Free Seduced by Pain by Kimberly Kinrade Page A

charged with kidnapping."
    Ocean slid
into the driver's seat of her car, and Derek held the passenger door of his car
open for me. I looked back at my cottage, the place I'd created many memories
with Sandy over the last few years.
    It hadn't
fully sunk in that I was leaving everything and everyone I'd always known for a
life I had no idea how to live. The weight of it all didn't quite register, but
I knew it would, and I wondered if I'd feel I'd made a mistake when it fit me.
    But looking at
Derek standing there so full of love and protectiveness, and looking at Ocean,
so confident, I knew I belonged with them, regardless of what else happened.
    I just had one
more thing to do before I could leave. "I left something in the house. I'll
be right back."
    I closed the
door behind me and rummaged through the junk drawer for pen and paper.
    When I'd
finished the note, I left it on the kitchen table with the necklace and the
book. Blake didn't deserve to be hurt like this, but I couldn't feign love for
someone just because it was more convenient. I had to follow the truth of my
heart, however challenging the road may have been.
    I fingered the
locket one last time, wishing I could keep it, but knowing it would be wrong to
do so, and left that life for good.

S IXTEEN

 

Lovers and Madmen

 

B LAKE

 

 
 
    Lovers and madmen
have such seething brains
    Such shaping
fantasies, that apprehend
    More than cool
reason ever comprehends.
    —William
Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

 
 
    WITH EVERYTHING IN place, I left to pick up Rose for our
date. Reservations had been made, special touches added—tonight had to be
perfect for my plans to work.
    The sun set,
casting dark hues on the land as shadowy fingers wrapped around the trees and
pulled them into night.
    I'd spent my
life living in the shadows, never knowing the strength of the light until I'd
met Rose. Now I'd have to embrace the darkest act in order to live in that
light forever. Oh, the irony.
    Jasmine sat on
the bench built around the large center tree, her face showing signs of tears.
    "Are you
okay?" I was going to be late, but I'd never seen the girl cry.
    "No. My
stupid sister and her stupid best friend totally abandoned me and everyone."
    Goosebumps
rose on my flesh, and I shivered at her words. "What do you mean,
abandoned?"
    She pulled her
knees into her chest and stared into the distance. "They left with her
stupid boyfriend. She tried to talk me into going, but like, yeah right. I'm
not running away like some loser just because she has some crazy ideas about
our mom and black magic."
    My gut
dropped. "Where did she go?"
    Everything had
finally fallen into place. This couldn't be happening.
    "She didn't
say. Just someplace safe. Now I'm stuck here alone, like they even care. Like
anyone cares."
    "Jasmine,
I've got to go, but if you think of anything else she said, or anywhere she may
have gone, please call me, okay?"
    The wind
tossed the blue streaks of hair falling into her face as she rolled her eyes. "Sure.
Whatever."
    I ran the rest
of the way to Rose's house, dread turning my feet to lead with every step. The cottage
felt empty, but still I knocked, waiting with that naive hope only children
clung to.
    When no one
answered, I opened the door and saw a note next to the gifts I had given her on
the table.
    My cursed
humanity pulled me into a new kind of hell as I read the letter and experienced
the pain of a broken heart for the first time in my long existence.
    My world
shattered with two simple words.
    Dear Blake.

S EVENTEEN

 

Here Come the Lovers

 

R OSE

 

 
 
    Here come the
lovers, full of joy and mirth.—
    Joy, gentle
friends! joy and fresh days of love
    Accompany your
hearts!
    —William
Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

 
 
    THE WHOLE DRIVE there I stared at my engagement ring,
enjoying the weight of it on my finger as I considered what it would mean to be
a wife, to actually be with Derek for the rest of my