Seduced by Innocence (10 page)

Alas, that love, so gentle in his view, Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

YOUR DAD IS
wrong. Sometimes, it
is
too late.

The coven's magic weighed heavy in me, like eating a dinner that sat wrong in your stomach, but it did its job and kept me hidden from the Druids by masking my scent, hiding the coven's magical signature and cloaking me in darkness so that their eyes glanced off of me.

I pulled out my phone and called Rainbow. "It's Blake. You were right, they have a power base. It's in a secret garden in their woods. I couldn't get close to see it, but it sounded like a rose garden from the way they talked about it."

"Good. Come home now so we can create a plan."

"There's more."

"What?"

I debated whether to share this information. Rose had grown into a beautiful young woman, and if I played my cards right, I might be able to use this situation to my advantage and finally have a chance with her.

Once upon a time, we had been friends. I didn't know exactly when that had changed, but I was determined to renew the affection that once existed between us. My thoughts traveled through time, to fonder memories.

"Blake, could you help me with the puppies? I can't carry them all."

It was Rose's thirteenth birthday, but still she chose to help with the kennel.

"Sure, give me that big guy and let's get them to their new potty place."

She smiled brightly as we marched the puppies to the yard.

We sat on a swing, watching the puppies play and explore the outdoors. I had my arm around her in a friendly way.

"What's it like, going to a regular school?"

Her question surprised me. "I don't know. It's all right. Mostly, it's a lot of busy work and waiting. I think you're lucky to get to work at your own pace and do the things you want to do."

"But you get to meet new people, right? Date girls, have friends, go places." She tried to hide the longing in her voice, but I could hear it.

"I guess. But I don't really have friends outside of the community, and I'm not dating anyone."

"Have you kissed a girl before?"

"Yeah, sure."

"What's it like?"

"Kinda wet, but a little fun too. Haven't you kissed anyone?"

She shook her head. "How would I have? I never leave this place."

Something inside me buzzed as I considered the possibilities. "Would you like to know how it feels? To kiss someone?"

She turned her face up to me, hope in her eyes. "Yes. Very much."

I leaned in and kissed her gently. She tasted of birthday cake, sweet and good.

When I pulled back she still had her eyes closed, and she licked her lips.

"What did you think?"

She opened her eyes. "It was nice. Thank you, Blake."

Rainbow's voice pulled me out of my memory. "Spit it out, Blake, or come home. I don't have time for this."

"The rose garden is guarded by powerful magic. Even with the power of the coven, I couldn't penetrate it."

"That will be handled. Get out of there before you are seen." The phone clicked, and I knew I'd been dismissed.

I hadn't lied, exactly. She hadn't sent me here to spy on that bastard who was taking advantage of Rose. I'd given her the information she needed. I could handle the Derek situation myself. When Rose realized that she'd been dating the son of our enemy, she'd be inconsolable, and need someone there to comfort her. Maybe she'd finally see me as more than the maintenance guy, as someone who could love her and take care of her, way better than this rich prick. Maybe she'd remember that first kiss and realize I was the one she was meant to be with.

As the two O'Conners came out of their secret garden, I slipped back into the woods and headed toward my truck.

Rainbow had promised me power, real power, if I could help them secure this source. I knew I could do it, and with that power I could finally make Rose mine.

Stony limits cannot hold love out,

And what love can do, that dares love attempt.

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Dear Diary,

This disconnect that has wedged itself between me and Jasmine hasn't always been here. There was a time when we were close, the three of us. When we played and danced and sang, and when Jasmine wanted to be just like me when she grew up.

Jasmine has earth magic, and she and Ocean would have great fun weaving together their gifts to make Mother Nature their playmate, while I smiled on, content to be the observer in these fanciful games.

It was a winter much like this one that killed that play and replaced it with wary jealousy.

Jasmine had been five that year, and Ocean and I thought we knew everything at the mature age of eight. We'd been snowed in for two days, forced to stay indoors as Mother Nature played without us. Mother would not budge on this, insisting that we keep warm. In retrospect, I think she just didn't want to deal with the hassle of feeding, warming and bathing three girls, cold and wet from playing in the snow, so she banned play altogether.

One morning, while Mother checked on the puppies, we decided to sneak out and make our own fun. We hadn't had a chance to build a snowman yet, and with Jasmine's and Ocean's magic, we were sure we could build the best one ever!

I wish I had a picture of us from that day, hair wet from snow, eyelashes sparkling with ice crystals, as we did indeed create the best snowman ever. If we'd had a few more minutes to ourselves, I feel certain we could have brought to life Frosty the Snowman in all his glory.

But our magic was cut short by an irate mother who stormed out of the house hollering our names.

We ran back as fast as we could through a foot of snow, fear chilling us more than the snow ever could.

She stared down at the three of us with fierce, unreadable eyes.

We waited for our punishment in silence, but I couldn't let my best friend and little sister get in trouble.

I stepped forward. "It wasn't their fault. They tried to stop me, but I went out anyways. They were coming to bring me back."

Mother pulled me into the kennel and instructed me to drop my pants and bend over a crate as she pulled out a paddle.

With Ocean and Jasmine forced to watch, she paddled my bare bottom, waiting for me to break.

By the third hit, I cried out in pain as fire shot through my skin, burning me raw.

Jasmine ran forward to stop her, slipping from Ocean's grasp.

Mother threw her aside like a bag of rice, and she fell to the floor, twisting her wrist when she landed on it. She crawled to the corner and cried while Mother counted off to ten, a sadistic gleam in her eyes as she beat me.

I couldn't sit for a week, but it was Jasmine who bore the scars of that day.

While none of us made a habit of disobeying after that, Jasmine withdrew into herself and coveted from afar the friendship Ocean and I still nurtured.

Every winter I beg Jasmine to come build a snowman with Ocean and me, but every winter she says no.

Frosty will never come to life, as long as the joy that once lived in my sister stays dead.

"WHAT IF YOU
learned to control your power? Then you could be with him without fear, right?"

Mother glared at Ocean for whispering to me, and I elbowed her in the ribs and hissed under my breath, "Hush. We'll talk later."

She was right, though. If I could control my powers we wouldn't have a problem, but that was a big if. I didn't think it was possible. Mother made it clear that it would never happen, that I'd always live under this curse. But then, Mother had kept some pretty big secrets from everyone, and I had no idea what to do with that information, or with the unerring trust I'd always placed in her.

Ocean and I had stayed up all night talking about our options. I wanted to show Mother the picture and ask her about it, but Ocean said she'd just come up with some lie and we'd never learn the truth. She argued that we should hold onto it and try to find out more.

So I promised not to say anything, but carrying around this secret felt like lying with every breath. A lie of omission was still a lie, and though I had no moral imperative to tell anyone about this, my conscience wouldn't let me rest.

My mouth dropped in a wide yawn that I tried unsuccessfully to stifle. Between my late date with Derek, the attack, finding the puppies—I could barely think of them—and staying up late with Ocean, I hadn't gotten a single minute of sleep last night.

I debated whether I would go to my martial arts training today. I needed rest, and Mother would be pissed if I left the property, but I needed to learn to defend myself, especially after everything that had happened. Maybe I could say I was sick and needed to sleep and Ocean could cover for me.

What was I thinking? I needed to stay away from Derek. So I would have to find another way to train.

With that, decided I focused on the meeting.

Mother was still talking, naturally. "Our magic successfully protected Blake during his mission, and we now know for a fact that their power source is real. It's being guarded in a secret garden, and we believe it's a rose bush."

Roses. How ironic.

"We need to steal the rose bush and claim its power. This will strengthen us and weaken them, and allow us to defeat them once and for all." Mother draped a purple scarf around her neck in a flourish of the dramatic. "Rose, I will need you by my side for this, to use your powers against the Druids should they get too close."

All eyes turned to me, and I shrank in on myself. I didn't want to use my powers against anyone ever again, regardless of the reason.

"Is there a problem, Rose?" Mother stood and towered over the group.

My voice held steady despite my fears. "After what happened last night with the puppies, I just can't do anything like that right now. I'm still drained from the last time I used my powers. It's going to take a few days to recover. At least a week, I think, maybe more. In fact, I'm really not feeling well. I need to rest, maybe spend the day alone in bed."

Mother stood silent, penetrating me with her eyes. Finally, she nodded and the coven let out a collective breath. "Very well. You are looking a bit pale. Stay in your room today; you're excused from all chores for the next week. We won't attack until the new moon, when our powers will be strongest and they'll be weakest. You have almost two weeks. Be ready."

Two weeks to figure out a way to stop all of this insanity before more people were killed.

Mother dismissed the meeting, and Ocean and I walked back to our cottage.

She held my arm to steady me. "Are you really going to ditch martial arts today?"

Now more than ever I needed those skills. Why couldn't life be simpler? "No, I need to go. But I need you to stay here and cover for me, to keep people out of my room. Can you do that?"

She nodded. "I was going to suggest that very thing. First, take a nap, because you really do look like hell. Second, call Derek and ask him to pick you up on the south side of the property. You can sneak out the back and no one will know you're gone. I'll say I have to stay with you in case you need anything. With your mom putting all this pressure on your magic, everyone will want to make sure you get your strength back."

I hugged her hard. "You really are the best friend I could have ever asked for."

"I know." Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, not after the horrors of the dead puppies, but her support still lightened my burden some.

Sandy hadn't moved from her bed all day, and I'd had to force her to eat and go outside. I'd need to make sure Ocean gave Sandy extra attention while I was gone. I sat next to her on the floor and rubbed her head as I dialed Derek's number.

My call to him lasted longer than I'd planned, as I shared with him the pain of what had happened last night. When I hung up, I felt witnessed in an intimate way.

I couldn't say whether it was the abiding friendship of Ocean, the new connection with Derek, or several hours of sleep that finally brought me back to life, but by the time I left for my secret rendezvous I was ready to fight.