The Bomb Quotes

“¨But i am going to take out her stitches, and I dont think youd want to watch that.¨ ¨Oh I dont know,¨ I say. ¨Maybe he´d like to hear me scream.¨ ¨I would,¨ Cardan says, standing. ¨And perhaps one day I will.¨ On his way out, his hand goes to my hair. A light touch, barely there, and then gone.
Page 166”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“I spot the Roach and the Bomb, sitting in the shadows of the re-formed thrones. He is tossing grapes into her mouth and never missing, not once.”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“Imagine if you will—and you will—a mushroom cloud bigger than anything that you currently see out that window. Imagine jet planes and bombers the size of apartment complexes dropping technological marvels of deconstruction upon this city, this world, all around the epicenter of a blooming death cloud. Imagine that mushroom coming to a head, knowing that it is filled with unimaginable heat and concrete, dust, papers—human faces, eyes, and brains. Gray matter filling the radioactive cloud with electricity as all that is inside us leaves us and becomes one with the mushroom. Glass will melt and connect with steel, and we will melt and connect with each other as everything that made us whole is criminally dissected and rearranged. Everything below us, from the sewer tunnels to the subway line, will be consumed into the cloud and jettisoned into the stratosphere, where it will become nothing but silken ash, hardened to a black substance, and turned back to a black dust, transfixed into a black nothing. A stinking, glowing crater all that remains of where you had your first kiss and told someone that you loved them. A mess of a world where everything you’ve ever done quickly becomes all that you’ll ever do.”
― Michael A. Ferro, TITLE 13: A Novel

“The last room Cardan occupied caught fire,' I call back to the Bomb. 'Let me rephrase. It caught fire because he lit it on fire.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“We caught a few courtiers speculating about assassinating the mortal queen. Their plans got blown up.' A small smile crosses her face. 'As did they.”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“There was no assassin. It was a romantic misunderstanding.'

Her eyebrows go up.

'The High King is very bad at romance,' I say.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“Long live Jude,' she says with a wink, setting down the tray on a table with a clatter of the pots and saucers and whatnot. 'No thanks to me.'

I grin. 'Good thing you're a lousy shot.'

She holds up a packet of herbs. 'A poultice. To draw any fever from the blood and help the patient heal faster. Unfortunately, it won't draw the sting from your tongue.”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“You should go.'

'This is my room,' he points out, affronted. 'And that's my wife.'

'So you keep telling everyone,' the Bomb says. 'But I am going to take out her stitches, and I don't think you want to watch that.'

'Oh, I don't know,' I say. 'Maybe he'd like to hear my scream.'

'I would,' Cardan says, standing. 'And perhaps one day I will.' On the way out, his hand goes to my hair. A light touch, barely there, and then gone.”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“The two other members of Dain's spy troupe also have code names. There's the lean, handsome faerie that looks at least part human, who winks and tells me to call him the Ghost. He has sandy-coloured hair, which is normal for a mortal, but is unusual for a faerie, and ears that come to very subtle points.

The other is a tiny, delicate girl, her skin the dappled brown of a doe, her hair a cloud of white around her head, and a miniature pair of blue-grey butterfly wings on her back. She's got at least some pixie in her, if not some imp.
...
'I'm the Bomb,' she says. 'I like blowing things up.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“What did he offer you?' I ask, like we're all in on the same joke. Yes, it's a gamble. Maybe Cardan didn't offer them anything at all.

I try not to seem like I'm holding my breathe. I try not to show how small Cardan makes me feel.

The Ghost gives me one of his rare smiles. 'Mostly gold, but also power. Position.'

'A lot of things he hasn't got,' said the Bomb.

'I thought we were friends,' Cardan says halfheartedly.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“She's there, throwing daggers at a painting of a sunset.

'You didn't like it?' I ask, pointing to the canvas.

'I liked it well enough,' she says. 'Now I like it better.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“You who dwell in the shadows, I wish for you to stand with us sometimes in the light,' says Cardan. 'To each, I give a mask. When you wear it, no one will be able to recall your height or the timbre of your voice. And in that mask, let no one in Elfhame turn you away. Every hearth will be open to you, including mine.'

They bow and lift the masks to their faces. When they do, there's a soft of distortion around them.

'You are kind, my king,' says one, and even I, who know them, cannot tell which is speaking. But what no mask can hide is how, once they give their bows and depart, one masked figure takes another's gloved hand.

Or how the third turns his shiny metal face toward Taryn.”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“You could still be lying,' says the Roach. He turns to Cardan. 'Try her.'

'Your pardon?' Cardan says, drawing himself up, and the Roach seems to suddenly remember whom he's speaking in such an off-handed way.

'Don't be such a prickly rose, Your Majesty,' the Roach says with a shrug and a grin. 'I'm not giving you an order. I'm suggesting that if you tried to glamour Jude, we could find out the truth.'

Cardan sighs and walks toward me. I know this is necessary. I know that he doesn't intend to hurt me. I know he can't glamour me. And yet I draw back automatically.

'Jude?' he asks.

'Go ahead,' I say.

I hear the glamour enter his voice, heady and seductive and more powerful than I expected. 'Crawl to me,' he says with a grin.

Embarrassment pinks my cheeks.

I stay where I am, looking at all their faces. 'Satisfied?'

The Bomb nods. 'You're not charmed.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“Lil-' he says, voice sounding soft and scratchy, but speaking.

He's conscious. Awake.

Healed.

He grabs hold of the Bomb's hand. 'I'm dying,' he says. 'The poison- I was foolish. I don't have long.'

'You're not dying,' she says.

'There's something I could never tell you while I lived,' he says, pulling her closer to him. 'I love you, Liliver. I've loved you from the first hour of our meeting. I loved you and despaired. Before I die, I want you to know that.'

The Ghost's eyebrows rise, and he glances at me. I grin. With both of us on the floor, I doubt the Roach has any idea we're there.

Besides, he's too busy looking at the Bomb's shocked face.

'I never wanted-' he begins, then bites off the words, clearly reading her expression as horror. 'You don't have to say anything in return. But before I die-'

'You're not dying,' she says again,, and this time he seems to actually hear her.

'I see.' His face suffuses with shame. 'I shouldn't have spoken.'

I creep toward the kitchen, the Ghost behind me. As we head toward the door, I hear the Bomb's soft voice.

'If you hadn't,' she says, 'then I couldn't tell you that your feelings are returned.'

Outside, the Ghost and I walk toward the palace, looking up at the stars. I think about how much cleverer the Bomb is than I am, because when she had her chance, she took it. She told him how she felt. I failed to tell Cardan. And now I never can.”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

“Lil-' he says, voice sounding soft and scratchy, but speaking.

He's conscious. Awake.

Healed.

He grabs hold of the Bomb's hand. 'I'm dying,' he says. 'The poison- I was foolish. I don't have long.'

'You're not dying,' she says.

'There's something I could never tell you while I lived,' he says, pulling her closer to him. 'I love you, Liliver. I've loved you from the first hour of our meeting. I loved you and despaired. Before I die, I want you to know that.'

The Ghost's eyebrows rise, and he glances at me. I grin. With both of us on the floor, I doubt the Roach has any idea we're there.

Besides, he's too busy looking at the Bomb's shocked face.

'I never wanted-' he begins, then bites off the words, clearly reading her expression as horror. 'You don't have to say anything in return. But before I die-'

'You're not dying,' she says again, and this time he seems to actually hear her.

'I see.' His face suffuses with shame. 'I shouldn't have spoken.'

I creep toward the kitchen, the Ghost behind me. As we head toward the door, I hear the Bomb's soft voice.

'If you hadn't,' she says, 'then I couldn't tell you that your feelings are returned.'

Outside, the Ghost and I walk toward the palace, looking up at the stars. I think about how much cleverer the Bomb is than I am, because when she had her chance, she took it. She told him how she felt. I failed to tell Cardan. And now I never can.”
― Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing