Vow of Thieves

“I am the Patrei! And you will help me get her back or—”

“Or what, Jase? What are you going to do? I am your brother!”

My chest heaved. “And Kazi is my wife!”

Will you teach us to fly?

No. I will teach you other things.

Things that will keep you alive.

“The magic of the stars,” he answered. “Desire. An element thrown to earth by the gods themselves that can reach into everything that exists and understand its need—what drives it. It imprints on whatever it touches. Grow, eat, burn, hunt, explode, conquer.

I buried it with all the other things that would never be ours.

Hold on to to each other because that is what will save you.

Desperation could make you incredibly stupid or incredibly strong, or maybe both.

If you had never looked Death in the eye, you likely couldn’t recognize it at all.

They were survivors, but still children.

I would never stop loving him.

He stared at my lips. The ones Jase had kissed. The lips
he believed the Patrei had wanted but couldn’t truly have. A riddle filled his eyes, and the answer was just out of his reach.