The Nine Lives of Chloe King (35 page)

“No, but Reese Witherspoon plays his niece. …”

“No, thank you,” Alyec said, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

“How about
Hills of the Dead?”
Igor asked.

“Yeah!” Alyec agreed, leaping, Mai-like, onto the back of Igor’s chair and looking over his shoulder.

“Absolutely not,” Valerie said, sticking out her jaw— a lot like Amy. “Horror movies freak me out.”

“That’s the point, dumbass,” Alyec said. “I hear Raymond Salucci did the score,” he added to Igor, who nodded excitedly.

“It’s gonna suck,” Chloe said hesitantly. Honestly, she didn’t mind—but Valerie did look really upset.

“How about
The Return of the King?”
the other girl suggested, offering a compromise.

“I’ve seen it four times already,” one of the guards replied, shaking his head. Chloe shot the scarred older man a look. He just shrugged. Although she was almost positive that he was one of the ones from the night she’d been ambushed by the Tenth Blade, the other kizekh, the woman, had called him “Dima,” but tonight he had introduced himself as “Dmitri,” and she was pretty sure that was the name Sergei had used, too. She didn’t know what the woman’s name was.
Living here is worse than being in a Russian novel.

Chloe scanned the newspaper, hope dwindling. She didn’t really give a rat’s ass what they saw—as long as she was out, at a movie, with crowds of normal people around her.
Well,
she thought as she eyed the two guards, already standing protectively behind her,
somewhat farther around me.
The guards had their arms crossed like storm troopers.

“Hey!” She suddenly had an idea and flipped through the newspaper, looking for the right ad. “The Red Vic always shows
Star Wars
at midnight on the weekends.”

“I thought it was
Rocky Horror,”
Igor said.

“Theater one. Theater two always shows
Star Wars.”
She finally found the ad, the sort of cheap, tiny five-line text-only ad that gave away the theater’s independent nature. “Yep. Midnight tonight.”

“Fine with me,” Alyec said, still balancing on the back of Igor’s chair.

“Okay,” Valerie agreed.

“Absolutely!” Igor grinned, big, thick white teeth showing for the first time since … well, since Chloe had met the serious young man. Even the two
kizekh
nodded. Who, after all, could say no to
Star Wars?

“Let’s get ready and be back here in an hour,” Igor said, looking at his watch. “An
hour,”
he added, giving Alyec a look.

“That still gives me time to kick your ass in Soul Calibur,” Alyec said with a sweet smile. Valerie rolled her eyes and gave Chloe a look. Chloe smiled back, sympathizing. But she felt pretty sure that
she
could kick Igor’s ass at it, too.

“You’re on,” Igor agreed, suddenly leaping up so that his chair tipped backward because of Alyec’s weight, sending the other boy flying. But he did a neat little flip in the air and landed on his toes and one hand—somehow reminding Chloe of Nightcrawler in
X-Men United. Who needs movies when you
are
a mutant?

She went back to her room to brush her hair and grab her jacket. The only makeup Chloe had with her was cherry-tinted lip gloss. She put it on as thickly as she could and mourned the fading of her healthy skin to a pasty paleness from being inside for so long. She grabbed her cheeks and pinched them hard, remembering something out of
Gone with the Wind
or some other old movie. It gave her a little color; she hoped it would last.

Kim was padding silently upstairs as Chloe headed back to the lounge, reading a book she held before her with the deference of an ancient monk reading his hours. The brown tunic-length sweater with bell sleeves that she wore did nothing to detract from the image.

“Hey,” Chloe called, catching up to her. “Want to go to a movie? A bunch of us are going.”

Kim looked at her as if it was the strangest thing she had ever been asked.

“Thank you,” she said slowly, “but I have some reading to do. …”

She said it unconvincingly.

“Come
on,
” Chloe said, exasperated. “It’s a Friday night. You have exactly jack shit reading to do. I don’t care
how
homeschooled you are; classes are over for the day, chiquita.”

Kim looked her over again, curious about Chloe’s strange energy and goodwill. I
certainly haven’t displayed a lot of it since I came here,
Chloe realized.

“I haven’t been to a movie in a long time,” Kim hazarded, closing her book.

For some reason, Chloe couldn’t imagine Kim
ever
going to a movie. “Great. Get your coat. Come on.”

“Do the others know you’re asking me?”

She said it in the same infuriatingly calm, even tone she always used—which kind of reminded Chloe of Paul—but there was a catch in her voice this time, the subtlest swallow. Her eyes were large, her pupils so wide that you almost couldn’t tell they were slits.

The armor of the pious scholar had just cracked a little, and Chloe felt a rush of pity for the poor girl, aloof and alone. But if she did or said anything that was the slightest bit patronizing, it was all over.

“No, but I totally think there’s enough space in the cars.” She had no idea if this was true, but it was the
correct
answer. Kim looked relieved at Chloe’s brashness, the assumption that everyone would just do what she said—and let Kim come—without question.

“I’ll get my coat, then, and meet you in the lounge.”

“Uh—what about your … ?” Chloe indicated her ears, not sure what to say. “I mean, is it going to be all right?”

Kim gave what was almost a smile through her teeth, pointy and sharp. “Yes. They always just think I’m some freaky goth kid.”

Chloe smiled back. “Right on,” she said, holding her fingers in a peace symbol.

Now that she thought of it, why
did
she just assume that the others would go along with whatever she said? Chloe wondered at her behavior as she went back to watch Alyec and Igor. Why would anyone disagree? Did people think Kim was that much of a freak and a pariah?

Alyec was jumping up and down, moving his body with the game pad, using his claws occasionally for a tight move. He threw his entire body into the game. Igor sat stock still, a serious look on his face, fingers barely moving across his own game pad. And he was royally kicking the other boy’s ass. The two guards, looking almost like CIA agents, stood in the background, quietly waiting.

“Hey,” Chloe said. She threw herself onto the couch with one leg over the side. “I just ran into Kim. She’s gonna come with us.”

“You’re kidding,” Igor said, but all his concentration was on the game.

Valerie came in, looking like a movie star. The cat was very strong in her, and even without Kim’s eyes or ears, there was a barely contained power and sensuality beneath her features. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, like Sergei’s, but with long lashes and a smoldering look. She slunk like a cat, too, smoothly and languidly. Her hair was lighter than Alyec’s, an almost Marilyn Monroe blond. But natural.

Chloe tried to work up a little envy, but it was hard: she admired the other girl too much.

Of course, the fact that she had seen her take down a deer bare-handed might have something to do with the whole lack-of-envy thing.

“Ah, crap,” Alyec said, throwing down the game pad as Igor executed his fatality. “You lucked out.”

“No,” Igor said easily, sliding back to put his hand on Valerie’s knee, “you just suck.”

“I’m ready,” a voice said behind them.

Everyone in the room turned. Kim stood, all bundled up in a fake black fur coat that went down to her knees. A black baseball cap was pulled down over her ears. Giant black Doc Martens, several sizes too big to fit her foot claws, clunkily covered her feet. She looked a little defensive.

“That’s a … very interesting outfit,” Valerie said, as tactfully as she could manage.

Kim gave her a cold, dismissive look.

“I don’t think we can fit everyone in the Explorer,” one of the guards said.

“That’s okay,” Alyec said smugly, drawing on his leather jacket. “I have a car with me.”

“Oh no,” Chloe realized. “It’s
not…”

But he just grinned.

* * *

It
was,
in fact, the exact same hatchback he had stolen before from the senior running back at school. Igor and Valerie went with the two guards, muttering something about Alyec’s proficiency at driving.

“This is your car?” Kim asked, getting into the backseat without being asked.

“Don’t ask,” Chloe recommended. “And buckle up.”

“It’s … very nice,” she said doubtfully, unconsciously imitating Valerie’s earlier comment.

Chloe checked the rearview mirror a couple of times to see how the girl was handling it, but Kim looked steady no matter how fiercely Alyec took the turns; she had one hand braced on each side of the car and swung between them, bouncing.

“This is great.” Chloe sighed. “This is just what I need.”

“I’m glad.” Alyec leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Except for their occasional sort-of dates, they had actually been far less physical in the last week than … well, ever. Sergei never said anything aloud about his feelings toward Alyec, but it was obvious there was a tension between them and some invisible line her boyfriend could not cross. But it didn’t feel like a normal “don’t date my daughter” scenario; Chloe got the feeling that if it were anyone besides Alyec, it might have been okay. She made a mental note to ask someone about that sometime—maybe Olga.

“Hey, Kim,” Alyec yelled to the backseat, trying to be sociable. “You ever see
Star Wars?”

“Of course I’ve seen
Star Wars,”
she snapped; the
you idiot
was understood.

There was a long pause.

“Who’s your favorite character?”

Chloe caught the girl’s eyes widening.

“The … ah … furry one. Not only do his physical characteristics set him apart, but the … obvious subservient dynamic between him and the … uh,
protagonists
indicate his role as either a hero-ally or comic-mentor archetype.”

“So what you’re saying,” Alyec said philosophically, squealing around a corner, “is that you’ve never seen
Star Wars.”

Kim glared at him. Chloe was glad their cat abilities didn’t include anything like shooting lasers from their eyes. If they had, Alyec would have been fried.

“No. I have
not
seen
Star Wars,”
Kim admitted, then looked out the window so she wouldn’t have to look at them.

Chloe laughed.

In the theater she wound up sitting between Kim and Alyec, since he and Igor and Valerie all insisted that since
Chloe
had brought the other girl, she had to sit next to her. Actually, it wasn’t so bad. Kim was inordinately pleased with the popcorn, another humanlike thing Chloe had a hard time comprehending. But the girl with the hidden cat ears relished every bite, using her claw to spear one kernel at a time and carefully deposit it on her tongue, never taking her wide, unblinking eyes off the screen.

Igor and Alyec shouted lines with the characters and other lines
at
the beloved heroes with the rest of the crowd. Valerie and their two guards watched it in silence. Chloe had to answer a lot of whispered questions from Kim but didn’t mind; she knew the script by heart and found it kind of fun to initiate a newbie.

“What is that they are on?”

“A consular ship.”

“
Space
ship?”

“Uh, yeah. Starship, really.”

And:

“Why is everyone cheering? What is the significance of that being a space station and not a moon?”

And:

“Stupid Alyec. I was closer than I thought. This story taps perfectly into Western archetypes—from the hero to the quest to the tragic hero. It is right out of Joseph Campbell. In fact, there are even parallels between it and the Egyptian story
The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor. …”

“So, in the other movies, do they reveal Darth Vader as being Luke’s father?” Kim asked casually, picking up a flyer and looking at the upcoming releases.

Alyec’s jaw dropped. “How did you know that?”

“It is pretty obvious, if you know anything about mythology and religious tales,” she answered smugly. Chloe grinned, then noticed Igor trying to win a stuffed animal from one of the claw vending machines for Valerie. “Hey, win me a toy, huh?” she demanded, handing Alyec a dollar. Then she pulled Kim after her into the women’s room.

“I don’t have to go,” Kim protested.

This is so not like Amy.
Chloe sighed. She would just have to make the best of it. She pouted into the mirror and applied more lip gloss. Kim watched her without saying anything, taking off her baseball cap briefly so she could scratch her ears.

“Hey,” Chloe suddenly said, remembering. “What was that you were going to tell me the other day? About the pride leader?”

Kim looked startled. She licked her lips and tried to speak didactically, but something was worrying her. “Um, just that the leader of the Pride has to be the first to charge in and the last out of battle. The leader has to stay to defend the weakest, run into a burning house to save the slow. The leader gives his or her life for the Pride. Up to nine times, if necessary.”

Chloe laughed. “like a cat, you mean? Like …” Then she suddenly noticed how grim the other girl looked. “You’re
serious,”
she realized.

“A true leader proves him or herself,” Kim said quietly. “It comes out in battle. In war. In times of danger and catastrophe. Usually leadership runs in families. Sometimes a Pride gets lucky and several warrior family members rule together. But sometimes it does not; sometimes a person rises up in a time of need when there is no one else. And is killed and rises again.”

“Pride leaders have nine lives?” Chloe repeated slowly, to make sure she understood.