I want you to have this.” He extended his hand. On his palm sat the beautiful butterfly he had carved. Silver spots on the wings glinted in the sunlight, and a silver chain hung from a small hole drilled into its body. Valek looped the necklace around my neck. “When I carved this statue, I was thinking about you. Delicate in appearance, but with a strength unnoticed at first glance.” His eyes met mine.

Maria V. Snyder

Categorized in : Beautiful Eye Butterfly

Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.

Maria V. Snyder

reliability trust knowing

I offer my heart, entrust my soul and give my life to you.

Maria V. Snyder

soul heart giving

But you've slipped under my skin, invaded my blood and seized my heart.

Maria V. Snyder

heart love romantic

There is a reason for everything. You might not be able to figure it out, and time might have made us all forget it, but the reason is there all the same.

Maria V. Snyder

able forget might

Positive thoughts lead to positive results.

Maria V. Snyder

positive-thoughts stay-positive results

Everyone grieves in different ways. For some, it could take longer or shorter. I do know it never disappears. An ember still smolders inside me. Most days, I don’t notice it, but, out of the blue, it’ll flare to life.

Maria V. Snyder

grief blue grieving

I remembered my little brother, Allyn, had appeared so innocent and angelic when he slept--similar to Kerrick. It must be a survival tactic. If Allyn hadn't looked so sweet, we would have killed him while he slept. He had been pure evil when he was awake--similar to Kerrick.

Maria V. Snyder

brother evil sweet

Suppressing his relief, Valek asked, “Can you please tell this Lieutenant who he has arrested?” “Can do,” Janco said with a smile. “Lieutenant Darren, let me be the first to congratulate you on capturing the elusive and legendary Kelav. He’s been wanted in Ixia for years on multiple counts of espionage.

Maria V. Snyder

relief years firsts

In the war room, love? What if someone comes in?” I stood and removed his shirt. “Then they’ll have a good story to tell.” “Good?” He adopted the pretense of being offended. “Prove me wrong.

Maria V. Snyder

what-if stories war

Yelena, you've driven me crazy. You've caused me considerable trouble and I've contemplated ending your life twice since I've known you." Valek's warm breath in my ear sent a shiver down my spine. "But you’ve slipped under my skin, invaded my blood and seized my heart.” “That sounds more like a poison than a person,” was all I could say. His confession had both shocked and thrilled me. “Exactly,” Valek replied. “You have poisoned me.

Maria V. Snyder

crazy heart blood

You're right. And so was my snake." Snake?" He pulled my arm out to expose my bracelet. "When I carved this my thoughts were on you, love. Your life is like this snake's coils. No matter how many turns it makes, you'll end up back where you belong. With me.

Maria V. Snyder

snakes arms life-is-like

At first, it feels as if she has vanished forever, and all traces are destroyed. But later, when the pain of loss doesn't overwhelm all your other feelings, every time you think of her, or hear her voice in your head, or remember a happy time together, you realize she's still a part of you and will never be totally gone.

Maria V. Snyder

pain loss thinking

I’ll have you know that the most delicate flowers often produce the strongest scent when crushed.

Maria V. Snyder

scent produce flower

Knowledge, whatever the form, could be as effective as a weapon.

Maria V. Snyder

form weapons

No need to act, i let my fear show "He killed himself," i whispered. Eve raised an eyebrow. "Fourteen times?" "He had bad aim.

Maria V. Snyder

aim eyebrows needs

Valek leaned back in his chair and said to me, “I don’t think I would have made it past the audition,Yelena. I probably would have set my hair on fire by this point.” “What’s a singed head for the sake of art?” I teased. He laughed.

Maria V. Snyder

past art thinking

After almost two hours of creeping around the forest, one of the jacks discovered Belen. He had fallen asleep, and the young man had literally tripped over him. So much for his reputation.

Maria V. Snyder

forests men two

I never said it would be easy. Giving up is easy.

Maria V. Snyder

giving-up business would-be

You can't let the past ruin your future.

Maria V. Snyder

ruins your-future past

...my sanity threatened to take a holiday without me.

Maria V. Snyder

sanity holiday threatened