Forged by Greed (32 page)

“I swear, Pen, you always know what to say to make me feel better.”
Jasmira laughed and strolled over the floor inlay.

“It’s my job, my Princess.” Penelope snorted.
“What do you think about that earthquake today? Did you hear about the other
crazy stuff—the volcanoes and that hurricane?”

“It’s starting. It’s gonna get much worse.”
Jasmira’s face took on a solemn look. “Amber and I had a long talk. I don’t
even know where to begin.” She sighed, sinking down into a sofa. Her overnight
bag landed on the floor.

“What’s already starting?” Penelope wrapped
herself in a blanket and wiggled into a large armchair.

Jasmira seemed to gather her thoughts. Penelope
waited patiently. She remained focused, despite yawning and rubbing her eyes.
The house was quiet, and only an old grandfather clock kept ticking, reminding
them of the never-stopping time.

“I’ve been so
naïve
,” Jasmira said with her mind. She pulled her knees to her
chest. “I’ve heard how furious the Goddess often becomes when Summer Shifters
get into relationships with the Winter Shifters. But she’s never been against
me and Jatred. And he’s the Winter Prince after all.”

Penelope frowned.

“The Goddess even encouraged me. And when Jatred
and I were forced to break up, because
his
Goddess demanded it from him, our Amber acted like it was such an unnecessary
thing. She hid Crystal’s reasons from me. She said Crystal cares only about the
Amulet and not about her Shifters
. T
hat all she wants is to keep the Amulet in her possession.
She lied to me! Totally lied to me.”

“What Amulet?” Penelope asked.

“I’ll tell you about that too.” A single tear
rolled down Jasmira’s smooth cheek. She wiped it off with the back of her hand,
and drew a deep quivering breath to compose herself. “I kept forgetting I’m the
Summer Princess. I let myself think I was like a regular sixteen-year-old girl,
and Amber was my mother, not the ancient Goddess. She has always acted like
some kind of a wonderful mommy. Damn, now I really can’t believe I fell for it.
I’m such an idiot.”

Penelope got up from her armchair and walked to
the sofa. She sat next to Jasmira, throwing half of her blanket over her
friend. Then she wrapped her arm around Jasmira’s shoulders and gave her a gentle
squeeze. “Don’t cry. Do you want some coffee? You must be falling off your feet
by now. I know I am.”

“That’s actually a great idea.”

Penelope pulled Jasmira up by her wrist.
“Kitchen,” she commanded.

Soon the kitchen and all the adjacent rooms
filled with the smell of freshly-brewed coffee. Penelope opened the door to the
pantry, and went in to rummage through the enormous shelves that went up to the
ceiling. She climbed on a wooden sliding ladder and took a box of chocolate
chip cookies and a round tin container.

“So, tell me what the heck is going on between
you and Jatred. You’re not back together, are you?” Penelope hollered from the
pantry.

“No. We are not really back together. I spent a
few hours with him right before I went to Santa Barbara on Amber’s jet. He
kinda disappeared on me. I’m so scared, Pen.” Jasmira’s face was set in an
anxious mask.

“What do you mean,
disappeared
?”

“I fell asleep, and then he wasn’t there. We
still have the bond, s
o, I often know what he’s going
through. I sense his emotions. The bond isn’t as strong as before, but it’s
still there. I knew something terrible had happened, and that he was in danger.”

“What about now? Do you know if he’s okay?” Penelope emerged from
the pantry and put the box and tin on the table.

 
“Now I
feel he’s safe. The bond is weaker, like there is a thick wall between us.
Like… I can’t get to him, because there’s something blocking my way.”
Jasmira sighed.

“But the bond will never go away, right?”
Penelope
wrestled with the lid of the tin
container and when she uncovered it, the air filled with the rich smell of
chocolate. Carefully arranged inside were a couple dozens of small chocolate
truffles
—
some round, some square, and several
heart-shaped. Each sat in a dark-brown cup liner. Glossy white paper lined the
tin box, decorated with small gold and silver circles.

“Oh.” Jasmira inhaled, closing her eyes. She
moved the container closer and peered inside.

“I got these for you. From Dilettante on
Broadway,” whispered Penelope, leaning close.

“I love that place. Jatred took me there for our
first date.” Jasmira smiled sadly. She reached for a round chocolate with four
green lines of frosting on top and popped it in her mouth.

Penelope chose a plain white square truffle. They
both made a series of satisfying noises. Then each of them took another
chocolate, leaving the tiny brown liners empty, like abandoned bird’s nests.

“I need more coffee.” Jasmira licked her fingers
and stood.

“Bring the whole carafe thingy here.” Penelope
motioned to her.

“I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Jasmira sighed, pouring hot coffee into Penelope’s mug.

“That’s what your BFF is for, right?” The
redhead shrugged, bringing the cup to her lips. She took a small sip and looked
at her friend. “I’m a pain in the butt, but you can always count on me.”

“I know that. I’m lucky you stick around.”

“Finally the chocolate-activated endorphin
production brought your brain to a state of normalcy.” Penelope snorted, and then
smiled. ”Okay, that was lame and dorky. I totally sound like our teachers.

CHAPTER 36
   

Human World, November 18,
past midnight.

“Oh, I wish this was just a bad dream.” Jasmira
groaned and pushed the box of chocolates away. “I’ve known Jatred for years,
since we were kids. But I’ve never paid much attention to him until last summer,
remember?”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “It’d be rather hard
to forget how insane you went.”

“Oh, please.” Jasmira tossed a chocolate-stained
crumpled napkin at Penelope. “He just finally started to look like a guy, not
like a little kid. Besides, he was totally showing off on that skateboard.”

“Yeah, whatever. Let me hear more about the
trouble with Amber. I still don’t understand what this whole mess is about.”
Penelope flung the napkin back at Jasmira. It bounced off her head and ended up
on the floor. “Ana said the cleaning crew is coming tomorrow. You’re so lucky,
girlfriend. In my house I’m the cleaning lady.”

“Come on, Pen. I’d exchange the cleaning crew,
this huge place, and many other things I own for a normal life.” Jasmira sighed,
the ghost-of-a-smile that lightened her features a moment earlier disappearing
from her face. “I just want to worry about silly stuff, like chatting on the
phone, shopping, going to the movies. I
dream
about being an ordinary teenager. ”

“But you’re not,” Penelope said in a quiet
voice. “It sucks, I know. But we have to live this life and make the best of it.
“You wouldn’t give up Ana’s cooking though.”

Jasmira smiled. Looking at the still-dark window
she said, “At first we didn’t even think about the Goddesses, our differences,
or our Races. It was all about just the two of us. But then finally Crystal
demanded that he break up with me. She said he must stay pure to his Race, and because
he’s the Winter Prince he can’t be involved with the Summer girl.”

Penelope fidgeted in her chair but didn’t say
anything.

“We knew right away there was nothing we could
do. He couldn’t possibly go against his Goddess. Well, he did anyway.” Jasmira
sighed.
 
“I have to give him that
—
he was stubborn to the point of putting
himself in danger. He didn’t want us to break up, but Crystal gave him an
ultimatum: he ends it or she will do it for him. And it will hurt him and his
loved ones more than he can imagine
—”

“What? She would hurt Jatred’s uncle?” Penelope interrupted.

“Yes. So we couldn’t stay together.
” Jasmira
choked on her tears.
 
She looked away
and, after a few moments, said without preamble, “You need to know about the
Amulet. The Winter Shifters guard it now. I just learned more about it from
Amber. She said that at the beginning of both Races, Crystal commissioned the
creation of the Amulet from a group of Magicians. They had the ability to tap
into the powers of the Universe
—
”

“Wait, wait. Time out.” Penelope shook her head,
making a “T” sign with her hands. “I know we are totally different from humans,
but,” she closed her eyes and exhaled dramatically, “
Magicians? Universal powers?”

“Pen, listen. There’s more to this world than
what we can see, hear, or feel with the tips of our fingers. Think about it. We
became so much like humans that we now forget, as you just pointed out, about
our differences. These differences came from somewhere in the past, don’t you
agree?” Jasmira leaned back in her chair.
 

“Okay, I’m all ears. Tell me more.”

“
Our Races have been living side-by-side in
harmony for many generations. Well, more or less. The creation of the Amulet
has ensured it. The group of Magicians collectively agreed to craft the Amulet,
but on two conditions. One was that after one thousand years the Winter Goddess
will pass the Amulet to the Summer Goddess for the next one thousand years, and
so on. The Amulet goes back and forth.”

“And the Winter Race has the Amulet now,”
Penelope confirmed. “I suspect the Magicians were afraid to leave the Amulet
with just one Race.”

“Exactly. They wouldn’t settle for one of the
Goddesses, and only one Race, having endless supremacy over the Universe. They
decided each side needs a chance to provide stability in the world by holding
the powers of the Amulet. This process of going back and forth every one
thousand years will continue, as long as each Race lives. If one Race ceases to
exist, the other Race keeps the Amulet eternally. But there is a catch. There
can be no attempt to destroy one another
.” Jasmira took a sip from her mug and made a sour face. “This
is already cold, yuck.”

“I will make a new one. You talk
—
I’m listening.” Penelope got up and
carried the coffee carafe to the sink. “What was the Magicians’ second
condition?”

“Neither of the Goddesses can physically keep
the Amulet for longer than twenty-four hours. The Amulet must remain in the
leader of the Royal Family’s hands. That’s why Jatred had it all this time and
not Crystal. He’s the Amulet’s Protector.”

“I wonder what would’ve happened to Crystal or
Amber if they kept the Amulet longer than allowed. Maybe it’d eat them alive.”
Penelope snorted and laughed whole-heartedly, but as soon as she looked at her
frowning friend, she stopped and clapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. I
couldn’t help it.”

Jasmira sighed. “Most of the Shifters,
regardless of the Race, have no clue about all of this. The Goddesses have
always kept the whole thing under wraps. And they definitely hate each other. Listen
to the second condition
: e
very
ten thousand years the powers of the Universe double, but only for a certain
length of time. During this time the Races must make peace, if there was a
conflict.”

“What if they don’t?” Penelope put the carafe of
freshly brewed coffee on the table and went back to the large stainless-steel
refrigerator. She got out a carton of cream, a can of whipped cream, and a
bottle of chocolate syrup.

“Funny, but I asked Amber the same question.”
Jasmira grinned, but her
smile quickly disappeared.
“It has never happened in the past. Both Races have always
been quite submissive to this requirement. It has to do with the increased
powers of the Universe accumulated in the Amulet.
The pull of the
Universe’s magic is so strong that it affects the world around it. Amber said
weird things always happen in nature during the ten-thousand-mark.”

“Like all these recent disasters happening simultaneously all over
the world, right?”

“Yes. The volcanic eruptions, floods, earthquakes. The animals act
weird and the weather gets all wacky. The humans get either aggressive or
extremely passive. Evidently in the past that was the reason for various
violent incidents.”

“So there is a pattern to all of this. Tell me how is this
Universe’s magic going to influence the Shifters?”

“Because of our double nature the increased powers of the Universe
don’t influence us like humans. The Shifters of either Race are naturally
non-violent. It’s just not in our character anymore to pick a fight or go
smashing everything in sight. According to Amber it was different ages ago when
the Shifters were totally wild and blood-thirsty.”

“For a moment I thought you would say something awful, like we’ll
have to start hunting during the full moon or something.” Penelope forcefully
exhaled.