Free The Stolen by Celia Thomson

realized.
    There was a click, then Paul was on.
    â€œHey, Chloe.” Calm as ever. She wondered, not for the first time, if anything ever ruffled his feathers. “You okay?”
    â€œYeah, I’m fine, Paul.”
    â€œCool. We were worried about you, you know.”
    â€œI know.” She smiled but felt a little strange. She wasglad that Paul seemed to accept her safety as a matter of fact and that he believed she could handle anything she was in the middle of right now. It was great that
some
one had that kind of confidence in her. But didn’t he care enough to crack his cool exterior just a little? Shouldn’t he be just a tiny bit more worried?
    â€œAnyway, I have
not
been kidnapped. And it’s not gangs—” Chloe thought about the Tenth Blade and the Mai. Strip down their history, legends, occult origins, and secret powers and, well, actually … “Okay, it’s sort of like gangs. But it’s also sort of international and stuff….”
    â€œI
knew
it!” Amy cried triumphantly. “Alyec’s a spy for the KGB, isn’t he?”
    â€œLearn a little history, will you?” Chloe snapped, finding herself falling back into her old pattern with Amy instead of this being the I’m-okay-I-love-you call it was supposed to be. She took a deep breath. “This has nothing to do with the Cold War—” But then again, it sort of did. “Okay, there’s these two groups—the Mai, who are basically related to me, and the Order of the Tenth Blade, who are sort of all about killing the Mai because …”
Think this one out, Chloe
. “Because the Mai were sort of a hunter-warrior caste who were … undeservedly reputed to be bloodthirsty and … animalistic. It’s all really old and stuff. The important thing is that Alyec saved my life when that psycho from the Order tried to kill me.” Well, that wasn’t
exactly
true—he hadheld Brian at bay while she fought the Rogue, and the truth was that maybe Brian really
had
been trying to help her…. But if Alyec hadn’t shown her the things he could do as a cat, she would have been slit from nose to navel immediately by the Rogue’s daggers.
    â€œHe didn’t,” Amy said, obviously not wanting to believe her.
    â€œHe
did,
” Chloe repeated firmly. “And more than that. These people are going to help me find out who my biological family is. They might have all been killed—” She thought about Kim with a faint gleam of hope, then wondered how she and Amy would get along. Chloe decided not to mention her potential sister just yet. “But they might still be alive. These people are dedicated to finding all of the people from Abkhazia, a country in the old Soviet Union, who were scattered and bringing them over here safely.”
    â€œSounds like they brought trouble with them,” Amy observed. Chloe opened her mouth to argue, but in a way, her friend was right.
    â€œCome home,” Paul suggested. It was
almost
a plea. “As soon as you can. I don’t trust these ‘people.’”
    â€œYeah, they probably tapped your line.”
    â€œAmy, this is a cell phone….”
    â€œWhatever! Don’t be a douche. When are you coming
back?
”
    It was a strange question. Chloe had only been at Firebird with the Mai for a week or so and it already feltlike a completely new life. Sure, she missed her mom and Paul and Amy, but the thought of suddenly waking up tomorrow and going to school again was just weird.
    She paused too long, trying to figure out how to answer it.
    â€œSo you mean you haven’t even
considered
coming back,” Amy said evenly.
    â€œNot until it’s safe,” Chloe said, faltering.
    â€œAnd when’s that?” Paul asked. His voice was beyond cool. “When this Order thing has been completely wiped out? When they’re all dead? How many of them are there? I mean,