The Nine Lives of Chloe King (56 page)

“It sounds like our curse is somehow being lifted or fading,” Kim said slowly, thinking. “How exactly did the boy from the club ’recover’?”

“I don’t know. He said he just sort of woke up; they told him that he suddenly just ’got better.’”

“And when exactly did this happen?”

“Uh, October 19th.”

Kim’s eyes widened. “That’s the night you died—at the Presidio, with everyone.”

“Yeah, so …?” Chloe hadn’t made the connection and still didn’t see what it had to do with anything.

“You’re lifting the curse!” her friend practically shouted, scaring Chloe with her intensity.

“Um … what?”

“You died
saving a human!”

“She’s my
mom,
Kim….”

“Yes, but listen—we were cursed because we killed whole villages of humans!” Kim said excitedly, her fangs gleaming and her eyes a little crazy. “Maybe because you died saving one, it mitigates our burden. And Brian? How is he?”

“I’m going downstairs to see him now, but the doctor said that so far he hasn’t shown any signs of anything.”

Kim glowed with excitement. “I must research this further,” she said, disappearing back into the stacks. “I’ll call you later if I find an answer!”

As she headed downstairs to the hospital room, Chloe smiled to herself at the idea of
her
lifting an ancient curse. Besides it meaning that everyone would be okay … how cool was that? It finally sounded like something a real leader would do.

Brian was still unconscious on the bed, IVs and tubes sticking in and out of his body. There was almost no discernable change from the other day, except that maybe his wounds looked a little scabbier, like they were beginning to heal around the edges. Maybe. No signs of death or toxic shock.

“Hey,” Chloe said softly, taking his hand. Without her realizing it, her claws came out, slowly and delicately. She used them to comb back his hair.

“Oh.” Dr. Lovsky stopped short when she came in and saw the two of them together. “I, uh, I’ll just leave the two of you alone….”

“No, it’s okay. Has he shown any signs of—has he—?” Chloe didn’t know how to say it.

“There has been no sign of any of the traditional symptoms associated with humans who have … closely interacted with Mai,” the doctor answered, shaking her head. “I even went back and looked up in our oldest documents any description of what happens. Boils. Fever. Strange bruises and scratches.” She ticked them off on her clawed fingers. “Inability to breathe. Eyes sealed shut. Blood from the pores.
Nothing.
Zero. Zip. Nada. Aside from being severely beaten, Brian is fine.”

Chloe’s bubble of hope grew a little bigger.

“I don’t understand it at all. I’m completely thrilled for my patient, but… I’ve
seen
what happens when a Mai kisses a human,” Dr. Lovsky said helplessly. “Anyway, the best thing for him now is rest—and lots of antibiotics—to let his body get on with the process of healing.”

“Why antibiotics?”

Dr. Lovsky narrowed her eyes at Chloe as if she were an idiot and raised one eyebrow to further illustrate her feelings. “You
found
him
injured
on the
street
in a
puddle.
Would you like me to list all the sorts of buggies an already-stressed body can be taken up with?”

“Uh, no, that’s okay,” Chloe said, quickly holding up her hand. “I get it. Thanks for everything.”

Dr. Lovsky left and Chloe turned back to Brian.

He rustled in the bedclothes—though his leg in the cast was eerily still. “Chloe?” he whispered hoarsely.

“I’m here,” she whispered back, kissing his cheek as lightly as possible. While it might not have mattered, there was no reason to tempt the Fates.

“Where am I?” After a few tries he managed to open his crusted eyes. Chloe swallowed her sadness at the damage done to another human being, the ravaging of his good looks. Brian’s eyes were red and there was a pool of blood or something covering half of his left one; his right was sunk in a swollen mass of purple flesh.

What a stupid,
stupid
thing!
was all she could think.

“You’re safe,” she said, deciding that was the easiest answer.

He snorted. Then he coughed, a long, rasping fit.

“No,” he croaked. “Really.” His dull eyes managed to twinkle just a little.

Chloe sighed.

“You’re in the emergency room of Mai HQ. Can’t reveal the location; it’s a secret.”

“I’m—“He hacked some more. Spittle came out of his mouth and ran down his chin. No blood this time, Chloe was relieved to see. Before she even thought about it, she took the edge of her shirt and wiped his face with it. “I’m
where?”

“Well, where
else
was I supposed to take you?” she snapped with feigned annoyance. She was just relieved he was able to speak this coherently.

“That doctor … lady …?” A weak finger pointed at the door.

“Mai.”

Brian took so long to answer that she was afraid he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.

“Holy crap,” he finally said, groaning. “Irony …”

“Shhh. Rest.”

“Not… dead …” he suddenly realized, eyes flaring. He turned his head and tried to move his shoulders so he could look at her. “I
kissed
you! Not dead … How?”

Chloe shook her head. “I don’t know. … Kim thinks the curse might be lifting because I saved a human life—my mom’s.” She decided
not
to burden him, once again, with the details of Xavier. Later. When he was feeling better.

“Kiss me,” he ordered.

So she did.

He pulled her partly onto the bed with him, and except for one bad moment when her elbow dug into what was probably a cracked rib, they remained that way for a while. …

Chloe was so distracted by the fact that Kim seemed to be right—the curse did seem to be lifted—that when she finally left to go see Sergei, she forgot to be nervous or worried.

“Hey,” she said. Olga and Sergei were bent over his desk together, looking at a newspaper or a contract or something. Her short platinum hair and his natural tweedy orange clashed so badly that Chloe almost had to look away.

When Olga looked up and saw her, she smiled with genuine affection and dipped her head.

“Yes, Chloe.” Sergei also smiled, but Chloe saw something else in his blue-water eyes: fear, mistrust, eagerness; she couldn’t tell. “Oh, and we’re confirmed for Tuesday, October 28. Your introduction to the Pride.”

“Oh, great. I have to check my class schedule and talk with Mom, but I don’t see why not.” All Chloe could picture was Sergei onstage in a giant auditorium, speaking at a blue-draped podium with Chloe sitting in a folding chair beside him, waiting to be introduced. All of the eyes she could see beyond the foot- and spotlights were slit, and there were occasional hisses from the audience.

“Has Kim fitted you with a robe yet?” Olga asked, jotting something down on the PalmPilot she carried.

If only that woman knew how ridiculous those words sounded coming out of her mouth.
Chloe could just see it on her college application: Math team, AP French, and two years of mostly dead ancient-Egyptian-related language and religion. Well, at least Brown would be interested.

“Robe?”

“You have to start learning the Precepts of the Mai and at least some of our language before the ritual.”

“Ritual?” The
scene in Chloe’s head switched from a high-school assembly to a cross between a bat mitzvah and something she might have seen on
Buffy.

“Chloe, you have to start taking this seriously,” Sergei said sternly. “It is not all about fun and power.”

She opened her mouth to tell him Kim’s theory about the curse and her possible lifting of it—but something made her stop. Something her cat-eared friend had told her weeks ago, when she first came to the mansion, about not always revealing everything she knew.

Sergei misinterpreted the look in her eyes and sighed. “I’m just trying. … There’s a lot more to being a leader than just, well, ’leading,’ Chloe. You really need to understand the soul of our people. And while you were born with a better
natural
insight of our ways and religion, you are still without a connection to those who live it every day.”

“Yeah, I know, you’re right,” Chloe admitted.

“Even those of us who have had many years of experience can still make horrible mistakes. … I feel terrible about what happened to your mother, Chloe,” he said out of nowhere and stiffly, as if he wasn’t used to apologizing. “My previous decision to not risk Mai life for the mother of the Chosen—of
any
Mai—was shortsighted and foolish and almost led to great harm. Anything could have happened once the Order kidnapped her—and I would have been partially to blame.”

Where is he going with this?
Chloe wondered.

“I know how important your human friends and family are to you. At least I do now.” He tapped a manila folder on his desk. “Consider this a peace offering, not a bribe. I’ve set our human resources department the task of finding your adoptive father.”

Of all the things Chloe was expecting him to say, this definitely wasn’t one of them. She felt like she had been hit on the forehead with a shovel, too stunned to speak.

“My dad?” She stared at the folder, wanting and not wanting to reach for it.

“We don’t have anything yet,” Olga said gently. “But we’ve tackled tougher cases—nameless orphan Mai half a world away. We will find him,” she added.

“Oh.” Chloe shifted her weight from one foot to another. “Thanks.” She got up and turned to leave, unsure what else to do. “I guess I’ll see you….”

“Chloe—,” Sergei called. She looked back. He had a pained expression on his face, like he was really trying to get through to her but didn’t know how. “Olga and I are here for you, for whatever you need.
Anything.”

“Thanks,” Chloe said, maybe actually meaning it this time.

She closed the door behind her and stood there a moment in the lobby, trying to take in what had just happened. He was going to help find her dad. Her
human
dad. It was obviously Sergei’s way of apologizing.

“Honored One,” Igor greeted her coldly, approaching Sergei’s office. His eyes never looked more feline as the light caught his irises and made them almost red.

“Igor,” Chloe said uncomfortably.

There was no trace of the former friendliness he had shown her when she had interned briefly at Firebird. “I heard about the big meeting—where you will take over,” he hissed. “Sergei has devoted his
entire life
to the Pride, you know.”

So much for automatic acceptance of their divinely gifted spiritual leader,
she thought glumly. There didn’t seem to be an upside to any of this.

“I’m not trying to take it away from him. This is the way I was
born,”
Chloe said, a little desperately.

“Yes. Just remember, while you were being raised by
humans,
Sergei was helping to save the
Mai.”
And he strode off—
Rather cowardly,
Chloe thought—not giving her a chance to reply.

“This just keeps getting better and better,” she muttered.

Things seemed to be finally getting back to normal that evening. After homework, Chloe treated herself to watching some dorky reality show and flipping through the latest
Vogue.
It was the first mindless, enjoyable downtime she’d had in weeks.

“Hey.” Her mom suddenly appeared next to her, kneeling by the couch with an expectant look on her face. For the second time that day Chloe was pretty sure she didn’t like where things were about to go.

“Yeah?” Chloe said suspiciously.

“I was just thinking about Paul and Amy, and you and all the stress you’re under, and your, uh, other friends… Alyec, and the one with the ears….”

“Yes?” Chloe said, still suspicious.

“Well.” Her mother brushed a wispy lock of ash blond hair behind her ear, once again pixie perfect. Her earrings—replacements for the ones she’d dropped at the Order’s hideout when she was kidnapped—swung, hypnotic dark silver crescent pendulums. “Whatever happens, I really need to be more informed about your life and get to know your friends better.” While this was said lightly, there was a look in Anna King’s eyes that allowed no defiance. This was a Mother Decision.

Chloe braced herself.

“I was thinking about throwing a little pizza party for all of you,” her mom said with a brilliantly white grin.

The surprise party that she had thrown for Chloe’s sixteenth birthday was actually pretty swank and fun. But this…

“Awww, Mom! Come
on,”
Chloe said desperately. “That was cool when I was, like,
ten….”

“It’s still fun,” her mom insisted. “We can do make-your-own pizzas—maybe even get the dough from Carlucci’s. Different toppings—it will be totally retro. Like a little pre-Halloween party.”

“This is
not
a good idea,” Chloe pleaded.

“I’d really like to meet your friends,” her mom said through gritted teeth. “Since they came to help rescue you and me.”

“You know how, like,
Angel
and
Buffy
used to do crossovers? Like, Willow showing up on
Angel
and Angel appearing in the last episode of
Buffy?”
Chloe said, trying not to sound whiny. “Well,
Smallville
and
The
O.C. don’t—and this is like that. Paul and Amy are breaking up. Amy and Alyec … something weird is going on there. And
Kim?
Mom, you don’t even know her—she’s a freak. I love her, but she’s not exactly a party animal and she doesn’t like Alyec, either. … I just can’t really deal with this whole worlds-colliding idea.”

“I want. To meet. Your friends.”

The Mai had a thing or two to learn about intimidation from this woman who had normal, round pupils, Chloe decided.

She sank woefully back into the couch. No good could come of this.

Ten