Fallen

“His gaze caught hers, and Luce watched as his eyes widened and then quickly narrowed in what looked like surprise. But no—it was more than that. When Daniel’s eyes held hers, her breath caught in her throat. She recognized him from somewhere.

But she would have remembered meeting someone like him. She would have remembered feeling as absolutely shaken up as she did right now.”

The first time Luce sees Daniel, she feels as though she knows him somehow. Luce’s feelings go beyond regular déjà vu as she describes being shaken up from the encounter. This quote also foreshadows the revelation that Daniel has known Luce for centuries. This quote relates to the themes of The Importance of Trusting One’s Instincts and The Past’s Influence on the Present.

“As she watched the slight movement of his body as he sketched, Luce’s insides felt like they were burning, like she’d swallowed something hot. She couldn’t figure out why, against all reason, she had this wild premonition that Daniel was drawing her.”

In this quote, Luce finds Daniel sketching in the library, a moment that parallels the events of the Prologue. Although Luce is not the same woman in the Prologue, it is revealed later in the novel that it was her previous life and that Daniel was the same Daniel he is today. Luce’s premonition comes from the echoes of her past life. This quote relates to the themes of the past’s influence on the present and the importance of trusting one’s instincts.

“Just trust me when I tell you that falling for Daniel would be a very, very bad idea.”

In this quote, Molly, one of the most unfriendly Sword & Cross students, warns Luce that she should avoid Daniel and not fall for him. This quote occurs shortly before a statue threatens to crush Luce when Daniel comes close to her. The fallen statue lends validity to Molly’s warning and foreshadows the revelation that Luce’s love with Daniel has historically been dangerous for her.

“When the shadows came this time, Luce was expecting them. Then she started to think about it and counted a tally on her fingers. The shadows had been popping up at an increasingly alarming rate, and Luce couldn’t figure out whether she was just nervous at Sword & Cross…or whether it meant something else. They’d never been this bad before.”

In this quote, Luce sits among her peers at Sword & Cross for the movie night social and feels the shadows coming before she sees them. The shadows appearing more frequently for Luce at Sword & Cross is a symbol of her coming closer to finding out more about the mysteries of her past now that she’s associating with Daniel, Cam, and the other fallen angels.

“But at the same time, she liked it when he paid attention to her. She liked the way he smelled—kind of free and open, like driving with the windows down at night. She liked the way he tuned in to her completely when she talked, holding still like he couldn’t see or hear anyone but her. She’d even liked being lifted off her feet at the party, in plain view of Daniel. She didn’t want to do anything to make Cam reconsider the way he treated her.”

This quote explains Luce’s choice to continue to see Cam and humor his advances despite her strong, mysterious attraction to Daniel. Luce’s choice to continue seeing Cam enables the love triangle that unfolds between Luce, Cam, and Daniel throughout the rest of the narrative.

“Even after all the laughs and smiles and that one potential near kiss she’d just shared with Cam, she couldn’t shut out what she felt when she saw Daniel.”

This quote occurs after Luce’s enjoyable date with Cam in the cemetery. Despite her positive feelings toward Cam and the attention he gives her, she cannot take her mind off of Daniel. This quote hints at the deeper connection between Luce and Daniel.

“I’m flattered you feel like we have this connection, really. But you don’t have to invent some forgotten history to get a guy to pay attention to you.”

This quote from Daniel occurs after Luce brings up the feeling that she knows him from somewhere. Daniel’s choice of words here serves as foreshadowing for the revelation that Luce and Daniel have a long, forgotten history, pointing toward the past’s influence on the present.

“He’d opened his fist to expose a small cluster of fresh figs. Their deep purple skins looked like jewels in his hand.

‘What’s this?’ she’d asked, sucking in a smile.

‘Can’t live on bread alone, can you?’ he’d said.

‘Don’t eat those.’ Gabbe had swooped in, lifting the figs out of Luce’s fingers and tossing them in the trash. She’d interrupted yet another private conversation and replaced the empty space in Luce’s palm with a handful of peanut M&M’s from a vending machine sack.”

This is one of several instances in which Gabbe interrupts Luce’s interactions with Cam. In recognizing this pattern, the novel begins to further define Gabbe’s role in Luce’s romance with Daniel. The presence of figs here is a biblical allusion, as fig trees have significance in Christian and Jewish religious texts.

“‘Maybe “like” isn’t the right word.’ After a long pause, he said, ‘It’s in my family…studying these things. I guess I can’t help feeling a connection.’”

Here, Daniel carefully chooses his words to explain why he found the lecture over fallen angels interesting. His comment about his family diverges from what Luce read in the file about Daniel having no family. This quote also foreshadows the revelation that he is an angel.

“Luce had a strong, uneasy feeling about this light gray shadow. The uniformity of the shadows had never been comforting, but these latest variations were a new level of disconcerting. Did it mean more kinds of shadows were finding their way to her? Or was she just getting better at distinguishing them? And what about that weird moment during Miss Sophia’s lecture, when she’d actually pinched a shadow back before it could enter her pocket?”

This quote examines the increasing relevance of the shadows to Luce’s daily life as they become more pervasive and more varied and as they begin to interact with her on a physical level. Luce’s shadows represent the danger that lurks in her mysterious past, which she comes closer to uncovering the longer she’s at Sword & Cross.

“‘Daniel,’ she said, gasping. The wings consumed her vision and her mind. They seemed to swirl into a million colors, making her head hurt.”

In one of Luce’s many dreams about Daniel, she sees his wings for the first time, but they are hard for her to look at. This moment foreshadows the revelation that Luce has died in previous lives because of the knowledge that Daniel is an angel.

“She tried to imagine the way they would have looked in Daniel’s hands. She tried to imagine where he’d gotten them, and what had been on his mind.

It was such a strange choice of flower. Wild peonies didn’t grow in Georgia wetlands. They wouldn’t even take to the soil in her father’s garden in Thunderbolt. What was more, these didn’t look like any peonies Luce had ever seen before. The blooms were as large as cupped palms, and the smell reminded her of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.”

The white peonies that Daniel brings to Luce in the hospital are significant because they are Luce’s favorite flower. Their presence is a clue about Daniel’s real feelings for and about his prior knowledge of Luce. Additionally, there is a suggested supernatural element to the peonies since they are so massive and so rare. This moment introduces the white peonies as a symbol of Daniel’s love for Luce.

“‘I do like it,’ she said, thinking of the box lying on her desk. It had ended up right next to Daniel’s flowers, and she’d spent half the night before looking back and forth between them, weighing the gifts and the intentions behind them.”

The juxtaposition of Daniel’s white peonies with Cam’s serpent necklace forces Luce to consider the meaning behind the gifts. Cam’s serpent necklace is a representation of Cam’s intentions to bring Luce out of her comfort zone, focusing on something she’s uncomfortable with rather than something soothing for her. Daniel’s white peonies, on the other hand, represent the care and thoughtfulness he put into her gift and foreshadow that he knows her better than she thinks.

“He gave her innumerable soft kisses, and every time Luce peeked at him, his stormy green eyes were open, too, boring into her, questioning her about something she couldn’t answer.

Then Cam was gone, and the fog was gone, and Luce was wrapped tightly in Daniel’s arms, right where she wanted to be. He dipped her low and kissed her fiercely, as if he were angry, and each time his lips left hers, even just for half a second, the most parching thirst ran through her, making her cry out.”

This quote features events in another one of Luce’s dreams. This time, she dreams about both Cam and Daniel, and the interactions she has with each reflect her true attraction to them. Additionally, the inquisitive look from Cam suggests that he’s aware of her indecision and needs her to choose now.

“‘Oh, sure—it’s a wide body of literature,’ Miss Sophia said while she typed. ‘There are those who became demons. And those who threw in with God. And there are even ones who consorted with mortal women.’ At last her fingers were still. ‘Very dangerous habit.’”

Miss Sophia, who is later revealed to know a lot about the angels at Sword & Cross and Luce’s relationship with Daniel, elaborates on the different kinds of angels that a researcher might choose to study. She specifically mentions angels who consorted with mortals and warns that doing so is dangerous. This is an allusion to the lore of Watcher angels.

“She’d agreed to meet Cam only to tell him that he was being too forward and she really couldn’t see herself getting involved with him. Because—although she’d never tell him—every time his fist struck Daniel the night before, something inside her had flinched and started to boil. Clearly, she needed to nip this little thing with Cam in the bud. She had the gold serpent necklace in her pocket. It was time to give it back.”

This quote takes place after Cam and Daniel get into a violent fight over Luce and describes Luce’s decision to end things with Cam. By returning Cam’s serpent necklace, Luce hopes to send a clear message that she is no longer interested. This is a significant moment for Luce, as she breaks out of the love triangle and ultimately chooses Daniel.

“‘Luce,’ Cam said, walking toward the car. ‘Don’t do this. Don’t leave with him. It will end badly.’ She couldn’t look at his eyes, which she knew were pleading for her to come back. ‘I’m sorry.’”

When Luce flees the seedy bar and escapes with Daniel, Cam warns her that it will end badly—one of several warnings that Luce has received about Daniel. This quote hints at the dangerous nature of Luce and Daniel’s relationship and shows that Cam is privy to this romance.

“‘You said nothing could drag you away,’ he said in a hushed voice. ‘But they will. Maybe they’re just running late.’”

After Daniel and Luce share their first kiss, Daniel becomes unexpectedly panicked and afraid that Luce will be taken from him. He’s even confused that she isn’t. This moment foreshadows the revelation that their relationship has cost Luce her life in previous lifetimes.

“I wander the earth always knowing at the back of my mind that you’re coming. I used to look for you. But then, when I started hiding from you—from the heartbreak I knew was inevitable—you started seeking me out. It didn’t take me long to realize that you came around every seventeen years.”

This quote from Daniel explains a bit about the cycle that he and Luce are locked in; even when he tries to avoid it, Luce finds him, and the cycle repeats. This is an important quote explaining many of the unanswered questions in the novel, like Luce’s mysterious attraction to Daniel and his initially cold behavior toward her.

“The white peonies. Daniel had given her a bouquet after the fire in the library. There had always been something unusual about them, yet so familiar. The sky outside her window was a deep charcoal with just a few puffs of white cloud. Her room was dark, but the pale full blooms of the flowers on her windowsill stood out in the dimness. They’d sat in their vase for a week now, and not a single petal had withered.”

This quote occurs after Daniel reveals to Luce that they have been trapped in a cycle of love and death for many lifetimes. Luce considers the gift of white peonies and how it shows that Daniel knows her. The fact that they haven’t wilted solidifies the white peonies as a symbol of Daniel’s undying love for Luce.

“It took a moment for Luce to remember how to breathe, and even then, she still couldn’t tear her strained eyes away from the book. The woman in the photograph?

It was her.”

After struggling to comprehend what Daniel has told her about their cyclical love, Luce finally gets her hands on Daniel’s book, The Watchers, and finds a photograph of herself and Daniel from another time period. This moment is an important turning point in Luce’s acceptance of what Daniel has told her. The Watchers itself is a symbol of forbidden truth, as the knowledge that Daniel is an angel has killed Luce in past lives.

“Finally Arriane spoke up. ‘At stake?’ She rubbed at the scar on her neck. ‘If they win—it’s Hell on earth. The end of the world as anyone knows it.’”

In this quote, Arriane explains how they are wrapped up in a battle of good and evil and that the opposing side is the bad side. This quote establishes that there are greater things happening between the fallen angels than just Luce and Daniel’s romance. This quote also relates to the theme of The Timeless Struggle Between Good and Evil.

“‘Well, my dear, the reason you come back again and again is because all the other times you’ve been born, you were ushered into religious belief. This time, when your parents opted out of baptizing you, they effectively left your little soul up for grabs.’ She shrugged dramatically. ‘No ritual to welcome you into religion equals no reincarnation for Luce. A small but essential loophole in your cycle.’”

This quote occurs shortly after Miss Sophia reveals herself to be evil, plotting to kill Luce. She explains that Luce will not return after dying again because of her lack of baptism in the Christian faith. This important revelation explains why things for Luce and Daniel have been different than previous lifetimes. This quote relates to the theme of the past’s influence on the present.