CHAPTER 176: COLD AND FIRE

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Kali raised the last empty jar, then turned it over, waiting for wine to slip from it miraculously. Her face flushed and ears blushed. Kali used her hand to prop up her chin, now shaking the jar forcefully.

When a few minutes passed, she raised her face and slapped her cheeks.

"Wake up, Kali!" She scolded herself. Picking up her dagger, she pushed her chair back and stood up.

Kali walked towards the door, then turned back and returned to her chair. She grabbed the empty jar and repeated the same, turning it over.

This had been her situation after what happened with her and Percy earlier. Kali had run out of the place, warning Percy strictly to stand outside while she tried to drown herself in wine just so she could get drunk.

Why had she said such rubbish? Why did she do it? Kali kept repeating the same questions that had no answer. Even when she begged the universe to swallow her up whole, it laughed back at her by making the wind noisy.

"Oh heavens," Kali cried, throwing her head back, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. She couldn’t stay in the room forever, but worse than that, she couldn’t go outside to stand face to face with Percy.

"That idiot," Kali chewed her nails. "I knew there was something wrong about him." Ever since she met him, she’d noticed herself acting out of character.

"How did I fall into his trap?" Kali licked her lips. She walked back to the door and held the doorknob.

"You fool! Forget everything that just happened." Kali repeated to herself, getting ready to say it to Percy once she opened the door. Then she shook her head.

"That’s too foolish an excuse... um... oi! Is that your first time kissing a woman? Be a man and let’s go—" Kali gritted her teeth. She sat on her heels, cringing at her own words.

This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. She was meant to have her guards up and deal with men accordingly, not let herself feel giddy for kissing a man.

"Kali... think... think about the bloody past! Will you go back to the hell you left?" Kali ruffled her hair with her fingers.

Earlier, she had entered the room to grab a drink and leave. Since Rhane left, daytime drinking had kept her occupied. What she didn’t expect to see was Percy with another woman. Kali knew it was normal for men to have fun. She’d seen the men tease Percy and promise to get him entangled with a woman.

Even Kali heard them make plans on how to put Percy in a room. She heard it all. Then something strange happened when she walked in on them. Kali felt the urge to show dominance, to assert possession, and let Percy know who he belonged to.

"Why?" Kali asked, rubbing her finger on her lips. She had even seen the surprised look on the young woman’s face.

It was after then that it dawned on Kali— the reason she walked into that room knowing Percy would be there with a woman. She didn’t want it to happen. She wanted to stop Rhane from doing anything.

"Urgh..." Kali groaned, raking her fingers through her already wailing hair.

"K-Kali?"

Her heart jumped when she heard Percy’s voice, and her face reddened.

"W-what is it?" She growled, a stark contrast to the turmoil her emotions faced.

"Um... I wanted to know how long I have to stand here for... it’s getting cold."

Kali stood up. She touched the doorknob and turned, confused about what to do with her hands or her body.

"I can come back later when you’re sure of what to do with me."

Kali rubbed her palm on her face. "Stay right there!" she retorted. "Don’t move except I say so." Her voice trembled when she finished speaking. She didn’t want to be so mean, but she couldn’t help it.

"Okay," was Percy’s only reply.

Okay? Kali repeated in her mind. She walked back to her bed, grabbed a pillow, and screamed inside.

"That idiot!" Kali breathed heavily, glaring at the door. "How can a man be so easy to control?"

Kali sat on her bed, holding the pillow tightly to her chest. She stared blankly at the door. It wasn’t possible that a man would listen to a woman who asked him to wait outside.

Nobody on earth was that stupid. Kali decided that if she waited for a long time and stepped out, and if Percy was gone, then she would let him be and never tease him again.

Minutes passed, and silence reigned except for the curtains shuffling against the wall and Kali’s heart drumming in her ears.

"Let’s do this!" Kali dropped her feet steady on the ground. With no second thoughts, she walked straight to the door and grabbed it open.

The gush of wind made her close her eyes for a second, sending chills down her spine.

Percy wasn’t standing there...

He was sitting.

Kali dropped her eyes to the ground. She found the young man sitting in a corner with his body curled in a ball to dispel the cold.

"Are you really a fool?!" Kali cried.

Percy looked up from where he was, his teeth grinding against each other. "Y-you asked me to wait... I don’t want to die." That was his truth.

"You stupid man! Is that how death happens?" she said, in between annoyance and frustration. "You’d die faster from cold before the sword itself."

Pushing the door wide open, Kali grabbed Percy’s hand and pulled him inside the room. Then she banged the door shut.

"I have never seen a man so—" Kali hissed. Her words stuck in her throat.

Percy stood at a corner, his hands still wrapped around his body. He shivered.

"I..." Kali exhaled. Grabbing a sheet from the bed, she threw it on Percy’s body. "Use that and wrap yourself."

Percy wasn’t able to catch the cover, so he scrambled on his knees to catch it, making him kneel in front of Kali. When he picked it up, he raised his face.

Kali’s heart skipped, then raced. She turned her face to the side. Not knowing what to do with her hands, she rubbed them on her shirt. She had never had a man kneel before her except when her sword was stuck in his neck.

Percy finally grabbed the sheet. He sat by the corner, using it to wrap his entire body. A relieved sigh made him smile to himself.

"W-why, ehm..." Kali cleared her throat. "Why did you wait there... what if the cold had killed you?" She began walking to where he was. On one knee, she used the sheet to cover the part of his body left open.

Percy moved his body to the side, his face an inch away from Kali’s own. "You asked I stay beside you until you decide what to do with me... I figured if I acted right, you’d keep me alive," he confessed.

"Don’t you have grit as a man?" Kali asked, swallowing hard. She couldn’t keep her mind aligned with their eyes meeting this close.

Percy gave a foolish grin, then sniffled. "I do have annoying traits, but when it can’t save me... I resort to begging for my life."

Kali’s eyes dropped down to his lips, and the kiss from earlier replayed in her mind.

"You..." she muttered, forgetting what she wanted to say. She raised her eyes back to Percy’s face. Without thinking, her palm touched his face, and her fingers traced down slowly.

Percy stared at her hands and then her face but didn’t move.

"Were you born this way?"

Percy tilted his head. "What way exactly?" He was confused.

"The way you are..." Kali touched his chin, feeling the roughness of small beards that were growing on her palm.

Percy gulped, his throat bubbling up and down. "If you can tell me more... I can try to explain."

Kali leaned closer, her nose touching Percy’s own. She didn’t feel repulsed or threatened. She felt safe and not angry. The urge to grab her dagger and cut his head off didn’t consume her.

And it made Kali wonder when or how long it had been this way. What made Percy different from other men?

"Are you scared of me?" Kali asked, tracing her finger down to his neck. Then she grabbed.

Percy nodded. "I am."

"Then why are you always around me?" Kali moved her lips to his ear.

Percy stiffened. In one night, he had a close encounter with having a woman. His body, that was cold before, heated up, and his cheeks warmed.

"Rhane asked that I protect you... and my mistress is in love with Rhane. If anything happens to you... then Rhane will be sad, and if Rhane is sad, then my—"

Percy found his mouth shut with a kiss. Not a rough kiss like earlier but one slow, calculating, as Kali was thinking about something.

Kali drew back from the kiss, licking his lips. "You should shut up now." She pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Kali enjoyed it. Her body was ready.

It sent signals that a man was about to have her. She trembled. Grabbing Percy’s hands forcefully, she took them straight to her core, but Percy flinched and crawled back, moving away from her.

"What are you doing?" Kali bellowed with anger boiling her nerves.

Percy stood up from the ground. "Why are you doing this to me... with me...?"

Kali stood up, glaring at him. "Isn’t that what you wanted with the woman earlier?" She stared down at his breeches that now had a bulge. "You want it too... I guess even an idiot is still a man."

Percy shook his head. "The woman earlier could do anything because she’s paid to do it. A whore. But Kali isn’t a whore... Kali is a lady."

"Wha—" Kali’s chest squeezed painfully. "You can think of me as a whore. It doesn’t make a difference. Come here."

Percy refused to move. "You’re a woman and a lady. A lady is only supposed to do this with her husband." He whispered as if giving a secret. "I won’t disrespect your body in that way."

Kali felt a lump rise in her throat. Her eyes pricked. "Get out! Get out of my face this instant! Now!"

Percy hit the ground before he got to the door, and he disappeared out of the room.