Arcana Rising Quotes

“I rose and turned to go. Over my shoulder, I said, “Go to hell, Aric.” “Already here, wife.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, then tried again: “That wild storm was a tiny fraction of what was going on inside me. I look at you . . . and I soar. I make love to you, and everything is new; I feel . . . so much. I’m certain my chest will explode from it. . . . Gods, I make no sense, do I?”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“What are you grinning about, wife?"
I shrugged, all nonchalant. "I like your truck."
"Good. Apparently, it's half yours.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Again, I love you too, Aric. Now, wear your fucking armor.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“I quirked a brow at him. "No kids for me. Would you really bring children into a world like this?"
Eyes alight with playfulness, he said, "No. It was just an excuse to get in your pants.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Your future refuses to behave.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Centuries ago, you told me that you were born for me, and I for you. You told me you’d convince me of that one day. You have.” Through his caring. And his patience and generosity. His selfless protection. “Damn”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Voice rough with lust, he said, “I have one treasure.” He slowed, pinning my gaze with his starry one. “And she owns my soul”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Color tinged his broad cheekbones. “Tonight has boggled my mind. You have boggled my mind.” He held my gaze with his own. “Sievā, I am a planet off its axis.” I lost myself in his eyes. “I love you too, Aric.” The corner of his lips curled. _______________”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Joules cackled with delight. "And I've still got time to moon her. You think me arse'll show up on her infrared?" The streetwise bruiser was back.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Despite everything, I felt my lips twitch. If he weren’t a homicidal god-wannabe, and I didn’t have a murderous red witch inside me, we might’ve been friends. When his laughter died down, he said, “Back in the day, we would’ve made a great reality TV show. The Sol and Empress Show.” “The”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“She’d told me an Empress could fashion wood into whatever shapes she liked; in my pocket was a wedding ring for Aric that I’d painstakingly crafted.

I’d figured the band would need to be as resilient as metal, so I’d chosen one of the strongest trees in the world: lignum vitae. Latin for wood of life.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“The Fool Whereabouts unknown My eyes flashed open. The Empress’s screams had awakened the dark in me. Reverse, perverse. The Dark Calling. Her smile was broken. It was time. I always know best.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“This might be the most noble thing I've ever done. Noble, for the record, cuts like a blade to the heart.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“I shook my head. “Um, the Bagmen are directing us. I think Sol is using them to help us.”

Aric did a double take.

“Jaysus! The Empress has gone mental. As can happen when you’re diddlin’ Death.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Why would they plot?” “They’ll want the earth righted as soon as possible. Minors like to see dead Majors—because catastrophes end with the close of the game.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“I was looking forward to a hot shower - with him. We rarely showered alone. To be fair, who wouldn't conserve water after living through the Flash?”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“If Aric lived, I had to find him. But how, when I was dying from grief? I”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“You look like utter hell,” Circe told me.

“I wish you’d stop sugar-coating things, Water Witch.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“What do you get when you mix two Baggers, a bloodthirsty toga-wearing card, and a half-mad Empress?

Road trip A.F.–style.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“How could he be so good to me when I’d hurt him so deeply? I remembered his blood-curdling roar when I’d ridden away from him—to be with Jack. . . . As”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Maybe I . . . shouldn’t tell him what I thought I’d heard. Not until I knew more. How exactly would I put the revelation anyway? Jack’s alive, but apparently he kept that little detail secret. Ah, but Matthew spilled the beans! Buying myself time, I waved Aric on.

I was scarcely listening as he began talking about Paul, of all people. How the EMT had grown worried when I’d been shut in with my grandmother for so long. How I had lost weight and become listless. The man had pleaded with me to get a checkup, even offering to source contraception after Aric and I had started sleeping together.

Wait. I glanced up. “After?”

Aric nodded. “He said you told him you had no need of contraception.”

The hell? “I went to him and got a shot prior to us getting together. I told you about it.”

“As I told him in turn, but he swears that never happened.”

Real? Unreal? Had I . . . imagined my meeting with Paul? I’d already feared gaps in my memory; Gran had told me things that I’d had no recollection of. Was I now inventing memories?

Had I invented Jack’s return?

In a soothing voice, Aric said, “I’m not angry, love. Just talk to me.” He wasn’t the first person to look at me as if I’d gone insane, like I was trouble with the possibility of rubble.

Won’t be the last.

No. I refused this. I had heard Jack, and I had gotten that shot. “It did happen, which means Paul’s a liar.” But why would he lie? “I’m going to confront him.” In time. Right now, all I wanted was to hear from Matthew again.

Yet I frowned as a thought occurred. “Why would you be talking to Paul about contraception?”

Aric tucked my hair behind my ear. “Sievā,” he said gently, “do you not know you’re pregnant?”

Tick-tock.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“I’d assumed Jack’s death was the worst that I could endure. Matthew might have been preparing me for both of their murders. Dear”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“We loved each other, but we weren't together romantically. If I believed that the game demanded blood and that fate couldn't be changed, then we never should be.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Hatred made me rise. Hatred forced one foot in front of the other as I staggered away from the graves.

With each step, blood dripped from my ragged fingers, dotting a trail across the vast black gravestone. A tether from me to Jack.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Along the sideline at midfield was a large stage, decorated with swaths of purple cloth. Purple banners with gold lettering—Latin words?—hung from posts.

The movie Gladiator called. Wants its props back.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“He jolted, maybe because he’d just heard the voice of a rare female; or because I was strolling around outside the cages. “Indiana.”

Still? Damn it! “Who runs this place?”

Overhearing our hushed exchange, a burly guy with a bandana over his head turned toward me and said, “Solomón, the leader of the Skins.”

“Skins?”

Pops said, “Those are Sol’s fanatical followers.”

Bandana added, “They consider us the Shirts.” Shirts and Skins. As in football? Who makes up this shit?”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“You could be my goddess queen. Together, we’d build the largest settlement on earth! With your crops and my sun, we’d feed thousands. Between your thorns and my Bagmen, we’d maintain order.”

Order. Jack had wanted the same thing. I absently said, “That is something to think about. Well, except for the goddess queen part.”

“Don’t knock that part, pequeña. It’s my favorite detail about our future. We would do our duty and repopulate the world. Because we are givers. I, myself, would be devoted to giving.”

I quirked a brow at him. “No kids for me. Would you really bring children into a world like this?”

Eyes alight with playfulness, he said, “No. It was just an excuse to get in your pants.”

“Ugh. Behave. Or you’ll get a vine where the sun don’t shine.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“Afterward, we lay on our sides facing each other. I murmured, "I know it couldn't possibly be worth the wait for you, but was it-"
"By all gods, it was worth the wait." He cupped my face, had to clear his throat before he could say, "Do you understand how precious you are to me? Not because I can touch you - that merely allowed me to recognize you." I laid my hand over his heart. For two thousand years, it'd been one way. Now it was changed. His brows drew together, as if he was trying to sort through chaotic thoughts. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, then tried again: "That wild storm was a tiny fraction of what was going on inside of me. I look at you...and I soar. I make love to you, and everything is new; I feel...so much. I'm certain my chest will explode from it...Gods, I make no sense, do I?" Color tinged his broad cheekbones. "Tonight has boggled my mind. You have boggled my mind." He held my gaze with his own. "Sieva, I am a planet off its axis." I lost myself in his eyes. "I love you too, Aric." The corner of his lips curled.”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising

“my plan to run off to Louisiana had been ridiculously naïve. After”
― Kresley Cole, Arcana Rising