Preston Heloury Quotes

“I wanted you, too. For so long. It was terrible. Sometimes I could barely eat- sorry, I know that sounds like the strangest thing. But for days I didn't feel hungry at all. I was... occupied. You took away all the other wanting from me.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“The only reason anything matters is because it ends,' he says. 'I wouldn't hold you so tightly now if I thought we could be here forever.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“The trick of any good lie is just finding an audience who wants to believe it.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“-the ephemerality of things is what gives them meaning. That things are only beautiful because they don't last. Full moons, flowers in bloom, you. But if any of that is evidence, I think it must be true.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I just wanted to tell you,' he said, 'when this is over, I'll take care of you, too. If you want me to.'

Effy closed her eyes, and even the blackness there behind them was bright with false stars. 'I do.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“Some things are constant,' Effy said. 'They must be. I think that's why so many poets write about the sea.'

'Maybe the idea of constancy is what's actually terrifying. Fear of the sea is fear of the eternal- because how can you win against something so enduring. So vast and so deep.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“But I think magic is just the truth that people believe. For most people, that truth is whatever helps them sleep at night, whatever makes their lives easier. It's different from objective truth.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“Love is a fire that cannot burn alone.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“No one owns the right to tell a story.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I'm not happy to be the most interesting thing in Saltney, but regrettably, I can assure you that that is the case.'

'I don't know about that.' Effy thought of the shepherd, the stones in her pocket. She decided not to mention any of that. Instead she said. 'Not to wound your ego, but I saw some very interesting sheep dung on my way over here.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“You should know by now that I'm not a fan of doing things just because that's the way they've always been done.' Preston set his jaw. 'Or preserving things just because they've always been preserved.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I don't like lying,' Preston folded his arms over his chest. 'I know it's not realistic, but the world would be a better place if everyone just told the truth.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I find you very charming underneath all the smugness.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“Ret eo anavezout a-rook karout. 'One must know before loving.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I meant what I told you before,' he said softly. 'I want to take care of you. When we get back to Caer-Isel, the horrible professors and the horrible students... I never want you to have to weather it all alone again.'

Effy's throat tightened. 'They're cruel. They'll be cruel to you, too.'

'It doesn't matter. I'm not afraid to care about you, Effy.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I'll fight for you, Effy. I promise.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“Preston?' she said. Her voice sounded strange: small, wondering. Almost hopeful.

He glanced up. 'Yes?'

'Thank you.'

'For what?'

'For caring whether or not I die of sepsis,' she said.

'Oh,' he said. 'Well, you can never be too cautious. People have died in much more banal ways.'

'Thank you for giving me the chance to die of something interesting, then.'

'As long as you don't throw yourself out of any more moving cars.' There was a slight quiver on the left side of his mouth, as if he were trying not to smile. Behind his glasses, his eyes were solemn. 'There are far more interesting deaths out there.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I know you well enough. You aren't terrible. You're nothing close.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“You don't see yourself very clearly, Effy.' Preston shifted in his seat so that they were facing one another. 'Challenging me isn't pestering. I'm not always right. Sometimes I deserve to be challenged. And changing your mind isn't foolish. It just means you've learned something new. Everyone changes their mind sometimes, as they should, or else they're just, I don't know, stubborn and ignorant. Moving water is healthy; stagnant water is sickly. Tainted.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“And, well, I suppose that's partly why I don't have much faith in the notion of permanence. Anything can be taken from you, at any moment. Even the past isn't guaranteed. You can lose that, too, slowly, like water eating away at stone.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I wish I could see you more clearly right now. But even blurry you're so beautiful.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I wish we could have stayed there,' Preston whispered into her hair. 'Forever- impossibly. I'm sorry for saying all that inane nonsense about things only mattering because they don't last. That was hubris, I think. I don't want to die here.' I want-”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“I love you.' Effy pressed her forehead against his.

'I love you,' Preston said, voice wavering. 'I'm so sorry it's ruined us both.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning