Forged by Greed (29 page)

Erik clapped Jatred on the back. “Come on.”

Lusia and Georgeta sat down under their umbrella, watching the boys
do their skateboard acrobatics.

“I still can’t believe this whole thing has happened. He fought the
Garhanan and then he was frozen in Winter Realm. I would’ve never thought
something like that can actually take place.” Georgeta shook her head and
pulled two Twix bars from her shirt pocket. She offered one to Lusia.

“I know.” Lusia sighed, accepting the bar. “And he doesn’t say much.
Well, guys keep things inside and never chat like we do.”

“You’re lucky. You can eat these and nothing sticks to your bones.”
Georgeta pointed to Lusia’s bar. “I shouldn’t even sniff chocolate, but I can’t
help it. Mom says I don’t have the Shifter’s metabolism, just the human one. Dad
thinks that selected Shifters are losing some of their natural attributes. But
that’s still really, really rare. Thank you, Mother Nature.” She rolled her
eyes and took a bite.

“You’re not alone. Look at Bogdan and his dad. They both have issues
with their vision. And that’s totally uncommon for Shifters,” Lusia said. “But
you know…” She fell silent when her eyes rested on the approaching Penelope.

A thick scarf was wrapped around Penelope’s neck and chin. She was
dressed in a white Michael Kors puffer jacket zipped up to her chin. She wore blue
knit-mittens and a chunky hat in a matching color.

“Look who’s here. I bet Erik called her,” Lusia whispered.

“Nice boots. I love those Uggs,” Georgeta commented, crumpling the
candy wrapper in her hands.

“Nothing but the best on Penelope. You can tell right away she’s a
Summer Shifter. She looks cold even stuffed in all those clothes.” Lusia
snorted.

Penelope approached them with a smile. “Hi.”

Both girls said their “hellos”, but Penelope had already stridden
toward the boys. Erik saw her, and his face broke into a wide grin. He
completed a complicated jump-and-turn on the skateboard and hopped off it,
right in front of her. He lifted her into a tight embrace and kissed her on the
cheek. Penelope beamed at him.

“Thanks for coming, Pen.” Erik put her down.

“Wouldn’t miss it for a million.” She let go of Erik. Her eyes slid
past him to rest on Jatred. She tried very hard not to frown.

“I want to do a few more tricks. Wait for me?” Erik looked
expectantly at her.

“Sure,” she said and walked over to sit down next to Lusia and
Georgeta.

“I like your coat,” Georgeta commented. “And the boots too.”

“Oh, thanks.” Penelope shrugged. “So, is Jatred seeing a human girl
now?”

Lusia’s eyes opened wide. She seemed to forget she was holding a
piece of a Twix bar as her hand halted on the way to her mouth.

Georgeta turned sharply toward Penelope, surprised. “What?”

“I saw them today. Her name is Savannah. She lives on my street,”
Penelope answered matter-of-factly, her eyes on Jatred.

“Wait a minute.” Lusia regained her voice. “What about Jasmira?”

“What about Jasmira? They aren’t together anymore. Haven’t been in a
while, you know that.”

“Well, in fact—” Lusia started to say.

“What are you talking about?” Georgeta interrupted. “We all know
they broke up, but a
human
girl? Are
you sure it was Jatred you saw?”

“Absolutely.” Penelope nodded.

“No, that’s just insane. I’ve known him since preschool. He’s never
dated a human girl.” Lusia puffed and looked at Jatred, who brought his
skateboard into a high jump and a sharp midair turn.

  
                                            
   
CHAPTER
32

Human World, November 17,
late afternoon.

“No, man. Don’t start again.” Jatred was getting frustrated. “I’m
not going there with you. Look… I really
don’t
remember
her, I told you.”

Bogdan opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. He
shot Erik a glance. Jatred never got so easily irritated.

Erik smiled. “Relax. Nobody’s making you do anything you don’t wanna
do, bro.”

Jatred swore, and spit on the ground. The rain was getting thicker
and colder.

The girls sat under their umbrella. Penelope hugged herself. Her thick
winter clothes and warm boots looked out of place next to Lusia and Georgeta,
who sported short sleeves and thin pants.

“I wonder what they’re talking about.” Lusia watched the boys who
stopped skateboarding and stood with their backs to the girls.

“I don’t hear a thing. They have their mental guards on. Must be me
they want to keep out of the conversation,” Penelope said with her mind.

“It’s so hilarious at school when I can hear the human kids talking,”
Georgeta changed the subject. “There’s no way for them to keep a secret from
me. I guess that’s why we only have Shifter teachers—so we can’t hear them.”

“You don’t need your Shifter’s hearing to know what the human girls
are talking about.” Lusia said. Georgeta and Penelope looked at her with
interest. “Erik and Jatred, of course. They all drool over them. But that’s
because neither one would date a human.”

“I can’t blame him. I wouldn’t date a human boy even if he was the cutest,”
commented Penelope. “It’s too complicated to hide from them what I am.”

The other two girls nodded and murmured in agreement.

“So why is Jatred seeing Savannah?” Penelope asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe they aren’t dating. They could be, you know… just
friends
.” Lusia shrugged.

Georgeta made a supportive noise, watching the boys.

“Maybe,” Penelope said, unconvinced.

“Do you think we should talk with Jasmira?” Lusia asked.

“Yeah. I know she wants to talk with you guys. Maybe you can
convince Jatred to join you? I mean, she would really like that, but…,”
Penelope shrugged. “She should call him, but she’s freaked out about what Amber
made her do, you know, to steal that Amulet and get Jatred in so much trouble.”

The boys turned around. The cold wind gusted, flattening their thin,
rain-soaked shirts against their bodies. None of them seemed to notice the
chill in the air as they walked toward the girls. It was dark already but the
skate park was brightly lit by tall lanterns positioned at the edges of the
concrete surface.

“Hey,” Penelope greeted Jatred.

He nodded at her and said, “Hi, Penelope.”

“Look, sorry about earlier today. I just got caught off guard.”

“It’s cool.” He grunted and cleared his throat.

Erik looked at Penelope expectantly. She returned his gaze. “Oh, I
saw Jatred on my way home.”

“Yeah. She saw me with a
human
girl.” The corners of Jatred’s lips lifted in a smile.

Everyone looked at him, waiting to hear more. He folded his arms
against his chest. “What?”

“Who?” Bogdan asked.

“Her name is Savannah. She’s just a friend,” Jatred said. “Okay, I’m
starving. Do you guys want to grab some Subway?”

The girls shouted their approval for an early dinner choice. Erik
wrapped his arm around Penelope and pressed a kiss onto her temple. She looked
at him sideways, smiling. Bogdan and Jatred walked in front of them, talking
about a basketball match they wanted to see. Georgeta and Lusia huddled under
their umbrella. They brought up the rear, giggling about something.

“Hope you’re not cold,” Erik said.

“I’m fine.” Penelope leaned close to him. “I just wanna go running
through the woods, but it’s so rainy.”

“You don’t like your paws getting wet.” He burst out laughing.

“In fact, no.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Even in
leopard form I get too cold in this weather.”

“Is that normal for you guys? I mean, it’s not like freezing yet.”

“No. I think it’s just me. Nobody else seems to mind.
 
My folks say I’ve not adapted to cold as well
as the other Summer Shifters.” She shrugged, enjoying the small talk.

“So what do you do when it rains so much, like this? You stay human
all winter?” Erik arched his eyebrows.

“Of course not. I shift and go running even in the rain. But I
complain a lot.” Penelope laughed.

“Maybe we can go together sometime? We all usually drive somewhere
where we know the humans won’t spot us.”

“I’d like that. I generally go to Jasmira’s place. Her grandma has ten
acres of mostly woods—all fenced around, so no humans can see us. She lets all
the Summer kids come there, and some adults too.”

“I wish we had a spot like that,” Erik commented. “We just have to
be careful. But the Shifter’s hearing and sense of smell come in handy. We can
spot a human from miles away.”

“Listen,” Penelope said to Erik with her mind, her mental guard up.
“What’s going on with Jatred?”

“Meaning?” He clearly didn’t want to elaborate.

“When I saw him with Savannah today, I told him that he must talk
with Jasmira. That it wasn’t her fault. Amber tricked her.
She
made Jasmira take that Amulet. Jasmira would never hurt Jatred.
She really had no clue what she was doing.”

“And? What did he say?”

“That he doesn’t remember her at all.”

Erik didn’t answer for a moment, frowning.

“Don’t you think that’s weird?” Penelope asked.

“After that fight with the Garhanan in Winter Realm, Crystal removed
all the memories about Jasmira from Jatred’s mind. Bogdan and his folks met up
with Jatred and his uncle this morning and brainstormed over how this was even
possible.”

“But he remembers everyone else?” Penelope arched her brows in
surprise.

“Yeah. He actually does. But the whole things is so messed up—now he
also knows some stuff that he’s never heard before. Bogdan’s folks say this is
called mind transposition.”

“What?” Penelope shrieked with her mind.

“I know, it’s super freaky. They say, when Crystal erased these
memories, she left some information about the ten-thousand-year mark or
something like that. By accident—”

“Wait, Jasmira told me about this stuff. You guys really need to see
her. This is all super weird, trust me. At first I thought she was making it
all up. But no, it’s true. It’s… geez. Maybe we all can figure things out
together.”

“I don’t think Jatred’ll come.” Erik shot her a quick glance. “There
is no talking to him. We tried—”

“I’ll talk to him,” she interrupted, picking up speed to catch up to
Jatred and Bogdan.

Erik grabbed her arm and said, “No, wait. When we get to Subway and
sit down, you can try to talk to him. Not now. I don’t want him to get pissed
and storm off. He’s been acting weird since that fight in the Realm.”

Penelope frowned and nodded in agreement.

“It must be weird to have your brain ransacked.” Erik said, his face
solemn. He put his arm around Penelope and managed a half smile. “You’re
soaking wet.”

“So are you. Haven’t you noticed it’s raining?” She leaned close to
him.
  

   
CHAPTER 33

Human World, November 17,
late afternoon.

“No. Look, we all tried to convince him, but he won’t come.”
Penelope said in a hushed voice, holding a cell phone to her ear. “No, sorry,
we—” Her hand flew up, fingers splayed, her jaw clenching and unclenching. She
slapped her thigh in frustration, listening to Jasmira’s voice on the phone,
and squeezed her eyes shut.

Erik stood a few feet away, pretending not to listen. He glanced at
Penelope and shuffled his feet. She motioned to him to get closer.

“You can ask Erik. He’s right here with me.” She paused, listening
to Jasmira.

Erik looked at her expectantly, but she only shook her head, sighed
deeply, and said to the phone, “Okay. I will see you soon.”

She put the phone in her pocket and looked at Erik. “Come on. Let’s
go back to the table to finish our sandwiches. I’m starving.”

They walked inside the small Subway shop. The rest of the Winter
kids sat at the far table in the corner, talking and laughing. Each of them
bought two foot-long sandwiches stuffed with meat and vegetables. Most had
already devoured the first sub, getting ready to start on the second.

Georgeta talked animatedly about something, everyone’s eyes on her.
They all burst out laughing, and Lusia covered her mouth, coughing. Bogdan
patted her on the back. Jatred smiled, but it was clear his mood wasn’t as
care-free as his friends’. He looked up and saw Erik and Penelope walking to
the table. His smile disappeared. He put his sandwich down and looked out the
window. It was already dark. The heavy rain that drenched everything in sight
before had become an annoying drizzle.