“Sure.” Like any boyfriend cared about a hello from the parents.
My heart was in my throat by the time I reached the front door. When I saw him, I attempted a smile, but he didn't smile back.
“Hey,” he said softly, his hands shoved in the pockets of his khaki pants.
“Um.” My pulse stuttered. “Want to come in?”
“Of course.” Now a trace of a smile pulled at his lips.
I opened the door wider, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. He let himself in and headed for the stairwell that led to mine and Beth’s rooms. I followed. Somehow I didn’t think we were sneaking off for a steamy make-out session.
“What’s up?” I asked, all nerves as I closed the bedroom door, leaving it just slightly ajar.
Aaron picked up one of my sweet pea candles on the windowsill, then put it down and picked up another. They were all the same scent, except for the apple one he’d given me. He didn’t know I burned the sweet pea scent because it was the only thing that would clear my head after a vision.
“How are you feeling today?” he asked, finally turning around to face me.
I shrugged. “I’m only a little sore. I took some pain meds this morning, but I haven’t since then.”
He nodded. “I’m glad.” Yet his voice didn’t sound glad. It didn’t sound like anything at all.
My phone dinged with a text message, and I pulled it from my back pocket with some relief. Anything to help defuse the tension building in my shoulders.
Meredith. Just texted Laima. I’ll let you know if I hear from her.
“Something serious?”
My head snapped up. “Um, yeah. Lots of stuff going on.”
His lip twisted in a non-smile. “What kind of stuff?”
I braced myself. “Just stuff.”
“Stuff I wouldn’t approve of? Stuff involving Karta and these suicides?” Anger, cold and dangerous, flashed in his eyes.
I wanted to lie. But I could only nod miserably.
He exhaled and shoved his hands back into his pockets. “I need to tell you something.”
“Oh?” I fought to keep my voice calm while panic raced through my veins. Tell me what? Tell me he couldn’t deal with this “stuff”?
“Yeah. First, just let me say I’ve tried really hard to be there for you. But I’m failing. Even my mum said in my attempts to protect you from everything, I’m not succeeding at anything.”
Oh, no. If Aaron’s mom was giving advice, this couldn’t be good. The woman despised me. “You’re not failing,” I protested.
My phone rang, and Aaron paused. I silenced it. “I’ve been needy, I know,” I said. “But it’s not your fault. I’m still getting used to being alone.”
The phone rang again. He arched an eyebrow and I silenced it again, my face burning. “I mean, I’m getting used to us being apart.”
My phone started up its lively jingle for the third time.
“Just answer it,” Aaron said.
I yanked it out of my pocket and uttered a small gasp when I saw it was Stephen. “I’m sorry,” I fumbled. “I have to take this.” I turned slightly to shield myself from Aaron’s gaze, but it wasn’t enough. Feeling like a horrible cheating girlfriend, I stepped into the bathroom joining my room to Beth’s and closed the door.
“Where are you?” I breathed into the phone. “Are you okay?”
“You’re worried about me. I’m touched,” he said, and I relaxed a little at the sound of his voice. He sounded too normal to be under someone else’s control.
“I’ve been freaking out,” I said, irritated now that I knew he was alive. “Why haven’t you been in school? Or at work?”
“Funny you should ask. I’ve left town.”
My alarm-o-meter powered back up. “Why? Isn’t this kind of sudden?”
“Why, yes, my dear Ms. Lockwood, it is,” he said in an uncanny imitation of an English accent. Which only made me think of my boyfriend in the other room. Criminy.
“Is everything okay?” Time to get back on point.
“Better than okay. I can’t really explain, but—something big is happening.”
“Like, a revolution?” I whispered. The alarm bells in my head were screaming now.
“Yeah. Kind of. And I’ve been asked to join it. Even more, lead it. Come with me, Jayne. I’m only a few hours away.”
“Did you get a poem in the mail?”
“How did you know that?”
“And how did you feel after you read it?”
“Amazing. Empowered. Ready to take on the world.”
That explained the energy, the pep in his voice. And no wonder he welcomed the feeling. Stephen had been a dismal rain cloud since his parents’ deaths. I closed my eyes. “You need to come home. It’s not what you think.”
“Do you know something about this?”
I squeezed the phone in my hand. “This is a war, Stephen. And you’re on the wrong side.”
He exhaled loudly, and when he spoke again, I barely recognized his voice.
“You’re wrong, Jayne. There is only one side.”
The line went silent, the kind of dead silence that happens when the call disconnects. I didn’t have to, but I checked anyway. He’d hung up on me.
I blinked, startled at the tears that stung my eyes. Karta was making her move. I needed to talk to Meredith. We needed a game plan!
I charged out of the bathroom and came to an abrupt stop when I saw Aaron, still standing by my window, hands in his pockets.
“Oh,” I breathed.
“Yeah.” He nodded, his face completely closed off. “I’m still here.”
“I—it was just—”
“Something important, I’m sure. It doesn’t matter, Jayne. This is what I was trying to say. Even when we’re together, we’re not. Your mind is elsewhere. You have other things battling for your attention.”
My defenses flared. “And you don’t? It takes you days just to answer a text!”
He shrugged. “Yeah. I’m just as guilty. We’re not there for each other, and the stress of trying only makes things worse.”
“No.” I’d walked right into a trap.
My phone jingled again. This time it was Meredith. My eyes drifted to the open phone almost against my will.
Laima answered me. We have to go back to Maryland.
“I have to go,” I murmured.
Aaron made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. “Of course you do. Because I’m here trying to have a conversation with you. I’m not sure why I bothered.”
I looked up at him, the weight of his words nearly crushing me. “I have to go back there, Aaron,” I said, panic lacing my voice.
“Back to Maryland? Don’t you dare.”
“This isn’t about you. I have to do this.”
“If you go, I promise you, we are through.”
“We can fix this. Okay? We can talk tomorrow, or Tuesday.” Whenever I got back from saving the world. “I have to do this.”
He looked away. “I guess we both have things we have to do. Jayne, I’m transferring.”
Transferring? The word didn't even mean anything to me. “Transferring what?”
“Schools. I’m going back to England.”
I choked. The phone slipped out of my grip, and one hand grabbed my desk for support while the other went to my chest, trying to ease the clutching pain. “E-England?” I whispered.
He nodded, and finally something besides anger showed in his eyes, though it looked more like pity than sorrow. “I’ll finish out this semester. And then I’m going.”
“Just like that?” I sank into the desk chair. “We hit a hard time and you’re out of here? No trying to work it out?”
He looked toward the ceiling. “You know my parents have been after me about school since I declined my acceptance letters. You know I stayed here for you.” He met my gaze head-on, his blue eyes piercing and shameless. “I shouldn’t have.”
His words were a dagger to my he
art. “Because I’m not worth it?”
“Because people change. Because your life doesn’t revolve around mine. Nor mine around yours. I should be focusing on my education.”
He was quoting his parents, I just knew it.
He hesitated, his feet shuffling in place. And then he strode forward. His finger tilted my chin until I met his eyes.
“I’m doing this for you,” he whispered. “Because I know you want more. And for me. Because watching you pull away from me is breaking my heart.” He kissed my forehead, his lips lingering for several heartbeats before he stepped back.
My hand snatched for his, trying to grab his fingers before he moved away. “Don’t go,” I begged.
“I’ll be in touch,” he said, and then he turned and walked out of my room.
The phone rang. And then again, enough times that I forced myself out of my stupor. My head throbbed. Something like adrenaline spiked my bloodstream, surging through me. I forced Aaron from my thoughts and called Meredith back.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Turn on the news, Jayne! But don’t let your mom see. I’m almost to your house.”
I took the stairs two at a time, heading to the den. “You’re coming here?”
“We have to act now.”
Beth was in the den, using the computer. She glanced at me as I plopped in front of the TV. “Oh, hey,” she said.
“Meredith said I need to watch something,” I said as I waited impatiently for the TV screen to turn on.
Beth squinted at me, giving me a closer inspection. “You okay?”
So not okay. But I didn’t want to talk about it. “Fine.” I flipped to the local news. “Where’s Mom?”
“She was on the phone with Dad the last time I checked. I heard her close the door to her room.”
I nodded. Mom was out of the way for now, at least.
“At this point,” the woman on TV said, a very serious expression on her face, “we’ve had reports of one hundred and five people disappearing.” Behind her on the screen, a map of the local townships popped up, with little circles to show where the people disappeared from. The highest concentration was in Lacey Township.
Beth came up behind me. “What the heck?”
“Criminy,” I answered.
“Calls are still coming in. We don’t know what this is for sure, but we suspect it’s related to the animal sacrifices and suicides seen earlier this month.”
“That’s not all of it,” a voice said from behind us.
Beth and I both turned toward Meredith in the doorway. Her chest heaved with each breath, her face flushed. She glanced over her shoulder and faced us again, shoving a hand through her windblown brown hair.
“Did you run here?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Turn to the weather channel,” she responded, ignoring my question.
Beth flipped the channel.
“. . .unusual weather patterns for this time of year.” The weatherman followed the dark green blob hanging out over Maryland. “Most of it seems centered to the west of us, but the wind is churning outside. Stake down your belongings, folks. It’s ugly out there.”
“Is this related?” I asked.
“Remember what I did at Samantha’s house, Jayne? The weather change? This is the same thing. It has the same energy. I can feel it.”
I stared at her, certain that this was important but not sure how.
“We’re the only ones who can fight this,” she said, holding my gaze. “And if we’re leaving, it’s got to be now.”
“What’s going on?” Beth interrupted, reminding me of her presence.
Meredith focused on her. “You can come too. Laima said so.”
“Wait, what?” I said. “She’s not coming. No way.”
Meredith just rolled her eyes. “How are you going to stop her? I’ll explain in the car. We’ve got to go. Now. As soon as your mom sees the news, she’s going to lock your house down so tight you won’t be able to shower by yourself!”
Beth was already standing up, grabbing her backpack from the computer desk. “Where are we going?”
Meredith trained her eyes on me. “Jayne?”
Our parents might freak out, but with all the other disappearances and missing persons, the police wouldn’t be able to give our absence much attention. I’d be grounded for my whole senior year—no, for life—but at least we’d come back. I looked at Beth. “Maryland. We’re going back to Maryland.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
We left no notes. Simply got in Meredith's car and drove away. My family would have no clue where Beth and I were. I nearly had a heart attack every time I thought about my poor mom’s reaction.
“Are you all right, Jayne?” Meredith asked, glancing at me as we stopped at a red light. “You look a bit sick.”
My throat closed up, and I pressed a hand to my eyebrows. My whole world was shattering, and I didn’t even have time to mourn it because I had to save the rest of the world. “I’m fine.”
Beth’s phone dinged, and I glanced over my shoulder to see her pulling it out.
“Turn your phone off,” I said, the investigative journalist inside me waking up. “Turn all the phones off. Or they’ll be able to track us.”
As if on cue, my phone rang. I looked at it and hesitated when Aaron’s name danced across the tiny screen. I hooked a thumb under the flap, desperate to flip it open and hear him tell me he’d made a mistake.
“Jayne,” Meredith said sharply, “your phone too. Shut it off.”
I silenced the call, my heart breaking again as I turned the phone off.
Beth obediently turned hers off as well. “What’s going on? Are we running away?”
“Why is she here?” I gestured at my sister and looked at Meredith.
“Oh, that’s something Laima said. She said we have to find a replacement for Karta or we can’t overthrow her. I thought Beth would be the perfect candidate.”
“What?” I shrieked, bolting upright in my chair. “You just volunteered my sister to take the place of a psycho goddess?”
I could see Meredith's eyes darting toward me behind her glasses frames. “Well, when you put it that way—”
“Absolutely not. Stop the car. We’re taking her home.”
“No way.” Beth leaned forward, her eyes wide. “Psycho goddess? Are you guys for real? Is this some kind of role-playing game?”
I looked at my younger sister, at the curiosity and excitement burning in her eyes. “This isn’t a game, Beth. This is very, very dangerous. You know all the murders? The disappearing people? This is why.”
Beth sucked in a breath, but she didn’t lose any of her excitement. “How? Who’s causing it?”
I pressed my lips together, and Meredith supplied the answer.
“Karta. She’s an ancient goddess who decided to go on a power trip.”
Beth’s eyes just kept getting wider. “Like, a real goddess? Like a Clash of the Titans kind of thing?”
“Yeah, somewhat,” I murmured, my pulse quickening at the thought of a similar battle happening. Where was our Zeus?
“And you think you’re going to stop her?” Her disbelief came across loud and clear.
Meredith laughed. I scowled at her.
“I could use some encouragement here,” I said.
Beth furrowed her brow. “But why you? How are you involved in this?”
The magic question. Time for the magic answer. “She’s my sister.”
I’d been expecting the response to floor her, and I wasn’t disappointed. For a moment she didn’t even seem to hear me. She blinked several times, and her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. “Your . . . sister?”
“Not my real sister,” I hurried to explain. “She’s my sister goddess.”
Beth’s eyes practically crossed with concentration. “So you’re a goddess, too?” she said very slowly.
“Yes.” I kept my eyes trained on her, hoping it would help drive home the truth. “I
’m human. But I inherited the powers of a Latvian goddess. Dekla chose to give up immortality and divide her powers among mortals. Her sister, Karta, did the same thing.”
“Why do you want to destroy her, then?”
“I don’t,” I said with a loud exhale. “But Karta—or the human who inherited Karta’s powers—isn’t using them correctly. All the people who are killing themselves? They are Karta’s attempt to create an army. They didn’t survive her brainwashing.”
Beth shuddered, and I could see some of this sinking in. “Why? What would she do with a whole bunch of brainwashed people?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’ve been asking the same thing.”
“She’s filling the human bodies with vadatajs,” Meredith supplied. “When she has enough of them, she’s going to try and overthrow Dievs.”
I turned to face her. “What are you talking about? And how do you know that?”
“Laima told me.”
I scowled. Had Laima just gotten tired of talking to me and decided to answer Meredith instead? Shrugging off the annoyance, I focused on the fact that at least Laima had given us answers. “What are those vah-things or whatever?”
“From what I read online, they are demons who inhabit human bodies.”
A chill ran over my body, and I shut my eyes. “And then what? What happens to the humans?”
“They cease to exist, I imagine.”
I swallowed, thinking of the phone call with Stephen and how quickly he had turned on me the moment I opposed him. Was it already happening? Had she already started to turn him into one of her minions?
“Okay,” Beth said, interrupting my thoughts. She nodded. “I’ll do it.”
I blinked at her. “Do what?”
She looked at me like I was completely obtuse. “Be Karta. I’ll replace the old hag.”
If the situation weren’t so dire, I’d laugh. “No, Beth. It’s too dangerous. That was just the summary. There’s so much more to this than you know.”
“It doesn’t sound like you have much choice. You need me.”
“She’s right,” Meredith chimed in.
I shot daggers at her with my eyes. It was her fault my sister was in this car. “You better stay out of this,” I growled, manifesting my displeasure.
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