C.L. Shivers > Quotes

“Ever since I fed from her, every mouthful of blood has tasted like guilt—rotten and acrid. And now the very thing that keeps me alive feels like poison.”
― C.L. Shivers, Tower of Ash and Darkness

“I’m married,” I whisper, the truth spilling from my lips, barely audible, as if saying it aloud might shatter me. It’s a chain I can’t escape, binding me to a life that feels more like someone else’s than my own.
“I have a duty… to my kingdom,” I manage, the words trembling, caught somewhere between defiance and surrender.
My confession doesn’t break him; it ignites something inside him. His jaw tightens, his eyes narrowing.
“When will your heart outweigh the things you place before it?” he asks, his voice softer now, almost a plea. He leans in, his breath warm against my skin, his nose grazing mine in a gesture so tender it shatters me.
"Comfort? Certainty? Those walls you’ve built—they’re lies. False realities. Not this. Not us.”
― C.L. Shivers, Tower of Ash and Darkness

“He calls me Ghost because that’s what I am. Not a weapon. Not a monster.” I finally meet her eyes. “Just nothing.”
― C.L. Shivers, Tower of Ash and Darkness

“I would never, ever, let anyone hurt you..." His voice cracks, a solemn vow shattering what’s left of my composure. "Even yourself.”
― C.L. Shivers, Tower of Ash and Darkness

“The sun feels foreign now, almost hostile, like it would burn me if I dared let it touch my skin. I know my pale complexion is no longer just a mark of my lineage, but a permanent reminder of what I’ve become—something that could walk among the undead.”
― C.L. Shivers, Tower of Ash and Darkness

“When will your heart outweigh the things you place before it?” he asks, his voice softer now, almost a plea.”
― C.L. Shivers, Tower of Ash and Darkness

“He’d always told me that a man, when faced with his end, would seek comfort in the touch of a woman. As though the warmth of her hand, the softness of her voice, would bring him peace on the edge of death. He believed that women, who bring men into this world, should be the last thing men see before they leave it.”
― C.L. Shivers, Tower of Ash and Darkness