Jessica Rules The Dark Side Quotes
"The flames seemed more hellish than cheerful. They cast scary, shifting shadows on the gray rock walls and definitely didn't do much to warm up the stark décor."
"I should sue the people who designed the My Little Pony Crystal Rainbow Castle I played with in kindergarten. They led me to believe that castles were filled with rainbows and cupcakes and pastel-pink furniture. Not stone and fire and ... blood."
"You have to learn to live by the harsh norms of your new culture. Lucius warned you..."
"Our clans have ignored our own laws for too long. Even in the last ten years, what you would call lynch mobs have been more common than trials, among vampires. And laws protect rulers, too."
"I used to ask myself that same question when faced with your mother's lentil casseroles. 'What if I literally cannot lift the fork today?'"
"He's Lucius. How could anyone not give up information under that stare? Your husband was intimidating as a child, and the older he gets, the more powerful he seems to become."
"Yes, well, Vladescus are legendary for their sang-froid," Dorin reminded me. "They all have ice in their veins. And a few, like Claudiu, salivate to mete out some punishment."
"I was just having a rough day," she said. "There was this trial, and Lucius came back acting weird—kissing me like crazy without even talking about how everything had gone wrong—and the whole thing is going to mess up our chance at being king and queen."
"You're a princess in a freakin' castle," I reminded her. "If you want privacy, go to a ... tower or something. Don't hide on the toilet!"
"The trial was difficult. Lucius dragged the whole story out of my father's killer, and it was hard to hear that. But now I feel like justice has been done."
"No! I couldn't watch that, even to see my father's death avenged."
"I have a friend here, who understands what I'm facing."
"Assuming that you've not yet been swept away by the 'tasty waves' of which you speak so reverently—you don't actually taste that water, do you, Raniero?"
"I am having a really bad day, so why don't you just tell me what you want?"
"I think your brain is perfetto, Mindy Sue. Just perfect."
"But I think you wish to be a stylist of hair."
"Every male vampire has a stake that is given to him by his father, at the achievement of manhood."
"Thank you for your faith, Jessica. I fear it may be the only trust I possess now, and I will need it in the days to come."
"Perhaps she can speak on my behalf, if I ever need what you Americans call a character witness. I'm sure she would assure the Elders that I 'rock'—although they'd have no idea what that meant."
"Every few seconds, we would pull back to see each other's eyes, and I got so wrapped up in his arms, and so lost in the feel of his lips against mine and our silent but intense communication, that it was days before I realized he never did tell me where he'd been that night."
"Maybe without Claudiu, the Elders were less likely to make trouble."
"But I also think that you slept here because you prefer not to enter the castle. You wish to avoid that fate for as long as possible."
"No, you seem to have shed that, along with your taste for pants."
"You are interested in establishing rule of law, yes? And you also wish to establish that you are in power—have authority, yes?"
"We are all governed by law now, and I submit, willingly, to prove that we enter a new era."
"And remember, too, when I am vindicated, that the punishment for whoever did destroy Claudiu will be swift and harsh—also in accordance with our laws."
"And those gray-green eyes that were, like, boring into mine..."
"To defy a Vladescu prince is punishable by destruction."
"Do you truly believe that I am afraid to lose my life?"
"It is not kind to give one's friends such difficult choices."
"I cannot sleep in peace knowing that you are in this dangerous place."
"I am born in a villa outside of Tropea, Italia, in sight of the Tyrrhenian Sea."
"I am dispatched to travel the world, finding and bringing wayward vampires to justice."
"To destroy without provocation is the highest crime."
"Lucius dispels the crowd... and pleads for my life."
"We are unusual for vampiri. We love much, as you and Lucius do."
"It is the rare vampire who returns whole, unchanged."
"You must be careful to drink enough, too, Antanasia."
"I doubt that he is afraid of specters in dreams."
"Technology is already proving to be high on the list of things that I crave the most."
"I've no idea how Claudius blood came to stain my weapon."
"If so much as one hair on my wife's head is disturbed... this kingdom will see retribution."
"I remember her weeping, for she knew Romania."
"I am forced to fight Lucius, and beaten when I fail to live up to expectations."
"I was that mob, but I worked so efficiently that I needed no assistance."
"Lucius would follow the proper channels if he wanted to punish an insubordinate."
"You do not understand. We are forced to fight. But the Elders know that in truth, this will forge a bond between us."
"I simply see him, take out my stake, and destroy for the thrill of doing so."
"I was a killer before, but never without order from the Elders."
"Well, it really is a good thing you two broke up, right?"
"I need Lucius. Needed blood but couldn't bring myself to drink it."
"You're the girl who led the Woodrow Wilson math geeks to regional semifinals."
"It's gonna be okay, Jess. Lucius is gonna be okay. And you're gonna do this today. You will."
"I wish that I could offer them more in return for the gift they have given me, but NOTHING could repay that."
"I let everything wash over me, including the things I'd been struggling to avoid—all my fear and grief and homesickness—and the pride I had in my parents, too."
"I want us to be partners, and if it comes down to some kind of fight, either in a courtroom or with stakes, I will stand by your side and never run away."
"You find your husband handsome, don't you? I've no idea why it took you so long to love me, as I loved you even in your worst horse-themed T-shirts!"
"I have kept so much from you, Mindy Sue. I try to make myself believe that the old Raniero does not exist and you do not need to know him, but I have lied to us both. Buried the lie in philosophy, even, which says that only the present matters."
"I don't wish to explain anything right now," I told them all. But the comment was directed to Dorin. I didn't like speaking almost harshly to my uncle again, but in his effort to protect me, he was inadvertently undermining my authority by questioning my motives.
"Life is suffering. Pain cannot be avoided, only fully faced and accepted. A moment of discomfort is nothing to me."
"If you cannot destroy a vampire who deserves such, in accordance with law, perhaps you should not wish to be queen."
"I wish to be Princess Antanasia Dragomir Vladescu, ruler of the world's most venerable vampire clans."
"Someday, Jessica," he says quietly, "you will stand before me in this very room, as we prepare for some function which we both dread, for we have been to so many in our years together, and you will smile and reach up to adjust my crooked tie, as you always do. And one of our children—perhaps our first son—will tug at your dress, demanding our attention. Then I will kiss you, and reach down to lift our child, thinking, How did I come to be so happy?"
"If we have only daughters, I will be the happiest vampire alive. For I have come to learn—from you—that a princess can be as powerful as a prince!"
"I suddenly understood how Raniero must have felt in that moment when he'd been tempted to seize power."
"And you think that raising the body of Claudiu Vladescu has the power to help anyone?"
"So you wish to make vampire justice like that on American television shows, yes?"
"If I can get out of bed and face the things that terrify me in the future, you can face your past."
"Because he has been held in solitary confinement without sustenance."
"Queen Sorina Vladescu both presided over the courtroom as a nonvoting judge and spoke for the accused, her husband, Alexandru, who was close to the state of luat due to deprivation of blood."
"You have changed, wife of mine—of whom I often dream as I lie here."
"You should have more, Lucius." "I love you, Jessica."
"Do you think I care about a few minutes of physical pain? Do you think I care about law?"
"Trust your instincts—and distrust anyone who makes you the slightest bit wary, even among your closest 'friends.'"
"Vladescus are strong willed—but a Dragomir princess never cowers."
"You're going to be a wonderful ruler—and a wonderful wife."
"Come with me, Antanasia. It's time that I show you a place that is not just special, but sacred..."
"I swallow thickly, a queer feeling in the pit of my stomach, and not only because I doubt my courage in the face of destruction."
"As we stand together in the quiet cave, the worry that I did feel dissipates. 'I'm not scared,' I promise him."
"Because the last thing I want you to feel right now is fear."
"This is where our ancestors made all of their most important decisions."
"Destruction awaits the vampire who reveals this spot to a human. That is the penalty, with no hope of clemency. No mercy."
"I turn slowly to face him, and see that he looks both happy and suitably solemn as, clearly understanding what is running through my mind, he says, 'Yes, Antanasia. This—this place—is where you and I really first met.'"
"I want to ask you, Antanasia,—in this place where we were promised to each other by mandate—to marry me not because doing so is required of you, but because you love me as I love you."
"It does get better, hurt less," he assured me, repeating, "Trust me, Jill."
"And Tristen ... He would prove to be the trickiest, the most complicated, the most compelling of all the mysteries that were about to unravel."
"It wasn't that I thought he'd ever hurt me, or that the old plot to take my life might be back in motion. It was just that we were about to..."