Alex Stern Quotes

“Didn’t someone say love is a shared delusion?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“I’m bound to you, Stern. To the woman who brought me out of hell. I will serve you ’til the end of days.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

“Alex slept in Darlington's bed and dreamed that he was curled behind her on the narrow mattress.
He pulled her close, his fingers digging into her abdomen, and she could feel claws at their tips. He whispered in her ear, "I will serve you 'til the end of days."
"And love me," she said with a laugh, bold in the dream, unafraid.
But all he said was, "It is not the same.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“He shouldn't look. He knew that. You should never look into the face of the uncanny, but had he ever been able to turn way? No. He'd courted it, begged for it.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“Turner rested his gloved hands on the steering wheel. “I'm pretty sure when my mother was talking about the devil, she had you in mind.”
“I'm a delight.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“In the mirror, he saw himself, a knight with bowed head, offering his service, a sword in his hand, a sword in his back. He felt no pain, only the ache in his heart. Choose me. There were tears on his cheeks, even as he felt the shame of it. She was no one, a girl who had lucked into a gift, who had done nothing to earn it. She was his queen.
"Darlington," she said. But that was not his true name any more than Alex was hers.
If only she would choose him. If only she would let him...
She touched her fingers to his face, lifted his chin. Her lips brushed his ear. He didn't understand it. He only wanted her to do it again. Stars poured through him, a cold and billowing wave of night. He saw everything. He saw their bodies entwined. She was above him and beneath him all at once, her body splayed and white as a lotus flower.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“There are worse things than death, Miss Stern.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“Before you walked into a deal, you had to know if you would walk out.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“What did the dead have to fear?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you'd been before life took away your belief in the possible.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“She didn't know why. If you were going to hell together, murder seemed like a good place to start.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“He had been tempted to bury his face into his soup bowl and lap at it like a greedy animal. He wanted to place himself between Alex's legs now and do the same to her”
― Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

“Would it help to break something else?'
She was breathing hard.
'Maybe.'
Darlington rose and opened a cupboard, then another, and another, revealing shelf after shelf of Lenox, Waterford, Limoges-glassware, plates, pitchers, platters, butter dishes, gravy boats, thousands of dollar's worth of crystal and china. He took down a glass, filled it with wine, and handed it to Alex.
'Where would you like to start?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“Do you know what my mother said?” Turner asked. “She told me there’s no doorway the devil doesn't know. He's always waiting to stick his foot in. I never really believed her until tonight.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“She remembered the jackals, spirit hounds, bound to serve the delegates of Lethe.
We are the shepherds.
Alex's hand lay against the floorboards. She could feel the cool, polished wood beneath her palm. Please, she begged the house silently. I am a daughter of Lethe, and the wolf is at the door.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“You killed them," he said. "All of them. Leonard Beacon. Mitchell Betts. Helen Watson. Hellie."
The silence stretched. But all she said was, "Not Hellie.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“She was the kind of girl who was always okay. “A survivor,” Darlington had once said, admiration in his voice. “Rough around the edges, but we’ll see if we’ve mined a diamond, won’t we, Pammie?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

“Contact with the uncanny takes a toll. The older you get, the harder it is to endure that contact.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“Ambition rolled off him like thunder.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“Daniel Tabor Arlington, always the gentleman, a boy of infinite manners. But what had he become?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“Reminders of death were the best way to keep Grays at bay.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“The ritual always changes a bit depending on the need. Every story is different.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“You can't walk through hell unchanged”
― Leigh Bardugo

“Peasant was a word poor people didn’t use. Just like classy was a word that classy people didn’t use.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“You don't get to turn this into some kind of feminist manifesto.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

“No rest for the wicked," Hellie wanted to say. But the words died even before they could form on her tongue. She knew she'd been about to laugh, but it was as if the laugh had no place to take root in her. No belly to brew in, no lungs to gather breath with.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

“After a long moment, he said, “Would it help to break something else?”

She was breathing hard. “Maybe.”

Darlington rose and opened a cupboard, then another, and another, revealing shelf after shelf of Lenox, Waterford, Limoges—glassware, plates, pitchers, platters, butter dishes, gravy boats, thousands of dollars’ worth of crystal and china. He took down a glass, filled it with wine, and handed it to Alex.

“Where would you like to start?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House