Ren Crown Quotes

“His warm fingers slid along my cheek, then wrapped into my hair. He leaned down to rest his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. “The ribbon. I lied.”
“What? We aren't engaged?” I asked, smiling shakily, curling my fingers into his shirt. “I have to show up to family dinners as your weird second cousin?”
He opened his eyes and looked into mine. “It doesn't mean family. Not like that. Not to me.”
And his emotional connection opened cleanly, without the muddle he usually hid his true feelings within. And it was love, clear and without artifice, shining there.
I stared at him, breath caught in my chest. “You—”
His emotions were wrapping around me, free and clear and relieved. Like honey and copper—sweet, tangy, and charged—gentle, consuming, warm, passionate, and resolute. “No tricks. No games. No expectations. No lies—not to you, not ever again.”
Stunned, I watched him pull away.
He looked at peace for the first time in weeks. Months. Then he looked down at our connection threads and I wondered what on earth he’d see.
He looked up, and a smile, brilliant and all-consuming split his face. He backed up slowly. “Interesting. See you soon, darling.” He winked, turned, and flipped over the edge of the seal and through the vortex.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Darling, your entire existence is a revolution.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Hooded eyes shifted to me. “Marry me.”
“I thought we were already engaged?” I asked, yawning.
“Don't say such lovely things, darling. I'll hold you to them.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Leandred never uses magic without reason. He’s not going to freak out and do magic because he experiences emotion. It’s doubtful, anyway.” Patrick shrugged. “Before you showed up, I would have told you he was dead inside.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“I let you in.” He reentered my space, as if he could do nothing else. “I let you get close, so I could get closer to Verisetti. Stupid.”
“And here I thought my power was half the draw,” I said evenly.
“Your stupid sense of loyalty. Your stupid trust. Your brilliance. You are my weakness. And I thought I had gotten rid of those.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Darling, no,” Constantine said.
“Love admit-and-runners don't get to have a say.”
He smiled slowly. “I'll remember that.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“I had thought we could be happy, just the two of us hidden away.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“You steal the very breath from my body. I suffocate with the feelings, it's true.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“He stared at me, unreadable for a moment. "I've had women try to save me before," he said idly.
"Then that means I'll be yesterday's trash soon on that part of the equation, but we will still be friends."
He smiled with a far truer lift of his cheeks. "Don't be foolish. I told you before. I'd never let you go." He touched my chin, tilting it up toward him. "I could remove the danger, you know. Lock you in a room—a tower—"
"My hair isn't long enough," I said automatically.
"But you would spin me gold. So many things better than gold. Truer." His gaze dropped to my lips. "I would keep you in the finest of materials, handcrafted with only you in mind. The finest paints, in a tower so high that you would have no cares.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“Would you—"
"Yes."
"You don't know what I was going to ask."
"Don't I?" A ghost of a smile worked his lips, and he turned his head just a fraction toward me, looking at me through a lock of hair. "The answer is yes anyways."
"I should make you do part of my community service," I mused, kicking back in the chair across the table from him. "That would serve you right."
"Go ahead. I can't say no to you either, darling."
"What do you mean, either?"
He smiled—though it was more of a smirk this time. "Either, one or the other, all of the above.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“Constantine's face softened. “Perhaps.” He touched my cheek and wiped the silver-gold tear there.
Mindful of the crowd, I pulled fingers through my tangled hair and checked our spells for something to do that didn’t include responding to that touch. I could feel Constantine smiling.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“—watching as a galaxy was born, cosmic events swirling in endless lines and patterns around it. Endless possibilities and explorations. I reached out with my other hand and grabbed Constantine’s.
He didn’t inhale at all. I looked over and saw that he was staring at me instead, gaze indecipherable. Then he looked upward, and I saw his lips part.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Constantine grabbed his elbow and never had I seen such physical relief cross his features before. Olivia rubbed her chest, and looked like she might cry.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“Contantine—who could be securely trusted when it came to his promises—was going to help Olivia. And she was going to let him.
Olivia was getting better at rely on other people—her network slowly spreading wider—but Constantine was still a "rely on Constantine or Ren, or no one else" kind of guy.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“I sent a mass of thanks, love, trust through Constantine's threads, as I escaped. Resigned acceptance, irritation, and grudging fondness returned along the path.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“The only emotions coming from him were light, playful—maybe with a little resignation wrapped in there, but positive feelings flowed across out bond.
"You are amused," I said. "What was in the vial? What are you so suddenly amused?"
He tipped his head. "It's...freeing, this shift in perspective. It's all rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but you want this—for campus, your new home, to be happy and free. Easy enough to assist with, so here I am."
"I had to drag you here."
"It wouldn't be a game otherwise. You would have been far more skeptical had I come willingly. You'd never have brought it and I'd have been made to stand elsewhere, relegated to being good."
I looked at him, then slipped my hand around his arm and squeezed. "I'd buy it."
Bonds wrapped around me—family, fondness, and something slightly darker and more fatalistic. He squeezed my hand beneath his, then pulled away before I could identify the last feeling.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“My magic trusts you, so it accepted the hook and spread it, causing it to catch the community trail, from my group to each mage that trusts each of them, and so forth, until everyone had tapped in?" I could see from his expression that I was on the right track. "You are lucky that my magic automatically accepts yours."
There was something in his eyes. "Forever.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“Constantine is like a dragon. he guards with fire the very few things he considers his.”
― Anne Zoelle

“Leandred is insanely useful—never tell him I said that. he made enough for all of us, and helped imbue them with the spells. We included some of your magic, too. You know Leandred has a ton of it, right?" She frowned at me, but it wasn't nearly as frowny as it used to be when aimed at Constantine.
"You're going soft." I smiled.
"No, I just agree with Axer Dare—Leandred's motives are transparent at this point. Leandred would burn the world for you."
"It's not like that," I said automatically.
"No. It's way worse," she said frankly. "You are like the sole family gold nugget and the crystal on the pedestal and all the frankincense in the factory. He'd never touch you. And the world will burn if someone intent on harm does.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Unleashing of Ren Crown

“I wanted to reach for him—like a drowning woman being offered a lifeline—but instead clenched my shaking hands into fists and continued walking without acknowledgment. I couldn't allow the bone-deep feeling of relief and longing to settle.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“I could feel an old reaction from him—his emotions trying to curl around and sever the heavy, girded ties between us. Leaving first before someone could leave him.
But he stepped physically closer again, as if he couldn't bear to do it.
I took a step into him and grabbed his cheeks with both hands, forcing his head down. “I'm not going anywhere.” I gave him a shake, then let my fingers mirror the same motions that he had done to me days before, repeating the same sentiment back. “That's what you said to me. I'm not going anywhere either.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“He wrapped his fingers into my hair, the movement gentling almost immediately, but palms still firm against my cheeks. “I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere. And neither is anyone else.”
A sob started to form in my throat, and I had to look away. Down at his chest where I could see his heart beating and his magic pulsing. To the other connections that were live and strong.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Once I dismissed the idea that I needed to be normal, the extraordinary bloomed.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Constantine's grin was lazy, but edged. His only real emotions were ever displayed around Ren, and she wasn't here. It made him dangerous and unpredictable in any circumstance that didn't include her.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“I grabbed Constantine and my fingers scrabbled for any bare skin I could find, pushing cloak and shirt aside for unhampered touch, face digging into a warm throat like I was going to nest there.
“He took it, he took it, tried to take all of it.”
“Shhh.” Constantine's arms wrapped around me, and a bare palm pressed against the back of my neck. Relief so strong that it felt like he would choke on it pushed against me. “I have them.”
I shuddered and let the ghosts of the connections in his fingers settle over the top of all that was broken, lighting destroyed pathways everywhere on me—like a trunk that had survived a forest fire, but all its branches had burned.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Ren.” Constantine hunched over me. Flashes of light illuminated the air around him. Blood ran down his face and there was a singed quality to the skin around his neck. He was warm. He had my cheeks in his hands and his hands were warm, thumbs rubbing circles into my skin.
“Ren.” I felt my left foot twist under the force of another stray spell. He frantically pulled a shield around us and magic seared over the split skin of my midsection. “Where are your shields? Where did you go? Why can't I feel you?”
I put my hand over his. “You are warm.” I touched my elbow in the arm that no longer worked. “This was you.”
There was a look on his face that I tried to objectively parse through the haze of disconnected reality—shock, anguish, terror, rage. I watched a myriad of expressions pass over his features. The pain of them seemed worse than that of my broken bones. Why would someone seek feelings?
His forehead pressed against mine, as if he could no longer bare to see whatever was showing in my eyes.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“For a time, I had hoped I might find the end of your wire. Then it became more of a chore,” Constantine said jadedly.
“Would that you had been less aware, perhaps.” His eyes shifted to me. “Or maybe, it is just a good thing that events fell as they did.”
Constantine smiled sharply. “So glad an Origin Mage fell from the sky?”
“No.” He looked at me. “Just that she did.”
The charged silence that followed made me itch at the elbow.
Constantine's lips firmed and a Molotov cocktail of emotions swirled within him.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Constantine leaned in and curled a piece of my false hair around his finger. “We should do lunch instead,” he said, entirely audible so that the whole hallway could hear.
I blinked at him.
“You've been working too hard and these brats will still be here. I'll treat you.” He leaned in, bringing the lock of borrowed black hair to rub against his lips.
“We need to finish our tasks,” I said aloud, swallowing nervously and trying not to watch as another person passed us. She rolled her eyes as the door-magic scanned her.
“Are you certain I can't convince you?” he asked me, somewhat lasciviously.
“Maybe...maybe after?”
Constantine's hand thrust out and gripped the closing door, his finger sliding over the edge deliberately. The door opened again. His gaze never left mine. “I'll hold you to that.”
“I don't know, Trick,” Loudon said cheerfully. “Seems like—ow!”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Dare's going to bring you more trouble,” Olivia said, as if she too understood that volatility was more perilous than cold dislike.
“You know, Price,” Constantine said, leaning back even more, his roiling emotions calming more than they had in hours. “I think, someday, I might not dislike you.”
“Whatever, Leandred. If I could peel you away from Ren, you'd already be sticking to a waste receptacle somewhere.”
“Likewise.”
For a moment, they both felt oddly serene and in entire accord.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown

“Make new friends, stand up for yourself, be the best Ren you could be. Christian would be pleased.
I touched the bracelet around my wrist. I love you, always. Thank you.”
― Anne Zoelle, The Destiny of Ren Crown