Outrageous. How could my pet still be so trusting after everything that had taken place? She needed my protection from herself as much as from those who would threaten her due to her connection with me.
Percy began to moan, almost as if in pain, as her leg kicked out and struck my knee—not hard enough to injure herself, thankfully. I had thought that perhaps the worst of the trauma from her abduction had passed, but the confrontation with theAcademy guard and the manifestation of her novel ability had clearly brought it to the surface.
I reached out for her and tried to gently pull her into my arms. Some nights, I had been able to soothe her without waking her. However, she did not come willingly to me. She pulled away, lashing out, her arm thumping down onto the mattress.
“Percy,” I called her name softly, hoping to calm her.
Her blond hair stuck to her forehead as she shook her head in refusal. Even in sleep, she was defiant.
She turned away from me, her face against the pillow, and I worried for her ability to breathe. Then she began to scream.
“NO! NO! NO!” Her screams were agonising and loud enough to hoarse her voice if I allowed them to continue.
It always surprised me that her own cries did not wake her. Unexpectedly, I felt her despair break through my enchantments, the raw pain of the emotion causing the breath to catch in my throat.
Quickly, I grabbed Percy by her shoulders and flipped her onto her back, taking hold of her shoulders again, giving her no freedom to pull away from me.
“Percy, wake up,” I commanded sternly, loudly.
Her eyes flew open as she screamed in fear, blindly looking around, before they focus on me. She sagged, breathing hard as her tears began to spill.
“Oh, Selene,” she cried, clinging to me with such force that she pulled her back from the mattress to grip onto me.
I shushed her gently, wrapping my arms around her back and cradling her head as I shifted us to a more comfortable position,with my back against the headboard and Percy nestled against my chest.
“It’s alright, it was just a dream. I’m here, and you are safe,” I reassured her.
She cried harder, gripping my silk shirt between her fingers, causing the fabric to pull at my shoulders. I wondered briefly if her grip was strong enough to rip the fabric. Her heartbeat was fast, the vibration trembling between us, like that of a mouse’s rapid pace.
“You were… you were dead because of me,” she said between tears and heaving breaths.
“My little pet, it was a dream. I am fine and here with you,” I promised her.
My own heart had been racing to match hers since the flash of her emotional despair had surged through me. Selfishly, I was glad that my enchantments were strong enough to ensure that what I felt of Percy’s emotions was brief. Even more selfishly, a part of me was pleased to be reassured of Percy’s feelings for me—that even a dream of my loss would cause such pain.
Of course, if I simply allowed the bond to act as in its nature, I would need no reassurance. But the risks were too great; neither of us had the control necessary to withstand the full effects of the soul match bond.
She nodded her head against me, her tears dampening my shirt.
“It was… Selene, it was so bad. I can’t lose you, I can’t—not ever. Not ever,” she reiterated, pushing herself against me as if trying to meld into me.
“I will never leave you, I promise. You are my love,” I told her while I ran my hand over her hair and wrapped my right leg overher hip. If she wanted to be closer to me, if she wanted to meld into me, I would welcome her always.
“You can’t promise that,” she replied, her tears lessening as she lifted her head to look at me. Her yellow eye glowed softly. It was such an enchanting feature. Only purebloods were meant to possess such an ability, but here my little pet was—her emotions on show. It was subtle, so subtle that perhaps only other pureblood vampires or werewolves would notice, but it was something that thrilled me of my little soul match.
She was different. And now, she had proved herself perhaps the most powerful witch in the Borealis Kingdom with her novel ability—and as only a half-witch. I could not help but be proud of her. As much as the potential consequences of her new ability terrified me, there was no denying her power. There was safety in power.
“The soul match means it’s not up to you,” she continued. “If I die, you do too,” she explained.
“Then we would be together in the afterlife,” I told her.
“No, Selene,” she said, and I was almost amused by her reprimanding tone. “You cannot die because of me. I can’t have it. I can’t stand even the thought of a world without you in it.” She began to cry again. I hated when she cried; it made me weak. I was not weak. I could not afford such weakness.
“My pet, you and I will not die until we are old with grey and white hair—until we are frail and ready to turn to dust. We will not be taken from each other until we have lived lives so full and wonderful that the kingdom’s children grow up repeating the tales of our story. If you desire eternal life, I will give it to you,” I promised her.
The oral histories of inter-coven magic flashed quickly across my mind, questioning how far I would go if my pet so wished it.The answer was yes—I would risk everything and everyone if my Percy so desired it.
Her tears had stopped again, and she breathed heavily against me. Her nose, blocked from her tears, wheezed squeakily. “I never want you to die,” she said nasally.
