Onyx Storm

“Telling me you’re capable of horrible things while still loving me is pretty much your idea of foreplay.”

“The best leaders are the ones who never want the job. This is your mission because Andarna chose you. Tairn chose you. What they never tell us in the quadrant is that the rank is well and good, but you and I both know that the moment we fly into the battlefield, it isn’t the humans giving commands. I hate to break it to you, but you were selected by a general among dragons. You can choose to step into leadership, or he can drag you. Either way, you’re going to end up in the front.”

“Yes, love. I’m jealous. I’m jealous of the armor that holds you when I can’t, the sheets on your bed that caress your skin every night, and the blades that feel your hands. So when the prince of our realm walks into my classroom and starts talking to the woman I love with what can only be considered intense familiarity, and then has the audacity to ask her out right in front of me, naturally, I’m going to get jealous.”

“My loyalty is to Violet first above everything, everyone else. Then Tyrrendor. Then Navarre in the moments when it’s worthy–usually when Violet is in residence.”

“Because you’re the only one capable of killing me.”

“Let’s get three things straight, Your Highness. First, I have remarkable hearing thanks to the shadows at your very feet. Second, I don’t control Violet. Never have. Never will. But third, and most importantly–She really, honestly hasn’t thought about you. At least not since the second she set eyes on me.”

“You get one chance to form your own squad, and you choose your ex, your current lover, the quadrant’s resident smart-ass, two people who have tried to kill you in the past year–one over your current lover–and whatever Dain is? These are your choices for the most important mission any rider could possibly undertake?”

“Lifetime. Anything less is unacceptable. And her full name for the papers is Violet Sorrengail. Two Rs.”

“I like our odds. The last time a shadow and lightning welder fought side by side, they managed to drive the venin back to the Barrens for a few hundred years. We’ll figure out how to do it again.”

“Xaden is mine. My heart, my soul, my everything. He channeled from the earth to save me, and I’ll scour the world until I find a way to save him right back.”

“Seriously, figure your shit out kids. We’re in the middle of a war.”

“Tell me something, Violence. Why is it always you?”

“You’re Xaden Riorson. Shadow wielder. Duke of Tyrrendor. Love of my life. You have nothing to be jealous of.”

“I’ve never seen him like that. Ever. I don’t even want to think about what he would have done if he’d been out here beyond the wards, because I thought he was going to rip the stones from the wall. He’s always prided himself on control—he has to when he wields that much power–and I’m telling you, he lost it when he heard you were crossing the border, Violet. He’s…not himself.

“But ‘girlfriend’ is missing the permanent tone.”

“I’ll use Tyrrendor to protect you, not you to protect Tyrrendor.”

“With that speech? At least a duchess.”

“Swear you’ll keep it safe, even if it’s from me.”