Free Forged by Greed by Angela Orlowski-Peart

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