by Kelli Kimble
“It doesn’t work like that,” Jacob said. “We don’t yet have the sense of when someone is going to die. Anu hasn’t granted us that. We can usher someone who is dying, sure. Iris has.” He gestured at me with his fork, still keeping his eyes away from mine. “But we can’t usher just any random person.”
Buster nodded. “So how does Anu know?”
Jacob shrugged. “He’s a god. What doesn’t he know?”
“Touché,” Buster said.
“I love it when you speak French,” Siggie said.
“Oi?”
“Oi, oi.” They moved towards each other, lips at the ready.
“Public place,” I reminded them.
“Right.” Buster put an arm around Siggie’s shoulders. “I’m just going to have to learn to eat with my left hand.”
Siggie giggled. I rolled my eyes.
“This dinner. What do you think it’s about? And how did you even know about it?” I asked.
“Anu left a message for me at the dorm welcome desk. He didn’t say why in the message, but I think we can draw some scientific conclusions.” He raised an eyebrow at me.
Sure, you can meet my eyes when you want to tease, huh? “Professor Cane says Mr. Anu is angry.”
Jacob bit his lip. “If he’s angry with you, he wouldn’t have invited people besides us.”
“But they know the truth. Right? You told Buster.” I tried but couldn’t quite keep the tone of my voice from being judgmental.
“Hey, you told Siggie. Didn’t you?”
“Yes, but she’s my best friend. And she was really hurt and angry.”
“Also, I’m the only person who believed her,” Siggie said. “The Alpha Nu board was not amused.”
Jacob dropped his fork. “You told the board?”
“I—”
“I don’t believe this.” He dropped his face into his hands and then scrubbed his fingers through his hair, mussing it. “Of course, he’s mad. You’re out there blabbing it to anyone who’ll listen.”
“In her defense, they didn’t really listen,” Siggie said.
I groaned.
“I can’t believe you! We dragged our butts all the way home to confess and apologize, and you couldn’t even do what he told you.”
I jumped from the table. “That’s just it,” I said, in a too loud voice. “He didn’t tell us what to do. He sent us back here to just . . . stew? And how are we supposed to get on with our lives, if people are asking us questions and scattering when we enter a room or just plain terrified that we’re going to attack?”
“Not we,” he said. “You. It was you that brought all of this on us.”
I let out a huffy breath. The silence in the restaurant alerted me that I should look around. Everyone was staring. I eased back into the booth and lowered my voice.
“Look, I’m sorry. A million times over, I’m sorry. But I can’t take it back. Nobody is going to forget what they saw, and people want explanations.”
The waitress came over and slapped our check on the table. Jacob withdrew his wallet with jerky motions and threw a scattering of bills without looking at the total. “Let’s go.” As soon as we were standing, he grabbed me by the arm and practically dragged me outside. Siggie and Buster trailed behind us. Now it was us making them uncomfortable.
“Can I see you over there?” He gestured towards the side of the building. He threw Buster the keys. “Wait for us.”
I’m not sure why he asked, because he hadn’t let go of me. The connection of his touch through my coat sleeve was sending electricity up and down my arm, and the strength in his grip threatened to bruise me.
When we were out of sight, he swung me around to face him.
“What gives, Iris? Why are you trying to ruin this?”
I flinched. “I’m not trying to ruin anything. I’m trying to find my way. Mr. Anu didn’t give us any guidance. What was I supposed to do?”
“You were supposed to wait for him to tell you what to do!” Anger rolled off him so thick I could smell it and taste it. I didn’t like how it reminded me of rotten eggs.
“Look. We both know that the book says we’ll help Anu. That’s not going to change from anything that happens here.”
“We don’t know that Iris. We don’t know that for sure.”
I put the palm of my hand to his cheek and rubbed my thumb over the shadow of stubble there. “Everything will fall into place. I’m sure of it.” His shoulders sagged and he exhaled. His scent became placid, like a field of waving grass. Was I doing that to him? Like Anu? I almost pulled my hand away to see if his anger returned. But it didn’t seem worth it to know. Instead, I guided his face down to mine, and we kissed.
It was like none of our previous kisses.
Sure, we’d had some really great kisses. I mean, I basically gave my soul to an Egyptian god because of his kisses. The kissing had never been a miss. But this . . . this. Tingles went up and down my spine. My stomach melted and puddled somewhere around my knees. My heart was beating double-time. Every sensation felt a million times sharper. Even my hair seemed to be sensing the electricity around us.
When we broke apart, I was breathing heavily.
“Where did that come from?” he asked. “That was amazing.” His hand wandered to his head and he smoothed down the hair that was still sticking out in erratic directions. “Wasn’t it amazing?”
Our eyes met, and something right behind the faint scar where Anu had stabbed me pulled towards Jacob. I took a hesitant step forward, letting the tug guide me. “It was amazing,” I said, nodding.
In my peripheral vision, I spotted Siggie coming around the corner. “What are you two doing? We’ve been waiting for you for twenty minutes.”
I couldn’t tear my eyes from Jacob. I brushed my fingers across the spot on his chest that I was being drawn to. I knew it would be his ceremony scar. There was something there. Not quite tangible to my hands, but I could sense it.
“Do you feel that?”
“Yeah,” he said. His voice was barely a whisper.
“Guys?” Siggie took a step closer. “Earth to Iris?”
“We’ll be there in a minute,” I said without looking away from Jacob.
Siggie stood for a moment longer, probably trying to come up with a disarming comment. Finally, she disappeared around the corner. I don’t know how much longer we stood there. Eventually I mustered all of my will into blinking. The contact was broken, and I turned away, unwilling to look at him just in case our gazes locked again.
“That was intense,” he said. “What do you think that was?”
“I don’t know. But I imagine Mr. Anu does.”
We returned to the car where Buster and Siggie were waiting. I expected them to be passionately embraced, but instead they were sitting in the back seat, their heads tipped together as they talked in low voices. We got in and Siggie looked up.
“Everything all right?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said.
Jacob stopped the car outside the dorm. He didn’t turn off the engine, and he leaned over to give me a chaste kiss on the cheek. Though I wanted to repeat the intensity from earlier, I didn’t think I’d be able to withstand it. My muscles were sagging from my bones with fatigue. I only wanted to go upstairs and go to bed.
He grabbed my hand and squeezed. I smiled, and he did, too.
“Everything is going to be okay,” he said. “I know Anu will get everything back on track.”
Huh. I tipped my head to the side. “Yeah. I’ll see you on Saturday.” He squeezed my hand again and I slid out of the car. There was a faint moan from the backseat, and I slammed the door shut. The sound startled them apart, and Siggie opened the door and got out. Her clothing was a little disheveled and she quickly rearranged herself before Buster came around to the passenger side. She gave me a questioning look.
“You look fine,” I said.
She turned her attention back to Buster. They kissed one more time, and he took my spot in t
he car. We waved as they drove away. After they turned the corner, the silence of campus in the darker hours of the evening swept over me.
“Come on, let’s go inside. It’s creepy out here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Siggie. You know I’m the thing everyone is creeped out by, right?”
She withdrew a lipstick from her pocketbook and swept it over her lips. “You can’t be too careful.”
We went up to our room. Siggie took off her coat and I fought to suppress a smirk. She caught it, though.
“What?” she demanded.
“You’re wearing a broach,” I said.
“Yeah.” She looked down, then started to panic when it wasn’t where she expected it to be. “Did I lose it?”
“No. It’s on your back. Just what were you doing with Buster, Siggie?”
A flush crept up her cheeks, but it was quickly replaced with an evil grin. “A lady never tells.”
“Good thing you’re no lady.”
She cocked a finger at me like a gun and winked. “That’s right.”
Even though I was exhausted, we talked late into the night. She talked about him for longer than the collective minutes she’d actually spent with him, and she still had more to say. I listened for as long as I could keep my eyes open.
“Siggie, it’s terrific that you’ve found your passionate love affair. But I’m really beat. Do you mind if you tell me the rest in the morning?”
“Of course. You do look pretty bad. Some beauty sleep is definitely in order before Saturday.”
I threw a pillow at her and we laughed. It was really nice to laugh with a friend.
* * *
I sat bolt upright in bed. Tulip mania.
“Siggie. Siggie, wake up.” I scrambled out of bed, nearly falling because the sheets were wrapped around one ankle. I kicked free and hopped across to her bed. “Siggie, it’s important.” Pushing at her shoulder, I leaned down into her face. “Come on, wake up.”
“Did I miss class?” she asked, her voice dopey and slow.
“No. It’s not morning. I just need you to get up.”
“Why? No,” she held up a hand. “Tell me in the morning.” She rolled over and put her pillow over her face. I yanked it away.
I turned on her desk lamp and pointed it at her face. She scrunched her eyes shut.
“Noooo,” she moaned.
“I get it. I understand what Mr. Anu is doing with Tessa. It’s just like the tulips.”
“Okay. See you in the morning, then.”
“No. You have to get up and help me. We’ve got to research this so I’m ready on Saturday.”
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Ready for what? Haven’t you already stepped on enough of Mr. Anu’s work?”
“Hey, who’s side are you on, anyway?”
“Yours,” she said, sighing. “Do we really have to do this right now? In the middle of the night?”
“Do I need to remind you that I listened to you gush about Buster for hours?”
“Hmph.” She lowered her legs out of bed. “What do you need me to do?”
“I need your notes from the paper. You already finished the paper, right?”
She didn’t answer. She withdrew a sheaf of papers from her desk. “Here.”
“You understand this tulip thing, how it works?”
“Yeah, it’s simple. Basically, the people imagined there was this high demand for tulips. There actually was, because at the time it was a high value item. It was like a status symbol. Like having a Christian Dior gown, right?”
I nodded.
“So, people got all excited about it. They started buying more and more, driving up the price. Only, the bulbs weren’t really worth that much. Eventually, people realized it and the price crashed.”
“Crashed?”
“Yeah. The price dropped to nothing and left a lot of lost fortunes. Nobody ever even got the tulips.”
“Okay. So, let me see if I understand. They were buying the tulips, and the tulips weren’t worth that much?”
“Not quite. They were buying the right to the tulips when the tulips were in season. Like when you put in at the butcher for your Christmas ham.”
“Okay. Buy your Christmas ham ahead of time. Only, there’s only a few and the price goes up because the butcher can get more money?”
“Yeah. That’s it. The price goes up and up, and suddenly people look at each other and they realize, hey, this stupid ham isn’t worth a month’s wages. And they stop buying. Just like that. It’s over. The bubble bursts. Pop.”
Shivers went up and down my spine. I didn’t want to believe it, but there was no other explanation that I could think of. I licked my lips. “That’s what Mr. Anu is doing. He’s setting up to create a crash. Like with the tulips.”
“No,” Siggie scoffed. “That can’t be true.”
A conversation last year with Jacob flashed into my brain.
“Um, and what did you think of that?”
“Iris. It was you and me. In a book that’s older than George Washington and Abe Lincoln combined.”
“I know,” I said.
“How is that even possible?”
“Have you considered that it’s possible because it’s the truth?”
“I thought you didn’t believe in the soulmate thing.”
“Do I have to believe in soulmates to believe that Anu’s book predicted we would know each other?”
“Mr. Anu’s book says that we’ll marry and have kids. It says that we’re going to help him with some kind of revolution. Didn’t he show you those things?”
My mouth went dry. “He told you about our future?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Whenever I ask him what’s going to happen, he refuses to tell me anything.”
He shrugged. “He didn’t tell me a lot.”
“But he told you we’d have kids? How many? Are they boys or girls?”
A revolution. The conversation had nagged at me. I’d always been focused on the fact that Mr. Anu had revealed to Jacob that we would have children together. But the important part of that conversation had gone right over my self-involved head.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! But you can’t get Siggie buried in this.
“Yeah. You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s just go back to bed.”
“Are you sure? Maybe you’re onto something. We can keep bouncing ideas around if you want. I don’t mind.”
“No. I’m sorry I woke you up. This is just silly. I’m tired and you’re tired, too.”
“If you’re sure.” She sat on her bed, creaking the springs. “But I’ll work on it with you some more, if you want.”
“You’re a good friend, Siggie.” I turned off the light and made a show of getting back into bed. “I probably was just having a bad dream. You know, because I’m worried about what Mr. Anu will say on Saturday.”
“All right.” Siggie slid under her own covers. “See you in the morning.”
“Yeah, good night.”
Her breath soon evened into the cadence of sleep. But I stayed awake and thought about Mr. Anu’s revolution. What could he gain by causing a crash the way the tulip mania had? It wasn’t clear. I tossed and turned for another hour before I finally was too exhausted to consider it anymore.
Chapter 16
“Tessa. What are you doing here?”
“Anu and his little professor friend went to a fancy bar for cocktails and aperitifs.” She rolled her eyes. “I told him I’d rather come see your dorm room. Can I come in?”
I shook the surprise at seeing her here out of my head. Mother would be mortified if she’d seen how I neglected to invite a guest inside. “Yes, please. Come in.”
Tessa stepped into the room and looked around. “Yup. Dorm rooms are terrible everywhere, it seems.” She wrinkled her nose. The scent of stinky socks still hung in the air, in spite of all Siggie and I had done to freshen the smell. At least the spoiled yogurt smell had dissipated.
“Sorry about
the smell.”
“It’s all right. I’m surprised you can tolerate it, though. Your nose is better than mine.”
I pulled out my desk chair and offered it to her. “I don’t notice it much anymore.”
“Ah.” She glanced at the tornado-swept side of the room. “Where’s your roommate? I’d hoped to meet her.”
“At the library. She should be back soon.”
I sat on the bed and we settled into an awkward silence.
“How’s the farm?” I asked, hoping to get some conversation started.
“Normal and boring as ever.”
A bundle of nerves started to uncurl in my gut. If I wanted to know about how Mr. Anu intended to use a market crash, now was the time to ask. But how to bring it up?
Tessa cleared her throat. “I had a letter from Kal. He sends his love.”
“Oh. How is he doing?”
“He says the army is tough, but I think he’s glad he went. He had to make his own way. You know?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s classes?”
“Good.” The perfect opening. “In my economics class we’re studying a phenomenon that causes a market crash. Fascinating stuff.”
“Really? I didn’t know you were interested in financial dealings.”
“You see, what happened was someone started driving up the prices of this product, getting everyone excited that they’re going to make all this money. More and more people bought, and it became a vicious circle. The more who bought, the more the price went up, and the more excited people got.”
Tessa’s cheeks flushed.
“Then, at some point, reality hit. What they were buying wasn’t really worth what they were paying. And boom, crash. It happened almost overnight. That’s crazy, right?”
Tessa went and looked out the window. “Yeah, that’s crazy.”
“This is going to sound like a weird question,” I said. I paused, nervous to continue. Would she be honest if I asked? Maybe she still didn’t understand Mr. Anu’s plan. But she’d reacted from my story. She must know something. I licked my lips and forced myself to talk. “Is Mr. Anu planning something like that?”
