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As soon as I had enough of my bearings together, I struggled for Philip to let me down. Now that we were alone, he complied, touching my feet to the hard soil and sand mixture that didn’t seem fertile enough to grow anything. The urge to vomit rose up in me when I tried to work up the gumption to kiss him in a welcoming “I’m so glad to see you, honey” kind of way. He wore a beige shirt and black pants, his white-blond hair standing out against the natural colors that surrounded us.
Distraction came at me in the form of a dog barking. The howl was calling out a warning for... something as it tore a path through the branchless and barkless trees that were way too close together. Had they branches, they would’ve been all intertwined to the point of not being able to see a single thing. As it was, the morning suns shone on the last thing I expected to see running toward us.
It wasn’t any old dog. Sandy, my neighbor’s pit bull came bounding toward me, tongue out and cautioning me to stay back with a warning growl. “What the... Is that my dog?” I quirked my head up at Philip in confusion.
Philip smiled that I was talking to him, asking him normal questions, like how a regular couple might converse. “I had one of my Ekeks sneak to the surface and bring him here for you. I thought you might enjoy someone familiar on my island to make you feel more at home.”
My knees buckled and I dropped to the ground, opening up my arms and welcoming Sandy with the hug we both needed. “Hey, boy. I sure missed you. What are you doing here, huh?” I snuggled his bowling ball head to my chest and scratched under his chin while he licked my face in earnest.
“He’s groveling, as he should be.”
“Groveling? Sandy’s my buddy. He’s never done a thing to need groveling for.” I kissed the top of Sandy’s head. “Poor baby. You’re probably terrified being here. I’m with you now. Nothing to worry about.”
Philip wore a superior smile that told me he knew something I didn’t. Judging by the touch of evil he had in everything he did, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the source of his smirk. “Let’s get you dried off. Then we can talk about your mutt.”
I frowned up at Philip as I released Sandy, who stayed close to my heels. “His name is Sandy, not mutt. Be nice.”
Philip chuckled, looking not as evil, though I held tight to my healthy fear of him even as he tried to relax me with conversation. “Oh, darling. I miss you ordering me around. The only thing I get is blind obedience. I rather enjoy the sound of you thinking you have any control over me.”
I shot him a baleful look, which he smiled at. I touched my forehead, grimacing as my brain started to catch up. “Oh, I need to go back to the shore. My backpack’s there with all my things.”
“I have plenty of things for you and your dog. What did you call him? Sandy? There’s nothing you need back there. Your guide will find it after he exhausts himself trying to find you, I’m sure.” Sandy rubbed his side against my ankle affectionately. “I’ve got a treat for you both in the hut.” Philip led Sandy and me to the clearing I’d seen in my dream. In the center of the perfect circle was a simple hut, framed by the stripped trees. It was the same no-frills hut he’d shown me before, but the realness of actually being here made me gasp.
“Our palace, milady,” Philip offered. He opened the door and ushered me inside, introducing me to the one-room abode that was exactly as I remembered it. My knife was in my backpack on the shore, so I searched with careful eyes for anything I could use as a makeshift weapon when the time came.
There was the same tin bucket in the corner, a handmade wooden table, and a basket on the counter, along with jars of various sizes. I was shivering in the center of the hut, dripping all over the planks of the wooden floor. “Do you have a towel or something?”
“I do.” He didn’t move, but stared at me, as if seeing me in his house was the most fascinating thing that had happened in months. Since he was sequestered here by himself, I guess it probably was.
My fists climbed to rest up on my hips. “Well, are you just bragging, or can I actually use it to dry off here? I’m kind of dripping all over the place.”
He narrowed his eyes skeptically. “Why did you come here?”
I blinked at him. “Are you serious? I just crossed an ocean by way of a sea monster, and you want to know why I’m here? I told you, I wanted to give us a shot where I didn’t have to be afraid of you invading my mind, and you could see if we’d actually be good together for real. This way we can figure out if we should be together, or if we should move on.”
“See, that’s the reason I’ve been running over in my mind, but now that you’re here, it doesn’t add up. Why would you give yourself over to me, unguarded? Knowing what you do about what I did to your sister, why would you come here?”
Sandy looked curiously between myself and Philip, head tilted to the side and ears flopping.
I huffed, arms akimbo. “Because I’m a masochist, apparently. I’ve got a thing for lost causes, and you’re about as lost as they come.”
Philip’s head turned to the side, his dimpled chin tightening as he sized me up. “A little impertinence is charming every now and then, but you’ll do well to remember that I’m the master here. I’m not a lost puppy in search of redemption. If you’re hoping to change me, you’ve come on a fool’s errand.”
I cast him a look of deep displeasure. “You’re pushing your luck, dude. I don’t need a monologue on how it’s impossible to change a man. That’s a tune I’m well familiar with. I just need a towel.”
He watched my attitude a few more seconds before moving to a chest and pulling out a blanket. The cream fabric was fuzzy, and as he wrapped it around me, he pulled me closer to him, his hand on my hip. I wished Finn hadn’t removed my hoodie. My white nightgown was sticking to me, drawing attention to areas I didn’t want Philip thinking he was welcome to explore.
It was now or never, and I knew the “never” option was too tempting to seriously consider. I took a chance and rested my head on his chest, ignoring Sandy’s irate bark at my bold move.
Philip’s hand drifted up, combing his fingers through my dripping tangles. I could hear the erratic beats of his heart and knew he was just as nervous as I was. It was a big deal, him letting an actual person onto his island of isolation. I was a risk, just as much as he was a risk to me.
“I have to tell you something, and I need you to not freak out.”
His hand stilled in my hair. “What is it?”
I swallowed, driving the knife into my heart for the greater good. “When we kissed in my dream, it’s not the same as kissing an awakened Omen in real life. There’s hallucinations and colors, and it’s, well, it’s pretty trippy.” Sandy went nuts, barking and growling until I snapped my fingers. “Hush up now, boy.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
My hand climbed up to rest on his beige shirt. “Because I want to kiss you. I want to see what kinds of colors we make together.”
Philip moved his hand under my chin, and I reminded myself not to flinch. He tipped my face up, and beneath the unrepentant warmonger I knew him to be, I could tell that he was also a man who wanted to be desired. Of all the things he could command, he couldn’t make a woman want to be with him.
Philip’s eyes zeroed in on my lips, and though we’d had sex before, this definitely felt like virgin territory. “Philip?” I whispered, leaning up so our mouths weren’t more than a few inches apart. I didn’t want to know what he smelled like, so I tried not to notice the sharp oaky scent that wafted into my nose unbidden. “When was the last time you kissed a woman?”
His eyes hardened in time with his grip on me, tightening me to his chest so I could barely breathe. “The last time I kissed a woman was the last time we kissed, so do the math from then.”
My tone remained soft. “I mean in real life, not in an Omen’s mind.”
A flicker of utter loss sliced through the anger in his eyes with all the delicate grace of a butterfly’s wing, making him look lost in a storm of his own making. “I can’t remember. If it happened, it must’ve been lifetimes ago. I’ve been here for ages, locked in my island.”
I didn’t actually have to fake sympathy for him. My hand rose to touch his cheek, stroking the barely prickly skin as I gazed up at him with true compassion for his plight. “Oh, honey. You don’t have to be alone anymore.” I leaned up on my toes, brushing my lips to his too briefly to be considered a kiss. Philip was motionless, savoring the first kiss he’d had... maybe ever. At least in this lifetime, I was his first, so I took great care to move slowly.
The kiss unraveled, going deeper in layers I wasn’t sure I understood the depths of. Sandy was angry now, but his growling and barking were drowned out by the banging that started introducing itself to our kiss. The drums echoed all around me, bashing inside my head and making me lose all sense of who and where I was. The red and yellow from Mason, the blue and gold I’d bathed in with Von, and the green and silver Finn had given me were replaced by a black fog that had tinges of royal purple to it. The fog moved like a thick snake around us, spiraling and climbing upward until we were wrapped tightly in the tension that only seemed to build. My tongue beckoned his to come out and play, and the dance they did together was strange but somehow delicate.
I waited for the carbonation feeling to run through my body and over my skin, welcoming the strange sensation when it announced the breaking of Philip’s curse I’d set out to undo.
Philip’s hands coiled around my back as the kiss deepened beyond what I’d needed it to be. I tried to let the kiss fade away, but Philip held me tighter, wanting more.
It didn’t matter. His curse was broken, which meant that Philip was mortal again.