The Last Seven Lives

The New Chloe

AN: Okay! This chapter is slightly late and I apologize! I had a busy Friday! Disclaimer applies!

Chloe's POV:

Jasmine gasps and tears start to form in her eyes again. "You love me?" The boy smiles and nods. Jasmine turns to me. "Chloe, this is Luke. Luke, this is Chloe. She's a dear friend of mine." Luke starts to speak, but the front door slams shut with a loud bang. Jasmine and I look to the door and see Alek. He looks like a drowned kitten. "What the heck just happened?" Jasmine and I laugh our heads off. "Alek, this is Luke. Luke, this is Alek." I watch Alek closely as he nods at Luke. He seems to accept him as a friend so I push that thought away. He still hasn't looked at me for more than a second and I worry that he's mad about me running off. He finally makes eye contact with me and I smile. What am I supposed to say? "Hi." I hear my voice and know that was the wrong thing to say when Alek shakes his head. "Don't you dare play off what just happened. What the heck did I miss?" My smile fades as I register the anger in his tone. His face and his voice finally soften. "Tell me later." I nod and watch him as he walks over to me. He envelopes me in a huge hug. We stay like that for a few minutes until Jasmine clears her throat. I look at her and she gives me an amused smile. I let go of Alek and he turns his attention to Luke. "Why did you kiss my cousin?" He looks startled by the question, but answers anyway. "I love her. She just randomly started to avoid me and finally I couldn't take it anymore. I saw her in the elevator and..." He pauses and waves his hand around. "Well, you know what happened after that. Wh-Wha-What are you guys? I know you're not human, but that's all I know." Jasmine sighs and puts her hand on his shoulder. "We're mai. Well, most of us are. Chloe, Alek, and I are mai. Kai, who isn't here right now, is a Jackal. Jackals are generally extremely dangerous, but Kai isn't. He's our dear friend." Luke looks confused and I hear Alek's voice break the short silence. "Jackals smell bad to mai so we know what he is. Mundanes smell perfectly fine." Luke nods and I cuddle into Alek's side. "I should get back to Amy. Will you come with me and guard me for the rest of the night?" Alek smiles and nods. "Of course."

The night passes uneventfully which makes me slightly nervous. I try to forget about it as I sip my hot chocolate. Amy and I are sitting in the living room of the penthouse and I stay silent despite her eyes searching my face. "Penny for your thoughts, Chlo?" I open my mouth to speak, but Alek comes storming in. "Two jackals are right outside the door. I can smell them." I jump up and go over to Alek. "Amy, hide! NOW!" She hides quickly without making a sound and Alek and I walk over to the front door. I hear Alek's claws come out and do the same. We open the front door and see a confused Kai on the other side. "I was gonna knock." Alek and I both sigh and let him in. A woman follows him and we look at each other before grabbing her. "Ummm, Kai found me because I want peace among the demigods just as much as him. KAI!" Kai turns around and blinks as if he was in a trance a second ago and didn't notice the situation. "Alek, she's a friend. Remember my note?" I nod and look at Alek. He releases his grip on the woman and I do the same. "Thank you for not tearing me to shreds. I was worried about coming to this place with Kai, but he said I had nothing to fear." Kai nods and I smile at the woman. "I'm Chloe King. I'm the Uniter that was predicted." I reach out my hand to shake hers and she accepts it. "I'm Jane Goodwill. I was hoping I'd live to see this day." I nod and turn to Kai as I remember the day he betrayed us. I told him that the next time we met would be different and that's clearly not the case. I see his eyes meet mine and motion to the balcony. "We need to talk." I see Alek approach me out of the corner of my eye and turn to him. "I would like to talk to him alone, Alek." He nods and leads Jane into the kitchen. Amy comes out of hiding and leaves when her dads call her. I walk out to the balcony and Kai follows me. "Why are you being nice to me, Chloe? When I betrayed you-" I stop him right there as I shake my head. "I know what I said and I'm sorry. I know you regret helping your dad. Why else would you have fought with us and stopped your dad from killing me?" He smiles and leans against the rail. I do the same and look out at the big city in front of me. We don't talk about that anymore since I made it clear that we are friends and what I told him that day doesn't matter. There's a new calm between us now that everything has been settled. Eventually, I look at my phone and realize that I've been standing here with Kai for about thirty minutes. I gasp and Kai jumps. He clears his throat. "I need to talk to Jane." He leaves and I turn around to look at the penthouse.

I spot Alek looking around with his back to me and an idea pops into my head. I sneak into the house and silently follow him around for a couple of minutes before leaping onto his back. He's unprepared for the attack and falls to the ground. "Give me your love and no one gets hurt." I hear his laugh and I smile. "I thought I already gave you all my love. Please don't hurt me." I silently contemplate this for a minute before I slowly extract my claw and use the very tip to graze his cheek. I make sure I don't cut him with the pointed tip. "Hmmm, I'll consider it if..." I trail off and am about to finish that thought when I hear his voice. "If what? If I make love to you?" I put my claw on his cheek again and smirk. "Not until we're married, babe. I was gonna say if I get to make out with you." I crouch on the balls of my feet for a second so he can flip over and when he does I sit on his stomach. "Don't you think the couch or even the bed would be a more comfortable spot for this?" I smile and start to lean down to brush my lips against his. Kai and Jane choose that moment to walk in. "Oh! Ummm, maybe we should go." Kai starts to turn as he says this, but Jane turns him around. "What Kai meant to say is can one of you show us around the city. Jasmine is with Luke so..." I see Alek nod and know our fun moment is over. I get off of him and stand up. "I can show you around." I pat my back pocket looking for my phone and go into my room. I jump a bit when I hear Alek's voice and turn around. "Hey! Will you be okay staying here by yourself? I don't want to-" I shake my head as he speaks and interrupt him. "No! Go show them around. I don't mind." He smiles and walks over to me before crushing his lips against mine. I wrap my arms around him and he strokes my cheeks. We break apart and he kisses my forehead. "I'll be back." I nod and he leaves.

I sit on the living room couch reading a book when the doorbell rings. I go to the door and look through the peephole. Henry is on the other side of the door and I struggle with the lock as I try to open the door. I finally swing it open. "Hey, Henry! What brings you here?" He smiles and shrugs. "I just don't have many friends to talk to and I need one right now." I nod and get out of the door frame. "Come in. Do you want some water?" He walks in and I close the door. After I lock it I go into the kitchen and open the cupboard. As I reach for a glass Henry screams my name. I feel something hit my back and then the world goes black. "NO! NO! NO!" I try to open my eyes as I hear Alek's voice. I see him out of the corner of my eye and slowly sit up. I'm in the living room and become uncomfortable. Wasn't I in the kitchen? I put my hand to my head and try to remember something. I know I died. I can feel the weight of my lost life. I look up at Alek as he rushes over to me. "Chloe, what happened? Who killed you?" I try to make myself remember something. I need to remember something. There's no way I just lost a memory. I can feel my lip quivering as panic sets in. "I don't remember anything from the attack."

Alek shoots up from his spot on the ground. Cuss words I can't even imagine leaving his lips fly from his mouth and he paces around. "HENRY! HE WAS HERE! WHERE IS HE? HE COULD'VE BEEN HURT TRYING TO PROTECT ME!" Alek runs over to me and yanks me off the ground. "HENRY PROBABLY KILLED YOU, CHLOE! WHY DID YOU LET HIM IN? I HAD THAT DOOR LOCKED FOR A REASON! I WANTED TO KEEP YOU IN HERE AND EVERYONE ELSE OUT!" I start sobbing and he realizes what he just did. He's never yelled at me like that. He's never grabbed me like that. His grip softens and he tries to speak, but Kai steps in. "Chloe, I'll take you to your bedroom. Come on." I pull out of Alek's grasp and he's so shocked that he doesn't stop me. I go to Kai and hug him. Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain on my back and Kai steps away from me. In his hand is a dart. I gasp and Alek walks over to us. I flinch at his proximity, but don't move away. "This was in your back, Chloe." I take it and study it for a minute. I turn it around in my hand and anger builds up inside of me. I suddenly take it in both of my hands and break it like a twig. "The Order better watch out." I drop the pieces before continuing. "We're gonna need our passports." As I speak the idea forms in my head. I look at Kai and Jane. If they want peace there must be others. I go to the computer in Val's office and look up the demigods. Mai and jackals are in the list, but I mentally check those off in my head. We have allies in both departments. The other names are hard to pronounce, but I see where each of them come from. Alek looks over my shoulder and smiles. "It looks like you're new life has made you a warrior." I smile. "You have no idea." I see Bastet on the webpage and do some research on her and the prophecy. Nothing new comes up and I shut down the computer.