Claws (9780545469678) (9 page)

A few minutes later, the cop escorted Emma and her mom out of the building. Only after they were off school property did he remove the handcuffs. “Don't let me catch you near a school zone again. Understand?”

Emma nodded. Her hands tingled with pins and needles as she tried to move her fingers again.

She and her mom got into the car. They didn't look at each other.

“It was an accident,” Emma said.

Her mom put the car into gear and started driving.

After several minutes of silence, Emma tried again. “Mom, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, okay? I really didn't know about the claws.”

Her mom wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. When she finally spoke, her voice was steady again. “That cat's not going to get away with this. I'm going to call the police, have him hunted down. You know better than to mess with magic. Do you have any idea what could have happened if —”

She broke off as they drove up to their trailer.

There were cats everywhere. All of them were small now, but still they were all different shapes and sizes. Emma saw gray fur, white fur, ginger, brown, and black. They sprawled across the lawn and driveway. They lounged on the steps. A few even stared down from the roof of the trailer. Green and yellow eyes watched Emma with a still, stalking intensity.

The Heart's Blood was working. Her pride was back.

CRAG FACT OF THE DAY:

“It's not a good idea to wear clothes made out of satyr fur if there's a chance you might run into an actual living satyr. It tends to make them angry.”

CragWiki.org

“E
mma, stay in the car,” her mom said, then rolled down her window a few inches. “Mr. Simbi?” she called.

Mr. Simbi's head broke the surface of the water in his hot tub, tail flapping wildly. “You have to do something about these cats!” he yelled. “I already told them to go, but they just ignored me. That's the problem with cats, they're rude and lazy. They shed everywhere, too. Look, there's cat hair in my water. It's unsanitary!”

“Do you have a phone?” Emma's mom interrupted. “We need to call the police.”

Mr. Simbi shook his head. “I don't need a phone. And neither do you, because the police won't come here. They never do. Well, not unless they're disturbing hardworking residents with questions about things we know nothing about. But the moment there's any real trouble, there's not an officer to be found.”

“Mom, I don't think they're here to hurt us,” Emma said. “I just need to talk to them.”

“Have you forgotten where talking to cats has gotten you so far?” her mom said. “You are going to stay in this car, and you are not to move until —”

A gray cat climbed onto the hood of the car. Emma recognized him from the day before, the one called Fat Leon. “This is not human business,” he said, staring at her mom through the windshield. “We're here to see our Pride-Heart.”

Emma's mom pursed her lips and slammed the heel of her palm on the horn. “I don't care what you want!” she yelled, punctuating each word with another blast of the car horn. “Get! Off! My! Property! Get! Away! From! My! Child!”

Fat Leon's ears twitched with irritation, but he didn't bother to move.

“Mom, stop!” Emma yelled, her hands over her ears. “I have to talk to them. I'm their Pride-Heart now!”

“No, you're a twelve-year-old girl,” her mom cried. “And whatever that Jack did to you doesn't change that.”

Fat Leon's ears perked up. “Are you hunting him, too? Then we want the same thing. He's hiding out in your trailer right now, like a coward. He knows we don't have the magic to tear it open, or he'd already be dead.”

“No!” Emma said. “You can't hurt him. I order you, as your Pride-Heart.”

Fat Leon licked his paw. “I don't think that's a very good idea. He's a Heart-Killer. You're not safe with him.”

“Emma, what's going on? What's a Heart-Killer? Never mind, it doesn't matter. Just stop talking to it. We're driving to the police station.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Emma said. She yanked open the passenger door and jumped out. Fat Leon hopped off the car.

Emma stood in the middle of her pride. A faint breeze blew, and she smelled them all. She felt calm.

“Emma, get away from them!” her mom yelled.

“It's fine, Mom.” Emma said. “They're not going to hurt me, right?” She glanced around at the cats. “Right?”

“Not if you're really our Pride-Heart,” a thin black cat said.

“That's the big question, isn't it?” Fat Leon said. “You have the Heart's Blood, and it's obviously beginning to work on you, otherwise we wouldn't have been drawn here.” He looked at her keenly. “Something just happened, didn't it?” He went on without waiting for her answer. “But the question is: Can you give
us
magic? Cricket said you're just a human, that we'll never get true magic from you, and that killing you wouldn't make any of us a Heart-Killer. But she's not exactly volunteering for the job, so she must have her doubts.”

That was more than Emma's mom could take. She got out of the car and waded through the cats, ignoring their hisses. Then she grabbed Emma's arm and started to pull her toward the trailer.

“Mom, stop! They can't do anything to me; they don't have any magic.”

More cats hissed behind them on the steps. Emma realized there were enough of them to be dangerous even without magic.

“Is this old human absolutely necessary?” asked the black cat.

“She does seem pretty annoying,” the gray cat agreed.

Emma's mom sputtered indignantly.

“Yes,” Emma said quickly. “Everyone is necessary! Don't hurt anyone or do anything unless I say so, okay?” She turned to her mom. “They won't leave us alone unless I talk to them. Please, I just need five minutes. It's my fault they're here — it has to do with my claws. I'll explain later, I promise. You can leave the door open, just . . . let me try to fix this. Okay?”

Her mom looked at her for a long moment, then at the cats. She seemed to wilt, as though she didn't have any strength left for arguing. “I trust you,” she said quietly. “You have two minutes.” She let her hand fall away from Emma's arm, and walked up the metal steps and into the trailer.

Emma faced the cats. “I'll figure out a way to give you magic.”

The cats watched her, completely still.

“Try it now,” Fat Leon purred.

Emma swallowed and nodded. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what it had felt like when she first took the Heart's Blood. Feeling light as air and strong as a rock. Wanting to laugh and scream at the same time. The tugging in her gut that meant the cats were drawing magic from her. She felt all of it, for just a moment — and then she remembered her claws, and the anger she'd felt before she clawed Matt's face. She'd wanted to hurt him. That's when the magic had worked.
But I don't want that!
she thought desperately.

And just like that, the feeling was gone.

For a moment when she opened her eyes Fat Leon looked as though he'd grown somewhat, then he was his small, round self again.

“Well,” he purred, “maybe there's some hope after all. A little bit. We'll do as you say for now, human.”

“Emma. My name is Emma.”

“Fat Leon,” he said. Then he began introducing every cat in the pride. Emma tried to keep up, but it was just a sea of fur and ears and glaring eyes.

“What about that one?” Emma asked, pointing to the small tabby, who was sitting a few yards away, chewing on his feet. The only cat not paying any attention to her or anything else.

“Oh, him,” Fat Leon said. “He doesn't have a name. We call him the Toe-Chewer. But what do you want us to do about Jack? We need to deal with him.”

“You can't hurt him,” Emma said. “He's my friend!”

The Toe-Chewer looked up. “But I thought he was a Heart-Killer? They don't have any friends.”

“I have to go inside for now,” Emma said. “But I'll be back, and I can try again.” Though the thought of trying to get that feeling back made her feel sick. She needed to talk to Jack. Maybe he'd know what to do.

Emma's parents were in the kitchen when she went inside. Their voices were drowned out by the old Vietnamese pop music blaring from a tape deck on the table. The trailer smelled like cassava cake. With Helena missing, it was hard to imagine it being a happy birthday, but Emma realized she had somehow managed to make things even worse.

Her dad shut the music off and pulled her into a hug.

“I didn't mean for it to happen,” Emma said into his shoulder, her eyes welling up with tears.

“We'll get this taken care of somehow,” her mom was saying. “They can't just not let her go to school. We'll figure something out.”

“What did you do?” her dad whispered. “What were you thinking?”

Emma didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell them she got cat magic so that she could try to find Helena. It seemed so stupid now after everything that had happened. But she still had to try, and she wasn't going to let anything stop her.

“I'm sorry,” she said.

“I know,” her dad said. “I know. It's just some cats, right? We can deal with a few cats. Like your mom said, we'll figure this out.”

“Emma, maybe you should go lie down,” her mom said. “Your father and I have a lot to talk about.”

Emma nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She pulled away from her dad and went to her room, closing the door behind her.

Jack looked up from his spot on the bed. “I smell blood.” He raked his claws across her sheets in annoyance. “I wanted to be there for your first kill, you know.”

“I didn't kill anyone,” she said, sitting down beside him. She told him what happened. “They kicked me out of school.”

“Let me see those claws,” Jack said, as though he hadn't heard.

Emma hesitated. “I don't know how.”

“Oh, it's easy. You just sort of . . .” He flexed his paw and extended his claws, waving them in front of her face.

Emma flexed her hand dubiously. Nothing happened. “I got angry, and then there they were. I don't know if I want them back.”

“Why not? That kid won't mess with you again. Neither will anyone else, now that they know to be afraid of you.” Emma couldn't help remembering that this was exactly what she'd thought, too, but that just made her feel worse. She really was turning into a cat.

“What if he'd lost an eye or something?”

“He has two,” said Jack, staring at her with his single eye. “Anyway, he deserved it, didn't he?”

“I guess,” Emma said. This wasn't the same as getting into a fistfight, though, or name-calling. You didn't get expelled for that.

“You don't really feel bad for him. Cats don't feel guilty. It's just shock because you didn't know about the claws. Don't worry, you'll get over it.”

Easy for you to say,
Emma thought. But something about the way he talked made it seem . . . not so bad after all. She'd proven her strength, even if it wasn't quite how she intended. She flexed her hand again, and the claws slid out with only a slight pain.

Jack peered at them critically. “Not too bad, I guess. They're a little crooked and you need to clean them.”

“I'm sure yours are perfect,” Emma said. Somehow, as soon as she was with Jack, things felt like they could get better. Easier. She flexed her hand again and the claws retracted. It really was pretty simple. “I tried to give the cats magic again, but it didn't work,” she said. Then a thought occurred to her and she brightened. “If I can give them magic, does that mean I can give you back your magic, too? Now that you have a pride?”

“Once you kill a Pride-Heart, you can't use cat magic anymore. Ever.” His tail flicked back and forth, and his eye narrowed to a thin slit. “But that's all right. It won't stop me. Not with your help.”

“I'm going to tell them to go look for Helena,” Emma said. “I don't know if they'll listen, but I don't want to wait until I can give them magic.”

“You won't have to,” Jack said. “I know just where you need to go next. The tunnels under the forest where the ratters live. If anyone knows anything, it'll be them. They have a way with information — how to get it and how to use it.” He paused. “They might even be able to help you use your magic.”

“Ratters? Are you sure?”

“Trust me,” Jack purred.

* * *

There was a knock at the door. “Emma?” her mom said. Her voice was soft. “We're going to have Helena's cake now.”

“I'll be out in a minute.” Emma glanced at Jack.

“Go,” he said, yawning. “We'll leave when it gets dark. Better to hunt at night.”

“You should probably hide,” Emma said. “My mom already wants you gone, and if she sees you here now . . . I don't think she'll be very happy.”