Monty Jay

The Blood We Crave - Part Two

raia – inactive

That’s the thing about being close. You know which cut hurts the most, which words will slice the deepest.

“What are you going to do, kill me in my sleep?”

“Don’t flirt with me like that.” I smirk, watching the color of her cheeks turn pink.

Lyra’s small, barely five, in a dress covered in stars. Her hair is twisted up into two high buns, and the smile across her young face is blinding. If someone asked me what I thought pure happiness looked like, I’d show them this.

“Darling.” He traces the front of his white teeth with his tongue, a starved animal ready to feast. “I’d rid the world of men who breathe the same air as you.”

I hold more power in my left pinky than he does in his entire body.

“Thatcher, please,” he begs, jerking in the chair. “You are not your father. Don’t be this man.”

“You’re right, I’m not.” I nod in agreement. “I’m much worse.”

If it makes me weak to crave her, then let me be weak.

Being strong means nothing if I can’t have her.

I’d give her the world if she asked me for it.

Thatcher’s reannotation of some of my favorite books is quickly becoming one of my favorite ways to pass the time. The constant back-and-forth along empty spaces of book pages, his snippy little remarks beneath my own private thoughts, or his own highlighted lines.

“If you forget who you are in there, remember what it feels like to be with me.”

“I think I knew you in a past life. Do you think that’s crazy?”

“No.” I can hear the smile in his voice. “But me wanting to know you in every life after this one might be.”

We are two halves of a broken hole. Two mangled people trying to find solace in all the darkness we’d been given.

Her dreams are mine. Her goals are mine. She is my hope.

I wish I could go back and tell the little girl who hid in the closet that one day, she wouldn’t feel so alone. That one day, the boy with icy eyes and frosted hair would stay. He would wake up every day and choose to love her despite all he’d been through.

“Death is trivial. He can’t keep you from me. I’ll follow you to the grave every time and find you in each life after.”

Sophia

“Easy, Little Miss Death.” He drops his forehead to mine, his fingers rubbing circles into my lower back. “Knives away. I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”

lyra and thatcher my beloved🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭 so obsessed with them i love this series sm

jenna

i inhaled this book, literally read it in less than a day. all i have to say is thatcherlyra consumed me they are one of my favs they are just wow, their soulmatism, everything about them feels just right agh i love this 

- "I want her, I won't deny that to myself. She's the only person I've had any form of physical pull to, but that is all it is a physical, biological response. That's all it can be. Eyes are on my back, all with different questions, but none of them will get an answer. I can barely admit it inside my own mind that the reason I'd left, why I disappeared and why I came back, was because of her.

All because of Lyra. To protect my bloody, cherry-flavored girl."

- "No one had noticed her, that was correct. But I had.

I'd noticed her long before she started following me around. We were maybe ten when she came back to Ponderosa Springs. It was everyone's first day back to school, and I remembered her the moment she stepped into class. And I remember that day because I heard music when she walked in. Music I'd created after the night we met. The unfinished piece, my very first. Lyra is the reason I make concertos for my victims.

She's the initial inspiration for my uncommon trophy. She's why every murder I'd ever committed was inscribed into notes on sheet paper. Why every kill has three forms. The Selection, The Hunt, The Kill. Scelta, Caccia, L'uccisione. Music is the only way I can remember in vivid colors, with no black spots or blurry images. A way to relive those horrifyingly beautiful, powerful moments. And Lyra had been my very first muse. Yet she is the only one who doesn't have a final piece, whose file has empty sheets for the L'uccisione."

- "What are you protecting me from, Thatcher? Just tell me!"

"Me!" "Me, you stubborn fucking girl. I'm protecting you from me.

- "My lack of a soul wasn't because of the evil that had infested my mother's womb or my father's corrupt DNA. No, I didn't have one because it belonged to her.

I think when we were created, instead of splitting our spirits in half, they gave both of them to her in order to keep them safe. To remind me, when the time was right, that all I am is hers to carry. Far before we stood in these bodies, someone had decided she would be the keeper of my soul, knowing I would have done far too much damage to it."

"I think...""I think I saved all my firsts for you too."

"I didn't know you made it a habit to give gifts."

"I don't.""But." "Valentine's Day is your favorite holiday. So, consider this a thank you."

"More than I'm capable of understanding."

- "I'd always been content knowing Lyra was mine, this secret voyeur who belonged to me in the shadows of the night. I never expected that I'd want to be hers though. That I wanted to belong to her just as much as she belonged to me. If this copycat killer wasn't intent on ruining my life, I would've already made it more than clear that we were it for each other."

- "Nothing about you could ever scare me, Lyra Abbott," "All your darkness is my own. We're the same."

- "When I glance down, I find her painting hearts with the blood that drips from her veins. Tiny bloody hearts.

They connect and leak down my chest, drying in messy strokes. She's covering me in them. Marking my skin with the proof of her obsession. And I let her because I'm tipsy. Blood drunk on a girl intent on loving me until it kills her. Until the grave. That's what we are, have always been. The kind of connection that began in death and would last far beyond it. Such a very grim, morbid declaration of love. So very Lyra."

"I'll buy you a million more." Whatever she wants, she will have it. I'd give her the world if she asked me for it."

- "I think I knew you in a past life. Do you think that's crazy?"

"No." "But me wanting to know you in every life after this one might be."

- "It wouldn't matter to me if Lyra could love me or not.

I would take her obsession. I would take it and feed it every day of our lives. And if she is the reason for my downfall? So be it. I'd let her do it. Hand her the knife myself and let her finish this legacy. The Pierson line could die with me. It could only ever be her that gave me my ending, because it had been me that gave Lyra her beginning."

- "I was done cleaning up after everyone except Lyra. She is the exception in every capacity. Everything I knew myself to be does not apply to who I am with her."

- "Her worries about me forgetting who I am with her are void. Not when I know that I'll always come back to her. That the me I was always meant to become is who I am with her. We are two halves of a broken hole. Two mangled people trying to find solace in all the darkness we'd been given. For years, I wished I'd never met her.

That the night we met could be erased and forgotten.

But now, all that matters is the girl inside the closet and the woman who came out of it alive. I wish I could've done more to save her mother, if only so I could thank her. For creating the only person on Earth I can't bear to live without. I wish I would've stopped my father, if only so I could tell Phoebe Abbott that her daughter would never be alone again. That no matter what end we meet, she will always have me. In life and in death."

"I want a constant reminder of who my home is. "I want to look at your mark every day so that I never forget the parts of me that have always belonged to you, darling phantom."

- "The sting of this blade. I feel this when I touch you. When I'm around you, it's like fresh cuts. Painful in a way I crave," "What is that one?"

"Love." "That's what love feels like for me. It stings, it hurts, because it's real and you're afraid of losing it. But it stays with you. It scars."

- "I wanted it to sound like mourning because a part of you died the night we met." "Thank you for loving me with what remained."

"Thank you for letting me be your ghost. For seeing me," "I can't wait to haunt you for the rest of our lives and the ones after that."

"I'm content where you are. Location is only semantics."

My darling phantom. How does she not realize yet that I would follow her anywhere? That she will never be alone again. My ghost. All of those grim fairy tales had only prepared her to love me. To accept the love I give her. She is made of nightmares and crimson kisses. If she wanted my heart, I'd give it to her. She could keep it on a shelf in one of her jars it was never mine to begin with. Not when it's always been hers.

"Death is trivial. He can't keep you from me. I'll follow you to the grave every time and find you in each life after."

Renata

i inhaled this book, literally read it in less than a day. all i have to say is thatcherlyra consumed me they are one of my favs they are just wow, their soulmatism, everything about them feels just right agh i love this 

- "I want her, I won't deny that to myself. She's the only person I've had any form of physical pull to, but that is all it is a physical, biological response. That's all it can be. Eyes are on my back, all with different questions, but none of them will get an answer. I can barely admit it inside my own mind that the reason I'd left, why I disappeared and why I came back, was because of her.

All because of Lyra. To protect my bloody, cherry-flavored girl."

- "No one had noticed her, that was correct. But I had.

I'd noticed her long before she started following me around. We were maybe ten when she came back to Ponderosa Springs. It was everyone's first day back to school, and I remembered her the moment she stepped into class. And I remember that day because I heard music when she walked in. Music I'd created after the night we met. The unfinished piece, my very first. Lyra is the reason I make concertos for my victims.

She's the initial inspiration for my uncommon trophy. She's why every murder I'd ever committed was inscribed into notes on sheet paper. Why every kill has three forms. The Selection, The Hunt, The Kill. Scelta, Caccia, L'uccisione. Music is the only way I can remember in vivid colors, with no black spots or blurry images. A way to relive those horrifyingly beautiful, powerful moments. And Lyra had been my very first muse. Yet she is the only one who doesn't have a final piece, whose file has empty sheets for the L'uccisione."

- "What are you protecting me from, Thatcher? Just tell me!"

"Me!" "Me, you stubborn fucking girl. I'm protecting you from me.

- "My lack of a soul wasn't because of the evil that had infested my mother's womb or my father's corrupt DNA. No, I didn't have one because it belonged to her.

I think when we were created, instead of splitting our spirits in half, they gave both of them to her in order to keep them safe. To remind me, when the time was right, that all I am is hers to carry. Far before we stood in these bodies, someone had decided she would be the keeper of my soul, knowing I would have done far too much damage to it."

- "My firsts. I saved them for you."

"I think...""I think I saved all my firsts for you too."

- "I'm an impatient gift-giver," 

"I didn't know you made it a habit to give gifts."

"I don't.""But." "Valentine's Day is your favorite holiday. So, consider this a thank you."

"What do you have to thank me for?"

"More than I'm capable of understanding."

- "I'd always been content knowing Lyra was mine, this secret voyeur who belonged to me in the shadows of the night. I never expected that I'd want to be hers though. That I wanted to belong to her just as much as she belonged to me. If this copycat killer wasn't intent on ruining my life, I would've already made it more than clear that we were it for each other."

- "Nothing about you could ever scare me, Lyra Abbott," "All your darkness is my own. We're the same."

- "When I glance down, I find her painting hearts with the blood that drips from her veins. Tiny bloody hearts.

They connect and leak down my chest, drying in messy strokes. She's covering me in them. Marking my skin with the proof of her obsession. And I let her because I'm tipsy. Blood drunk on a girl intent on loving me until it kills her. Until the grave. That's what we are, have always been. The kind of connection that began in death and would last far beyond it. Such a very grim, morbid declaration of love. So very Lyra."

- "I liked that one," 

"I'll buy you a million more." Whatever she wants, she will have it. I'd give her the world if she asked me for it."

- "I think I knew you in a past life. Do you think that's crazy?"

"No." "But me wanting to know you in every life after this one might be."

- "It wouldn't matter to me if Lyra could love me or not.

I would take her obsession. I would take it and feed it every day of our lives. And if she is the reason for my downfall? So be it. I'd let her do it. Hand her the knife myself and let her finish this legacy. The Pierson line could die with me. It could only ever be her that gave me my ending, because it had been me that gave Lyra her beginning."

- "I was done cleaning up after everyone except Lyra. She is the exception in every capacity. Everything I knew myself to be does not apply to who I am with her."

- "Her worries about me forgetting who I am with her are void. Not when I know that I'll always come back to her. That the me I was always meant to become is who I am with her. We are two halves of a broken hole. Two mangled people trying to find solace in all the darkness we'd been given. For years, I wished I'd never met her.

That the night we met could be erased and forgotten.

But now, all that matters is the girl inside the closet and the woman who came out of it alive. I wish I could've done more to save her mother, if only so I could thank her. For creating the only person on Earth I can't bear to live without. I wish I would've stopped my father, if only so I could tell Phoebe Abbott that her daughter would never be alone again. That no matter what end we meet, she will always have me. In life and in death."

- "Are you sure?" 

"I want a constant reminder of who my home is. "I want to look at your mark every day so that I never forget the parts of me that have always belonged to you, darling phantom."

- "The sting of this blade. I feel this when I touch you. When I'm around you, it's like fresh cuts. Painful in a way I crave," "What is that one?"

"Tell me," "What is it for you?"

"Love." "That's what love feels like for me. It stings, it hurts, because it's real and you're afraid of losing it. But it stays with you. It scars."

- "I wanted it to sound like mourning because a part of you died the night we met." "Thank you for loving me with what remained."

"Thank you for letting me be your ghost. For seeing me," "I can't wait to haunt you for the rest of our lives and the ones after that."

- "Do you wanna leave?"

"I'm content where you are. Location is only semantics."

"What about if I said to the grave?"

My darling phantom. How does she not realize yet that I would follow her anywhere? That she will never be alone again. My ghost. All of those grim fairy tales had only prepared her to love me. To accept the love I give her. She is made of nightmares and crimson kisses. If she wanted my heart, I'd give it to her. She could keep it on a shelf in one of her jars it was never mine to begin with. Not when it's always been hers.

"Death is trivial. He can't keep you from me. I'll follow you to the grave every time and find you in each life after."

 belonged in a series but I didn't know it's a duet within it. I was pretty shocked after the ending of the first so I started this one immediately afterwards.

The ending bit was quite disappointing if you read the entire series - which I didn't so I could enjoy the end much better haha. It was just to rushed even for me and I only read 2 books. It must feel so anticlimatic given the high stakes and dangers and then it's just resolved in a matter of minutes. Minutes which the reader didn't even see. Not even in a flashback because she doesn't even remember how she ended everything.

The blood kink was upped to another level in this one haha he said his family are not vampires in contrast to what the town believed but then he goes on and consumes blood every chance he can get lol

I guessed from the other couples that The Blood We Crave belonged in a series but I didn't know it's a duet within it. I was pretty shocked after the ending of the first so I started this one immediately afterwards.

The ending bit was quite disappointing if you read the entire series - which I didn't so I could enjoy the end much better haha. It was just to rushed even for me and I only read 2 books. It must feel so anticlimatic given the high stakes and dangers and then it's just resolved in a matter of minutes. Minutes which the reader didn't even see. Not even in a flashback because she doesn't even remember how she ended everything.

The blood kink was upped to another level in this one haha he said his family are not vampires in contrast to what the town believed but then he goes on and consumes blood every chance he can get lol

The Blood We Crave - Part Two

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