Seduced by Innocence by Alex Lux

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.
     

F OURTEEN
     
Stony Limits
     
R OSE
     

     
     
    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