shook his head, the smile rueful now. "Because sometimes, a person can get so caught up in the details that they miss the whole. It's not just the dress or the hair. It's YOU. You're beautiful. So beautiful, it hurts me.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Auras tell a lot, Rose, and I'm very good at reading them. Much better than you friends probably are. A spirit dream wraps you own aura in gold, which is how I knew. Your personal aura is unique to you, though it fluctuates with your feelings and soul. When people are in love, it shows. Their auras shine. When you were dreaming, yours was bright. The colors were bright...but not what expected from a boyfriend. Of course, not every relationship is the same. People are at different stages. I would've brushed it off, except..."
"Except what?"
"Except, when you're with Dimitri, your aura's like the sun. So is his.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
“The usual, old man,” I replied cheerily. “Danger, insane plans... you know, the stuff that runs in our family.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“A gun. I had been brought down by a gun. It was practically comical. Cheaters, I thought.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“There was a look of woe on his face that was almost comical. Raids, bullets, criminals...no problem. A missing duster? Crisis.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“You've always been my equal, Roza.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“I need you,ʺ said Lissa.
ʺI hear that from women a lot,ʺ said Adrian.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“She was right about something else too," Dimitri said after a long pause. My back was to him, but there was a strange quality to his voice that made me turn around.
"What's that?" I asked.
"That I do still love you."
With that one sentence, everything in the universe changed.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Life, unfortunately, doesn't seem to care what we want.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Rose, I'm an addict with no work ethic who is likely going to go insane. I'm not like you. I'm not a super-hero."
"Not yet," I said.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“You were wrong. She really is the new general in town."
I smiled back, hoping he wasn't aware of my body's reaction to us standing so close. "Maybe. But, it's okay. You can still be colonel."
He arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Did you demote yourself? Colonel's right below general. What's that make you?"
I reached into my pocket and triumphantly flashed the CR-V keys I'd swiped when we'd come back inside. "The driver," I said.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“I wasn't fooled. He was avoiding looking at me. "There's nothing to talk about."
"I knew you'd say that. Actually, it was a toss-up between that and 'I don't know what you're talking about.'"
Dimitri sighed.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Wait until next time," he warned. "I'll do things that'll make you lose control within seconds.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“You managed to get him a duster, but you couldn't find me a pair of jeans?”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Find one thing. One thing that's beautiful. Anything. Anything that shows you you're not one of them."
His eyes were back on me studying my face silently. Panic raced through me. It wasn't working. I couldn't do this. We were going to have to get out of here, regardless of whatever state he was in. I knew he'd leave, too. If i had learned anything, it was that Dimitri's warrior instincts were still working. If I said danger was coming, he would respond instantly, no matter the self-torment he felt. I didn't want him to leave in despair. I wanted him to leave here one step closer to being the man I knew he could be. I wanted him to have one less nightmare.
It was beyond my abilities, though. I was no therapist. I was about to tell him we had to get out of there, about to make his soldier reflexes kick in, when he suddenly spoke. His voice was barley a whisper. "Your hair."
"What?" for a second, I wondered if it was on fire or somthing. I touched a stray lock. No, nothing was wrong exept that it was a mess. I'd bound it up for battle to prevent the strgoi from using it as a handhold, like Angeline had. Much of it had come undone in the struggle, though.
"Your hair," repeated Dimitri. His eyes were wide, almost awestruck. "your hair is beautiful.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Same plan," agreed Dimitri. "You go to the house. You look less threatening."
"Hey!"
He smiled. "I said look.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“That's a dangerous look," said Dimitri, giving me a brief glance before returning his eyes to the road.
"What look?" I asked innocently.
"The one that says you just got some idea."
"I didn't just get an idea. I got a great idea.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“For a moment, I was captivated as I studied them side by side. My mother: the perfect picture of guardian excellence and decorum. My father: always capable of achieving his goals, no matter how twisted the means. Uneasily, I began to understand how I’d inherited my bizarre personality.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“Sometimes the greatest tests of our strength are situations that don't seem so obviously dangerous. Sometimes surviving is the hardest thing of all.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
“I'm backing down now. I really do love you. That's why I'm doing this.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Last Sacrifice
Richelle Mead
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“I've never thought of you like that,' said Christopher. 'How could I? If you were any other woman, I could tell you I loved you, easily enough, but not you-- because you've always seemed to me like a part of myself, and it would be like saying I loved my own eyes or my own mind. But have you ever thought of what it would be to have to live without your mind or your eyes, Kate? To be mad? Or blind?”
― Elizabeth Marie Pope, quote from The Perilous Gard
“In a cult, you have two identities: your cult identity and your authentic self. Most of the time I operated from my cult identity, which was pliant, submissive and obedient. But when I was pushed to the point where it felt like my survival was at stake, my authentic self came to the fore.”
― Carolyn Jessop, quote from Escape
“When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
“(...) You Sophotechs are smarter than I am; why did you let me do such a foolish thing?”
“We answer every question our resources and instruction parameters allow; we are more than happy to advise you, when and if we are asked.”
“That’s not what I’m thinking of, and you know it.”
“You are thinking we should use force to defend you against yourself against your will? That is hardly a thought worth thinking, sir. Your life has exactly the value you yourself place on it. It is yours to damage or ruin as you wish.”
(...)
“Is that another hint? Are you saying I’m destroying my life? People at the party, twice now, have said or implied that I’m going to endanger the Oecumene itself. Who stopped me?”
“Not I. While life continues, it cannot be made to be without risk. The assessment of whether or not a certain risk is worth taking depends on subjective value-judgments. About such judgments even reasonable men can differ. We Sophotechs will not interfere with such decisions. (...) If we were to overrule your ownership of your own life, your life, would, in effect, become our property, and you, in effect, would become merely the custodian or trustee of that life. Do you think you would value it more in such a case, or less? And if you valued it less, would you not take greater risks and behave more self-destructively? If, on the other hand, each man’s life is his own, he may experiment freely, risking only what is his, till he find his best happiness.”
“I see the results of failed experiments all around us, in these cylinders. I see wasted lives, and people trapped in mind sets and life forms which lead nowhere.”
“While life continues, experimentation and evolution must also. The pain and risk of failure cannot be eliminated. The most we can do is maximize human freedom, so that no man is forced to pay for another man’s mistakes, so that the pain of failure falls only on he who risks it. And you do not know which ways of life lead nowhere. Even we Sophotechs do not know where all paths lead.”
“How benevolent of you! We will always be free to be stupid.”
“Cherish that freedom, young master; it is basic to all others.”
― quote from The Golden Age
“She sat down on the edge of the bed and accepted the plate from me. She inhaled and groaned. "Pancakes! Are you freaking kidding me? I could kiss you!" "But you won't," Maggie said and pointed with a cocked brow. "Not right now," Beck said laughing. "I'm in no position to fight sleep, let alone a whole other person. You're safe for now, college boy.”
― Shelly Crane, quote from Independence
The Philosopher and...
The Passenger
Dead by Morning
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