To Mai Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not own The Nine Lives of Chloe King, nor do I profit from any of my stories.

Chapter 9

Alek's eyes closed one final time.

"No, please….." I whispered, one final breath left his body.

thump

My chest burned. The fire spread across my body, the pain was almost too much.

thump

My eyes were closed, but I know it was dark. Black, everything was black.

thump

My skin froze. Cold. Everything was cold.

then...

silence

My feet were warm. I looked down. Sand. Golden grains of sand ran between my toes.

Flashed of light hit my eyes. People and places.

From my past. From my present. From my future.

Russia, with its cold snowy winter.

Chloe, her laugh. Her smile.

Mum, the first time she met. She gave me a hug, the first hug I had gotten in about ten years.

thump

I felt my heart warming.

thump

I saw beauty. Blinding white light, taking over my mind.

thump

I heard voices. Crying, yelling, filling my sensitive ears.

thump

The most beautiful sound hit my ears. His heart was beating once again. What the hell? I didn't believe it. In shock, I clung to Alek's body. Suddenly, his eyes flew open as he gasped for air.

"Alek!" I yelled, holding him close.

Jasmine knelt down next to us, checking his pulse. She reached down to pick the bloody bullet from the asphalt, saying, "It went straight through. That should have killed you."

Golden chocolate cat eyes looked up, slowly shifting back to their usual dark brown. He tried to speak but was interrupted by yelling voices behind us.

"You're still alive?" Mr. Vacinni asked, still pinned down by Brian's wrath.

"Sorry to disappoint," came Alek's voice.

Jasmine spoke first. "Only the Uniter has nine lives to live."

I was stunned. "There's no way…"

Jasmine continued, "and nine lives to endure. We have to talk to my mom." She whipped out her phone and dialed.

Mr. Vacinni yelled as we walked off. "Wait!"

"If you come anywhere near us, I will kill you." Brian's gentle voice was filled with rage.

Heading back to the apartment once Jasmine was done talking to Aunt Valentina, I wrapped up Alek's wound with the emergency first-aid kit. Aunt Val was coming down for a few days to sort everything out. Once we get to the apartment, we start making a plan for the next week.

Tomorrow was Monday, but there was no way we were going to school. We would probably skip; just have Aunt Val call us in sick. The only issue was Alek's mom. We had to get him home before she noticed he was gone. He probably could explain his absence, but not his injury.

Valentina would be here in roughly 7 hours, and then we would figure this whole thing out. It was already past midnight, so Jasmine drove Alek home. I knew she would watch over him to make sure he was alright, but I was restless. Worried and sleepless, I decided to go to him. Exiting the apartment building, I ran across the rooftops.

Knocking on Alek's window, I was surprised to find him awake.

"Miss me?" Alek's tired eyes had a mischievous spark in them. He was sitting up on his bed, running his hands nervously through his hair. "So… I'm supposed to be the Uniter? Who am I going to 'unite'?"

"Well, the prophecy says you're going to bring together the races of the world. Most of the Mai believe that the Uniter will destroy the Order." I sighed, then continued saying, "others… Well, the Order believes that the Uniter is the one who will massacre the humans, a full-force Armageddon."

Alek was silent for a moment, then said, "and? What do you believe?"

"I don't know what to believe. I do know that the prophecy is really vague; it doesn't say anything about Mai or humans. It just says that there as a 'Uniter' and that person will bring peace." I yawned loudly, lying down.

"Kitten, what are you doing?" Alek attempted to grab me but I didn't care. When he wrestled me on top of him, I only snuggled in closer. Somewhere, deep in my heart, I knew that I trusted him with my life.

He whispered into my ear, saying, "I remember what you said, right before I died. I just want you to know, I love you too. I've loved you for years."

I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of warm desert sands.

It was 8 o' clock in the morning when my phone rang. Aunt Valentina was back, but only for two days. Jasmine wanted to know if we were going to school. I told her 'no,' and that we would be back to the apartment in about an hour.

Alek was asleep still, so I took a moment to check his wounds. Lifting up his bandages, I was shocked. His chest was completely healed, only a scar remaining. Sliding off the bloody gauze, I balled it up and threw it into a trashcan.

With a kiss, I woke Alek up. He smiled and once again pinned me below him. I playfully tried to push him off of me, but stopped when his lips met mine. Though his strength was overpowering me, his kiss was gentle. Using his arms to keep his weight off me, Alek settled between my legs.

I closed my eyes, surrendering myself. He ran his tongue over my bottom lip, nipping at it until I let him in. As soon as our kiss deepened, it became a battle once more. Having more experience than me, Alek eventually won. Massaging my mouth, Alek explored to his satisfaction. Apparently moving on, he trailed hot kisses down my neck.

Startled, I gasped as he nipped at my pulse point. Distracted by the feeling of his mouth, I failed to remember that such ministrations would leave me a hickey. Pulling his body closer to me, I felt his excitement pressing into my thigh. I would have been offended or disturbed, but there was nothing wrong with it.

With a laugh, I said: "We should probably get going before they send someone after us." I glanced down at Alek's erection. "Not that this isn't fun," I said with a smirk.

Alek looked embarrassed and rolled off of me. Blushing, he stuttered, "sorry… I…"

"Don't worry about, I'm flattered," I laughed. "It's only natural; if it didn't happen I might be worried."

He shrugged sheepishly, and then hauled himself out of bed. "Mum should be at work by now. I'm going to take a quick shower. You can go down and get some breakfast if you want, we have cereal." Alek rested his hand on my rear, saying, "now run along, kitten. Unless you want to join me?"

I smacked his arm away, running down the stairs.

After eating, we made our way back to the apartment. Aunt Valentina was already in her office, talking on the phone. Noticing our presence, she finished talking and hung up. Motioning Alek to follow, I introduced him to Aunt Val.

"Aunt Valentina, this is Aleksander Petrov. Alek, this is Valentina Bayar, the leader of the San Francisco Mai." I sat down on the couch next to Alek.

"Roberto Vacinni will be transferred to the German Pride; Mirella Vacinni has been placed under my care." Jasmine, it seemed, had already filled Aunt Val on the details of last night. "While I don't condone the actions of Miss Vacinni and Mr. Rezza, I can do nothing. When Mai fall in love, there is no stopping it."

She turned around to pick up a heavy reference book and an ancient scroll. The text I knew about, it was a translated collection of prophecies. The scroll, I assumed, was the original document, written in Latin, Greek, and hieroglyphics.

"This section here speaks of the Uniter, the one who will bring the world together." Aunt Valentina gestured to the translated text.

"Nine lives to live, nine lives to endure.

Each life harder than the last, each death more painful than the one before.

The Uniter will lead the new world order, a guide to those before.

Raising hope from the grave, inviting open Death's door."

Valentina pointed to the original text, written on the lengthy scroll. There was a large picture accompanying it.

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