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

by Maggie Sunseri

“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.”

Snow took a deep breath, finally unleashing the full brunt of her ire on Aristelle’s vampire ruler. “If you harm her⁠—” “Then you can kill me,” Rune said. All eyes darted to him. “I’ll hand you the blade.”

everything twisted and sick inside of me thirsted for everything sick and twisted inside of him.

“I told you, Scarlett. When I finally drink from you, I will never want anyone else’s blood ever again. When I become just as addicted to your blood as I am to your body and soul, I will rather starve than drink from another.”

I hated that I was going to steal her freedom. But I equally hated she was bound to steal mine. My freedom to live in a cold, unchanging world where power and loyalty were the only things that mattered. My freedom to act of my own will, free from want and whim and Scarlett’s intoxicating hold over me.

It’s a juxtaposition, you see. Because you cannot actually live forever. You can only exist.

I cursed my mortality just as much as I thanked Helia for my humanity, one impossible without the other. It was only because it was all fleeting that these moments meant so much to me. It was only because of my humanity that I could feel all of this so deeply, so viscerally.

Scarlett seemed to be dragging me into her cosmic orbit no matter what I had to say about it.

“I told you that I’d bring your every dream to fruition. In your eyes, I see galaxies and oceans, and a deep darkness too. You should always be surrounded by the rawness of life. The lofty beauty and the harsh bite of pain. I want you to experience it all.”

“I think the best things in this world defy logic. They just are. Nameless, formless. All feeling, devoid of the bondage of logic and limited mortal understanding.”

“I wonder if your desire to be a brat will outweigh your drive to be my good girl, my perfect little toy,”

Fate has a way of taking our dreams and twisting them around in her palms.”

“Two things. First, I never want to hear you say you’re not good enough ever again. It’s insulting to my impeccable taste,” Rune said, a commanding edge to his voice as he traced my jaw. “Whoever told you that was dreadfully envious. Second, like I’ve already told you, you are capable of infinitely more than you give yourself credit for. And if worse comes to worse, I have a multitude of tricks to eradicate you of your fright. The only thing in this world you should ever fear is me.”

“I’ll sing for you if you write for me,”

And though I was alone, I was far from lonely.

I missed him. I missed the fire, the games, the way we mirrored each other’s darkness.

I was falling, hard and fast, and just like singing, it felt like soaring.

She doesn’t just exist, like most humans. She can’t help but live, sucking out mortality’s raw marrow. She can’t help but burn.

“She’s magnetic,” I said. “She pulls everything and everyone toward her, like she’s a planet with its own orbit. All the beauty and all the pain, the duality of darkness and light that cannot exist without the other. And gods above, does this little seductress love to flirt with danger, coax it toward her like I’ve never seen before.”

“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, you are the only thing that feels different in a world that never changes.”

We were inevitable, our lives forever intertwined. She was my Little Flame, and I was her darkness, the beast that would always stalk her from the shadows.

You still deserve to be here with us, alive and happy and loved. So much has changed, but your worth has not. You mean something to people, and you add something remarkable to this world.”

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

Desire is the key to our survival. Without desire for food and water, we perish. Without desire for companionship, we grow isolated and our souls and minds decay. Desire is amoral. It’s the trajectory of our intentions and actions that determine our goodness.”

I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe in me and Scarlett and love written in the stars.