Claimed by Fangs and Darkness (Everlasting Possession, #2)

by Maggie Sunseri

But the past refuses to stay buried without being processed—I see that now.”

You should be immensely proud of the woman you have become.

It did matter. Every moment that had led me to this one,

“It is a revolutionary act to stay in your home despite the threat from oppressors. To continue to laugh and take strolls and steal joy and orgasms and acts of indulgence, small and large. To refuse to live in fear is radical. I will dance and make art. I will fill vases with freshly cut flowers, and I will make my bed every morning. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I would become a visitor to the place that raised me, the place that used to be the center of my world.

“Is this fucked-up of us?” I panted. “We’re self-aware, so it’s fine.” “Hmm.” I nodded. “Okay. That sounds right.”

It was a privilege to have so much to lose.

“We face the darkness together. Always.”

“It’s a lot easier to destroy than to create,” I whispered.

Grief is love’s shadow,

How could I explain to them that I’d robbed myself of connection for an entire decade, believing without a fraction of a doubt that I would be rejected? But I’d been wrong.

was a long, beautiful exhale.

War is not romantic. But sometimes, it is the only choice we have to build a better world. Violent oppressors cannot be fought with peaceful tactics.”

My love needed to outweigh my fear. For her, always for her.

Intellect without empathy and awareness is useless.”

“He only wanted to see himself reflected back in you. Men like him desire a beautiful ego-stroker with enough intelligence to understand his mind, but far too little self-respect to dare question it,”