Forged by Greed (33 page)

“I can’t even vaguely imagine you doing that.” It was Jasmira’s turn
to be sarcastic. “Anyway, the point is the ten-thousand-year mark is coming
really soon. In a few weeks actually—”

“What?”

“I know. It’s scary, but we have to know what we’re up against. And
there is more—about our Goddess.”

CHAPTER 37
   

Human World, November 18,
past midnight.

“Oh yeah, the Goddess. I almost forgot.” Penelope rolled her eyes.
“Go on, it’s not like I’m thinking straight anymore. I need to see a shrink.
And you are coming with me.”

“Sure. When this mess is over we will look one up.” Jasmira arched
one eyebrow, looking skeptically at her friend. She took a sip of her coffee
and said, “Concentrate. This part is probably the most important of all.”

Penelope sat, resting her elbows on the table, her head in her
hands. Her thick long hair twined between her fingers and fell down onto the
table top. She made an impatient gesture with her hand for Jasmira to continue.

 
“So, after one thousand years
the Amulet must be passed from one Race to another. That’s the Magicians’ first
condition. Both Races must be at peace, and that’s the second condition. But every
ten thousand years the Universe’s powers can possibly give the complete
authority to one Goddess and one Race only.”

“How?”

“The Magicians were not able to do anything about this. It’s the
Universe’s way, and nobody can alter it. The Magicians were only able to
capture some of the powers in the Amulet to ensure the peace between the Races
and the Goddesses. In this very short time of the ten-thousand-year mark, the
powers of the Universe double. If one Race’s Queen and the other Race’s King
are romantically involved, then the balance is lost. It has never happened
before, but if it does, one Race and its Goddess can rule over the other Race
and its Goddess.”
  
 

“But you and Jatred aren’t the Queen and the King just yet.”
Penelope looked alarmed. “Wait a minute, both of your parents and Jatred’s
parents died on that plane ten years ago. This wasn’t an accident.”

“I don’t think it was. But we can only speculate. Maybe they had to
be out of the picture, since neither of them would get involved with the head
of the opposite Race. I don’t know about Jatred’s folks, but mine for sure were
happily married. So maybe the only option for Amber to utilize the wild powers
of the Universe was to get rid of the Kings and Queens? And then push me and
Jatred together.” Tears gathered in the corners of Jasmira’s eyes. She squeezed
her lids shot and the tears spilled down her cheeks.

“How long have you known this?” Penelope covered her mouth with her
manicured hand.

“I replayed the conversation with Amber in my head a few times on
the plane over.” Jasmira wiped her face off with her sleeve. “That’s when it
hit me. I figured both Goddesses know about the ten-thousand-year law of the
Universe. Jatred and I are about to become the Queen and the King when we turn
seventeen. Crystal insisted on Jatred breaking up with me, because she knew
what was at stake. I told you, she even seriously threatened him. But she
didn’t give him the real reason why we can’t stay together. She was just saying
the Race mixing is unwise and works against the Winter Shifters’ future.”

“So obviously Crystal is trying to stop Amber. But if you and Jatred
somehow got back together during that time of double Universal powers, which
Race would end up as a ruler of the other?”

“The Race with female monarch.” Jasmira brushed a cookie crumb off
the table. “And you know what? Never in the history of our Races were there a
Summer Queen and a Winter King that could be together just in time for the
ten-thousand-year occurrence. So, I’m guessing that’s why Amber has never been
able before to do anything to tip the scale of the power to the Summer side.”

“I wonder if there have ever been any Kings and Queens of the
opposite Races that have been together.”

“Good point. I don’t know. But something tells me that Jatred and I are
not the first to do the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ drama.”

“Romeo and Juliet. A good one.” Penelope smiled sadly. “It all makes
sense now. It seems like all the puzzle pieces started to fit perfectly for
Amber’s scary plan. I can just picture her doing a happy dance. Ten thousand
years between each chance… wow. And there are only our two Races to pick the
crowned heads from,” she continued talking to herself, a faraway look in her
eyes.

Jasmira nodded.

Penelope fell silent, still looking into the distance, deep in thought.
Finally she asked, “Amber planned the whole thing, right? How did she make your
and Jatred’s parents take the same plane? That seems really odd.”

“I don’t know how and why that happened. And maybe we’re just seeing
smoke and mirrors all together. But you’re right—it’s weird that both Races’
Kings and Queens would end up traveling together,” Jasmira said, wrapping her
hands around a mug of hot coffee.

“And where is the Amulet?” Penelope stretched out her legs and put
her feet on the table.

“Jatred had it. He is the only one left from the Winter Royal Family,
so the Amulet stays with him. Then I took it—”

“What? How?” Penelope interrupted.

“I freaked out. Because of the break-up. You remember I was a mess
for weeks. Heck, all I wanted was to be back with Jatred. I know, lame, lame,
lame.” Jasmira thumped her forehead on the table. “I was such a brat. But
confused too. You see,
his Goddess
demanded of him to leave me, while
my
Goddess
kept convincing me that Crystal’s motives are selfish and totally
wrong.”

“And you fell for that? It didn’t occur to you that something in
Amber’s behavior was actually odd?” Penelope sounded incredulous.

“I know. I see now how naïve I was… how stupid!” Jasmira pounded her
fist on the table, making the coffee mugs and plates rattle. “How could I act
so stupid, Pen? When I look back, I can’t understand why… what was happening to
me. It’s like she did something to me; messed up with my mind. How could I even
betray Jatred? I would never do that out of my own will.”

“Amber manipulated you. There was nothing you could do about it. She’s
very powerful, so don’t make an assumption that you could possibly go against
her. She made you do what she wanted you to do. Stop torturing yourself over
what wasn’t in your ability to prevent.”

Jasmira hung her head. “I can’t stop.”

They sat in silence for a long moment, before Penelope said, “So now
I get why Jatred showed up here. I was completely surprised. I knew you two broke
up but, for a moment, I thought you were back together and… I just didn’t know,
I mean… ” Penelope shook her head. “I didn’t know what to think.”

“I am so sorry, Pen. I wasn’t sure what to say. Or if I should keep
it all a secret.” Jasmira looked uncertain. “It was ridiculous of me. I should
have told you about the Amulet. About everything. You’re my best friend.”

“It’s cool. You’ve told me now. So what happened when Jatred took
you downstairs? We were looking for you. Where did you guys go?”

Jasmira related to Penelope the recent events involving the Amulet.
By the time she admitted following Amber’s demand to steal the Amulet in order
to get Jatred into the Summer Realm, Penelope’s eyes were wide, her mouth
hanging open.

 
“I feel so stupid. But you
know what? I think Amber made me do all these things. Would I ever try to bring
Jatred to the Summer Realm? No, that was so irresponsible, cruel even. I would
never endanger him like that. Amber somehow used the powers of the Amulet to
mess my brain up. Or maybe she doesn’t even need the Amulet to do that.”
Jasmira’s hands squeezed into fists, and her nails dug into the flesh of her
palms.

“Why did she even want you to bring Jatred there?”

“I think with the help of the Amulet she could turn him against
Crystal. She would make him play her game so he would only pretend we broke up.
But right at the ten-thousand-year mark he and I would be together.” Jasmira
put her face in her hands.

“So Amber could only use the Amulet this way in her own Realm? Is
that why she wanted Jatred there?” Penelope asked quietly.

“Yes, that was it. When the Amulet wove itself around our wrists it
was so scary. We were both terrified. It was a miracle that we were able to
escape.” Tension made Jasmira’s voice crack up, and a sob tore from her throat.

“Do you still have the Amulet?”

“No. When we returned from the Summer Realm, we ended up somewhere
in Mukilteo. We stayed out of the humans’ eyes so we could run fast, with the
Shifter’s speed. We were back in my house within minutes. And then I fell
asleep. But something woke me, and I felt terrified. And he was gone. Crystal
summoned him—that’s what I sensed. I knew because of our bond,” Jasmira said in
a weak voice.

Both girls sat in silence. Finally Jasmira looked at Penelope. “We
need some sleep. There is nothing we can do about this mess now. You said the
Winter kids are coming back tomorrow?”

“What are we gonna tell them? Anything at all? Wouldn’t that put
them in danger to know all this stuff?”

“I know it might sound like that. And you must feel like you’re in
danger yourself now too. But I had to tell someone. I’m scared.” Jasmira stood
up and carried her coffee mug to the sink. “On the other hand, we are all in it
together. We all are Shifters, and it doesn’t matter anymore who’s in team
Winter, and who’s in team Summer.”

Penelope didn’t say anything. Absentmindedly, she picked at her
nails, deep in thought.

“Pen?” Jasmira asked.

“It’s just so much. I have to analyze this whole thing before it
even starts making any sense to me.”

“I’m sorry. If I could do it any other way I would, but I really—”

“Look, don’t worry.” Penelope rested her chin in her palm.
  

 
“There is one more thing. The
Universe’s powers double at the winter solstice.” Jasmira stood, her hands
clasped together.

Penelope dropped her almost empty coffee cup. It shattered into many
small jagged pieces on the marble floor, sending tiny droplets of coffee in all
directions.

“Wait. You said winter solstice?” Penelope looked at her best friend,
her eyes wide. “That’s like in a month.”

“I know.”

  
                                                        
CHAPTER 38

Human World, November 18,
late morning.

The heavy front door swung open, and a tall woman in her sixties entered
the mansion. It was Jousenne, Jasmira’s grandmother. She looked around, her
face pinched with concern. Her high heels clicked on the marble floor. She wore
a dark-plum color suit. The perfect fit suggested the suit wasn’t purchased
off-the-shelf, but rather custom-made for her. Her erect posture was commanding
and imposing. She set her small Prada purse on the accent table in the hallway
and continued toward the wide spiral wrought-iron staircase.

“Jasmira!” she called out, looking up the stairs. “I’m home.”

One of the doors on the second floor burst open, and Jasmira peeked
out. Her long curly hair was swept to one side. Her two-sizes-too-large t-shirt
was ripped in a few spots and overall looked worn and ragged. She wore
boy-style boxers that hung loose around her slim thighs.

“Grandma!” Jasmira shrieked and ran down the stairs. She jumped into
her grandmother’s arms. She bore a striking resemblance to her grandmother. The
only difference was her much darker skin, while Jousenne was quite fair. “You’re
early. So awesome. I really didn’t want you to stay in Hawaii for the next few
days. It’s so scary with everything going on.”

“That’s why I decided to return sooner. I wanted to make sure I
could actually catch a plane back home.” She hugged Jasmira and patted her on
the back. “I wasn’t happy you decided to fly to Santa Barbara. That was so
dangerous.”