Aurora

“An illusion." She stared at the faux leather. "Fear is an illusion to keep us from our full potential. It's what traps Dredgers so they can't be free. What traps us in within their nightmares. But a nightmare is an illusion of what could be. Not what is. Once the fear is gone, it's not a nightmare anymore.”
― A.J. Lexa, Lines Between Stars

“Marigold bled into faint blues of morning as sunshine peeked over mountains of the city she'd always called home.”
― A.J. Lexa, Lines Between Stars

“Grief is like a splinter too deep underneath your skin to remove. At first, it is a sharp pain. Then a dull one that only bites when you press it. But you endure. You shape your new self around it, and you learn to survive. Eventually, they tell me you'll learn to thrive.”
― Beverly Twomey, What the Sea Brings

“She was starting to believe they were the same thing. When humans wanted each other, they were all mouths and teeth, desire and satisfaction. Miriam wanted Esther in that way, also. She didn't see the need to distinguish between lust and love, consumption and devotion. Miriam loved her. She wanted her life and her death and each bloody beat of her heart in between.”
― Natasha Siegel, As Many Souls as Stars