Josephine Angelini Quotes

Try to remember that dreams do come true, but they don't come easily. ~ Josephine Angelini

This morning she told a joke to make me feel better. She's tough and funny and caring. Beautiful. And that ass. Don't look at her ass, you idiot. It's the same ass you've seen a million times, so just forget about it because the last thing you need is to start remembering what it feels like. She really isn't Lillian, is she? She sort of is, Lillian, though, in all the best ways. No, that's wrong. I'm not looking for Lillian in Lily anymore, and I haven't since we've been on the run. It's strange, but I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't Lillian I loved. Maybe what I loved was the Lily in Lillian. Oh, shit. I think I love Lily ... ~ Josephine Angelini

They dragged the air mattress up to the widow's walk and eventually figured out how it was supposed to inflate, but Lucas had to read the instructions in Spanish because the English ones were nearly incomprehensible. Hilariously so.
"Insert mouth to the purpose inflation," Helen whispered.
...
"Expel lung into inflator tube," Lucas whispered back. "That sounds like it would hurt. ~ Josephine Angelini

It's a sauna in her," Lily complained. She flapped her hands, trying to wave a breeze into the robe Rowan had told her to wear to this afternoon's ritual instead of the silk slip. "What are we making today? Deep-fried witch? ~ Josephine Angelini

I'm really attracted to Orion. ~ Josephine Angelini

My whole life I've wondered what it feels like to be loved like that. To be loved more. ~ Josephine Angelini

She heard Rowan awake with a start before he reconciled himself to his surroundings. His back scraped across the trunk of the tree as he slid sideways
trying to see around the branch she was sitting on to get a look at her.
"Are you awake?" he asked, his voice still rough from sleep.
"Yeah."
"Did you sleep at all?"
"No." She heard him mumble something to himself and decided to cut him off before he could scold her again. "My butt did, though. Slept like a log all night."
"Well, obviously, your butt has more sense than you do."
"You're a funny man, Rowan whatever your last name is."
"Fall."
"I'd rather not."
She managed to get a tiny chuckle out of him, which she considered a huge achievement. Rowan stood up on his branch, bringing his head level with Lily's, and started to untie her. His lips were still pursed in a near smile.
"My name is Rowan Fall. ~ Josephine Angelini

Also, it'd be kinda hard to be together if I was in prison."
"What are you talking about?" Helen asked, suddenly alarmed. "Why would you go to prison?"
"For killing the guy that took your virginity," he replied. "You I would forgive. But the guy? Dead man. ~ Josephine Angelini

As she searched, she looked down at the fallen architecture and read the names graffitied on its sides. Gracus loves Lucinda. Ethan loves Sarah. Michael loves Erin. For what seemed like days she ran her fingers over the names carved into the fragmented bones of ruined loves, stepping around the broken pillars of unkept vows and dusting headstones in the graveyard of love with her hands. Every kind of death had a resting place in the dry lands.
She walked until her feet bled. ~ Josephine Angelini

You're the only girl I've ever kissed. ~ Josephine Angelini

He looked at her like she was the big, blue sky, and he was watching it fall. ~ Josephine Angelini

She can't stand the sight of me, Helen. The one girl, the only girl who's ever really shook me up - and I horrify her. ~ Josephine Angelini

And he is immortal. ~ Josephine Angelini

Because you, Your Chosen Oneness, can come and go down here as you please. ~ Josephine Angelini

Look at me," Lucas said suddenly, leaning close and locking eyes with her. "You're the only girl I've ever kissed."
"Liar," Helen said so fast she practially cut him off. ~ Josephine Angelini

Funny how quickly the mind moves, but how slowly time does when you're in pain. ~ Josephine Angelini

All you witches are magic and blood. You more than most on both counts. You like the blood as much as you like the magic, ~ Josephine Angelini

I really don't care if he's my cousin anymore. ~ Josephine Angelini

Orion smiled and leaned back against the wall, letting his gaze drift down in thought. Helen stared at him for a few moments, just enjoying his company and the fact that he was there with her. No. Better than that. He was there for her. ~ Josephine Angelini

Well, it was about time. ~ Josephine Angelini

Get this. So he comes up to me at lunch, right? And he starts asking me all these questions about you. Like, how long have I known you, where are you from, did I ever meet your mom before she skipped town ... '
'My mom? That's weird,' Helen interrupted.
'And I start answering him with my usual flair for clever repartee,' Claire said, a bit too innocently.
'Translation: you insulted him. ~ Josephine Angelini

[she] believes our experiences and our worlds make us. I believe our choices make our experiences and our worlds. ~ Josephine Angelini

As Orion took a step closer, they wrapped their arms around each other in a miserable huddle. ~ Josephine Angelini

Enemy," hiss the bushes all around. The rest of the Pride glided forward, surrounding Lily, Rowan, and Spike. ~ Josephine Angelini

They'd shared more than memories the night before. What they'd experienced was a communion. ~ Josephine Angelini

The only time you ever hurt me is when you leave me. ~ Josephine Angelini

Funny, isn't it? I've known every love possible, but as the years stretched out, the love I longed for the most is the one I shared with my sister. ~ Josephine Angelini

Hello, Lady Witch," he said, breaking into a brazen grin. "Sorry to see you're laid up again."
"Occupational hazard," Lily mumbled... ~ Josephine Angelini

You know what? I take it back. You did do something to me. You led me on. ~ Josephine Angelini

She didn't need to be able to see through his chest to know how much he loved her. He was constantly proving it by how much of her crap he was willing to take. ~ Josephine Angelini

In the other train, looking at me through the window, is the most beautiful boy I've ever seen. He has golden hair and bright blue eyes. His skin seems to glow softly, like he carries the sun inside him. One of his paint-stained hands is clutching his chest, like he just got punched, and the other is pressed flat against the glass of the window. I raise my hand and press it against my window, mirroring him. He looks so confused. Stunned. Like he's just seen a ghost. ~ Josephine Angelini

Some things stay a little bit broken forever - even after they've been fixed. ~ Josephine Angelini

But - I'm leaving."
Not without me. ~ Josephine Angelini

Made dinner," Helen told him in a flat voice.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked tentatively.
"Of course not. Why would you ask that when I just cooked you dinner?"
"Because usually when a woman spends hours cooking a complicated meal and then just sits at the table with a pissed off look on her face, that means some guy somewhere did something really stupid," he said, still on edge. ~ Josephine Angelini

A crucible's craving is her mechanic's mandate. ~ Josephine Angelini

Just so you know? Just so we're clear. I care about you, too. And if this hug is all I can have, I'd prefer it over anything else from anyone else. ~ Josephine Angelini

But you have to admit it is human nature to only really appreciate something if you've worked for it, or if you know you can lose it. How are you going to make the inhabitants of your little heaven feel fulfilled if everything comes to them easily? ~ Josephine Angelini

I'm a witch and witches burn. ~ Josephine Angelini

Did you sleep at all?"
"No." She heard him mumble something to himself and decided to cut him off before he could scold her again. "My butt did, though. Slept like a log all night."
"Well, obviously, your butt has more sense than you do. ~ Josephine Angelini

There's a war coming, isn't there? ~ Josephine Angelini

You certainly do heal fast. But you'll still have some impressive bruises, so if I were you I'd avoid your father for the rest of the night."
"I'll just tell him you abuse me," Helen said with a shrug. She jumped off the examining table.
"And I'll tell him you like it," he teased back. ~ Josephine Angelini

Do you know what it means to be a survivor? It means that not only do you have to live through things, you have to live with them as well. The second part is much harder and sometimes it takes the rest of your life to learn how to do it. But at least you have the rest of your life ... ~ Josephine Angelini

Yeah, but damn!" Kate said, fanning herself with her hand. "When I was your age all of the guys were trying to prove how anti-establishment they were by out-uglying each other. I so got robbed! ~ Josephine Angelini

Will someone please tell me why you all call me 'Sparky'?" she burst out in frustration. "And if I get stabbed one more time tonight I'm going to lose it!" she added, rounding on Jason, who was sneaking up behind her holding a stapler. ~ Josephine Angelini

Live every day like it's our last day on Earth together," she said, beginning their new motto as she jumped out the window.
"For forever if we can get away with it," Lucas finished, joyfully following her. ~ Josephine Angelini

Should Cassandra initiate us, Sibyl? Matt asked, his eyes narrowed like he was testing a dangerous theory that could blow up in his face. ~ Josephine Angelini

Helen, beloved of the goddess of love, went downstairs to crawl into her empty bed as Lucas, the son of the sun, leaned back on his elbows and watched his father-god brighten the bare wooden planks of her widow's walk. ~ Josephine Angelini

And I don't just WANT you, Helen. I LOVE you. Big difference. ~ Josephine Angelini

You're my invisible sun, aren't you?
- Dreamless ~ Josephine Angelini

She looked so cute wen she was apologizing that Helen couldn't even pick up a grudge, let alone carry one. ~ Josephine Angelini

Here, in this universe, what differentiated science from witchcraft was that scientists had fewer resources and couldn't magically manipulate the natural world by will alone. ~ Josephine Angelini

I never really have been, and I'm certain now that I never will be, and you know why? Because it's impossible for me to love anyone like I love you - and I really tried with Orion. ~ Josephine Angelini

How am I supposed to forget you?" Helen asked, laughing weakly at such a silly suggestion. "You're too big a part of me. I'd have to forget who I am to forget you. ~ Josephine Angelini

You've got the killer instincts of a houseplant. ~ Josephine Angelini

Had enough?" he asked, smiling at Helen's brazen admiration of his looks.
"Not yet," she said, a matching smile breaking across her face.
"Good. ~ Josephine Angelini

If there were an infinite number of universes, did that mean that one of them had to be perfect? And if one of the was paradise, did that me that another one had to be hell? ~ Josephine Angelini

Helen?' Lucas asked, his voice faint and breathy.
'Make sound. If alive,' he barley managed to say. ~ Josephine Angelini

Didn't I tell you I love you?"
"Yes."
"I meant all of you. Even the weird bits. ~ Josephine Angelini

There was no "eventually", and Helen knew it. Even after she'd touched the water from the River Lethe and couldn't remember her own name, she'd still remembered Lucas. She'd never get over him. Lucas was it for her. ~ Josephine Angelini

We should enjoy it while we have it and not ruin the moment worrying about losing it. ~ Josephine Angelini

But how would you all like to be mostly immortal, like Lucas? ~ Josephine Angelini

Bathroom, huh? OK.' she tittered nervously. 'I'll carry you. Just don't pee on me.'
Helen laughed gratefully. Aridane was making an embarrassing situation as humorous as possible so Helen would feel more comfortable.
It was something Claire would have done. Helen was still embarrassed, but with a few jokes and little bit of tact they both made it through. ~ Josephine Angelini

They want to see my face - they need to see it. ~ Josephine Angelini

It was like they were kissing for the first time. ~ Josephine Angelini

You and Tristan are easing into the whole relationship thing, right? Taking it slow?" Juliet asked a little too casually.
"We have sex six time a day, and we're thinking of making a porno together," Lily said, poker-faced, while she rubbed almond oil on her bare legs. She glanced up to see Juliet glaring at her. "Yes! We're taking it slow. Maybe a little too slow. ~ Josephine Angelini

Lucas had no doubt Helen could erase his love for her, but he also knew he'd only fall in love with her again the next he laid eyes on her. There was no "moving on" for him. No matter what else Lucas did in his life, his love for Helen would always define him. He was the Lover. ~ Josephine Angelini

Remember there's always a grain of truth in the prophecies, no matter how much poetry has been frosted on top." ~ Lucas to Helen ~ Josephine Angelini

Never say never," he said urgently, rolling back on top of her and using all of his unusually heavy mass to press her deep into the cocoon of her little girl bed. "The gods love to toy with people who use absolutes. ~ Josephine Angelini

Worldfoam. I like that. It sounds fluffy. ~ Josephine Angelini

How do you know all this about me?" Helen sputtered. Claire sighed.
"After I pushed you off the roof ... " she began.
"After you WHAT?" Lucas yelled. ~ Josephine Angelini

Lucas Delos stood over her, his body tense, his eyes scanning the distance for something that Helen couldn't see from her position on the ground.
"'Are you injured?'" he asked in a low, unsteady voice, still looking out over her head. There was blood on his lip and his shirt was torn.
Helen had a bare moment to say she was fine before she heard the sobbing sisters start to whisper. ~ Josephine Angelini

Lucas took Hades' place as the lord of the dead. ~ Josephine Angelini

I have that one's soul, niece. ~ Josephine Angelini

Love is willing to become to villain so that the one who you love can stay a hero. ~ Josephine Angelini

This Descender was the princess he had been waiting for - the real Helen. ~ Josephine Angelini

I only have so much willpower, Helen," he whispered. "And since you apparently sleep in the most ridiculously transparent tank top I've ever seen, I'm going to have to ask you to get under the covers before I do something stupid. ~ Josephine Angelini

Yes. I love them both. And I'd die for them both. ~ Josephine Angelini

What I want to know is when does Lily get off her butt and do some chores?" Tristan said, panting, as he dragged a gnarly stump of bleached wood up the beach. "I feel like I've been stacking wood and stoking fire all damn day while she just sits there."
Rowan gave Tristan a disapproving look. "It's a mechanic's privilege to serve his witch. ~ Josephine Angelini

Love is being willing to become the villain so that the one you love can stay a hero. ~ Josephine Angelini

She wasn't getting over him. In fact, she wanted Lucas even more now than she did weeks ago when she almost kissed him in his bed that first night after they fell. ~ Josephine Angelini

Lying on her side, the warm fire at her feet, Helen's laughter died away as Lucas suddenly went from tuning to playing.
It was like an orchestra in an instrument.
He played with both hands-not one hand picking and the other holding down strings-but with both hands so that it sounded like more than one guitar was playing. Sometimes he hit the strings to make them hum like a harp, and sometimes he hit the body of the guitar like a drum to add bass and keep time. It was the most fascinating thing Helen had ever watched, like Lucas had a dozen voices in his head, all singing the same song, and he'd figured a way to make them come out of ten fingers.
Helen looked at his face and could tell why he loved it. It was like thinking for him, only this was a puzzle that he could share with her as he solved it.
He'd walked into her head when he'd come to her world. And she'd walked into his when she finally heard him play.
It was heaven. ~ Josephine Angelini

Don't say that," he said harshly. Rowan studied Lily for a long time. "Do you know what it means to be a survivor? It means that not only do you have to live through things, you have to live with them as well. The second part is much harder and sometimes it takes the rest of your life to learn how to do it. But at least you have the rest of your life, Lily. And that's what's important to me."
"Oh, I'm alive," she said ruefully, "Even if I am damaged."
"You'll heal," Rowan replied confidently. ~ Josephine Angelini

It was supposed to be Orion, ~ Josephine Angelini

Lucas did in his life, his love for Helen would always define ~ Josephine Angelini

I chose love - I chose you over everything that was offered to me. ~ Josephine Angelini

Not-my cousin Helen. ~ Josephine Angelini

That's the way Greek drama worked. ~ Josephine Angelini

But how could anyone be grateful for what they have if they didn't know what it was like not to have what they need? ~ Josephine Angelini

Helen felt as if the whole world had turned into some gigantic punch line that she had waited patiently for, and then when she heard it she found it insulting. If she had been in a comedy club she would have gotten up and walked out, but instead she had to go to the comedian's house after school and let his cousin beat the crap out of her. ~ Josephine Angelini

I was right." She dropped the sword and grabbed Helen in a hug. Then she started jumping up and down, making Helen jump with her. "You're not dead! This is ... You have no idea how happy I am I didn't just kill you!" she squealed. ~ Josephine Angelini

Enough wars have been started over this face. My face. My curse - and my mother's curse, and her mother's curse, and so on all the way back to the first woman to ever wear this face. Helen of Troy. ~ Josephine Angelini

Run," he whispered in her ear. "I love to chase. ~ Josephine Angelini

She would have to leave the country, or at least Nantucket, because there was no way she could live down the fact that she had tried to strangle the hottest boy on the island. ~ Josephine Angelini

An honest buck may not buy any more groceries than a dishonest one, but it'll always be worth more. Especially to me, ~ Josephine Angelini

Do you have any idea how late it is? Go to sleep," she scolded as she hurried past him.
"I know, I'm going to bed right now ... Hey! YOU go to sleep," Jerry scolded back, belatedly remembering that he was the parent. ~ Josephine Angelini

Lily opened her hand and looked at her three willstones. Rowan had been right. She was changed forever.
Lily sat up and saw a glass of water on the bedside table. A tiny card was propped up against it. It said, THIRSTY? in bold uppercase letters. Lily realized that she'd never seen Rowan's handwriting before. She stared at it, sipping her water, memorizing every swoop and curve.
She swung her legs out of bed and noticed that she'd somehow struggled out of his robe while she slept. Rowan had left a stack of clothes on the floor next to her, with its own accompanying card that read NAKED? Lily laughed quietly to herself ... ~ Josephine Angelini

He's not going around telling everyone you're monkey-butt crazy, so at least you brutalized a seriously sweet guy. ~ Josephine Angelini

No need to be embarassed. After seeing you in my cousin's nightgown, you've got nothing to hide. But why were you crying in the shower?" he murmured into her hair. She could feel his lips moving against her scalp, and feel the press of his hips through the covers, but his arms were an unyielding cage. She tried to turn over to face him, to welcome him under the covers with her, but he wouldn't let her.

"I was crying because I'm frustrated! Why are you doing this?" she whispered into her pillow.

"We can't, Helen," was all he said. He kissed her neck and said he was sorry over and over, but try as she might, he wouldn't let her face him. She began to feel like she was being used.

"Please be patient," he begged as he stopped her hand from reaching back to touch him. She tried to sit up, to push him out of her bed, anything but suffer lying next to someone who would play with her so terribly. They wrestled a bit, but he was much better at it than she was and felt even heavier than he looked. He easily blocked every attempt she made to wrap her arms or legs or lips around him.

"Do you want me at all, or do you just think it's fun to tease me like this?" she asked, feeling rejected and humiliated. "Won't you even kiss me?" She finally struggled onto her back where she could at least see his face.

"If I kiss you, I won't stop," he said in a desperate whisper as he propped himself up on his elbows to look her in the eye.

Josephine Angelini

Helen leaned down over her husband and ran her lips lightly across his bare shoulder in good-bye. Maybe, someday, she would find him by the River Styx. There, they could wash all their hateful memories away, and walk into a new life together, a life that didn't have the dirty paw prints of a dozen gods and a dozen kings marring it. Such a beautiful thought.
Helen vowed that she would live a hundred lives of hardship for one life - one real life - with Paris. They could be shepherds, just as they had dreamed once when they had met at the great lighthouse long ago. She'd be anything, really, a shopkeeper, or a farmer, whatever, as long as they were allowed to live their lives and each other freely. She dressed quickly, imagining herself tending a shop somewhere by the sea, hoping that someday this dream would come true. ~ Josephine Angelini

I don't care how hard being together is, nothing is worse than being apart. ~ Josephine Angelini