Legendary

But perhaps love was an otherworldly entity like Death.

"I don't want to talk to you”, she said. "I want to talk to Legend."

"Then open your eyes and speak to me."

Her legs gave out.

 Paradise merely said she loved trouble.

But I believe what she really loved was life.

This kiss felt like a confession, brutal and raw and honest in a way kisses rarely were. Dante wasn't trying to seduce her; he was convincing her just how little goodness mattered, because nothing he was doing with his hands could have been considered good. Yet every brush of his lips was sweet.

"So," she said cautiously, "is all this your way of telling me you're the villain?"

His chuckle was dark. "I'm definitely not the hero."

"Fate is only an idea, but I think by believing in it we turn it into something more. You just said you've avoided love because you've believed it wasn't in your future, and so it hasn't been."

"You're the most beautiful liar I've ever seen."

"What's so dangerous about my arms?" he murmured.

"For me, everything." Tella slowly lifted one lid open.

"I always want to see you." Scarlett said. "That's why this hurts so badly”

"I thought you were familiar with fortune-telling. Every story has four parts -the beginning, the middle, the almost-ending, and the true ending. Your future is not complete until you flip over the fourth and reveal the true ending."

Maybe there was no way to ever truly find Legend, and the church represented an endless search for a man who was unsearchable.

Tella imagined Julian would cross any and every moral line to keep Scarlett's heart.

“At least remember the stories Nana Anna told us– Legend likes to be the villain."

Tella grinned. "How could I forget? That was always my favorite part."

Capable of killing with only one press of his lips.

But Tella could have kissed Jacks into eternity.

Then his mouth was crashing against hers. He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels and bottles of fresh moonlight.

It all looked so innocent and wicked at once, and Tella longed to experience every tempting piece of it.

"Every good story needs a villain”

"But the best villains are the ones you secretly like, and my nana always said Legend was the villain in Caraval."

It still felt like a risk to wear the gown, but as Tella liked to tell her sister, there was more to life than staying safe.