Page 61 of Interion

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“Kay, why don't you buy a car?” Ambrose asked, keeping his eyes on the road. I took in the landscape—so many colorful mountains, an incredibly blue sky, and the entire expanse of the inner wall.

“I don't like driving, and I don't want to touch Zion's account. So for now, I'm happy walking since everything's close by.” I rolled down the window to feel the breeze on my face. As always, it smelled of wisteria and decaying leaves. “When I start working as an official elmedic, maybe I'll buy one to show off.”

Licensed elmedics earned an average of 20,000 dunas a month. It was a great salary that would let you live well, but it was still nothing compared to what Zion earned as a general. Ambrose didn't respond, and we continued the drive listening to the upbeat music he had on. Twenty minutes later, we parked in front of the house.

“While you were trying on dresses, I took the liberty of calling an acquaintance of mine. She's a makeup artist and she'll be here at 6 p.m.,” he said, glancing at his watch.

I clicked my tongue in disapproval.

“I can't believe you, Ambrose. I told you not to worry about it.”

“Of course I do—it's my duty as your gay friend and your only family here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. “Lorenzo and I bought this a while back. It's a gift for all the good grades you've been getting. We were going to give it to you at graduation, but we figured we'd give it to you now since this is your first party and it matches the occasion.”

He opened the lid, revealing a sinil necklace with a yellow amethyst pendant. My mouth fell open and I stared at him in shock.

“Good goddess of wars, this must have cost a fortune!” I exclaimed, looking at the necklace gleaming gold. Sinil was the most expensive metal on Jupiter. The element could hold enormous amounts of magic, serve as a battery, and was as beautiful as gold. “You must be out of your mind! A necklace like this is worth a fortune!”

“It's a gift, and don't even start with that speech of yours—it's already paid for. Every healer worth their salt needs one of these.” He closed the little box and placed it in my shopping bag. “Thank me by wearing it.”

I thought about protesting, but he seemed so happy with himself. If this was also a gift from Lorenzo, it meant it was something they'd planned in advance, not just an impulse buy from Ambrose. I decided to just go along with this madness.

“Thank you, Am! I really loved the gift,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tight. When we pulled apart, he kissed my forehead.

“Now go inside, take a nice long bath, and have a blast at this party. If you need anything, just call me.”

“You're the best tutor in the world!” I exclaimed, smiling.

“I really am,” he agreed confidently.

My heart felt so full that I didn’t even want to say goodbye, but I grabbed my bags and headed home. I had a battle ahead of me.

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“I’ll be waiting for you at 9:00 PM. I bought a new phone.”

I sent the message to Breno as soon as I got out of the shower and wrapped the towel around my head. A minute later, the phone beeped.

“Thank the gods, technology has finally reached you, wild girl! I’ll be there at 9:00 PM.”

Laughing, I put Kiara in Zion’s room and explained that we’d have company. She seemed excited to meet the visitor and wreak havoc through the house, so I bribed her with a heaping bowl of food. Kiara didn’t make a peep and quickly lost that mischievous gleam in her eye. She sprawled out on Zion’s bed and fell asleep.

At 6:00 PM sharp, Katy rang the doorbell. I opened the door and unlocked the protection barrier so she could enter. Katy was a tall, beautiful Amperian who seemed incapable of handling silence. While she styled my hair, letting it fall in well-defined waves, she talked about fashion and men, getting plenty of laughs out of me. By the time she finished my hair, my stomach already hurt from laughing so much at her eccentric ways. Then she turned her attention to my face and, this time, preferred to fill the silence with music since she needed to concentrate. I asked her not to do anything too dark, so she went all out with red lipstick and only enhanced the size and color of my eyes with lots of mascara and subtle eyeliner. At 8:30 PM, Katy left and I let Kiara out. The chimera sprawled out on my bed and stared at me with curious eyes.

I was wearing a white robe and my slippers, but when I looked at my face in the mirror, I didn’t even recognize myself. Katy had done such a perfect job, and my face looked so beautiful, that I wondered if it was wrong to hide behind all that makeup. Apparently, the chimera was also having trouble recognizing me—she stared at me as if hypnotized.

I silently thanked Ambrose for sending her.

I left the upbeat music playing while I finished getting ready and slipped off my robe. I admired the sheer black lingerie in the mirror, swaying to the beat. I turned sideways to check out my hair, which reached almost to my butt. If I were a man, I’d definitely go for myself.

I sat on the bed to put on my heels and then started laughing at the chimera. She was staring at me strangely, as if she’d never seen me before. Sometimes she had that vacant look, but today it was off the charts. Maybe Katy had overdone it and I was completely unrecognizable. Still laughing, I walked over and hugged her huge head against my chest.

“Do I really look that different?” I asked, looking into her eyes. She seemed frozen, her stare catatonic. I started to get scared—was she okay? Could it be some kind of mutation?

“Kiara?” I called, running my hand through her mane.

At my touch, she snapped out of the trance, shaking her head with an unpleasant expression. She rubbed her snout against my hand and rested her head on my leg, closing her eyes. Everything seemed fine, but maybe it was time to take her to Dr. Owen for a routine checkup. I’d do that as soon as possible.