Jaguar Sun (Jaguar Sun Series Book 1)

by Martha Bourke

  ~ ~ ~

  The twins were coming to the house later so we could have our weekly Gleek-a-thon. We’re total Gleeks. I love me some Matthew Morrison! (Leave it to me to have a huge crush on an actor named Matt playing a Spanish teacher. Ha!) We had a rule that none of us was allowed to watch Glee during the week. We DVR’d it and then took turns watching it at each other’s houses on Saturday. So when the doorbell rang, you can imagine how surprised I was when I opened the front door and found Matt standing on the doorstep.

  “Hey, Matt, what’s up?”

  “Hey, My, do you mind if I come in for a sec?” He smiled with those dimples, and suddenly I was totally unable to put two coherent thoughts together.

  “Uh, yeah, sure.” Brilliant. I let him in and we walked around the corner and into the living room and plunked down on the couch.

  “I know, I usually call to make plans,” he said, “but I was just on my way to Josh’s and I saw your car in the driveway. You didn’t come to the game.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I had...I just had something really important that I had to do. You know, family stuff. There was no way I could get out of it. Please, please, don’t think this has anything to do with not wanting to see you play.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure. I just figured you’d be there.”

  “I’m really sorry.” I suck, I suck, I suck. “It wasn’t some kind of anti-football protest, I promise. I went to your last game,” I reminded him.

  “You’re right. I know you can’t be at every one.” He took my hand, and I grinned at him like a huge idiot. Then with his other hand he moved a few stray strands of hair away from my face. I thought my heart was going to pound right out of my chest. “Your hair is so amazing,” he said. He leaned in and brushed his lips gently against my cheek and then lightly over my lips. We kissed. Softly, searching at first, but then it deepened. Electricity shot through my body. It was just like he was the “old” Matt. I somehow forgot all the weirdness that had been happening between us.

  And then he moved my hair to kiss my neck.

  “Whoa! Your Dad let you get a tattoo?”

  Oh, crap, crap, crap! “Uh, not exactly,” I said, and pulled my hair back over my shoulder.

  “Can I see it?”

  What the hell was I gonna do? Damn! Just then, the doorbell rang. I was saved!

  “Oh, Matt, that’s the twins. We were just going to catch Glee real quick,” I said, standing up and making for the hall.

  “So you’re not coming to Josh’s then?”

  “Maybe afterward,” I said. “Do you want to stay and watch?”

  “Not so into it,” he said. “But come by Josh’s later if you feel like it.” He gave me a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He said a quick hello to the twins on his way out and headed for his car.

  Alyssa watched him drive away. “Ooh, let’s have the details about the hottie,” she said.

  “Well, let’s see. We were talking, then we were kissing, then he saw my mark.”

  “Oh. My. God. Maya, how did that happen?” Damian asked.

  “Use your imagination,” Lyssa said. “What did he say?” she asked me.

  “He thinks it’s a regular tattoo. He thought my dad let me get one!”

  “Uh oh.”

  “I know. You guys, what am I gonna do? I can’t believe I let my guard down like that. What if he tells anyone? Oh, my God. He’s going to Josh’s tonight. What if he tells someone at the party?”

  “Okay, you’re freaking out. I’m sure he won’t even think of it,” Lyssa said.

  “Even if he does, don’t forget that your mark isn’t an animal like people would expect. There’s actually nothing about your mark that gives you away as a shifter,” Damian pointed out.

  Whew. “I hadn’t thought of that,” I said. I had been so busy worrying about why my mark was so different that somehow I had managed to overlook that one teensy little blessing. I mean, jeez, paranoid much?

  “Honestly,” Lyssa said, “I really think you’re in the clear on this one. As long as your dad doesn’t find out, you’re good.”

  “He’s going to know eventually,” I said, cringing at the thought.

  “Well, we’ll just have to deal with that when it happens.” She smiled and plopped down on the floor in front of the TV.

  “I’ll go grab the snacks,” I said.

  “Need some help?” Damian asked.

  “I’m good,” I said, and headed into the kitchen. I pulled some sodas out of the fridge, popped open a diet Coke and took a sip, then took some munchies out of the cabinet. I brought them back to the living room and joined my BFFs on the floor with some big pillows. I was more than happy to Gleek out like a regular kid for a while.

  “So how did the ritual go?” Lyssa asked a minute later.

  “Okay, I think. I definitely feel calmer, more centered. You know, it was the strangest thing...,” I began, but then something stopped me.

  “What’s that?” Damian asked.

  “Well, this is going to sound weird—”

  “—weird? Coming from you?” Lyssa giggled.

  “Chill, Lys,” Damian said. He looked at me. “What happened?”

  “Well, just as I finished the ritual, Balam’s face flashed before my eyes a few times.”

  “That’s interesting. I wonder what that could mean.”

  “You mean you don’t think I imagined it?”

  “Well, do you?” he asked.

  “No, I guess I don’t. I wasn’t sure at first, but now….”

  “Then I don’t either.”

  “Me, neither,” Lyssa chimed in optimistically. “You know, maybe Balam is trying to communicate with you or something. I mean, first it was in your dreams while you were asleep at night. Pretty normal, as far as we know. But then he seems to be...not chasing you like you thought...but following you and maybe even trying to get your attention. And now he shows up in your ritual.”

  “Hey, who says Damian’s the smart one?” I grinned, knowing full well it was a sore spot for Lyssa.

  “You know, she could be right,” her twin said. The serious look on his face put an end to my silliness. “I hope your grandma can locate that friend of hers,” he added. “I think there might be more going on here than meets the eye.”

  That night I lay in bed thinking about what the twins had said. I supposed it could be true that Balam was trying to contact me somehow. Grandma had said that a nagual could show itself in our world, especially if a person’s life force was very strong. I had done the ritual alone today, but I figured it must have been far from perfect. And still I had somehow managed to conjure Balam’s face. What was going on? In spite of my musings, my eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Wondering about Grandma’s friend, I fell into a deep, blissful sleep. Alone.