Slaying the Vampire Conqueror

“Death is what happens when you stand still,” I said. “Don’t stand still. Not for anything.”

“Strange, how being so exposed can make a soul feel so very safe.”

“Humans may believe that vampires don't understand what powerlessness feels like. And for many, maybe that's true. But those that follow me do. We understand loss. And we know that it is the worst kind of powerlessness.”

“You're lucky," he said, "that I have a soft spot for caged birds.”

“It’s impossible not to notice everything, with you.”

“You’re just his type, actually.” “His type?” Erekkus leaned forward and gave me a conspiratorial smirk. He held out a finger with each word. “Beautiful. Mysterious. Dangerous. And an obvious, clear-as-the-fucking-moon mistake.”

“I understood it so painfully well. The desire to believe that something larger than you could save you, even after it struck you down again and again.”

“You will never be free, Sylina, until you let go of the hold your past has on you,” she said. “The past cannot dictate the future.”

“I prefer to meet death standing up.”

“Atrius and I fell into a rhythm. Smoother, even, than what we had done in Alka. I struck, stunned, crippled. He finished.”

“Loss still hit her deep. But then, I supposed it hit us all deep. We just learned how to cover the wounds with other things. Stitch it up with the threads of our next task.”

“There is power in suffering,” she said. “There is power in having something to fight against. We taught you that. And you know it better than most.”

“I hated them all so much, and I loved that I felt that way.”

“Because you make me ravenous.”

“I thought of the fucking Pythora King. And I thought, Yes. Kill them all. And I did not think of the Arachessen, or the Sightmother, or the blessed dagger—or Acaeja at all.”

“I cannot kill you because I know you, Vivi. I know every moment you lied to me, because I know every moment you told the truth. I know your truth. I can’t ignore it. Even though it would be far easier if I could.”

“You’re right-handed.”“I’m just as good with both hands.” Arrogant man.”

“Ascension, not death. Never death. Arachessen didn’t believe in death, only change. Just as the loss of our eyes didn’t mean the loss of sight, the loss of a heartbeat didn’t mean the loss of life.”

“What use were his thoughts when I saw his heart?”

“I was grateful for his honesty. For his imperfect effort. No one who had survived the lives we had could deny the value of that. Most never try at all.”

“Your past has instilled in you a strong sense of justice. This makes you a powerful warrior, strong in your conviction. But it also means that you struggle with the reality that there is no good or evil in this world, just as there is no good or evil in us. Only what is Right by the fates.”

“I felt so alone then. Now, as an adult, I knew that the reason why people were distant was not because they didn’t feel our loss, but because they felt it too much. They had no room for more. I thought perhaps one day, I’d stop feeling it, too.”

“Surely I was hallucinating, to think that Atrius’s presence, forever unbreakable, forever solid, forever silent, was now screaming—screaming in utter terror. Over me. Ridiculous.”

“Hm,” he said. “To think I let such a dangerous creature sleep beside me every night.”

“A woman alone in this world sometimes needs to perform to make men take her seriously.”

“A truth solidified in me, an echo of the confession I saw in his eyes then. I wouldn’t hide it from him. Because that’s all it was. A truth. “I love you,”

“I was the one to take the first step, leading us into the mist.”

“I still could not quite make sense of his presence. Alone in a room with him, it was overwhelming all over again—contradictions that I had never before experienced within a soul, and all of them roiling constantly.”

“You have a kind heart, Sylina,” she said. “That is a gift to Acaeja, even if it is, at times, a burden to you. Temper your expectations of this world. But do not dampen your fire. You’ll need it for what’s ahead.”

“anger was the antidote to fear”