Forged by Greed (51 page)

Jatred cradled Jasmira’s limp body in his arms. He stared into her
calm face. She looked like she was asleep, peaceful, and beautiful in her own
way. Her hair was caked with dried green and red blood, and her cheeks were smeared
with dirt. The Amulet hung from her neck, shining bright-blue on her chest. The
very middle of the gem, deep inside, pulsated with red light.

Tyrrell crouched down beside them. He pressed his fingers to the
inside of Jasmira’s wrist, trying to feel her pulse. His brows were furrowed,
but then arched and he gasped. “She’s alive. I can feel her pulse. Faint, but
it’s there.” He grinned at Jatred, who opened his mouth in a happy surprise.

Crystal appeared, towering over them. The cool sun behind her made
her face look dark, hidden in shadows. Two large ravens sat on her shoulders, watching
Jasmira with their small black eyes. The Goddess knelt on one knee and slowly
moved her hand over Jasmira’s heart and the Amulet. “She’s coming back. She
carried a big burden. The Summer Race has a brave Queen,” Crystal’s voice
reverberated in their heads. She stared at the Amulet, noticing the red dot
throbbing inside. “It’s changed.” She smiled and touched the gem with her
fingertips. “The Magicians. How clever. And they kept the Amulet’s twin a
secret,” the Goddess whispered. She stood abruptly. The ravens cawed and took
to the wing.

Lusia, Bogdan, Andy, and Ivona staggered over, followed by Lusia’s
parents, and Erik with his family. Every inch of their bodies, visible through
shredded clothes, was covered in red and green blood. Georgeta was wincing and
severely limping. She leaned on her father for support. Erik’s face, neck, and
chest were covered in bloody scratches. He was already healing and seemed not
to care about the pain. Each of them bowed to the Goddess.

Georgeta sat down with a heave. “I will never look the same at anything
that’s green. Yuck.”

Lusia put her arm around Georgeta.

“On a scale of one to ten the broccoli will be at a fifty.” She
tried to smile but only managed a sad grimace. Her lower lip trembled, but she
bit on it, inhaling deeply and squeezing her eyes shut.

“I have to look for Penelope,” Erik said to no one in particular.
“How is Jasmira?” he asked. When Jatred told him that she will be fine, he nodded,
turned around, and jogged off to look for Penelope.

Jasmira’s eyes fluttered open. The first face she saw hovering over
her was Jatred’s. He beamed at her.

She smiled back and croaked, “I can hardly feel
my body.” With the corner of her eye she saw the Winter Goddess watching her in
silence. Jasmira stiffened. She turned her head to look at Crystal and rasped,
“Give him the memories back. It’s over. We are not a threat anymore.”

Crystal was silent. After a while she said, “I
can’t. Once the memories are gone from a Shifter’s mind, they are lost.”

“But Amber said she can do it.” Jasmira
frantically scanned the area, trying to spot the Summer Goddess.

“Your Goddess lied to you, child. I’m sorry.”
Crystal sounded sad. There was no sign of her normal youthful appearance.
Instead, she looked ancient. She straightened and said, her voice booming over
the battle field, “Shifters of both Races. Return to the human world now. It’s
time for the Spirits to go back to their Realms.”

CHAPTER 59

Human
world: November 19, past midnight.

Penelope screamed incoherently in Erik’s tight
embrace. Kaliope sat on her heels, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were wide
open, unblinking. She was silent. Penelope wriggled out from Erik’s arms and
collapsed on the ground next to her mother. She stopped screaming and only
sobbed. Her body trembled but not from the cold. She clutched Kaliope’s arm,
but her mother didn’t stop swaying.

“Mom?”

Erik hunkered next to them.

“Mom?” Penelope asked again.

“He is gone.” Kaliope’s lips trembled. She
turned to Penelope and stared at her. She stopped rocking and took her
daughter’s face in her hands. “Your father is gone. We are alone.”

Penelope began to cry again. Erik hugged her
close to his wide chest, and she clung to him. Their hair was caked with dirt
and blood, their clothes torn and filthy. A huge bruise on Kaliope's cheek was
fading away, but still visible in an angry purple under the dirt covering her
skin.

It started to rain. The first drops were a thin
drizzle, soon replaced by a steady shower. Pieces of debris from the earthquake
were scattered on the sidewalk in front of Kaliope’s house. A large fallen tree
in the neighbors’ front yard had squished the fence. Another tree had collapsed
in an “x” on top of the first one.

“Come inside.” Kaliope motioned to Penelope and
Erik and walked toward the door of the house.

Before the three of them entered, they heard
someone calling, “Mrs. Stephanopoulos! Penelope!”

Savannah ran up to the gate, opened it, and
hurried to them. “Where is Logan? And Jatred? Are they okay?”

“Savannah?” Kaliope looked at her incredulously.
“What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night.”

Savannah took in the appearance of each of them
but she didn’t comment, only gulped. Her eyes were wide open when she looked
from one Shifter to the next. “What's happened to you?”

They exchanged quick glances. Penelope wiped her
eyes with her fists. Kaliope said, “Oh. Never mind that. Who are you looking
for?”

“They are okay. Why are you here?” It was Erik’s
turn to investigate.

“I’m sorry… I…” Savannah looked again from Erik
to Penelope to Kaliope.

“She knows,” Erik said with his mind. “I don’t
know how, but she does.”

Penelope and Kaliope shot him a nervous glance.
Erik walked down the stairs away from the door and toward Savannah. She
instinctively stepped back. He stopped and put his hands up, palms out. “Easy.
I’m not going to do anything. Look. You shouldn’t be here.”

“I know. I won’t tell anyone. I only want to
know if they are fine… Logan and Jatred.”

“They are. Nothing happened to them. Go home,
Savannah.” Erik looked grimly into her eyes.

                                                           
***

Tyrrell squinted into the night. Despite the
earthquake’s destruction, the neighborhood was quiet and empty, asleep. He
leaned with his back against the tree trunk and turned to look at the Tornwoods.
Andy and Ivona huddled together. Ivona hid her face in her hands. Her body
shook from silent sobs. Bogdan sat with Lusia right next to his parents.
Lusia’s face was red and blotchy. She stared ahead, numb, absentmindedly
pulling the grass from the lawn. Lusia’s parents stood, talking with their
minds.

“So many died. Too many.” Ivona shook her head.
“My cousins. Your nephew. Friends,” she whispered to Andy.

Andy stroked her back in gentle circles.

They heard quiet steps approaching from the
street. Everyone looked up. Georgeta and her parents opened the gate and rushed
in. “Is Erik here?” Georgeta asked, nervously scanning the yard with her eyes.

“No,” Tyrrell said.

“He went to look for Penelope after the battle.
Remember? Maybe they’ve got back together?” Lusia said.

Georgeta walked to her and kneeled down. She put
her arms around Lusia and hugged her. “It’s over. It’s all over.”

Lusia hugged Georgeta back and nodded.

***

Jasmira leaned her head on Jatred’s shoulder.
They sat in silence on the stairs, watching the rain. Behind them the
solemn-faced warriors stood, engraved into the vast double doors of the mansion.
In front of them, the fountain lay broken into three large chunks and a mass of
smaller rocks scattered around.

“J?” Jasmira asked and straightened.

He turned his head to look at her. Despite the dirt
and exhaustion she looked beautiful to him. Jatred reached up and tucked a strand
of hair, stiff from dried blood, behind Jasmira’s ear. He smiled and touched
her cheek. She smiled back.

They both looked at the Amulet. It hung down
from Jasmira’s neck, bright against her dirty, torn shirt. Red light pulsed in
the middle of the blue gem.

“It’s blue again. What does it mean?” Jasmira
asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the sign that the
ten-thousand-year mark is over.”

“So am I the Amulet’s protector now?”

“I think you are. Without the fancy coronation,
the ceremony, the Goddesses passing the Amulet from me to you. It’s easier this
way, isn’t it?” He grinned. His white teeth gleamed against his grime-smeared
face.

Jasmira smiled and slipped the Amulet under her
shirt. “I will keep it safe. We have a special place inside.” She motioned
toward the house.

“I would hope so.”

“J?” She bit her lip.

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to lose you again.”

He took her hand in his and kissed it gently.
“You won’t.”

“But the memories… you will never remember what
we’ve had.” A single tear rolled down Jasmira’s face, etching a line in the
dried dirt on her skin.

Jatred wiped it off with his hand and looked into
her eyes. A small smile played on his lips. A few moments passed before he shrugged
and said, “We can always start all over.”

Jasmira’s lips parted, her eyes widening.

Jatred lowered his face to hers and kissed her
for a long time. He looked at her, smiling, “You see? This is our first kiss.”

THE END.

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Forged by Synergy
,
the second book in The
Forged Series will be published in summer 2013. Please visit author’s website
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www.angelapeart.com