Just like I’d said at dinner, I hadn’t changed because of Casteel. I’d been in the process long before he came into my life, but he was a catalyst.

and the world was a kaleidoscope of broken sunlight, slate-colored walls, and vibrant petals.

“But I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s something deeper than that. Something intangible, far rarer and stronger than bloodlines and even the gods. Something powerful enough that it has ushered in great change in the past.”

repellent.

“But even so, sometimes, the heartbreak that comes with loving someone is worth it, even if loving that person means eventually saying goodbye to them.”

Beauty, my sweet child, is often broken and barbed, and always unexpected."

Maybe how I felt about him was the start of me realizing that I could never live in the skin of the Maiden, but I wanted to stay with him,”

that attraction didn’t always stem from the physical.

A shocking, aching pulse ricocheted through me in hot, tight waves.