12 Quotes by L.J. Stanton

Shadows replaced fog. They were in the catacombs underneath the High Temple. Ruya pushed the lid from an ossuary in front of them and placed the black tome within. Surprise and fear replaced Ruya’s homesickness. She’d underestimated Merikh.A splitting headache hit him. The world went black. He could feel Ruya’s panic. And then the warmth of her hand on his wrist grew cold.He could smell blood.

Merikh’s shamshir cut across the Emani’s chest, barely grazing the man. Loralee could see only a thin cut from his torn kameez. The Emani stumbled back, his eyes wide in abject horror. The glyphs on Merikh’s shamshir glowed green. The blade turned black, as if made of shadow. From the Emani’s wound, necrotic fog began to pour. A moment later, it took the form of a man. Loralee’s breath caught in her throat.

...there are men who dwell in shadows, and then there are men who are shadows.

Ruya had spent enough time in a prison to recognize one, no matter how gilded. The palace practically shimmered, but Ruya had no intention of trading mists for marble and gold.

Merikh was suddenly confident of Ruya's ability to tear his soul from his body with a look.

Thoughts of wrongful prosection flew far from her mind, replaced by a far greater and stranger worry: marriage.

I don't know which gods to entreat to bless your journey home, Shahanshah, but I pray for cool days and warm nights. That jackals stay far from your tents, and that water be fresh and plentiful.

You know that mist isn't natural. It never leaves. What weather is unchanging with the seasons?

The gesture earned him an exasperated breath. "Of course it will happen again. I have other men to lie to me, Adrian. Now sit and give me truth.