61
" I clutch her hand, my insides tightening and twisting with a grief too painful to bear. And suddenly, I feel a frighteningly familiar searing sensation in my hands. I pull away from Lucia, and a scream rises in my throat at the sight of the lines in my palms--sparking and blazing a fiery orange. Panicking, I close my hands into fists, but the sparks leap from my hands up into the air, forming a single large flame suspended between our two bodies. The flame casts an eerie glow over Lucia, from the wild look in her eyes to the spade-shaped birthmark on her wrist.
"What's happening?" Lucia cries, following my gaze. "How--how are you doing that?"
I back away from her, trembling. Without warning, my hands return to normal. The space between us is once again dark and empty. "
― Alexandra Monir , Suspicion
74
" As does copilot,” Jian jumps in, hands balling into fists at his sides. Now that we’re a world away, it seems no one is afraid to stand up to our leaders anymore. The general frowns her disapproval at the two of them. “I certainly shouldn’t need to explain this. The copilot is chiefly concerned with assisting Cyb on the flight deck, while lieutenant commander means serving as the right hand to whomever we choose to lead,” she says crisply. “In our absence, that will mean Beckett.” Dev looks repulsed, and I’m slightly gratified to see that I’m not the only one who feels this way about my fellow American. The thought of him having any power over me makes me ill, and more than that, it makes no sense. What sway does he hold over Takumi and Sokolov, and why? "
― Alexandra Monir , The Life Below (The Final Six, #2)