Name: An Ember in the Ashes 03. A Reaper at the Gates
Rating: 3.571428571428572 (7 reviews)
ISBN: 9781984837240

Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes 03. A Reaper at the Gates

alexys <3

It's damned stupid to fall for a once-dead ghost-talker, I don't care how pretty he is.

I turn to practicalities. They are easier to speak of than this feeling in my chest, like my heart is being carved out of me and lit on fire. 

“I don't want to let you go. Not yet." She traces my jaw with a light hand, her hngers lingering on my mouth. She wants me—I can see it, feel it—and it makes me desire her even more desperately. "Not so soon."

"Neither do I." I pull her into my arms, reveling in the warmth of her body against mine, the curve of her hip beneath my hand. She tucks her head beneath my chin and I breathe her in.

"You are cruel, Elias," she whispers against my mouth. "To give a girl all she desires only to tear it away."

“This isn't the end for us, Laia of Serra." I cannot give up what we could have. I don't care what bleeding vow I made. "Do you hear me? This is not our end."

“You've never been a liar." She dashes her hands against the wetness in her eyes. "Don't start now.”

“You look like him,” she whispers. She doesn't look angry, though I alwas thought she would. Instead, she appears perplexed, almost bewildered.

Ouin's hand hovers over the mask before he takes it. "It was a nightmare to get that boy to keep it on," he says. "I thought he would lose the damned thing one day."

I step toward her, gripped by a soul-deep longing for her to be real. I want to hear her speak my name. I want to dip my hands into the cool shade of her hair, to take solace in her gaze.

"I’m not—“ I consider. “Never mind. I am jealous. Tell me he’s old, at least? Or grouchy? Or maybe a bit stupid?"

I snort. "He's probably rubbish in be—“ Laia smacks me on the am "Battle," I say quickly. "I was going to say battle."

The things," I whisper in her ear, "that I want to do to you…”

“Tell me." Her tongue flicks across my ear, and I forget to breathe. “Show me.”

Bat it hurts. bleeding hells, it hurts. The Nightbringer takes my hand. Pour the pain into me, child," he says. "Turn it away from yourself"

"Don't tell me you've not seen s naked soldier before, Captain." A long pause, then a chuckle, low and husky. It makes me feel...strange. Like he's about to tell me a secret. Like I would lean in closer to hear it.

Of his father, I sing only one thing: his strength and skill in battle-one quick word, sharp and strong and clear—-Marcus if the world had not ruined him. If he had not allowed himself to be ruined.

What I feel for Elias is different, a flame I hold close to my heart when I feel my strength flagging. 

"Do not fear, my love. Neither of you will suffer anymore." When she breaks my father's neck, it is louder. 

Leave her, then, Elias. Go and attend to your duty.

You have no choice-not if you wish the world of the living to survive.

"I will not!" My voice is raw with rage and failure. "I will not let you torment her to death, even if stopping you tears my own body to shreds. All the world can burn, but I will not simply leave her to suffer."

“Come back to the world. Wherever they have taken you, whatever memory they have locked you in doesn't matter as much as you coming back. Your people need you. Your brother needs you. 

"Elias," Laia whispers. "Are….are you real? Are you a trick too?”

“No" I touch my forehead to hers. “No, love. I'm real. You're real'

“Will it always be chaos for us, Elias? Will things never be normal?”

"We will find a way, Laia. Somehow. But if… if I change…if I seem different, remember that I love you. No matter what happens to me. Say you'll remember, please—“

Courtney

Wow, just wow. Not only is this beautifully written, the characters are amazing. The character build is just brillant. The twists and turns kept me on edge. It was so refreshing to not be able to truly predict what will happen even with the Augurs prophecies and foreteling. 5stars.

An Ember in the Ashes 03. A Reaper at the Gates

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