Fresiako's Reviews > Burned

“Ryodan says softly, “Holy strawberries, Dani, we’re in a jam.”
I look at him like he’s sprouted two heads. Holy strawberries? In a jam? Even Barrons looks stumped.
He continues, “But don’t worry. Holy priceless collection of Etruscan snoods—you really butchered that one, by the way—I’ve got it in the bag. How about this one: holy borrowing bibliophile, let’s book.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“He breaks off and looks at Ryodan. “I think we better show her. Telling her doesn’t seem to be working. I thought you said she was smart.” “I took Barrons’s word for it.” “Apparently he was misinformed,” Dancer says.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I want to tell her revenge is a devil you don’t want to worship. In destroying your enemy you become it.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“There are ledgers. Those I kill. Those I reward."
"There are legends. You used to be one."
"I am a legend."
"Dani's a legend. Not you."
"This Dani appears to matter to you."
"Always."
"Perhaps you had a funny way of showing it.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I’ll give you a choice. Kill me.”
“By definition ‘choice’ mandates a minimum of two possible avenues of action.”
“I wasn’t done. Or kiss me. But do one or the other. Before I do one or the other to you.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“She's cold as ice."
"You used to worry she'd get herself killed before she managed to grow up," Barrons says. "Moot point now."
"She's fucking beautiful."
Barrons studies him a moment then says, "Old enough for you."
"That's not why I watched over her."
"Bullshit. We all saw the woman she could become. Just didn't think she'd do it so quickly."
"I wanted her to have—Ah, fuck, it doesn't matter."
"The childhood she missed. It's gone. Adapt.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I hate sentences that begin with my name followed by the claim—indubitably erroneous—that the speaker knows something about me. Those kinds of sentences rank right up there with the ones that begin with You know what your problem is? That’s always a doozy. Talk about a trick question. Nothing worth hearing ever follows that preface.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“She threw her head back and laughed. The kid fucking laughed, eyes shining. Like there was no greater adventure she could possibly be on. Like life was turning out to be the most exhilarating, fantastic roller coaster ride she could ever have imagined. Fuck the pain. Fuck the misery. In the middle of the hopeless, brutal hell her short existence on this earth had been, that girl laughed. You don't snuff out a life like that. You honor it. You take measures to protect it, even from itself when necessary, and keep it alive.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“She was a fool. She wept like a helpless child that night at Chester’s while the entire club watched. Not because you broke her finger or threatened her but because you were alive and she was that happy to see you. She was always happy to see you. She lit up inside. You lost her. You let her be lost.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I see how he feels about his world and I want to be one of the parts he prizes. I want to be worth fighting for. Worth the same kind of effort he puts into the things that matter to him. Like Dani.”
"I don’t tell her no human matters to the boss like Dani.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“She waited, thinking you were different from those who used and betrayed her. She believed you would find her, come charging to her rescue. That belief was as misplaced as the monsters we faced were deadly. The day came she finally lost her faith in you, and I was there as I’ve always been there when she needed me.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“A man steps out.

Strong. Brilliant. Controlled.

Predator.

Unbreakable.

He's everything I admire plus things I can't even put into words.

I crush on Jericho Barrons violently.

My brain almost shuts down every time I see him and that's a lot of gray matter to stupefy.

Used to be, if I couldn't fall asleep I'd fantasize all kinds of ways I'd impress Barrons by killing monsters or saying something really smart or saving the world, and he'd see me as a grown up woman and I'd glow just from the look on his face.

But then Ryodan began popping into my fantasies like he had some kind of business being there, and he'd look all, well...like...Ryodan and he'd laugh and do that husky groan thing he did on level four, so I terminated that happy little exercise in somnolence.

Now I count sheep.

Lately even those buggers look like Ryodan with clear, cold eyes and some weird kind of hypnotic hold on me.

Fecker.

I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to figure out a way to kill him, permanent-like just to get him out of my head.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“The currency of life is passion, and as with any coin, it has two sides: pleasure, pain, joy, sorrow. Impossible to slip a single side of that coin in your pocket. You take all or nothing."
"Perhaps we are alike, you and I, and I prefer my pockets empty."
"My pockets are far from empty.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“There aren’t many sins in my bible. Giving up is the greatest one of all.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“Sometimes when really bad things happen, you put them in a box and never look at them again because they’ll cost you the rest of your life. Some wounds never heal. You excise the savaged flesh and become the next thing.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“Life is a gift. You fight to keep it. You never quit. Never.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I wake up every day with a single imperative: live. By any means necessary. The only way Death will ever get his slimy bastard hands on me is over my dead body.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“Ryodan says softly, “Holy strawberries, Dani, we’re in a jam.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“She kisses him, lips parted, slow and sexy, lightly touching his lips with her tongue, offering wonders that would rock his world, while delivering nothing. Open mouthed, seductive, warm, inviting and … dangerous. Even I can feel the explosive sexual energy held in check behind her bare feather of a touch. She’s making sure he feels it, slapping him in the face with all she could offer—but isn’t.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I hate it when people throw big sweeping generalizations at you that you can’t even begin to interpret.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“Nothing touches her. To be touched is weakness.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“In fishing for information, one might advocate the use of interrogatories."
Ryodan laughs. "Ah, Dani, there you are. You can run, but you can't hide."
"If by that you mean that this Dani person to whom you so erroneously and tediously refer also remarked upon your deliberate omission of proper punctuation as a psychological tactic intended to subtle coerce, the logical conclusion is that multiple women find your methods transparent.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I tasted your blood. I know your fucking soul.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“Ryodan finished filling the gas tank, opens the door, and gets back in.
"Ow! If you sit on me one more time." I growl at him, "I'm going to kill you."
"Good luck with that. Don't fucking move every time I get out. You're on my side of the seat again."
"Watch out for my indent," I say crossly.
"Hummer, Mac. Nothing causes indents. Except grenades."
"I have several of those," Jada says. "Persist with your pointless bickering, I'll share one. Pin out."
I ignore her. "I'm cramped. I need to stretch."
"So, get out when I do."
"I'm afraid you'll leave me behind since you can't see me."
"I'd leave you behind if I could see you."
"Christ, would the two of you just shut up?" Dageus growls. You've been at it for hours. I think I have a headache.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“giving her a chance to fly.” “They’re my wings.” “It’s her sky. You were made, not born. It’s Dani’s life.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I never avoid battle. Tuck tail and run isn’t in my blood. Problem is, I only know two ways to fight: kill clean or kill messy—both of which involve killing unless I’m up against that feck Ryodan who can pluck me from hyperspeed and kick my ass ten ways to Tuesday.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I know who the fuck you are," he clips the words out coldly. "You're the only one that doesn't. Dani could have anticipated the Hag's movements. You could not. Jada.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“But being small was so much more complicated than being God.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“Don’t make me hunt you, Princess,” Ryodan warns softly. “You’ll become my sole target, my obsession, my compulsion, my undying homicidal fantasy, the object of my every fucking thought and inclination, and the more time I have to contemplate what I’m going to do to you when I find you—”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“There are legends. You used to be one.” She says coolly, “I am legend.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“Wrong on that score. And efficiency is no guarantee of survival. Nor is intellect. What it takes to be the last one standing is an unquenchable hunger to live. He who wants it the most wins. It takes fire, willingness to burn down to your motherfucking core.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned

“I wanted to watch her save the world, and feel on top of it.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Burned