Aaron’s eyes opened, reflecting the street lamp outside as they met mine. I concentrated and used my newfound ability to summon a vision of his future.
The next few months were grim indeed. Aaron felt my loss more keenly as time went by, thinking he had failed me and doomed me to an eternity of unhappiness.
It was time to stop worrying about Jayne.
Even as I peered into his future, different possibilities began unraveling before me. I took a moment to decipher what was happening, as this was new to me. In a flash I saw Aaron potentially attending different schools, choosing different majors, dating different women. I also saw several paths where he did none of that, becoming instead embittered and lonely and losing his spark for life.
Most of the possible futures showed Aaron eventually recovering from his heart break, but that wasn’t the path he was on right now. I picked one of the brightest and happiest futures and pushed it to the forefront of his mind. This was the one where he accepted our separation quickly, finding joy in other activities. In another woman.
“Choose this one,” I whispered. I couldn’t force him, but I could urge him in the right direction. Even if my entire body trembled from the emotional pain. We were over. And it hurt so bad I thought I’d be sick.
Then I blinked and the vision faded. Aaron’s eyes remained glued to my own for a moment before slowly closing and returning him to his dream state.
He had never even woken. When he did, the fates willing, his fixation on me would be gone.
*~*
The impact of what I had done to Aaron drained me, but it also left me strangely empowered. Only recently had I mastered summoning visions, and I’d never had an experience like that before. I was getting stronger, understanding myself more.
But I still wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. So instead of returning to our forest home where I would have to avoid Jumis, I made a pathway to Massachusetts so I could visit my oldest and best friend, Dana.
It was still the middle of the night, so I sat myself down at the desk in Dana’s dorm room and counted my blessings she didn’t have a roommate. I stared out the window as the sun rose and then turned to face her when I heard her stir.
Her alarm went off. It sat next to me at the desk, a hand-slap away from the bed, and she promptly silenced it. Then she lifted her head and turned it sideways, blond curls falling in disarray over her face. She pushed the locks away from her eyes.
“Jaynie? Is that really you?”
“Hey, Danes.” I gave her what I hoped was a breezy smile. “It’s me.”
“Jayne!” She hopped out of bed and threw her arms around me before settling back on top of the mattress, studying me. “How did you get here?”
I saw her eyeing my pajamas, which were slightly nicer than the pink shorts and tanktop she wore.
“Things kind of got out of hand.” My smile faltered, and a lump formed in my throat. “I had to get married.”
“You got married?” she gasped out. “And you didn’t invite me?”
“It was last minute. Very last minute.” And then I burst into tears.
Dana was beside me in an instant, pulling me from the chair to sit next to her on the bed where she could wrap her arms around my shoulders. “Tell me everything. You saved Aaron, right? And then you got married?”
“He’s why I got married.” I peeked up at her furrowed brow to see how she would interpret that.
“You’re not giving me enough info,” she said. “Last time we talked, you were trying to save Aaron from your crazy sister goddess. Did you?”
“I saved him.” Those words brought a sense of calm to my soul, and I swallowed back the tears. “He’s home now. But I had to trade myself. I had to marry one of the other gods.”
She sucked in a breath. “You mean you didn’t marry Aaron?”
Darn those tears. “I didn’t really have a choice. Aaron would have been trapped.”
Dana’s hand pressed against her mouth. “So you just married some guy?”
“It’s more complicated than that. Dekla, that’s the original goddess, she knew him. Hundreds of years ago they were promised to be married. She might be dead, but I have her memories, and he sees her in me. He loves me.”
“Do you love him?”
I shook my head. “My heart is not available to give away.”
The look Dana gave me was one of infinite sadness. “Oh Jayne . . .”
I cleared my throat and tried to put on a smile. “But Aaron is home now. He’s going to be fine. Today he’s going to snap out of the funk he’s been in and get his life going again.”
“He’s been in a funk? How exactly do you know this?”
I gave Dana a sheepish look. “I might have gone to his house before I came to yours.”
She arched an eyebrow. “So when do the rest of us get teleportation powers?”
I laughed. “It’s not a power, exactly. It’s just a means of transportation. I don’t have any powers, other than my goddess ones.” I felt a flash of pride as I said this. “Which I am finally starting to get the hang of.”
Her hands found mine and squeezed them. “So did you talk to Aaron?”
“Well . . . that’s kind of where my new powers come into play.” I told her what I had done.
Dana didn’t say a word while I spoke, which was very uncharacteristic of her. Then she lowered her head, her hair falling around her face as she stared at the carpet. “Oh, Jaynie,” she said finally, her voice soft and heavy with grief. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
My emotions flared up at the base of my throat, ready to burst out of me in a torrent of tears and sobbing and angry yelling. “It wasn’t enough to save his soul. I had to free him from me.”
“But he didn’t want to be free of you. And that should be his choice. If he wants to carry you around in his heart—”
“Like a sack of rocks, dragging him down?” I interrupted, my voice ragged. “I won’t let him.”
She pursed her lips together, and I knew she didn’t agree with me.
For the first time, I doubted myself. Had I manipulated his future too much? Taken too much of his own free will?
She lifted her head and straightened her shoulders. “How can I help? Can I fight?”
I exhaled, grateful for the subject change. The thought of my beautiful, hilarious, boy-crazy friend wielding a sword or staff made my chest swell with a mixture of laughter and gratitude. I threw my arms around her shoulders and squeezed. “No. I don’t want you involved in this fight. It’s all mystical elements and mythological creatures anyway. Things that don’t exist.” Sprites and gods and witches and zombies. I quirked an eyebrow, and we both laughed.
We tried to talk about frivolous things like school and our families, but compared to what I was up against, none of it felt real to me. Which I knew wasn’t fair, because this was reality for Dana.
“I should get back,” I said after a solid two hours of chatting. “I’ve been gone all day and night.”
“Will your husband suspect foul play?” Dana wiggled her eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes. “Our relationship isn’t exactly functional.”
“I’m not even going to try to figure out what that means.”
She fell silent, and I wondered if she felt the same reluctance as I did to end the conversation. This was the first I’d seen her since she left for college, and I didn’t know when I would get the chance again.
She cleared her throat. “I’ve missed you, Jayne. Be careful, okay?”
I nodded. “We’ll see each other soon. And don’t worry about me.” I flashed a smile. “I can’t die.”
At least, not without someone stealing my goddess powers. Or divorcing me from my husband first.
Minor details.
CHAPTER FIVE
I had just stepped onto the pathway to return to the forest when the phone around my wrist vibrated. The weird sensation shook me all the way to my elbow, and I looked at the message.
The color was a grass green, and it took me a moment to recognize it as Jumis. You are needed. Return to the meadow.
The familiar sensation of something poking around my belly and pulling me forward washed over me. The first time I felt it, it had been Amy summoning me. I recognized it now as that of my husband commanding me. Irritation coursed through my veins. I was on my way there anyway, and I didn’t like being forced.
But then I reminded myself that I had been gone for a whole day and all night, and this was the first Jumis had contacted me. He had given me some space, at least.
I stepped out into the meadow moments later and found everyone assembled around the stone table. Jumis left the group and approached me.
“What is this, another war council?” I asked.
He looked me over. “You are still in your pajamas.”
Was I? I shrugged. Having worn the same jeans and T-shirt for days, wearing my pajamas for a day and a half didn’t seem like a big deal. “They’re pretty modest.”
“You need to go home and change.”
“I don’t think anyone here really cares. Isn’t what we’re doing more important?”
He glowered at me. “It hasn’t escaped my attention that you’ve been gone for the past day and night. Go home and change.”
It was no longer a suggestion, and I glared daggers at him before following the pathway back to the house. I had no choice in the matter, and I decided right then and there this was not going to fly. Whether he had the power to command or not, he wasn’t going to do so. It was time to rescue Saule and reverse this custom.
I climbed the steps leading to the house and walked inside. I was familiar with the open interior now, though it didn’t feel like home, more like a resort I’d gotten comfortable with. I imagined how different it would be for me if it were Aaron instead of Jumis, and the longing pierced my heart so fiercely that I had to sit down at the dining room table.
I couldn’t dwell in my pity party for long, however. Jumis’ command for me to change my clothes still motivated me.
The orange dress from a few days ago had somehow ended up back in my closet even though I’d left it on the floor. House elves? I really didn’t know, or if I did, it wasn’t important enough for me to retrieve from my memory. Instead I pulled the soft, sheer fabric over my head, enjoying the way the light textile caressed my skin. At least immortals had gotten the clothing right.
Properly attired now, I returned to the meadow. The war council was just breaking up. I remained outside the circle, watching as Meness opened a pathway. One by one the other gods took it, vanishing from sight. Jumis stepped to my side.
“That color brings out the green in your eyes,” he said, his voice all warm and affectionate.
“I thought you needed me here,” I said, my words charged with anger. “And now everyone’s leaving?”
“You’re needed at the battle, not at the council. They have a lot more green in this body.”
“They who?” Oh. He was still talking about my eyes. “You think you can order me around and then shower me with compliments and everything’s okay?” I said, fully irritated.
“I wouldn’t have to order you if you would just obey me.”
“Your attitude’s all wrong. That’s not how things work. When you start respecting me, maybe I’ll start obeying you. I’m not your servant.”
“You were never my servant. But it’s been almost six hundred years since women became submissive, and it’s made things a lot easier.”
“I’m not asking for a history lesson,” I snapped.
“Dekla. Jumis.” Perkons stepped to our side, breaking up our argument. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Jumis said, speaking for both of us.
Perkons nodded and walked away, and I grabbed Jumis’ arm. “I’m not ready! I don’t even know what we’re doing!”
“You would if you had been here.”
Before I could counter that comment with my own argument, he continued. “A number of would-be heroes have already answered the summons. Others are still traveling and won’t be here for days, but Samantha is not wasting time.”
I jolted at her name. When would we be free of her? “How does she even know? Aren’t these things a secret?”
“How can it be a secret when Perkons has lit his sign in the sky? Jods has Velu Mate as well. She can see visions of the future.”
“So it’s possible everything we do, they might already know?”
“It is possible, but not likely. Seer-seeing is a very imprecise art, as you know.”
I nodded, my irritation with him dissipating in the face of this more pressing matter. “So what’s happening now?”
“She has gathered the vadatajs and cynocephalus to fight on her side.”
The jackal men. I nodded, remembering the souls of the damned with bodies of men and heads of jackals.
“Her intent is to destroy the heroes, and we must go.”
“To stop her?” I asked.
“To gauge the value of the heroes,” he said, looking at me as if I were daft.
“But what if she succeeds in killing one?”
“Then that one wasn’t destined to be our hero.”
Destiny had a different meaning to me now. “Well, I might have a say in that.”
“You always did.”
Now his tone was teasing, too familiar for my taste. I fumed and resisted the urge to hit him, because that would mean I had to touch him.
“You might want to summon your sister,” he said, the humor fading from his voice. “Your entire team will likely be needed in this battle.”
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of seeing Beth and Meredith and even Trey again. I had summoned Beth to me once, when we were in the middle of a battle. But it had been instinctive and desperate, and I wasn’t sure I could repeat the act. “How?”
“The same way you summon a vision.”
“I look into a person’s eyes and watch the end of their life. How does that help me summon my sister?”
He cocked his head. “That’s not what you told me. You told me you find their soul energy and look inside it.”
“I told—oh, Dekla told you. Find their soul energy. . . ?” And then understanding kicked into place. That was what I did when I looked into someone’s eyes. Eyes were often called windows to the soul, and for good reason. When I looked into a person’s eyes, I could see their soul. During the battle, I had sought out the energy that was my sister and then called her to me. If I found her, I knew I would find Meredith and Trey. “Summon her to where?”
“Summon her to you. Come. Let’s get to the battle front.” Jumis held out his arm, and I placed my fingers around his forearm, resigned.
*~*
The pathway the other gods had made was still open, so we followed after them. Moments later, the woods disappeared behind us as we stepped out onto a plateau. A rugged mountain scape surrounded us, reds and oranges and purples in the dusty layers of dirt.
Looked like we were somewhere out west. “Where are we?”
“Colorado. Near a city called Grand Junction. Samantha has not been idle. With the powers of the fates that she’s acquired, she continues to force mortals to follow her.”
“Colorado?” Three days ago we had battled in Kentucky. “She’s been collecting souls the whole way?”
He shook his head. “It’s not the same. She can’t collect their souls anymore, only change their fates.”
“Oh. So her power is like mine now.”
“Only stronger. She has several pieces of both Dekla and Karta.”
Great. Once again I was reminded of how useless I was. “Is my sister close?”
“Yes. She and the ragana have followed Samantha and are in the near vicinity. Summon her and she will come.”
I closed my eyes and searched for my sister’s soul energy. In my mind’s eye, I saw her. Not her, exactly, but a shimmering blue essence. Like the glowing souls I’d been able to find inside the zomb
ie people to save them.
“Come,” I said. The word dashed away from me like a tangible object, an orange streak of energy. Her essence turned toward it, and they latched together.
My eyes shot open. “She’s coming.”
“Good,” Jumis said. “Now let’s see what we can do in this battle without her.”
I followed him to the edge of the mesa where the other deity stood silently watching.
A dark cloud appeared on the valley floor. It swirled violently, and lightning struck the ground around it right before Samantha and Jods and Velu Mate stepped out.
I gripped Jumis’ arm. “How is Samantha opening a portal from one place to another?”
“Just like we do. Only we use the forest as a means of conveyance, and she uses the underworld.”
“But how does she have that kind of power?”
“It could have been Jods or Velu Mate who opened the pathway,” Jumis said. He pressed his lips together. “But there is much power around her. As if she is channeling Jods’ power. She might have access to him, just as you have access to my powers because of your ties to me.”
“But that would mean—” It hadn’t been enough for me to be promised to Jumis. I had to marry him to gain access to his powers. “Did he marry her?” I gasped.
“It is possible. That would also give him access to the energy she harvested from the souls.”
Creatures tumbled out of the cloud behind Samantha. Men and women with twisted faces and disfigured bodies, like Picasso had painted their features with his eyes closed. Others had strong, perfect limbs but pointed snouts and ears, jackal heads instead of human.
Vadatajs and jackals. Men and women who bargained parts of their souls away in exchange for power, riches, fame, longer life. And now they had no choice but to fight for Velns, the god of the Underworld. And if they died, they died for him.
I looked at them with a sense of wariness and sympathy. I had also made a deal with a god because I felt I had no other option. So I knew what it was like to be pushed into a corner.
Destined (Goddess of Fate Book 4) Page 4
