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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

THE UNAPPETISING TRUTH

P ercy kept Joe busy until well into the evening, when the two were required to dress for dinner. Joe kept his good humour, forcefully, while the kitten followed Percy from room to room, sat on the vanity and stared at him as he showered and shaved, and purred against his legs with every other step he took. The thing ingratiated itself with a seemingly artless love that soothed every one of Percy’s recently frayed nerves, and by the time he dropped her into his coat pocket to bring her along to dinner, Joe had developed serious regrets about having let the situation get so far.

He had eventually decided to gamble on the hope that the etiquette demands of an elegant and crowded restaurant would keep Percy’s temper under wraps when he delivered the news. But then he knew Percy, and a light sweat prickled at the back of his neck at the thought of the coming conversation.

Leo and Althea arrived at the table shortly after Percy and Joe had. Leo was dressed in a grey suit jacket, navy shirt, black slacks, and looked every part the gentleman Percy had so carefully curated. Althea wore an excruciatingly bright dress, too long and too wide, some kind of fuchsia and fire-engine red combination which, to Percy, was worse than the tears of blood he’d cried the day before. Joe kicked his foot when he saw ‘the look’ descend, and Percy said, “Happy birthday, Althea. You look gorgeous.”

The ice between them was effectively broken, though Althea remained wary until he slid his chair across to hers and produced Moxie, secreting the kitten between them. Althea’s loud gasps of adoration very nearly sunk the whole charade, but it wasn’t long until Moxie was stowed under the table, happily devouring the tuna tartare Percy had ordered for her, sans garlic, onion, herbs, citrus, oil and vinegar.

After a time, all pleasantries having been dispatched, entrees being finished, mains just delivered, Joe lowered his voice, trying to avoid his words reaching the kitten’s sharp ears while she ripped apart her ‘rare as rare comes’ steak. “We need to talk about what happened yesterday, and what happens next.”

“Next?” asked Percy, the spark of battle flaring in his eyes. “You said it was gone.”

Joe nodded, swift and reluctant. “Uh. I said… I think I said it won’t be a problem anymore.”

Percy’s fingers wrapped tight around Joe’s and his voice dropped to concerned intimacy. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Yes. Very okay.” He squeezed Percy’s hand, though it did nothing to shift the line of worry he’d created. “Very, very much better. And we’re safe now.” His eyes sought Althea’s. “All of us. I’m sure of it. And I need you to know that, while the—the thing that was in me was, and is , very dangerous, it won’t hurt any of us.”

“I’ve been thinking about this,” said Percy. “It must have gone somewhere. Some poor bastard in London is almost certainly walking around possessed, and I think we need to start checking the papers for any leads.”

Leo pulled out his little notebook and commenced scrawling. “Ritualistic murders, cannibalism, that sort of thing?”

“Precisely,” said Percy. “The evil prick. There’s no way I’m letting it get away with this.” The kitten jumped back onto Percy’s thighs, pink tongue lapping at her whiskers, and Percy stroked her coat. “When I get my hands on it, I’m going to strangle the life out of it.” He then, caution to the wind, picked Moxie up and kissed her ear before setting her down on his legs and putting her paws on the table. “Look. She thinks she’s people.”

Althea and Leo made approving comments, but Joe’s face remained flat. “Percy, I think you need to try to move past your anger with the being, as quickly as possible, because?—”

“I’ll murder it,” he said, stroking Moxie’s whiskers. “I’ll force it into corporeal form, and when I do, I’ll rip its head off with my bare hands.” A small cheer went up around the table from all but Joe, while Moxie raised her chin to enjoy Percy’s soft scratches.

For Althea and Leo’s sake, Joe revealed, “It was—is—a familiar.” He kept his gaze on the kitten, whose green eyes watched him with interest. “It’s Molly Tulloch’s familiar.”

“What?” asked Althea. “Like a witch’s cat?”

Joe’s mouth pulled into a hard line. “Exactly like that.”

“I didn’t know familiars could jump bodies until yesterday,” said Percy. “It explains the magic, though. And the sickness.”

“And why it wanted to get back to Molly,” Leo suggested.

“And why it was so pissed off when I said I was going to kill her,” Percy muttered. “That has to be an intense bond.”

“That’s exactly it.” Joe latched onto the shift in conversation. “I need to tell you… In this situation… It’s a bit unusual…” He gave a small tilt of his head and a shrug. “It’s in love with her.”

No one made any response, least of all Percy, as they all let this latest intelligence mingle with their memories of the last few days.

Joe said, “The familiar, whose name, if it has one, I don’t know, came to Molly, like familiars do, to help her with magic. She was a real witch, a powerful one, and they worked together. For years. And this familiar took human form, eventually, and it fell in love with her. And she with it. And, Percy…” Joe looked across at him with a sympathy that inexplicably put him on his guard. “They were so in love. Like we’re in love. And when the witch hunters came for her, she locked her familiar away. She locked it away to protect it, in the basement, with magic of her own, and she went to meet her fate. Alone. But they were so intertwined by then. They’d shared everything, and what they did to her, her familiar felt it too. All of it. All of it from the torture, to her death, to her being trapped in that skull. They were only a short walk apart for hundreds of years, both of them imprisoned. In love. And despite its magic, because she’d bound it, to keep it safe, it couldn’t do a thing to help her.”

Percy wet his dry mouth with a sip of wine, then stated, “Well, that’s fucking miserable. No wonder it was such a prick.”

“Yeah, it really was,” Joe muttered, with another glance at the quiet cat. “But that’s also why it let us go. Sort of.”

“Sort of?” asked Percy.

Joe coloured with a mixture of guilt and embarrassment, but trudged on. “We presented the second opportunity in hundreds of years that the familiar ever had for escape. Cleo was the first, but it sacrificed that chance for Molly. It gave her Cleo’s body. It expected her to free it. But when Molly got strong enough, she left her familiar. After all they’d been through, she abandoned it there in the basement. And then when we came…” Joe watched Percy’s face, his eyes dimming as images of that afternoon closed in on him. “Percy, I’m sorry I put you through all that?—”

“You should be,” Leo snapped.

“I am,” Joe said softly. “Genuinely. I was trying to help.”

Leo, nowhere close to accepting any apology from Joe, said, “It was fucking stupid.”

“Leo.” Percy’s reprimand was quiet but firm. Leo sipped his coke and withdrew into angry silence.

“I know it seems stupid,” said Joe, trying to catch Leo’s averted gaze. “And I’m trying to apologise. It was a thing I did, thinking it was a ghost, thinking we had it under control. And had I known how out of hand things would get, I might not have done that. But even with that in mind, I believe, in hindsight, I did the right thing.”

A loud tsk rolled off Leo’s tongue, and Joe said, “I trusted you to handle it, Percy. And I know that was a lot to put on you, but I also believe, if it was anyone else but me, you’d agree it was right to try to help those girls.”

Percy, easily convinced by the altruism he’d come to see at part and parcel of a life with Joe, cracked an adoring smile. “It was a good and noble thing to do.”

Leo refused to make further sound or acknowledgement, as disgusted as he was, so Joe said, “I want to say thank you. To all of you. I know you went through a lot.” Meeting Althea’s eyes, “I never would have let you get involved like this if I could have stopped it.”

“I know,” she said. Adding, with a pointed look at Leo, “It wasn’t all bad.”

He allowed a light blush in response.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Percy said. “It’s done. It’s over. We made it out unscathed. And by the sounds of it, you have some information that could help us locate this familiar.”

“Mew,” said the little kitten, with a piercing glance at Joe.

“I do,” said Joe, returning her stare. “And I’m going to tell you. Now.”

The kitten dropped its paws from the table and started a soft padding up Percy’s stomach. “She’s lovely, isn’t she?” he said. “Do you think they’ll really mind if I put her on my shoulder? She seems to like it there.”

“I think they’ll mind,” said Althea.

Percy glanced around the restaurant, and seeing no eyes on them, lifted her to his cheek for a cuddle. She licked him, and he marvelled, “It was love at first sight, Moxie and I. I’ve never fallen so fast. No offence, Handsome.”

Joe glowered at Percy and his cat. “None taken.”

“Marvellous little thing.” He rolled her onto her back and rubbed her tummy. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was saying—” Joe attempted.

“See how she doesn’t use her claws?” Indeed, the cat had Percy’s hand wrapped in its front paws, back legs kicking his palm playfully, teeth so soft on his hand it was barely a tickle.

“I was saying—” Joe tried.

“She’s awesome, Percy,” Leo put in. “A much better sidekick, if you ask me.”

“I was saying—” Joe endeavoured.

“She’s got such a mischievous look about her, but she’s just so cute,” Althea fawned.

“I was saying—” Joe repeated.

“Look, I can lift her up.” The kitten held tight to Percy, wriggling around with a joyful growl as he raised his arm.

“Percy, could you put the damn cat away?” Joe snapped.

Percy, Althea, and especially Leo, looked over at Joe, aghast. Percy apologised and slipped the kitten back into his shirt pocket.

“I was saying?—”

“Look, she’s still watching me.” Percy nodded down at his pocket.

“I was saying,” Joe reiterated ten times as loud, before dropping out a heavy sigh. “Don’t you think it’s weird how attached she is to you?”

“Moxie?” Percy held his finger over his pocket to be swatted. “Not really. We have a connection.”

Lips drawn tight, “She’s a cat. You’ve known her for a day.”

Percy topped up Joe’s wine, somewhere very close to the top, and said, “Handsome, I’m beginning to think we need to talk about your jealousy issues.”

Already pushed to close to the limit of his patience, Joe verily seethed, “My what?”

Percy gave a placid, consoling, infuriating pat of Joe’s hand. “I love you. Only you. But this is the point that I feel like it’s tipping over into a you thing and not a me thing, you know?”

“What?” Joe very nearly shouted.

“Moxie’s my forever girl. But you’re my forever guy. And there’s no need for you to feel threatened.”

Joe’s fist slammed down on the table so hard the glasses rattled and he jumped to his feet, shouting furiously, “It’s Moxie! Can’t you see it’s Moxie?”

Percy, in perfect shock at the outburst, said softly, “What’s Moxie?”

Joe, cowed by the scowls of the waiting staff, dropped back to his seat. He took a few deep breaths and tried a shift to the comforting nature he’d learned as a priest. Percy’s feelings were on the line, so Joe explained as calmly as possible, “The familiar and Molly were in love. It watched her— felt her die, horribly. It lived her descent into madness. It’s never stopped loving her and it… It didn’t leave because you almost killed me.”

Percy grew quiet, listening intently.

“After it possessed me, it took a long time to trust you. To trust us. Because it’s traumatised, terrified by everything they went through. But when you said those things to me…” Joe moved his chair closer, taking Percy’s hand. “Percy, when you said those beautiful, beautiful things to me, it was the most pure, most romantic moment of my entire life.”

“So murder-suicide does it for you.”

“Percy…” Joe fought back the chuckle, though his smile was irrepressible. “Percy, I’m so madly in love with you.” His tone and face set a little more serious as he went on. “And those things you said, they were so loving, and that’s when it understood. What we have, it’s real. It’s a love that will span all of eternity. It’s a love that even death can’t conquer. It’s so rare, and so beautiful, and… And it didn’t want to take that away from us. Because that’s the kind of love it had with Molly. And…” Joe took a breath and squeezed Percy’s hand a little tighter. “Percy, you’re very handsome, and you’re—you’re very sexy?—”

Both Althea and Leo groaned loudly.

Joe carried on, disregarding them both, “You’re captivating. And enigmatic. And that familiar… it… it reacted to you like… most people do when you decide to be charming… Even if it was totally artless. Which made it that much more charming.”

A quiver of worry shot its way through Percy. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.”

“The, um…” Something akin to the idea of gutting himself popped into Joe’s mind, and he began to think that might be preferable. “The familiar likes you. A lot. You have to understand, you’re the first man it’s seen in centuries. And you’re a very attractive man. And you did that sexy blood-play thumb thing…”

Percy grinned. “That was hot, wasn’t it?”

“So hot,” Joe agreed ardently.

“Why did they invite us?” Althea whispered.

“I don’t know!” Leo snarled.

“So, all things being what they are,” Joe sighed out, “I would go so far as to say… the familiar developed a small crush on you.”

Percy’s mind had not yet grasped the concept simply because his self-preservation instinct wouldn't allow it. Perhaps the familiar had liked him. What of it? What did any of it have to do with anything now? With finding and slaying the thing? It was irrelevant, so why was Joe harping on about it? Percy said, “I know you’re not jealous of a beast from the abyss, Joe.”

Joe wiped a tense hand across his wrinkled brow. “I’m not jealous, Percy.”

“Because first it’s Moxie, and now it’s this. But I’m willing to try couples counselling if that might?—”

Irritation boiling over, Joe snapped, “Would you shut up and listen to me? It adores you, Percy. You made it not only trust you, you made it fall for you. So when it left me, it took a form where it could stay close to you. Where it knew you would keep it safe.” Joe’s eyes moved to the ball of fur trying to clamber up Percy’s chest. “Where it would get all the best of you, because it found a weak spot.”

Percy’s hand closed around the kitten as the understanding began to dawn on him. “You’re being ridiculous?—”

Joe raised his voice a little louder. “Where it can lick your face, and watch you shower?—”

Percy spoke louder still, over the top of him, refusing to hear it. “This is complete nonsense. I won’t have anything to do with?—”

“And where it can bite your fiancé when he tries to touch your dick!” The restaurant fell quiet at these last, shouted words.

Percy turned a ghastly shade of grey. He scrunched the scruff of fur on the kitten’s neck, and lifted her, slowly, to look into her bright green eyes. “Did you take Moxie?”

She reached out a be-socked paw and tapped him on the nose. “Mew.”

Percy dropped the kitten onto his dinner plate. He stood, scraping his chair back, feeling over his pockets. “It’s been a long week. Please accept my apologies.” He pulled out a cigarette and shoved it in his mouth before flinging a credit card down on the table. “Put it on this.”

“Percy,” Joe tried, “it won’t hurt anyone else.”

Percy held up a silencing finger. “Get anything you like. No drinks, Leo. We’ll talk tomorrow.” And he stalked out of the restaurant.

Moxie pounced after him, but was caught mid-air by Joe. “You’ve caused enough trouble.” He turned to Althea and Leo, the two of them perfectly mute. “Um. Happy birthday, Althea!” And Joe, too, sprinted out into the night.

Leo leaned across and said, “What if we just order every single dessert on the menu?”

Althea’s eyes grew wide. “Can we do that?”

Leo raised a hand for the waiter. “I think we deserve it.”