Stalked by Seduction and Shadows (Eternal Obsession, #1)

by Maggie Sunseri

The pain a living parent could inflict was much more excruciating than that of a dead one.

You deserve to see, hear, taste, and touch all the beautiful pleasures this world has to offer. You burn too brightly to have anything less than it all.

“And yet you burn. Despite everything you’ve endured, all the pain and the loneliness and the grief and the betrayal, you burn fucking blindingly, like you can’t help but be anything less than radiantly alive. In you I see hope that never dies, and some might call it weak or naive, but I think it’s the most beautiful thing about you, this radical choice to be open and warm in a world that is overwhelmingly cold and brutal.”

On the surface, we were direct opposites. We shouldn’t have belonged together, this ageless monster cloaked in shadow and this human ray of sun. And yet, my darkness called to hers, and even more disastrous, so too did the humanity that I secretly mourned every year or two in early autumn.

“You don’t believe in your own perfection yet, but one day you will. I’ll make sure you see yourself the way I do even if I have to destroy the entire realm to do it.”

I believed in love written in the stars because I couldn’t fathom living in a world without it.

Abusers don’t just drain us of our light. They also condition us to dim it for them, even when they’re not in our lives anymore.”

Resentment is a hollowing emotion. I think holding on to it can be a way to perpetuate our pain.”

“There are many people in this world who would love nothing more than to clip your wings. Stop doing it for them. Soar instead.”

“There is no competition in trauma. None of it is ever better or worse than any other. Trauma is not what happens to you. It’s what happens inside of you as a result of what happens to you.”

“One day, I want you on a stage before hundreds. The entire world should hear your voice.”

“You deserve so much more than what life has handed you, Scarlett. Don’t accept the half-love that you’ve grown accustomed to. Only accept the full, staggering devotion that you deserve. It’s what we all deserve. To feel wholeheartedly chosen, desired, secure, and nurtured. Anything less is theft.”

“Scarlett is a succubus. A powerful one. The glamour was stronger than anything the blood witch had ever seen before.” Scarlett is a succubus.

“Everything about us was a lie,” I said, hating the way more tears had pooled. I wanted to stay in the comforting fire of my anger. I didn’t want to slip into the depths of heartbreak that awaited me, ready to suck me under the waves as I drowned. “Correct.” Rune searched my eyes. Something uncertain flickering before his features hardened back up. “Consider yourself unclaimed.” A sharp stab, a twist of the dagger. “You are nothing to me.” His words were laced with power and fury, vibrating off the walls. My lip trembled, my knees threatening to buckle, my world beginning to fade away into darkness. “You never meant anything to me at all.”

Rune is an idiot

“There is no deserve when it comes to love. There are no conditions or stipulations. You just love.”

“Scarlett, feeding isn’t inherently⁠—” I cut her off. I didn’t want to hear any more. “I don’t want to learn about my powers. I don’t want to control them. I want to turn them off.” Another sob built inside my throat, my voice shaking with frustrated desperation. “Please, Snow.” Her face crumpled with sadness as she watched me unravel. It only drove me further down into hopelessness. The light in her eyes drained when I pulled my hand out of hers. “I want to turn it off. I want to cut it out of me,” I pleaded. “Please cut it all out of me.”

“She’s broken.” My stomach sunk, but I didn’t show it. I gave her nothing at all. Even if what I really wanted was to ask about one hundred different questions. I wanted the truth. I’d never wanted anything more, except for the little demoness herself. “She thinks she will never truly be loved, and I don’t know what to tell her anymore. She hangs on your every word, unfortunately, so when you told her she was a soulless demon, she believed you,” Snow said, raw emotion plaguing her features.