Home > Work > Cloak and Dagger (The IMA, #1)
1 " Mamá had always made it clear she believed girls who got raped deserved it. I hadn't done any of the things she said “bad” girls did, though. I didn't parade myself around in sluttish clothes and make untoward advances. But Mamá had been wrong about everything else so far, so maybe she'd been wrong about that, too. Maybe it didn't matter whether you were bad or good, prudish or wanton: maybe just being female was enough, for some men. Maybe, like so much else, it was only about control. But then why do I feel so guilty? "
― Nenia Campbell , Cloak and Dagger (The IMA, #1)
2 " This softening she sees in me isn't enough to make me affectionate, but it's just enough to render me inept. I can't give her what she wants — virtuousness — or what she needs — protection. "
3 " I wasn't a complete bastard. If she liked to think she saw good in me, if she wanted to take credit for it, I'd let her. She deserved that much. "
4 " Too bad. Game over. Insert new fucking quarter. "
5 " What a joke, coming from a woman who worked for the fashion industry. Really. Starving yourself to fit into a size zero — why did that size even exist? Zero referred to the absence of something, but what did it mean in terms of a model's measurements? Her fat? Or her presence? How much could you cut away before the person herself vanished? It was hypocritical, that's what it was. I said as much, adding, “If you're so keen on me being healthy then you should have no problem accepting me for the way I am. That's what's healthy, Mom. Not being focused on all this freaky weight-loss stuff. "
6 " In her view, there were threeoptions for a woman. If you were beautiful, you got married. If youwere ugly, you became a nun. If you were beautiful and stupid, orugly and dishonorable, you became a whore. "
7 " What is your collective GPA for this year?”“Not as high as I'd like it to be.”Freud steepled his fingers in front of his mouth. “What about your parents?”“I don't know. They haven't been in school for a while. "
8 " He'd been baiting me, yes, but there was more. He'd been almost…playful. It was tantamount to being rushed by a lion, and finding out it wanted to play fetch. "
9 " She looked stunned. “I feel like I don't know you anymore.” “You never did,” I replied, just as coolly. “You were always too busy thinking about who you would like me to be that you never thought to ask who I actually was. "
10 " There are two things about me you should know. Don't fight me, unless you're prepared to kill me. And don't kiss me, unless you're prepared to fuck me. "
11 " The old wives' tale about cold showers is false: blasting your body with a couple gallons of ice water doesn't make you any less horny. It just makes you horny and cold. "
12 " Please." I touched his shoulder and he swung around like I'd hit him. "I'm begging you." "That's not begging. That's commanding with a please in front of it. "
13 " You think you fucking know me? I'm an assassin. I kill people for a living. Good people, bad people, it makes no difference to me as long as I get paid." I spoke slowly, giving each word time to sink in. "And that girl you just sold out? She's the only thing in this world that makes me even remotely human. "
14 " My captor grabbed me, digging his gloved fingers into my cheeks. His bloody gloved fingers. “I'm an assassin. I'm whatever the job necessitates.”I could smell the blood; it smelled like old, dirty pennies. “Then you're a whore.”“I'm a mercenary.”“What's the difference?” I spat. “You sell your body for money and you have no morals. "
15 " Ça va. Nap time is over. "
16 " Jesus had been betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. I'd betrayed myself for soap. "
17 " Adrian had been felled by a Coach bag. "
18 " He traced my lower lip. I braced myself for the pain that was sure to follow because he was like a sadistic King Midas, turning everything he touched into pain. "
19 " Because you're a sick fuck who tortures people!"He wagged his finger at me. "You make it sound so simple. It isn't. Not at all. Torture covers a broad spectrum. The two main subgroups are physiological and psychological, but these can be divided into the subcategories of spiritual, emotional, physical, and sexual. Everyone has at least one weakness in at least one of these areas that can be exploited. Finding it only requires patience, and a suspension of societal norms. "
20 " If people are meant to live, they'll live. If not, more room for the rest of us. "
