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  The ceiling projection showed the comet burning brightly above the pyramids. A line of mummies in profile began walking across the sky. In the middle of them was an otherworldly being, a kind of star child.

  “Our ancestors believed the great comet was a gift from the others above,” explained Madame Ptolemy. The star child shone alone on the ceiling. “A mysterious race of beings that live beyond the stars. Why did they send the comet? Is it a message? A peace offering? A warning? We don’t know. But we do know that any promise made under the magic light of the comet cannot be broken.”

  The image of the star child dissolved and was replaced by a pair of mummies holding hands. A stream of light shone down on them from above.

  Triumphantly, Madame Ptolemy continued, “And so we created the Promise Ceremony, where our children would commit to be together, forever joining their families to create powerful dynasties. Whatever is spoken in the presence of the comet will be for all time. And when the ceremony is complete, the comet leaves. But we have something to remind us that she’ll be back again someday.”

  The light show revealed the comet in space and a small piece of it breaking off and plummeting to the earth. It crashed into the sands of ancient Egypt. Behind Madame Ptolemy, a black obelisk began to rise. Embedded in its pinnacle was the crystal itself. It glittered on the top of the shiny tower.

  “This is the comet crystal,” proclaimed Madame Ptolemy. “A piece of the great comet itself unveiled before you, the public, for the first time.”

  The crowd marveled at its shiny beauty.

  “There it is!”

  “I can’t believe it!”

  “Amazing!”

  “On behalf of the Ptolemy family, allow me to welcome you to the night of the comet and invite you to join me on the roof at midnight to observe the comet fly directly above us!”

  The lights in the rotunda came back on. Elle fired up her turntable. The crowd began mingling. The ghouls whispered to one another about all the beautiful dresses the royals were wearing.

  Madame Ptolemy left the podium and cornered Ramses behind a pillar. “I assume this will be a traditional betrothal between my son and your daughter.”

  Ramses smiled nervously. “Absolutely, Madame Ptolemy. Your Ptolemy-ness. Ma’am.” He dabbed his forehead with a loose bandage and slipped away to find Nefera. He caught her eyes from across the rotunda. She nodded at him reassuringly.

  The ghouls were chatting in a corner about Cleo. They couldn’t believe Deuce had broken up with her.

  “He broke up with her for no reason?” questioned Clawdeen. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Right?” Draculaura agreed. “They were like Romeo and Ghouliet or that pea and that other pea that were in a pod together.”

  Cleo was off by herself, studying the comet crystal up close.

  Frankie was watching her fiend closely from across the room. “Something doesn’t seem right,” she agreed.

  Nefera approached her sister and led her over to the edge of the balcony to look down at all the guests. “Oh. My. Ra. You must be so sick and tired of hearing about Seth tonight,” she said to Cleo.

  “Seth Ptolemy?” Cleo was confused. No one had said anything to her.

  Nefera pretended to be surprised. “You seriously haven’t heard? Everybody’s talking about it. But if you haven’t heard, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “What?” Cleo was curious despite herself.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” said Nefera, acting like she was about to walk away. “Pretty silly actually.”

  “Nefera!” Cleo grabbed her by the arm.

  Nefera grinned. She had her sister right where she wanted her. “Far be it from me to go fluttering around like a scarab spreading gossip, but everyone wants you and Seth to perform a Promise Ceremony under the comet tonight.”

  Cleo took a sharp inhale of breath. “A Promise Ceremony? Me and Seth?”

  Nefera acted disinterested. “See, I told you it was silly. They are all wrapped up in the idea of the De Niles and the Ptolemys joining their families and creating the most powerful super dynasty, like ever. You’ve got to admit, that would be historic.”

  Cleo bit her lip, thinking.

  “You’d be rich,” Nefera said softly. “You’d be powerful. And it’s what everybody wants.”

  Cleo gazed at the Egyptian dignitaries, at her family, at her friends. Was this really what was best? “Everybody wants me to do this?”

  Nefera laughed. “Crazy, right? It would never happen. I mean you’ve already got Deuce…” Nefera paused, noticing Cleo’s eyes welling up with tears again. “Anyway, forget I said anything.”

  Frankie saw Cleo looking over toward them, but she couldn’t get her attention. A waiter approached the ghouls carrying a tray of snacks.

  “Can I interest you ladies in some gore d’oeuvres?” she asked.

  “Luna?” Operetta recognized the moth at once.

  “Hey, ghouls!” said Luna. “I’m working the party. I know, it’s not really acting, but, hey, I get to wear a neat costume.”

  Frankie was impressed. “You made it from a slice of pizza on the streets to the fanciest gala in all of Boo York. At this rate, you’re going to find yourself singing on Bloodway in no time.”

  Luna smiled. “Ooh, try the King Tutankrab rolls. They are to die for.”

  Operetta hushed the ghouls. Elle was up at the podium!

  “Okay, mummies and gentlemen,” the DJ called out. “Make sure those bandages are wrapped up good and tight because Elle Eedee is here to make you move!” She started dancing like a robot and laughed. “It’s literally the only dance I can do!”

  Behind her, the comet crystal on its obelisk started to pulse with rhythmic light. Elle stared at it, mesmerized, drifting into a trance again. She buzzed and pulsed and instead of music, the room was filled with ear-splitting feedback.

  “It’s happening again!” said Frankie.

  The ghouls pushed their way through a sea of people and made their way up to the balcony. They took Elle by the shoulders and guided her out of the party.

  What was happening to her?

  And what did it have to do with the comet?

  Back at Monster High, Abbey and Ghoulia studied the screen. Nothing was working. The comet was still going to crash into Boo York at midnight!

  CHAPTER 17

  It’s a Wrap

  Cleo stared at the comet crystal in the museum. Nefera’s words echoed in her head. “It’s what everybody wants.” Cleo imagined herself in front of the pyramids, holding hands with Seth, a huge crowd cheering. The ancient Egyptians would be so happy. But then a picture of Deuce, smiling, floated into her mind. He was wearing the gold beard she had given him. He took it off and flung it to the ground, where it melted instantly.

  What should she do?

  Cleo took a deep breath. “I am Cleo de Nile. And I’ve got to give the people what they want. She picked up the train of her gown and marched through the crowd to find Nefera. “I’ll do it,” she told her sister. “I’ll promise to join our families in the Promise Ceremony with Seth.” Her heart was broken and she felt cold and empty inside, but Cleo knew that she was doing the right thing.

  Across the rotunda, Catty was lost in her own daydreams. She was remembering her magical time with Pharaoh. She kept finding herself humming the love song she had written with him at the top of the statue. Would she ever see him again? She had to.

  Luna came over to the ghouls. “That’s the end of my shift,” she told them. “I’ve gotta fly.” Her wings fluttered.

  “You can’t go!” exclaimed Draculaura. “Stay awhile.”

  Luna looked down at her waiter’s uniform. “I’ll have to change first.”

  “You better hurry,” said Clawdeen. “You don’t want to miss…”

  But before Clawdeen could finish what she was saying, Luna had transformed. She spread her wings and circled them around herself, creating a kind of cocoon. In an instant, it cracked open and th
ere was Luna, wearing a beautiful gala ball gown!

  Clawdeen’s mouth dropped open. “Can you teach me how to do that?”

  Madame Ptolemy was speaking again. “Attention, please! It is with great pleasure that I present the future of the Ptolemy–De Nile dynasty!” Holding hands, Seth and Cleo stepped forward to murmurs of interest from the partygoers. “Under the light of the great comet, my son, Seth, and Ramses de Nile’s daughter Nefera…”

  Ramses tapped Madame Ptolemy on the shoulder and whispered to her.

  She smiled at the crowd. “I’m sorry, there has been a change. Cleo de Nile will be joined with Seth for all eternity in Boo York City’s very first Promise Ceremony!”

  Cleo bit her lips and held back her tears. She could see that her ghoulfriends were shocked. Behind his gold mask, Seth’s eyes were darting back and forth as if he were looking for something.

  Madame Ptolemy smiled. “Let me be the first to congratulate the happy couple!”

  “No!” proclaimed Seth suddenly, startling everyone.

  Madame Ptolemy spun around, dumbfounded. Nefera’s mouth fell open. Ramses looked panicked, and Cleo looked stunned but relieved.

  Madame Ptolemy glared at her son. “What do you mean, NO, boy?”

  “I’m not going to do it,” said Seth, determined. “I’m not going to let you take my voice away.”

  Something about the way he spoke caught Catty’s attention. The very next moment, Seth ripped off his golden mask and behind it was the face of Pharaoh. Seth was Pharaoh!

  He grabbed the microphone from his startled mother. “You’ve offered me fame and money and you want to make me the king of the world, but I’m giving it all up…”

  Catty’s eyes were wide with shock, and her heart was thumping in her chest.

  “I have found my voice!” Pharaoh told the crowd to startled gasps and whispers. “You are not going to take it from me. I don’t want to be Seth Ptolemy. I’m Pharaoh!”

  He slid down the polished banister from the balcony, rapping to the crowd as he descended. His mother wasn’t going to hold him back anymore. He wasn’t going to hide behind a mask anymore. He wasn’t going to be the king of the world—because he already was the king of the streets!

  Elle whipped out her turntables and added a mix of old-school record scratching and boppin’ electronic sounds to accompany him. She loved Pharaoh; everybody did! And his music was better than ever now that he didn’t have to hide anymore, now that he could be who he really was and speak the music in his heart. He’d been quiet for too long!

  Pharaoh had made his way through the crowd to Catty. He held out his hand to her. “I’ve got you to thank,” he sang.

  They began singing together, their voices weaving in and out with power and beauty, a duet nobody could resist. Everyone in the crowd was dancing and waving their arms in tune to the music—except for Madame Ptolemy.

  “Ain’t nobody stopping this Pharaoh’s on top of this coming back to life straight out of the sarcophagus. I’m rapping these lyrics and this corner’s my scene, Boo York is my town and I’m living my dream,” rapped Pharaoh. “Can I get a boo yeah?”

  Catty grinned. “Boo yeah!”

  “Can I got a scare yeah?” asked Pharaoh.

  “Scare yeah!” Catty responded.

  “All of you should stand up and dance no sitting, straight up out the tomb big dreams on my mind, gotta find my way in this Boo York way life!” he sang.

  “Other towns are terrific, but let’s be specific, Boo York is the best,” Catty joined in.

  “Just read the hieroglyphics!” added Pharaoh.

  “Go, Pharaoh, go, Pharaoh, go!” chanted the crowd.

  Catty and Pharaoh were dancing and singing together. They were telling the world that they had found each other and that they had found a love worth singing about.

  “You’re the cat’s meow,” Pharaoh serenaded her. “You’re the coolest ghoul around, and your sound makes me wanna unearth myself, come from the underground.”

  “And the time is right now!”

  “Found each other in the Boo, now let’s do it together now. Yeah!” They finished on a high note together.

  Seth took Catty by the arm and led her out of the rotunda into the dark hallways of the museum. The crowd cheered.

  Up in the balcony, Nefera was fuming, her fists clenched in fury. “I don’t understand! What does he have with Catty What’s-Her-Face that he doesn’t have with Cleo?” she said to a skeleton mummy in a top hat.

  “Looks to me like it’s their music,” answered Toralei.

  “No!” exclaimed Nefera “It’s not boo-tiful; it’s disgusting.” She spun around, determined to solve this glitch in her plans to take over the world. “It was all going so well,” she muttered to herself. “I knew persuading Cleo to do the Promise Ceremony was going to be tricky, but I never dreamed that Seth would be a problem.” She stomped through the crowd in her high-heeled sandals. “But now he has to go and ruin my dynasty over some sick musical crush on a pop singer? Finding my voice? Ugh! More like, losing my lunch. I have to do something fast.”

  Nefera stopped right in front of the comet crystal. She looked up at it, thinking. “If it’s music that brought those two together, then somebody needs to take it away from them.” Her mind was turning over possibilities. “Whatever is spoken in the presence of the comet will be for all time,” she realized.

  She laughed and grabbed the comet crystal from the podium. What was she up to now?

  The comet crystal was hers—and she had a promise for all of eternity she wanted to make. Now all she had to do was find Pharaoh and Catty.

  CHAPTER 18

  Promise Power Backfire

  Up on the rooftop of the museum, Catty and Pharaoh were looking up at the sky, their faces aglow from the light of the comet. The roof was decorated for the ceremony with banners and statues and replicas of the strange star child who had once visited the Egyptians.

  “I feel so… free!” Pharaoh was ecstatic. “You gave me the confidence to take off my mask in front of everyone! Thank you, Catty.”

  Catty tilted her head and grinned. “No, thank you. You showed me your city, your music, and helped me find mine.”

  Pharaoh reached out and took her hand, and they gazed into each other’s eyes, their hearts full. They didn’t see Nefera emerging from the shadows, the glowing comet crystal clutched in her hand. Pharaoh and Catty were singing to each other. “The time is right now. We’ve found each other…”

  Nefera held the crystal up toward the sky and intoned her wish. “Comet crystal, fragment from above, hear my declaration and make it true: The musical voices of Catty and Seth will forever belong to YOU. Take away their music—and with it, their affection for each other.”

  The crystal gleamed with power.

  Catty and Pharaoh leaned in for their first kiss, their eyes shut. But just before their lips touched, they lurched forward and each of them felt something leaving their bodies, only they didn’t know what it was. They opened their eyes, confused.

  “What was that?” asked Catty.

  “I don’t know,” Pharaoh answered, looking around.

  Catty opened her mouth to sing, but nothing came out. “I… I… can’t sing.”

  Pharaoh realized the same thing at the same moment. “Me neither.”

  “I feel…” murmured Catty.

  “I don’t feel anything,” said Pharaoh. He let go of Catty’s hands.

  Catty looked around embarrassed. It was like she was waking up from a dream. “I’m sorry. I have no music in my heart.”

  Madame Ptolemy appeared on the roof. “Seth, come here immediately,” she ordered. She held out his gold mask.

  “Yes, Mother!” he responded. “I gotta go.”

  Catty sighed, but she wasn’t devastated. What had she been thinking? She couldn’t remember.

  From the shadows, the pale light of the comet crystal shone on Nefera’s evil grin. Her plan was working.

  CHAPT
ER 19

  Mum’s the Word

  Back at the gala, the ghouls were talking about everything that had happened.

  “So let me see if I’ve got this right,” said Draculaura. “First, Deuce breaks up with Cleo, then Cleo decides to do that Promise Ceremony with Seth, but then Seth is like all, you know, never mind, and Seth is really that rapper Pharaoh and he wants to fang out with Catty Noir.” She sighed. “And now you’re saying that this party is completely out of King Tutankrab rolls?”

  Luna nodded. “All of these things are true.”

  Frankie spotted Catty returning to the party. “Catty, over here!” she called.

  But Catty walked right past the ghouls, preoccupied, as if she didn’t see them.

  “Catty, what’s the matter?” Operetta called.

  “Oh,” said Catty, turning around. “Hey, ghouls.”

  Clawdeen rushed over to her. “Catty, we had no idea you and Seth, I mean Pharaoh, had feelings for each other…”

  “I guess.” Catty frowned. “I mean, we did.”

  “Did? What do you mean?” asked Frankie.

  But before Catty could answer, the gala was interrupted by another announcement. Madame Ptolemy was speaking from the podium. “I have just been assured that tonight’s unfortunate outburst by my son was merely an ill-conceived attempt at…” She coughed. “Humor.”

  Everyone began murmuring and gossiping. Could that really have been all that it was? It sure didn’t seem funny.

  “But the offending party,” continued Madame Ptolemy, “has apologized and assured me that the Promise Ceremony will proceed as scheduled. Isn’t that right, Seth?” She made sure to emphasize his name.

  Looking sullen and sad, Pharaoh stepped out from behind a pillar. He was clutching Cleo’s hand. Cleo held her head high. Pharaoh put his golden mask back on his face. He was Seth once again.

  Out in the crowd, Mouscedes saw Nefera and Toralei off in the corner, whispering to each other. She began to put the pieces together. Nefera was involved in this. She knew it.