tessa

“Come back down,” he said, his expression suddenly grim. His fingers clenched tight around hers. “Listen, Rin. I don’t care what else happens up there. But you come back to me.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“I would not love, unless I was loved first and loved the most. I would be nothing at all, if I could not be first.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“If you saw humanity as I see it. There is very little brightness and warmth in the world for me. There are only four flames, in the whole world, that burn fiercely enough for me to feel something like the person I was. Your mother, your father, Lucie, and you. You love, and tremble, and burn. Do not let those who cannot see the truth tell you who you are. You are the flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough.”
― Cassandra Clare, Chain of Gold