Seduced by Innocence (6 page)

Stunned silence filled the room. What Mother suggested had never been done before, and the risks were significant. That much power could kill him—or render him lifeless, like one of my victims. I may not have been Blake's biggest fan at the moment, but I certainly didn't want him dead.

"Mother, we can't do that." I avoided Blake's eyes as I defended his life. "He could die."

Blake spoke up before Mother had the chance. "I'm willing to risk it. We have to do this. I don't want anything to happen to any of you. You're my family, the only one I've ever known. I would do anything to protect this coven."

I could feel his eyes on me, but I refused to meet them. His intensity made me too nervous.

Mother stood. "We do this now. He'll leave late tonight, when it's safest. The power will sustain him."

Now? We were just going to blast him with our power right this minute? I was so not ready to do that—and neither were a lot of people by the looks of it. But once Mother decided something, it was impossible to dissuade her.

I slipped on my coat and scarf and followed behind Ocean as we made our way as a group to our circle outside. Our magic was bound to the earth, sky, water and air, to the elements that made up life. We were stronger outside, our power more focused and pure.

When we reached the pentagram that contained the coven magic, we each took a spot around the circle, and Blake stood in the middle with his eyes closed. Mother used sage to purify the sacred space and each one of us. When she got to me I bowed my head as she waved the sage around me, up and down my front and back. Then I lifted my feet so she could purify that area too. I never felt any different after this, but it served a function in the rituals we performed.

She then bound the circle as we held hands and focused our power on Blake.

Magic surged through me, fed by each member of our coven. Everyone had a unique flavor to their magic. Mother's felt unmovable, like a rock. Ocean's felt powerful and vast, like her name. Even Mist joined us, her power sweet and delicate, like a flower.

Mother chanted, and we focused. I didn't want to release my magic, didn't want to be responsible for harming another person again, but caught up in the flow of power I had no choice.

The magic poured out of me, mingled with other strands of energy in a rainbow of light, and then slammed into Blake, who screamed and fell to the ground.

I broke the circle first and ran to him, but with my fear of touching, I couldn't offer any help. Darren approached and I backed away, watching as the healer laid hands on him and searched his body.

When Darren finally looked up, he didn't look alarmed or worried. "He's just passed out, but he's fine. He'll awaken shortly and, I believe, not suffer any ill affects from our spell."

Murmurs of joy rippled through our small crowd, and my heart lightened knowing we hadn't caused any permanent damage.

Blake's chest rose and fell steadily, and he had a peaceful look on his handsome face. I left him to those who could better assist him and made my way to my own cottage to get some work done on Master Kyoung's website and sort through everything that had happened that day so far.

Ocean followed close on my heels, grabbing my arm to walk together. "You're not getting away that easily. We're going to talk about this date, but our talk will not involve whether or not you're going. No, it will involve which outfit of mine you're going to borrow so you don't look like an old schoolmarm who's never been kissed."

I laughed. "But I
haven't
ever been kissed. Well, except that time with Blake, but that hardly qualified as a kiss." I cringed at the memory.

"
He
doesn't need to know that! Let's go pick out something suitable and get you ready. We only have a few more hours before he'll be here to whisk you away."

Only
a few hours? What kind of torture was my best friend planning for me?

Peace? I hate the word

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

I TWISTED MY
tie in a loop and tried to straighten it, but it still looked like a blind child had put it on. Who invented this torture anyways? I'd have been much happier in my leather jacket and a t-shirt, but Rose deserved my A-game, such as it was.

"What are you getting all dolled up for, Bro?"

Tammy's voice startled me from my misery. I spun around to face my sister, who leaned against my doorframe, smiling.

"I have a date."

"With a girl?" She raised her voice in mock astonishment. At least I hoped it was mock.

"No, a penguin. Yes, a girl." Another twist and my tie fell apart in my hands. I sighed and threw it on the bed.

"You've been home a day and you've already met a girl? Figures. But I thought your bar dates usually preferred a more casual look?" She walked into my bedroom and picked up the tie, then stood at my back and reached around me to tie it. "You're doing it all wrong. Let me help."

I bent lower so she could reach my neck, and even still she had to get up on her tiptoes to finish it.

One look in the mirror told me she had more skills than I did. "Thanks, Sis."

I slipped on my suit jacket and hoped I wasn't overdressed. Perhaps I should have told her where we were going so she'd know what to wear. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable on our first date.

Oh, God. Now I sounded like a girl. I needed to get this chick out of my head. Maybe sleeping with her would do the trick. But even as I thought it I knew I couldn't use her in that way.

The clock in the hall chimed six times. I still had over an hour before I needed to leave to pick up Rose.

I turned to Tammy and presented myself. "Do I look okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know you do. You have women eating out of your hands. I'm glad I'm your sister, because I'd hate to be one of your conquests!"

"That's just wrong, Tam. I can't think of you that way."

"Why are you so nervous about this girl? Is she special?"

I considered her question carefully before answering. "Yeah, you know, I think she might be. Which is really bad."

Tammy flopped on my bed and made herself comfortable. "Why, because it means you might have to stick around awhile?"

"That's exactly why. I'm not ready to give up my life just yet." I slipped my watch on and checked to make sure I had cash in my wallet.

"Is our life here so bad that you just can't imagine being a part of this family?" She tried to keep her words light, but I heard the hurt behind them.

"It's not you guys, it's me. I'm just not cut out to follow in Dad's footsteps."

"Then don't. Stay, but live your own life. He's not an ogre, you know." She stood and crossed her arms over her chest. "He's not going to force you to be something you don't want to be."

I thought back to when I first left home. "That's not what it felt like last time we talked about it."

"You're like an old man with a grudge, you know that?" Her eyes brightened as her anger took over. "You get in one fight with him and decide nothing here is worth keeping. He's human. He made a mistake. Don't you think it's time to give him a chance to do better? Or are you so perfect that you've never said something you regretted later?" Now her eyes had a feral quality to them, and I could feel her power surface as she channeled her inner animal.

"Are you going to shift and challenge me for successor rights?" I meant it to come out as a joke, but it sounded more like a plea.

Her face fell. "Dean would have, if you'd really wanted him to."

I pulled her into my arms. "How is he?"

"The same. It's like he has nothing left in him, but every now and then I feel something, like a shadow of who he was." She frowned. "It's almost worse when I feel that, because it gives me hope, and I don't think there's any hope in his recovery."

"They should pay for what they did to him. Those witches are out of control." I let Tammy go and stormed downstairs and into my dad's library.

"Dad, we need to talk."

He looked up from his book and stood. "Of course, son, what is it?"

"Why aren't we getting everyone together to go after the witches and destroy them for what they did to Dean? Why are we just sitting here on our asses doing nothing? I want their address. Where do they live? We have to do something!"

My wolf roared inside of me, and I fought off the desire to shift and then to hunt.

"Derek, you know that's not our way, and I think it’s best you don't have that information right now. We are guardians of vast power, and with that comes—"

"—immense responsibility," I finished. I'd heard this bullshit too many times growing up. "But they're dangerous. Don't we have a responsibility to protect ourselves and other innocents from their misuse of power? Someone in that coven is powerful enough to strip Dean, a powerful Druid and shifter, of his life, while leaving his body functional. Doesn't that scare the crap out of you?"

He sank into his chair and covered his face with his hand. "You have no idea how scared that makes me, and how grief-stricken I am about this. Your mother is devastated and is hardly eating or sleeping. Everyone is deeply affected by what has happened to Dean, but we have to use our heads and not run in half-cocked and ready to destroy them. We don't know who did this or why. We don't know how many members of the coven are a part of what's happening. Would you want to destroy innocent lives by mistake?"

I hadn't thought of that, that there might be members of the coven who weren't involved in this. But that didn't change the fact that we had to do something soon. And we had to find a way to fix my brother.

But looking at my father's face, at the lines that had grown deeper even in the time I'd been home, the way his eyes had dulled, I couldn't bring myself to keep arguing with him.

Dad stood, hugged me, then let me go. "I love you, son. I love all three of you more than you'll ever know. But you know the Druids have a violent history. Do you remember what I taught you?"

"Of course, I remember." I didn't roll my eyes, out of respect for my father, but I'd heard this a thousand times. "The Druids once used human sacrifice and blood magic to enhance their powers. Our ancestors destroyed all records of those before us, and passed down those histories orally as they worked to create a magic that would free us from those early times."

He nodded. "That's right. We have that power now, and we have to be careful how we use it, lest we return to the ways of old and destroy ourselves, and others, in the process."

My father took his role as leader seriously and it was for that reason, because of that solemnness, that I knew I could never lead in his place. I had to leave as soon as we'd found a way to cure Dean. I'd let my brother challenge me and win, then I'd leave and never come home. It was the only way to keep my family safe.

Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!

Give me my sin again.

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Dear Diary,

What can I say about Seattle that you haven't already seen in movies? It has a flavor to it that's distinct from all other cities. In New York, you have a fast-paced energy, a frenetic heartbeat that makes the New York minute seem much shorter than any other.

In San Francisco, there's an artistic haze of searching and not finding, as if all the lost, brilliant pieces of life have come together in a mosaic that is full of color and friction.

But in Seattle, you get an earthy rightness with the wonder of art and city life. Imagine a fishing village, perched on the waters that give it sustenance, combined with the culture of art-loving free thinkers, and then add a dash of the wild outdoors, where jeans replace dress pants and hiking boots replace heels, and you get a sense of what Seattle is about.

We have the World's Largest Ferris Wheel, the Seattle Space Needle, The Pacific Science Center and Seattle's Best Coffee.

And we have fish and seafood and nightlife and camping, and tall buildings lit up at night like lighthouses that lost their way.

Seattle is for people who love culture, but refuse to sacrifice their wild nature to attain it.

"I CAN'T GO.
It's too risky." I yanked off the ridiculously high heels Ocean had shoved my feet into and flopped back on the bed. "I have to focus on protecting the coven. And I want to find out more about these Druids. They have to have a motive, some end game other than just terrorizing us. Maybe if I can figure out what it is, it'll help us defeat them."

"News flash: Going on a date with a hot guy is not going to put anyone at risk. Put your shoes back on, he'll be here in a minute." She handed me the evil torture devices covered in red satin, and I slipped them on my already sore feet.

"I'm not going to be able to walk in these, you know." I looked down at them suspiciously. "Falling on your ass isn't sexy on dates, I've heard."

She flipped her hair over her shoulders. "Nonsense. It'll give him a chance to rescue you. Men like to rescue damsels in distress."

"I'm not a damsel and I don't need rescuing." I lifted my foot as evidence. "But I am in distress, that part is true." Still, I surrendered and allowed her to apply another coat of mascara to my already black eyelashes. "Besides, what's the point? I can't touch him, or kiss him, or… you know…. "

"Do him?" She wagged her eyebrows and laughed. "Who says? You didn't lose control of your powers the other night, you used them to protect your mother."

"But when I was six—"

"When you were six, you were six! Get it? A kid. Kids aren't known for self-control, but guess what? You're not a kid anymore. You don't have to be ruled by fear of your own abilities, and it's time you saw that for yourself." She used another tool in her bag to curl my eyelashes, then applied another coat of red lipstick to my lips and declared me fit for dating.

I stood carefully and hobbled to my full-length mirror to review the extent of the damage she had inflicted on me. I sucked in my breath when I saw myself. I looked…

"Beautiful. You are stunning!" Ocean smiled and took a bow. "Though, I really can't claim much credit, it's all you, I just helped you bring it out."

I tugged on the too short red dress and messed with my hair. She slapped my hands away. "Don't touch, you'll ruin the perfection."

"What if he's dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, I'll look stupid." I wish he'd told me where he was taking me, so I'd know if I was overdressed. Of course, I could've asked, if I'd been thinking clearly.

"A woman can never be overdressed. You'll be fine." She checked her watch. "He'll be here any minute, let's go. We don't want tongues wagging. I'll drive you to the front gate and wait with you until he comes."

Sandy walked up to me and sat at my heel. "Sorry, girl, I can't take you this time. Maybe next time." I sure hoped Derek liked dogs, otherwise this relationship was doomed before it started.

I grabbed my nicest coat and slipped gloves over my freshly painted, and finally dried, red nails. Ocean scowled at me. "You can't cover up your pretty hands." She yanked the gloves off, and I looked down at my flesh, panic rising in my throat. "I can't go gloveless, not with him, not after what happened. It's too soon, Ocean."

She sighed dramatically but handed me back my gloves. "Fine, but try not to act weird and nervous. Just relax and be yourself."

"If I was being myself I'd be in jeans and a cotton shirt, not dressed up like Pretty Woman."

She pulled me through the door and into the night. "Ha, ha! Very funny. Let's go get you laid."

"Ocean, I'm so not having sex tonight. I just met him."

Her car alarm clicked off, and we both slid in. "Well, at least get a good kiss in. It's the least you can do after all the work I put in on you."

"Remind me again why we're best friends."

The car rumbled to life, and she pulled out onto the dirt road that led to the main gate. "Because, I'm charming, fun, beautiful, and I make you laugh."

"I suppose that's all true. You're also irritating."

She smiled. "It's one of my many charms."

We arrived at the gate just as Derek pulled up in a black Mercedes.

Ocean whistled under her breath. "Who knew Mr. Hot Stuff was loaded. You sure know how to pick them, girlfriend."

Rich and gorgeous? I was so out of my league.

He pulled his car to the side and stepped out. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw his pressed, pinstriped suit and tie. His dark hair still had a wildness about it, though I could tell he'd tried to tame it with product. The suit fit him in a way only tailored suits fit, and I wondered why he was working at the martial arts studio when he clearly didn't need money.

I leaned in and whispered to Ocean, "Thank you." I would have been mortified if I'd shown up in jeans.

She held out a thumbs-up and drove away after I slammed the door shut.

Feeling very exposed, I teetered over to him, and he rushed to hold his door open for me. He leaned in close, nearly grazing my shoulder with his chin. "You look incredible."

My heart stammered and stuttered and I'm sure I turned the same color as my dress. "Thanks. So do you."

I slipped into the most comfortable leather seat I'd ever been in. In that moment I understood why someone would spend an obscene amount of money on a car. I wanted to sink into the cushions and never get out.

When he returned to the driver's seat and closed the door, I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding in. "Nice car."

"Oh, this isn't mine. It's my sister's. I didn't think you'd want to drive all the way to Seattle on a motorcycle." He grinned, and the dimple in his chin deepened. I had a sudden urge to glide my tongue over his chin and suck on his bottom lip.

Oh my! I needed to keep my head clear. "Um, yeah, that would have been tricky, at least in this dress." I motioned down to my exposed legs and the dress that wouldn't have even allowed me to straddle a bike, let alone ride on it for over an hour.

"So, we're going to Seattle?" Yeah, because that's the height of intelligent conversation, repeating back to him what he'd just said. Good going, Rose.

He frowned. "Yes, that was the plan, unless you'd rather stay local? Do you have to be back by a certain time?"

"No, I'm free for the evening, and Seattle sounds nice. I haven't been there in a long time."

"Great! Let's get going." He pulled out and turned the car around, then headed back to the main street.

Warm air blew on my legs, thawing them from their brief exposure to the cold. I hoped he didn't have a lot of outdoor plans in mind.

At first I worried we wouldn't have much to talk about during the long drive, but it turned out we had a lot in common. We enjoyed many of the same bands, and hated a lot of the same foods—like oysters and clam chowder. "It's the texture, right? It's just too chewy!"

"Exactly," he said. "It's like eating one of those blobs that kids play with, you know what I mean?"

I nodded. "Yes, I think I had one of those when I was a kid."

He glanced over at me, then back to the road. "You're even more beautiful when you smile, you know that?"

There went my heart again. "Um, thanks."

"You don't like being complimented very much, do you?"

I shifted in my seat, positioning myself so I could look at him better. "It's not that. I'm just never sure how to respond without sounding cocky or self-effacing. Now Ocean, she knows how to take a compliment and make it sing for her."

"Have you two been friends long?"

I thought back to the day we met, when we were six years old and I tore the life from another girl in our class. Ocean didn't judge me or tell on me when she realized I was to blame. She just hugged me and then convinced her parents to join our coven. They died in a car crash when she was thirteen and the coven had been her only family ever since.

But of course, I couldn't tell him any of that. "We've known each other since we were kids. She's like a sister to me, closer than my own sister, actually. What about you? What's your family like?"

"I have a sister and a brother. They're twins, so I'm always the odd man out, but it's okay. We're all still pretty tight."

He pulled off the highway and slowed to stop at a red light, then turned to look at me as we talked.

"What about your parents?" I asked. "Are you close to them?"

His face expressed a range of conflicting emotion, and I knew there was a story behind it, but I didn't press for more. If we got through a first date, I'm sure he'd share more about his life eventually. I certainly had a lot about my own family and history that I wasn't willing to share tonight.

"I love my parents, but we don't always see eye to eye on what my life should look like, you know?"

I nodded. "I do know. I think everyone has that problem with their parents to some degree. They want a certain kind of life for us, and I'm sure it's hard for them to let go long enough to let us make our own choices, especially if they believe our choices are hurting us or others." I thought of what Mother would say about this date and how dangerous it could be getting close to a man.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're very wise."

"Not really. Just observant. There's a difference."

The light turned green, and he focused back on the road. "I'd wager a bet that you're both observant and wise. I'm a pretty good read of people, so I wouldn't argue with me if I were you."

I laughed. "Well, far be it from me to challenge your people reading skills."

His lips turned up in a half grin. "Indeed."

"So, where
are
we going?"

"An Italian restaurant my sister told me about. It's supposed to have the best meatballs in Seattle."