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WATCHING PERCY’S HUMAN form collapse into the one of the black cat is unsettling. His bones pop and crack, bending at odd angles. His flesh becomes mottled with tufts of black, furry spots that start at the middle of his nose then consume his entire body. Feline paws replace his hands and his feet. A heart-shaped nose bubbles atop his button nose. When Percy, a five-foot-ten, one-hundred-and-forty-pound human, is transformed into a nine-inch long, ten-pound cat, I can’t help but fall to my knees and vomit the finger food and wine from last night’s party.
“I... I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.” Wiping my wet lips with the back of my hand, I observe Percy on the hunt for a rabbit.
Percy shoots me a glare, reminding me to be silent and not to disrupt his concentration. Doing as such, I hide behind a prickly, ovate-shaped bush while peering over the top to watch him in action. Percy nears a rabbit’s nest, a hay and grass-covered hole in the ground. Percy prepares to pounce, rear end wiggling like a snake ready to strike. Tufted white ears poke out from the hole, and soon a white rabbit climbs from its home, fur sparkling in the noon sun.
It all happens so quickly. Percy pounces. The rabbit squeals. Blood trickles from the critter’s neck as the cat-man chomps down and snaps the rabbit’s neck.
Back in his human form, Percy sets a campfire to prepare a feast of crispy, fried rabbit with berries he scrounged up on our journey, a safe distance from the battles taking place. I can still hear faint explosions and screams in the distance. I just hope those noises don’t come any closer. I want time to rest, to regain my energy, but any downtime is time not spent procuring the items I need to win.
“Fairy wings and rosemary,” Percy says each item between chews of rabbit. The helpful cat-man picked up a bouquet of rosemary while we trekked to this spot. “And now, a rabbit’s foot.” He places all three items into the sack. “Now you just need the Egyptian bean and Holy water.”
“Any clue as to what those are?” I ask, gnawing on the tender flesh of the rabbit’s paw. “I assumed the list was just nicknames for flowers, but I was wrong. Very wrong.” I shudder as a flash of the fairy grounds comes to my mind. The dewinged fairies. The chewed-off flesh of the deceased competitors.
“I believe the Egyptian bean is a lotus flower that only grows in certain lakes.”
“Oh, great, more water.”
“As for the Holy water,” he says, tapping his jaw with the rabbit’s knee bone. “I’m guessing that means actual Holy water.”
“Where would we get something like that?” I huff and hang my head. “Maybe there’s a church somewhere nearby?”
Percy shrugs. “I’m sorry I can’t help you with that one.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. But first, I’d like to know more about why you’re a cat and why you never thought to tell me you were a cat.” I scoot closer to him to meet his eyes. Folding my arms, I nudge him on his side with my elbow. “Spill. I want to know everything. Why did that witch put a hex on you?”
Percy gulps, checking every which way as if Vahilda might pop up out of thin air. I perform my own set of checks because the witch might be listening or lingering by like the flies who’ve come to claim some rabbit for themselves.
“I saw her... Vahilda...” Percy takes in a deep breath. “I saw her murder your father.”
“Percy,” I say his name softly. I can only imagine the horror he witnessed, the nightmares that he’s probably experienced. “I’m sorry. You must’ve been two or three when that happened.”
His eye twitches, and he expels the breath he’s been holding. “Can we talk about something else?”
“No,” I say, tone cold. “You can’t just tell me you saw my father being murdered and not explain how it happened and why she cursed you to be a cat and didn’t kill you.”
“Because I don’t want to.” He’s on his feet and moving away from me. He stops and leans against a tree. I can’t see his face, only his backside, but I can tell he’s crying. He paws at his face, wiping furiously. “I promise to tell you, honest. I just have to focus. I have to ensure you win the Flower Trials.”
“Why are you so willing to help me?” I warm my hands by the fire, rubbing my palms together. “You’re putting yourself in just as much danger by being here.”
“Because...”
“Because what?” I slap my palm against the ground.
Percy turns to face me. “Because I love you.”
My heart hammers in my chest, beating at such rapid intervals, I press a hand over it. Goosebumps prick the back of my neck and down my arms. My face burns as bright as the fire crackling beside me. He loves me. Percy loves me. I’ve never been in love; I never thought I’d be. Even if I was, I don’t know what love feels like. I don’t know what love is.
I say nothing and just stare at him, a girl lost in her thoughts. Every romance book I’ve ever read never prepared me for the weight of hearing those beautiful words spoken to me. The silence between us stretches for a minute, then two, then ten. A feeling of regret slaps me out of the daze.
Sighing, Percy slides down the tree and onto his rear. We say nothing, do nothing.
I break the silence after half an hour. “I don’t know what that is. And I don’t know if what I feel for you is deep like or if it’s love. How can you be so sure?”
“I’m sure that I’m sure.”
“W-We should find a place to rest for an hour or three,” I say, abruptly changing the topic. I need more time to digest all of this. I can’t focus on winning if thoughts of love and being with Percy cloud my vision. “I know we should keep going, but I’m worn out.”
Percy points above him. “We’ll sleep in the treetops under the stars. It’ll be much safer there.”
Nightfall comes peacefully, a kiss goodnight to the world filled with marvelous stars. Twinkling gas balls far out in the heavens shine heavenly white in the blue-black sky. Percy and I are so high in the treetops that I feel that if I lift a finger to the sky, I can remove a star. Moonlight washes the miles and miles of woodland around us in a silvery glow. Although we are on a battlefield, everything feels peaceful, almost serene. My guard is still up for any invaders wanting to cause harm. But for now, all is well.
As much as I thirst for more information about Percy and how my father perished by his sister’s hands, I’ll leave well enough alone. For now. Percy insists on helping me during my trials, and I appreciate the helping hand. I would’ve liked to have the benefit of winning the Flower Trials for myself without the help of a man. Men always want to save the day, even when they’re not needed.
And yet, I am enjoying Percy’s unwanted company. Nothing in this universe can keep someone from the one they love, which is why I’m grateful he’s here. No one—human or of magical blood—should ever have to live their life without ever saying those magical words to someone they care about. I don’t want to even begin to imagine the heartbreak Percy would face if he never shared how he felt with me if I were to perish during the trials. He’d be with that witch, unhappy and abused. Just like I would be if I were still with my mum.
“You are really like a son to Vahilda?” I adjust myself on the thick branch. “You’ve been with her for almost nineteen years, right?”
“Just about.” Percy swings a finger at the sky, connecting the stars.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on you. You can share with me what happened when the time is right. What I want to know is, how can we break the hex? How can I help set you free?”
“All hexes can be broken, yes,” the cat-man says. “A hex is easier to break when you know how to break it. Fortunately for me, I figured it out. It took me forever, but Vahilda is very lenient on where I can go in Parnissi.”
“Speaking of the witch,” I snarl, “won’t she know you’re missing? She’ll come looking for you—”
“She won’t. Vahilda is smart. She’s probably figured out that I’m with you and knows my intentions.”
“Hmm.” I guess he’s right. Vahilda is a wise woman. I’m certain she’s complacent with Percy being here to help me. The witch is sure I will come out victorious, even if that means cheating my way to victory. Now, though, as much as I want and need to win, I’ve changed my mind about becoming an Elite. After learning Vahilda killed my father, all I want to do is to be free of her. “Am I hexed? I know I signed Vahilda’s contract in blood, but does that mean anything?”
“You signed a blood oath with Vahilda.” Percy stretches his arms, tilts backward on the tree with hands clasped behind his head.
“But how do I break it? Is it the same way you can break yours?”
“I know how to break mine. I just want you with me with I do.”
“Okay...” I quirk a brow. “Care to share how to break both our hexes?”
“You’re not hexed, Elyse. You signed a blood oath. That can only be broken if you were to, um, slay Vahilda.”
Terror floods my veins like the electric magic Markus used on me. I begin to sweat, to hyperventilate at the mere thought of doing battle with Vahilda. I’ve only seen a sliver of what magic Vahilda can do, and I’m sure the witch can wreak havoc should she so choose. How can I stand to engage in a losing effort to reclaim my life from her? Need I remind myself, Vahilda and my father completed the Flower Trials. That alone speaks for itself. I’ve only had two weeks of training where Vahilda has had her whole life to learn more magic than I can ever begin to fathom. Vahilda will have stolen my life away before I can begin to think of attacking her.
Percy and I are silent again before I ask him, “How do you break your curse?”
“The power of a kiss will do the trick.” He smiles, and I can’t judge if that smile is a joking smile or a serious smile. When I’m silent and regard him with a strange you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look, he nods in affirmation. “It’s true. A kiss will break the spell.”
“A kiss?” I roll my eyes. Of course, it’s a kiss. Why must my blood oath contain murder written in the fine print? I wish a kiss could sever the bonds that tie me to the wicked witch. But my life has never been so easy.
Percy stares at my lips while he bites his. “Will you help me out of my bind if I do the same for you?”
“You’ll help me kill Vahilda?” I wince. My face goes cold from the unholy thoughts of slaying the witch.
“If you do me that small favor.”
“Sure,” I say the words so quickly Percy jumps and nearly falls out of the tree. “You’ll be my first kiss.”
“You’ll be mine, too.” His eyes catch the light of the moon.
I slide to him, fingers gripping the sides of the giant branch we’re perched atop.
“But not right now.”
I stop mid-slide. “Oh? Okay.”
“Not that I don’t want to kiss you. I just want us to have a plan in action to, um, take down Vahilda. She stands in our way of freedom. Once we’re free of her—” he cups my hands in his. “we can start a life together far away from Parnissi. How does that sound?”
“Like everything I didn’t know I wanted and so much more.” This would be the picture-perfect time to share a kiss. The moon sits right behind Percy, gifting him an angelic aura. The critters are singing their nightly song. Everything about this moment says, “Kiss me.”
Percy gives my hands a good squeeze before he removes his soft, delightfully warm hands from mine. The bitter cold of the night air comes to claim my hands, a familiar kiss upon my skin.