A Blade So Black

“Says the dude who carries around a big fuck-off sword.”

“Maybe it wasn’t the smart thing, but when you lose someone like that? They’re just gone? There’s this hole inside you you’d give anything to fill. You don’t think, you don’t plan, you just pour shit into it, anything that will fill it.”

“He was going to find this kitten had claws.”

“Knowledge is power, and the world is set against you knowing anything, so when someone's trying to teach you something, pay attention.”

“Alice spent the rest of the evening up in her room pretending to read a book about a black girl and some dragons. Normally, she’d be all about that Khaleesi life, but a combination of worry for Hatta and just plain old boredom—she’d been trying to get into this same book for a week now—kept her from making it past the first chapter.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful. I know you already are, just”—she lifted her hand from Alice’s knee, made a fist, then forced her fingers loose to pat her knee again, squeezing—“even when you’re careful, even when you play by the rules, it might not be enough. Gotta go the extra mile out here.”

“Oh, I don't know. The human world has its charms. Cotton candy for instance.""Yeah, and it's got plenty of problems.""It's got you.”

“Let's worry about this heist and keeping my black ass out of prison, and then you can worry about my love life.”

“You must think I’m stupid,” Mom said way too calmly.”

“She’d protected this world, but would anyone protect her?”

“But there's a difference between being able to handle trouble and walking face-first into it" -Dem”

“But there's a difference between being able to handle trouble and walking face-first into it.”

“I know. I know we don't have a lot of time, but I'm she's got, and I've been hiking through the wilderness and fighting fucking monsters and shadow-wielding assholes, and I've only got more of that to look forward to, so I'd like to take a couple of hours to hug my mother!”

“Hey."Hey. Hey? That was it? "Hey." Alice, apparently, didn't have better.”

“Heart, Eye, starting to sound like we're building Frankenstein.”

“And Hatta was a lying liar who lies!”

“But for what it's worth, you're my hero.”

“Deep in thought. And not a pleasant one-you look like someone just curdled your whompus.”

“If this were ancient times, wars would be waged for that gorgeous piece of man meat.”

“Fucking white people.""Really?""Have you met any? They're a mess. They only believe, like, in three seasonings.”

“Blessed with increased speed and agility, incredible strength and dexterity, abilities no normal human being possessed... And she trips over a mop.”

“Breathe, Baby Moon.”

“Chess was some sort of lord, maybe, in a tuxedo and cape.”

“Hello? I know I’m not talking to myself. You wanna add an ass whuppin’ to this order?” “N-no, ma’am. I’m here.” “Uh-huh. We’re going to have a conversation when you get home, young lady.” “Yes, ma’am.”

“She threw on some sneakers to wear out, then brushed her gel-slicked hair into two puffs atop her head and hastily pinned two extra-long tails of silk Yaki at the base of each. Her hands still sticky, she looped a sock donut over each puff and smoothed the hair around the material to form two buns. More pins ensured they stayed in place.”

“Alice stared, filled with a sudden want to see what they felt like, but also an understanding that touching random shit is how people lose fingers.”