The Young Elites Quotes
"I'm going to die tomorrow morning. That's what the Inquisitors tell me, anyway, when they visit my cell."
"But tomorrow, my time ends. They're going to burn me at the stake in the central market square, for all to see."
"I hum an old lullaby too, one my mother used to sing to me when I was very little."
"I want to scrub them clean. Is it strange that all I can think about on my last day is how filthy I am?"
"Rain fell and lightning reflected off the window of my bedchamber. But even the storm couldn't drown out the conversation from downstairs."
"I am flawed. And by flawed, I mean this: When I was four years old, the blood fever reached its peak and everyone in Kenettra barred their homes in a state of panic."
"At least I fared better than Mother did. Mother, like every infected adult, died."
"No one wants a malfetto bearing his children."
"I don't want to be seen doing business with a malfetto family—bad luck, you know."
"You could always tell who was infected—strange, mottled patterns showed up on our skin, our hair and lashes flitted from one color to another, and pink, blood-tinged tears ran from our eyes."
"People said they could conjure fire out of thin air. Could call the wind. Could control beasts. Could disappear. Could kill in the blink of an eye."
"And I will cover all of them in exchange for your daughter Adelina."
"I grab the sack. I hurry to my window and press my hand against it. Gingerly, I push the left pane aside and prop it open."
"I shake his voice from my head. Let him find me gone in the morning, his best chance at settling his debts."
"I felt as if a mantle had been lifted from my shoulders, like she was letting go of me."
"I turn away, walk to the window, and step onto the second-floor ledge."
"And before I could think anything else, I saw him, a sight that sent terror rushing through my blood—my father, his eyes flashing, materializing through the fog of a wet midnight."
"Something snaps inside me. My lips curl into a snarl."
"I am Adelina Amouteru, the phantoms whispered to my father, speaking my most frightening thoughts in a chorus of voices, dripping with hatred. My hatred. I belong to no one."
"I didn’t mean it, I whispered, unsure whom I was talking to."
"I've gone too far, I suddenly thought through a haze of terror. I’ve pushed him too much."
"This isn’t real. This is a nightmare. This isn’t a nightmare. This is real."
"The crowd erupts with cheers. Rage surges through me, mixing with my fear. I’m not dying here today."
"This is all an illusion. Just like the phantom silhouettes that attacked Father. None of it is real."
"How impolite," he mocks, his voice velvet and deep.
"Why did you ask me my opinion, then, if you've already made up your mind?"
"Why don’t you want to save it?" "Because it’s beyond saving."
"Things don’t end well for everyone. Some of us are broken and there’s nothing you can do to fix it."
"Mother used to say that faeries live in the centers of white lilies."
"You are not an abomination. You are not merely a malfetto. That is why they fear you."
"Embellish your flaws. They will turn into your assets."
"The gods gave us powers, Adelina, because we are born to rule."
"We are the children of gods and angels. It’s said that gems are lingering reminders of where the gods’ hands touched the earth during creation."
"Be true to yourself. But that’s something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to be the version of yourself that they like."
"Every Elite responds to energy in a unique way, and every Elite has a different strength and weakness."
"If I’m not a Dagger yet, then what am I? What happens next?"
"In other words, you need to prove that you’re worth it."
"But getting rid of her would be a waste. Adelina has the potential to be very useful."
"No one will touch you, you have my word. But looking the part will give you some freedom."
"Trial and error," he replies. "We are the first. There is no one before us to learn from."
"It forms the land, air, sea, and all living things. It is what breathes life into us."
"The world is made of countless threads that connect all things."
"Everyone has darkness inside them, however hidden."
"If I forgive you for being a malfetto, little boy, would you pledge your undying devotion to me?"
"Do as I say, little Teren. Help me rid this world of all malfettos. And I will make sure the gods forgive you for your abomination."
"You are comparing two weeks of training with many years. Do not worry so much."
"Think of this scenario. Sometimes, your body gives you strength that you ordinarily wouldn't have."
"Soon I’ll know more than just silhouettes. Wait and see."
"Stay a while longer, if you’d like to practice. We’ll return tonight."
"I’ll just go near the tower. If it looks suspicious, I’ll leave."
"The instant I sneak out of the Fortunata Court and into the main street, I sense that something’s off."
"You kept your promise. It saves me a great deal of trouble."
"From this day on, all malfetto families and shops will pay a double tax to the crown, as reparations for the bad fortune they bring upon our society."
"A smooth stone is not smooth at all, but covered in tiny imperfections; white is not white, but a dozen different shades of yellows, purples, grays, blues; skin color changes depending on what light shines on it."
"Faces are the hardest. The slightest mistake, and the face looks unnatural, eerie and false."
"He reminds me that when I want to imitate a real object, I need to think like a painter."
"I learn to make illusions of tiny flowers, keys, feathers, the texture of a wood splinter, the wrinkles of skin on a finger’s joints."
"I learn to see. I start to notice all the things that weren’t there before."
"It’s a lovely expression he so rarely makes as the Reaper."
"I can see a life for me here, as one of them."
"The energy in the air is like lightning—I can practically smell the terror—the power crackling all around me in a glittering shower of energy threads."
"Please. You can't be seen here with me, it won't help either of us."
"They are my friends and allies. They deserve to know."
"I, Adelina Amouteru—hereby pledge to serve the Dagger Society."
"Never in my life have I felt so much fear and anger concentrated in a single place."
"My own anger and fear threaten to overwhelm my senses."
"But I continue to hold back. Not until I see Violetta myself."
"I’m ashamed by my rush of mixed emotions at the sight of her—joy, love, hate, envy."
"What illusion can I perform that could get us out before they can hurt her?"
"You’re here because you know you don’t belong."
"There’s no shame in turning your back on a group of criminals who want nothing more than to burn this entire nation to the ground."
"Do you think they’d protect you if you were in danger?"
"I pull again, wrapping each one of them in a vision of nightmares."
"I am an abomination—even to the other Daggers."
"You can redeem yourself, change from an abomination in the gods’ eyes to a savior."
"We are not supposed to exist, Adelina. We were never meant to be."
"I wanted to—oh, how I wanted to—in this moment."
"Some spark of clarity emerges through the net Teren’s words have cast over me."
"It is not so much that I am protecting the Daggers."
"I am thinking of Raffaele most of all, with his patience and grace, his kind, calm faithfulness that has earned my trust."
"I have something when I’m with the Daggers, something beyond an unwritten business contract to do what they tell me."
"How ironic, that I should embrace such evil in order to protect my sister from evil."
"What has happened to Enzo, now that the court is ruined and the king is dead?"
"Sometimes I imagined myself saying, ‘Father, I am a malfetto. I have powers that don’t belong in this world.'"
"Sorry, always sorry. What in the world can you buy with an apology?"
"We are completely trapped. I look desperately from Raffaele to the roofs where I think Enzo might be lying in wait, watching."
"If I win, Lead Inquisitor," Enzo continues, "then the Inquisition will release the boy you hold hostage."
"Perhaps I can still be a Dagger, and they care about me, and I can still belong."
"He was not going to keep his word. Make no mistake. When we duel tomorrow, he will use it as a chance to kill not only me but the rest of us."
"I brought my sister here not just to protect her, but because she can help us. She has something that can turn the tide."
"Even after all these years, how little you know about me."
"You don't belong with them, Adelina Amouteru. You belong with me."
"When I first tested you, you aligned with fear and fury, passion, and curiosity. Do you remember?"
"Your reaction to the nightstone and amber, to darkness, frightened me. It frightened me very much."
"Passion’s energy is bright and warm, just like the color of its gemstone. It is a light in the darkness, a fire in the night."
"You cannot have love without fear. The two coexist."
"The more you love someone, the more unsteady your powers become."
"You have goodness in your heart, but your darkness overwhelms it all."
"You’re making a mistake. By not killing me now."
"Murder is a means to an end, not an activity of pleasure."