{"quotes":[{"text":"When we’d all settled down from that first night, Julie found a bag on the porch, which we thought must have been left by the same three girls who had brought me to them. Just like the clues on my skin, I’d only been left with two worldly possessions. The first was a wad of cash that I immediately handed to Ben and Julie as compensation for giving me a home. Most of it went to pay for Akinli’s medical bills, which was fine with me. I didn’t know if there was a word bigger than soul mates, something that meant the feeling of being so connected that it was hard to tell where one person ended and the other began. If there was, that word belonged to Akinli and me.The second thing was a bottle of water. It was so peculiar, this water, a blue that was both dark and brilliant, too thick to see through but still carrying light. No matter the season, it was always cold, and there were tiny shells in it that never settled.Sometimes I slept with it, even though it was cold enough to wake me up if I rolled on it the wrong way. It was the only clue I had to tell me who I had been before the night I was left on the porch, and I loved it second only to Akinli.Somehow, I knew that this love was important, as if treasuring the water meant I treasured myself. And I did. I loved my recovering body, I loved my blue-eyed soul mate, I loved my adopted family.I held the water to my chest, and I loved.","author":"Kiera Cass","tags":["akinli","bag","ben","bottled-water","julie","kahlen","love","treasure","water"],"id":49205,"author_id":"Kiera+Cass"},{"text":"Akinli, this strange boy whose life at the moment seemed to be hanging on this, pushed himself from the bed.Julie gasped, watching as his arms trembled under his weight, even as thin as he was. He crushed his eyes together in concentration, willing himself up.I heard Ben whisper to himself, “Come on, come on, come on.”When Akinli, breathing as if he truly had just run a marathon, was fairly close to upright, he held out an arm for me.I fell into it fearlessly.We leaned into each other, neither of us strong enough to stay up on our own.“I thought I’d never see you sit up again,” Julie cried.We both turned to her, smiling at the happy tears on her face.","author":"Kiera Cass","tags":["akinli","ben","cry","happy","hold","julie","kahlen","sit-up","smiling"],"id":58907,"author_id":"Kiera+Cass"},{"text":"I looked at him and the other two people whose names I’d just learned. “So . . . So this is home then?”Akinli looked at me, perplexed, then turned to Ben and Julie.“She said some girls left her here and told her it was home. That’s all she knows. She doesn’t even know you.” Julie wiped at her tears, trying to calm herself.He moved his eyes back to me as quickly as he could manage. “Kahlen? You remember me, right?”I stared into this face, searching for something familiar. I didn’t recognize the angle of his chin, the length of his fingers. I didn’t know the slope of his shoulder or the shape of his lips.“Akinli, right?” I asked. This poor boy. I pitied him in the depths of my heart. Clearly, he’d already been going through something, and I could see the last scrap of fight he had in him dying with those words.“Yes.”“I don’t remember ever seeing you before in my life. I’m sorry.”He pressed his lips together as if he was swallowing the urge to cry.“But,” I said, “I know your voice. I know it as if it were my own.","author":"Kiera Cass","tags":["akinli","amnesia","ben","forgot","julie","kahlen","remember","voice"],"id":85276,"author_id":"Kiera+Cass"},{"text":"He raised his hand in a peaceful gesture. 'You need to relax a bit, dove. Like Mouse over there. You trust me, don't you, Mouse?'Nope!'Ahhh, I'm hurt. Nobody likes me.","author":"Ilona Andrews","tags":["bran","funny","julie","kate","kate-daniels","magic-burns"],"id":183491,"author_id":"Ilona+Andrews"},{"text":"That is a terrifically intimate thing, you know? Letting a stranger light your cigarette. Leaning forward so he can hold a flame to your lips. Pausing to breathe in before you pull back again.","author":"Elizabeth Wein","tags":["breathing","cigarette","elizabeth-wein","intimacy","julie","lips","smoking","the-pearl-thief"],"id":188792,"author_id":"Elizabeth+Wein"},{"text":"What did I tell you about plastic ties? Only for humans, Julie murmured.If you don't listen to me, I can't teach you anything.","author":"Ilona Andrews","tags":["julie","kate-daniels","parenting"],"id":213467,"author_id":"Ilona+Andrews"},{"text":"If you're scared, do something.","author":"Elizabeth Wein","tags":["actions-over-words","elizabeth-wein","fear","julie","scared","the-pearl-thief","uncertainty"],"id":236918,"author_id":"Elizabeth+Wein"},{"text":"The wave of memory had submerged me for a whole minute, while I'd just sat staring and let it all come flooding back.","author":"Elizabeth Wein","tags":["concussion","elizabeth-wein","julie","memory","mind","submerged","the-pearl-thief"],"id":260079,"author_id":"Elizabeth+Wein"},{"text":"Looking up at the stars and smoking in silence.","author":"Elizabeth Wein","tags":["affection","certainty","elizabeth-wein","ellen-mcewen","julie","romance","silence","smoking","stars","the-pearl-thief"],"id":308530,"author_id":"Elizabeth+Wein"},{"text":"I'll cover you in flowers someday, Julie-girl.","author":"Lurlene McDaniel","tags":["flowers","julie","luke","true-love"],"id":460487,"author_id":"Lurlene+McDaniel"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":11,"pages":2,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}