Read The Devil's Masquerade: The Poison Online
Authors: Jennifer Loren
“I need to go home and rest. I need some time to think,” I say as she stands silent. “You’re not going to stop me?”
“Leave if you want to leave. I won’t stop you. I don’t have the power to do that. All I can do is show you how to fight, but if you don’t want to, there is nothing I can do,” she says, standing in the wind and judging my every step away from her. I turn completely away and walk towards my car. “Will you start drinking like your mother now?” she asks, remaining in her place. “Search for love within the arms of any and every man that shows you any attention? Will you hate your children because they remind you of what you have lost?” I immediately spin around, eyeing her down.
“I will
never
hate my children! I am not my mother. She was a horrible person. She hated everything and everyone. She blamed everyone for her problems when all she had to do was …”
“Was fight? Not give up every time things became difficult?” Kamini asks with a smile.
“This is not the same situation.”
“Isn’t it?” I have to close my eyes and tell myself to breathe. “You know you have it within you. You know he still loves you. Just think about it. None of it makes sense. I can help you, Kayla. All you have to do is fight and stop running.”
“I don’t know how. I …”
“No, there is no more ‘don’t or can’t.’ There is only, ‘I will. I will fight.’ I will meet you here tomorrow at this same time, and if you show up and say, ‘I want to fight,’ then I will help you. I will help you protect your family and your friends and get your husband back. But if you don’t show, if you decide you don’t want my help, then I will walk away and let you run.” She steps towards me. “I want you to think about this when you go to sleep tonight, Kayla. Ask yourself how strong your love is for him. Will you fight for him like he has for you? Is Nick worth fighting for?”
Her words echo in my head, all the way home and on into my bed. Nick is worth more than I can even put into words. Can I fight? Can I fight and win? Will I fight? Kamini’s words haunt me throughout the night, sneaking into my dreams over and over until I wake up in a cold sweat. I dreamt of running, and I dreamt of fighting, and in the end, my fears crept in again, and I dreamt of dying. The question is: Will I die running or will I die fighting?
For Nick … I would die fighting the devil himself.
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