Nine Lives (The Katran Legacy) by Karin De Havin

Author:Karin De Havin [De Havin, Karin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 9 Yards Publishing
Published: 2015-01-09T23:00:00+00:00

The horrifying hospital thankfully receded. Only to be replaced by Schwartz’s plump figure. My body went mushy, like when I first arrived in Junior Heaven. “What the hell just happened?” My mouth filled with Ivory bubbles.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d remember where you are.”

I spit the suds into my hand. “You’ve got to be kidding me. How can you expect me not to curse? I’ve been using what Gram called ‘colorful language’ ever since I can remember. The first word out of my mouth was Gramp’s favorite curse word.”

“Taylor, no foul language. You know the rules.”

“Sorry. I feel awful. Shouldn’t Junior Heaven be a pain-free zone?”

Schwartz’s frown made her eyebrows look like two angry bats fighting. “Every time you travel, you’ll feel the same.”

“Every time?”

“Taylor, stop being so dramatic. The pain you feel in Heaven isn’t real. It’s like the phantom pain people have when they lose a limb.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Feels pretty real to me. No f—way I’m doing that again.” I caught myself before swearing. The effort made the amulet turn khaki green. “I don’t get why I have to relive a bad moment like that anyway.”

“A pivotal time in your life, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. It totally convinced me to never die. That obviously didn’t work out so well.”

Schwartz smacked her pointer on the arm of the chair. “Taylor, you only get one second chance.” Her massive hips came to rest on the corner of her desk. She stared at my amulet bubbling away. “Why do you think you lost control of the situation?”

I squirmed in the swan-backed chair. The aftermath of what I’d done still hurt me deep inside.

“Because I had a bad hair day. You should be able to relate to that.”

Schwartz slid off the desk and struck the chair with the pointer. “Wipe that smirk off your face. Have you no remorse?” The Helmet hovered over me. “We have a long road ahead if I’m going to have any chance of redeeming you.”

Redemption. I finally knew what the whole afterlife coach thing was all about. Yet, how could I redeem myself when I’d never gathered up enough courage to defy my mother?

My smile vanished. I swallowed hard. “I know what I did was awful.”

“Pardon? I didn’t hear you.”

What did she want from me? The truth? “I should have…I should’ve hugged my grandmother one last time and said good-bye.”

The powerful scent of Schwartz ’s gardenia perfume wafted up my nose as the Helmet moved closer. “Thank you.” She tapped the vial with the tip of her pointer. “See how the amulet is becoming mint green? Don’t you feel better after admitting your weakness?”

I wiggled out from under the assault of Schwartz’s perfume and stood on wobbly legs. I didn’t know how much more of this session I could take. “Are we done?”

Schwartz let out a loud laugh. “Not even close.”

I clenched my fists. The amulet turned such a dark khaki it almost looked black. “I don’t know what you want!”

I knew. My love for Gram should have been more important than my mother’s stupid rules.

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