Jaguar Sun (6 page)

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“New day, same bullshit,” Lyssa said.

“I’m gonna be late,” Damian said. “I’ll see you guys at lunch.”

“That just sucks,” I said, as Lyssa and I took our books out of our lockers. She and I had really lucked out this year. We only had one locker between ours. Damian was way around the corner from us.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing Matt came along, or I would have taken a piece outta Brett’s sad behind.”

Somehow I didn’t doubt that. We started to walk to first period.

As we sat in our seats, Lyssa turned to me. “I know you’ve been having issues with the change in the Matt situation….”

“Uh, he’s the star quarterback, Lyss, he’s not married.”

“You know what I mean, wiseass. You’ve been stressing about his priorities, right? What we just saw in the hall looks like the old Matt to me.”

“Well, he likes Damian. He always has.”

“Oh, come on, Maya, you cannot be that blind! Yes, he and Damian are friends, but he did that for
you
.”

“What d’ya mean?”

“Oh, please, that boy is in love with you. Tell me you don’t know that,” she said, raising an eyebrow at me. (I’ve always wanted to be able to do that. Raise one eyebrow.)

“I wouldn’t go that far. Look, I’m figuring it out,” I said.

“Well, I wouldn’t waste too much time figuring. You’ve got one of the good ones. Don’t blow it.”

The rest of the day went smoother from then on. After school, I made a brief appearance at Matt’s football practice so he wouldn’t think helping Damian this morning had gone unnoticed. I actually ended up kind of enjoying practice, even though I don’t know a thing about football. But I could tell enough to know that Matt was good, really good. Even though he had only just made varsity in his senior year (he hadn’t had much interest until then), I had no doubt that he could manage a scholarship to the University of New Mexico if he still wanted to go there. He had applied to several schools, not all of which were local. I think that was a big part of the reason why my heart couldn’t quite commit. I wanted to, I really, really did. But something inside me always seemed to hold me back. One thing was for sure, Lyssa was right when she said he wouldn’t wait forever. But how would he feel about being with a shifter anyway?

That night I finished my homework and studied for my history quiz, then cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed. (Ah, the joys of single-parent households.) Dad was at a conference in Denver for a few days, so I figured it would be a good time to work on my homework for Victrixa. I grabbed a small notebook from my desk and got started. But as I looked back through my writing, I couldn’t seem to come up with anything specific. I checked the clock. It was 9:10. Not too late to call Grandma for some help.

“Is everything all right?” she asked after she said hello.

“I’m sorry. I guess it is a little late. Did I wake you?”

“Oh, no. I just finished up in the darkroom. What’s going on?”

“Not much. Actually, I’m having a little trouble with the homework Victrixa asked me to do,” I said.

“How can I help?”

“Well, she asked me to write down what I could remember from my dreams so I could maybe come up with my trigger for phasing. I can’t seem to come up with anything.”

“Remembering your dreams takes a lot of practice,
ts’unu’un
. I do have a suggestion, though. Do you have any lemon juice in the house?”

“I think so.”

“Good. Drink a glass of warm water with about a tablespoon of lemon juice a little while before bed. That should help.”

“Thanks so much, Grandma.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Sleep well. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Right after I hung up the phone, I went downstairs and found the lemon juice in the baking cabinet. (I’m a regular Gordon Ramsey!) I drank it in some warm water as Grandma had suggested and hoped that it would help me remember my dreams better.

~ ~ ~

The rest of the week was pretty normal, except Matt was out on Thursday and Friday, which I thought was a little strange. Even weirder, he wasn’t answering any of my texts. By Saturday, the twins had had enough.

“Just call him, already. Right now, before we start
Glee
,” Damian insisted.

“He’s at the game,” I said. There was no way he was going to miss that.

“It’s early yet,” Lyssa pointed out.

“Okay, fine.” I went into my bag, pulled out my cell phone, and hit speed dial. “It’s going right to voicemail,” I said. I figured he was already at the field and didn’t bother leaving a message. “I’ll just try him again later,” I said, plopping down on the floor.

As I lay in bed that night, having dutifully finished my warm water with lemon, all I could think about was going to Victrixa’s the next day. I wasn’t sure why exactly, but the whole thing made me anxious. Maybe it was her, maybe it was phasing again. Or not phasing again, depending on whether or not I could even do it. Jeez. I just couldn’t seem to get to sleep. Something was off. Then I remembered that I had forgotten to call Matt again like I’d planned. I grabbed my phone and let it ring until it went to voicemail again. This time I did leave a message.

“Matt? It’s Maya. Where are you? You haven’t picked up your phone or answered any of my texts since Tuesday. Please get in touch with me so I know you’re okay.”

I left it at that. I wanted to tell him how much I missed him, because I really did. I dunno. So much that was going on in my life seemed up in the air and, well, just down right crazy. And the whole shifter thing just seemed like it did nothing but dump another complication in my life. Suddenly, I realized that I hadn’t done a ritual in over a week. No wonder I was stressed out!

That’s when I remembered about Mayan spiritual baths. I may not have had access to a spa in Cancún, but I had
copal
. And I had herbs and fresh flowers for the bathwater, too. I moved my little incense stove from its hiding place under my dresser to the bathroom counter. I wandered the house in search of some flowers and herbs, then cut some marigold flowers from the fall plant on our front steps, remembering to thank the plant as I did. I also used roses from our rose bushes. I found some overgrown basil, rosemary, and sage that grew from the neighbor’s yard into ours. Then I went upstairs to start my bath.

After I lit the incense stove and started to run the hot water, I placed the flowers and herbs in the water, watching them float about as the sweet scent of
copal
filled the room. Once the top of the water had a light greenish tint to it, I crawled into the luxurious bath. While I soaked, I said some prayers to
Balam
for wisdom and guidance. I didn’t want to get out of the bath, it was so nice, even after my fingers and toes were all pruny.

By the time I dried off, my spirit was soaring. It felt as though a giant weight had been lifted off my chest. I crawled into bed and fell fast asleep in moments. And when I woke the next morning, I knew exactly what my trigger was.

CHAPTER FIVE

Driving out to Victrixa’s ranch, I was actually looking forward to my first lesson. The positive energy of last night’s spiritual bath was still with me and although I didn’t feel totally confident, I was no longer nervous. When I pulled up in roughly the same place where I had parked before, I saw Victrixa waiting for me on the porch.

“
In Lak’ech
, Maya,” she said as she laid her right hand over her heart.

“
Ala K’in
,” I responded with a smile, echoing her gesture.

“Come,” she said, “sit on the porch with me a bit and tell me about your week.” Jeez, she was beautiful. She was wearing a long caftan and the same plate necklace I’d seen before.

“Well,” I began, “it took me a few days to figure out what my trigger might be, but I think I know now.”

“And is it a thought? As it is for most shifters?”

“Yeah, it’s—”

“No, no need to tell me. Some things are sacred. Let’s head out in the Rover for some practice. It’s parked just out back.”

We walked around to the back of the house and climbed into her SUV. She off-roaded out into the middle of nowhere, which I figured was probably the point.

“You’re going to find that phasing during the daytime is much different than what was happening to you at night,” she said. “You’ll be awake, so you will remember it all. That means the actual phasing, as well as the whole experience of being in your second form.”

“Does it hurt? I mean, it’s kind of hard to know the truth about it all with TV and whatnot.” I hoped I wasn’t insulting her again.
Yeesh
.

She gave a sharp laugh. “It’s not painful as long as you make a full transition. And you don’t ruin the clothing you’re wearing, either. All of that is based on the idea that the phase is somehow chemical or genetic. But it’s not, of course. Spirit magic is nothing like that.”

She pulled up under a large tree that looked out on a vast field. We got out of the Rover and I followed her as she moved away from the tree line. She pointed at the field.

“All of the land we’ve seen here belongs to me. I own a hundred acres. No one will see us or hear us. Now what I want you to do is think of your thought and take it as deep within yourself as you can. It should be a positive one. Let it remind your soul of what the best part of phasing is for you.”

I heard her and all, but to be honest with you, I was still kinda stuck on the hundred acres part. Hello!

I started by standing completely still and feeling the gentle breeze play in my hair, then I inhaled deeply and pictured
Balam
in my head. And then I let myself think it:
freedom
. I felt an incredible sensation of being pulled forward by my belly button. I actually
was
being pulled forward, and also upward a few feet. And when I landed,
I was
Balam
. Or rather, I was myself inside
Balam
. All of my human-girl thoughts and feelings were still there, but my body had completely transformed. I had four feet. I bounded off, feeling the strength, the speed and, above all, the freedom.

“Don’t go too far!” I heard Victrixa call.

I can’t say how long she let me run around out there, but it must have been quite a while because by the time I padded back to her, she was sitting in a folding lawn chair drinking sparkling water and reading a book.

She closed the book and smiled at me. “Now,” she said, “to move back to your first form all you need to do is relax and desire it.”

I focused on letting each part of
Balam’s
body relax, from head to tail. As soon as I let go, I was Maya again. Victrixa pulled another chair out of the Rover and handed me (glory of glories!) a diet Coke from her cooler.

“That was….” I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t find the words.

“That was
awesome
,” Victrixa said with another laugh. “You’re a natural.”

“I am?”

“I should say so. How do you feel?”

“Awesome,” I laughed, too.

We sat in the shade a while longer, enjoying the breeze and our cool drinks.

“So,” Victrixa asked with a sweet smile, “have you found your mate yet?”

Huh?
“You mean shifters really do mate for life, like they say?”

“Absolutely. And it’s always with another shifter.”

“Hmm.”

After we finished our drinks, we packed up the Rover and headed back to her house. Before I left, I turned to thank her, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to say. She seemed to sense it.

“It’s okay, Maya. You’re not my first newborn, so to speak. Have fun. And remember what I said about being careful. And no skipping school to phase!”

“Thanks, Victrixa.”

All I could think about as I drove home was how wrong I’d been. The fear of becoming a shifter had haunted me for days. Now I knew why she was warning me about skipping school. People probably did! The feeling of freedom was so overpowering. It was totally intoxicating. I had heard lots of stories of shifters who spent most of their lives in their second form. People probably did that, too. As I drove down the highway, the wind whipping through my hair, all I could think about was how soon I could make it out to Grandma’s to show her how amazing it was.

~ ~ ~

“I just don’t get it,” I said to Lyssa the next morning as we walked into homeroom. “Where could he be?”

She shrugged. “No idea. Maybe he has mono or something.”

“Since when does that keep you from answering your phone?”

I sat all through the first half of the day barely hearing a word my teachers said. It just didn’t make any sense. And that’s when I realized I was going to have to do it. I was going to have to go to the moronic jock table that Matt sat at during lunch. I had to find out what the hell was going on. Of course, I grabbed the twins on the way for moral support, then I walked up behind two creeps (I swear, there’s, like, no telling them apart) and pushed by them, only to find myself surrounded by half the football team and their cheerleader girlfriends.
Crap.