Forged by Greed (10 page)

She rolled off of him and helped him sit up.

Jatred arched his back in pain, swearing. “The Goddess summoned me.”

“I knew it. I felt it!” Jasmira shrieked. “Why?”

Jatred looked away, deep in thought. He tried to decide if he should
tell Jasmira about the Goddess’s demand.

“What did she want?” She leaned tentatively toward him, waiting for an
explanation.

Jatred sighed and looked at Jasmira. His heart skipped a beat, and a
knot formed in the pit of his stomach.

“She wants you to leave me, right?” Jasmira tensed, her eyes
alarmed. The anxiety overtook her, and she started to shake. Jatred drew her to
him and held her close.

“Shh, don’t worry, don’t worry, shh, don’t worry,” he whispered
until the words sank in.

She pulled away and looked at him. “The Summer Goddess said it’s
fine. She said we can be together. She understands… she knows I love you, so
why doesn’t Crystal leave us alone?” Jasmira searched Jatred’s face.

He was aware that, at this moment, she looked for comfort in him.
She wanted to hear that there was nothing to worry about. He pondered his
options, and, smiling, lifted Jasmira’s chin. “We are
fine
. Don’t freak out. It was just,” he shrugged, “she wanted to
see me. That’s all. Hey, how is your stomach? Still okay?”

Her shoulders sank in relief. She smiled and kissed him. “I’m fine.
My stomach is fine. For a moment I was
so
scared.”

“I know. Everything’s cool.” Jatred held her tight.

She took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. She couldn’t see his
face—his jaw clenched, and he squeezed his eyes shut, as if trying to get rid
of guilt. It wasn’t really a lie; he just withheld a few facts from her. It was
true, that Crystal had summoned him, but he didn’t share with Jasmira what was
demanded of him now. Keeping the truth from her weighed on his conscience and he
agonized over the best way of breaking it to her. But not yet, not right
now—now Jatred only wanted to feel Jasmira’s warmth, her breath on his skin,
her heart beating in unison with his.

She sighed and wriggled out of his embrace. A small smile tugged at
the corners of her lips. “Do you wanna chase me?”

Jatred’s looked at her in silence, still deep in thought.

“What’s wrong? Something
did
happen in the Winter Realm, right?” She looked at him in dismay. “J, you’re
hiding something from me. Aren’t you?”

He tried to look completely taken aback by this accusation. “Relax,
you’re so edgy today. Nothing happened.” He wished he had said something
sensible, more profound, but his brain went blank.

“Sorry. It’s just… you were gone so suddenly.”

“Crystal does things like that. She summons us without warning.” He
was trying to divert her from the terrifying truth, to shield her from it. He
knew Jasmira would panic, when she finally learned what really happened in the
Winter Realm, and he wanted to better prepare her for the news.

“And you were gone only for a few minutes.”

“Yeah, I suppose. Well, you know why. Time in the Winter Realm is
different than here. Isn’t it the same with the Summer Realm? Good thing
Crystal didn’t dump me somewhere on the other side of town. I’ve heard when she
dismisses someone from the Realm, they can find themselves miles away from
where you were before she summoned.”

“J, I felt your fear. The bond always makes me feel what you’re
going through.”

“I know. I feel you too. And, yeah, I was scared. One second I’m
here with you and the other, I’m in the snow, standing in front of my Goddess.
It freaked me out.”

She leaned closer and kissed him on the lips. “But you’re here now.
That’s all that matters.”

Jatred closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. Any pain
that lingered in his heart vanished under her touch. An owl hooted somewhere in
the trees, then took to wing and soared past them, disappearing in the
darkness.

CHAPTER 11

Human World. August 26,
late morning.

“Uncle wants to drive to the Cascades and go hiking in the Blanchard
Mountain. We went there a couple years ago, and it was a blast. There are caves
with bats around the Oyster Dome. Man, it’s so freaky. And the views are really
cool,” Jatred talked fast, his face animated. He pinched the cell phone between
his shoulder and his ear, packing a few essentials into a battered backpack.

“I haven’t seen you in a week,” Jasmira protested. Her voice, coming
over the phone line, carried a sad note. “How long are you gonna be gone?”

“Uhm… a few days. We’ll camp somewhere. He hasn’t shifted in a while
and really needs to go chasing through the woods. I could use it too.”

Jasmira sighed heavily. “Okay.”

“J, don’t be upset. Uncle has been talking about hiking for a month
now. I owe him,” Jatred said gently. “I will make it up to you when we come
back. I promise.”

“You’d better.”

“What are you up to?” He opened a drawer in his dresser and pulled a
few pairs of socks.

“I don’t know. This is the last week before school starts. I wanted
to do something fun.”

“Go swimming then. You’ve got a killer pool.” Jatred stuffed the
socks into the backpack and walked to the closet.

“Maybe. Pen and I are in that pool every day. She probably invited a
huge crowd over again.” Jasmira rolled her eyes.
 

“Jatred! We are leaving in ten minutes,” a low, booming voice called
out from downstairs. Tyrrell, Jatred’s uncle, was in the kitchen, packing lunch
for both of them.

Jatred covered the phone with his hand and hollered, “I’ll be down
in a minute.”

“Gotta go. I love you. I’ll see you in a few days,” he said quietly.

“I can’t say I’m happy. But I’m not going to whine. Well, have fun.”
Jasmira sighed wistfully.

“I’ll call you tonight,” Jatred said, swinging the backpack onto his
shoulder and walking out of the room.

***

“Our summer vacation is almost over,” Penelope groaned, stretching
out on the chaise longue. She smoothed the edges of a white towel that covered
the chaise cushion. Oversized black Fendi sunglasses shaded her eyes and almost
half of her face.

“Get out of the sun. You’re gonna get skin cancer,” Jasmira
murmured. She lay next to her friend under a huge tilted umbrella.
 

“I’m wearing sunblock. Relax. I need my sunshine.” Penelope peered
from over her sunglasses at Jasmira. “I’m not as lucky as you are. You’re so dark;
you’ve got this gorgeous permanent tan all year long.”

Jasmira laughed. “That’s one of the advantages of being
half-Ethiopian.”

“Look at me,” Penelope complained. “I’m Greek. I should have dark
hair and possibly dark skin too. But
no
,
I have to be pale and redhead.” She puffed and lay her head down again.

Several Summer teenagers played volleyball in the pool, shrieking
and splashing each other with water. The ball ended up soaring out of the pool
and hitting Penelope’s knee. She tore her sunglasses off and yelled, “Watch it,
Trent! I will personally toss you out of the pool if you do that again.”

“Sorry.” The blond teenage boy laughed, waving at her.

“You’d think he’d be more mature now that he finally got his ability
to shift,” Penelope said under her breath.

“I didn’t know the shifting ability makes anybody more mature.”
Jasmira laughed.

“Geez, everyone knows that.” Penelope snorted.

Jasmira tossed an ice cube at her friend. It landed on Penelope’s
stomach, and she gasped. She brushed it off with the back of her hand, grabbed
a plastic tumbler from a side table next to her, and flung the contents at
Jasmira. Water and ice cubes hit Jasmira square in the chest. She shrieked and
jumped off her chaise.

“Okay, truce!” Penelope yelled. She outstretched her arms in front
of her, palms out.

“No truce, traitor,” Jasmira modulated her voice to make it sound
like the old witch from Wizard of Oz movie. “I’m gonna get you, my pretty.”

Jasmira seized a soda can and shook it vigorously. Penelope
scrambled out from the chaise longue and ran toward the pool, stopping at the
edge to see if Jasmira was following. Jasmira ran full speed at Penelope, the
spraying soda can in hand. Without slowing down she rammed into Penelope,
pushing her in the pool. The girls screeched, slamming into the water.

 
Everyone cheered and hooted,
waiting for them to surface. They both came up for air, laughing and trying to shove
each other under the water.

“Fine, you win!” Penelope hollered, scrambling to get away from
Jasmira.

Jasmira gave a laugh of pretend venom and swiftly got out of the
pool. She reached out and offered Penelope a hand. Penelope graciously accepted
with a pleasant smile. In one rapid motion she pulled Jasmira back into the
water. Jasmira fell into the pool, squealing.

Penelope didn’t wait for her friend to resurface. Instead, she
climbed out, and ran toward the cabana, her body a blur of motion. Jasmira
grabbed the ball, bobbing on the water next to her, and, with measured
precision, threw it at Penelope’s back. The ball sailed through the air.
Penelope ducked and rolled on the lawn. The ball hit one of the cabana’s
windows, shattering it and disappearing inside.

“Whoa!” the small crowd shouted.

“Oops.” Penelope made a face and turned to look at Jasmira, who
watched, half-immersed in the water. “Your grandma won’t like it.”

Jasmira waved her hand and shouted back, “Sorry, Pen! I didn’t mean
to throw it
that
hard.”

“Yes, you did.” Penelope walked back. “Forgot your strength again?”
She bent down to pick up her sunglasses off the pavers, and then lay down on
the chaise longue.

Jasmira trotted toward her, leaving wet foot prints on the concrete.
She flung herself down onto the chaise and said, “Ana needs to get her repair
guys here to take care of that window.”

Penelope stretched with a yawn. “Oh, the sun feels so good.” She
turned to look at Jasmira. “You haven’t said a word about Jatred lately. What’s
up?”

“Nothing. I mean… I don’t know.” Jasmira reached for a towel. “Last
week we only talked on the phone. I haven’t seen him since we went running in
the woods that one night.”

“That doesn’t sound like you two.” Penelope yawned again.

“He seems distracted or something. It’s so weird.” Jasmira got up
and wrapped the towel around her shoulders. She shrugged indifferently. “I
don’t want to seem needy, so I don’t pressure him.”

“Yep. You shouldn’t. There is nothing worse than a whiny chick. Or a
guy, for that matter.” Penelope inspected her nails. “I need a manicure. Let’s
go this afternoon.”

“Only if we get smoothies afterwards.”

 
“Sure,” Penelope murmured.

Laying down on the chaise longue, Jasmira turned her face away from Penelope.
She put her mental shield up, not wanting anyone to hear her thoughts. She
didn’t feel like discussing this particular problem at the moment.
He’s avoiding me. I know he’s doing it on
purpose.
It must be because of the
Winter Goddess.
She chewed on the inside of her cheek, her worried frown
deepening. The joy, she felt only moments earlier while playing with her
friends evaporated, replaced by gloom and disappointment.