The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

by Leanna Renee Hieber

  As a new peal of thunder shook The Guard’s bones and apocalyptic horsemen threatened to bear down upon them, from Percy’s dry lips came a sound, a soft feminine rasp: “Shhh…” The rumbling cavalcade dulled to a whisper. The ceiling held, and their sanctuary remained intact. The stones of the chapel settled back into place, the pin sealing the sepulcher once more.

  Alexi’s fire and his wings faded until wisps of incenselike smoke were all that remained. Percy stirred in his hold. Her eyes shot open to pierce him with a crystalline stare.

  “My love,” he choked.

  She evaluated him for a long moment. “You have some explaining to do.”

  Dark eyes pouring with tears, Alexi laughed; an echoing sound of pure joy.

  Percy placed a finger to his lips, a chuckle turning into a sickly cough. Her head swiveled as she listened to the silence. There was no more barking, pounding or murmuring in her mind. Only relief. Taking in her surroundings as best she could, she glanced at the six pairs of eyes that hovered over her, comforting in a distantly familial way.

  “What was all that…?” Elijah asked, dumbly breaking the silence. Rebecca elbowed him.

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” Percy murmured, her eyes focusing. “Oh, it’s you, with the touch. And—oh! Headmistress! Why are you here?” She stared up at Alexi in confusion, her body wracked by shivers. He held her closer, but she clawed at him. “Please don’t send me away tomorrow…”

  Cupping her face in his hands, Alexi kissed her passionately. She gave in to the press of his lips, her body trying to shake the lingering effects of her epic battle, but she soon pulled back and gasped. A blush patched her cheeks. Glancing bashfully at the company around her, she turned her head, murmuring Alexi’s name with shame, ducking and hiding inside the safe darkness of his cloak and giving an overwhelmed, youthful sigh. “Alexi. Goodness, does that mean—?”

  Bringing her blushing face up again, he was sure to make this covenant eye to eye. “I failed you, Percy, but never again. Everything will be made clear to you.”

  “You made that promise previously,” she reminded him.

  “Yes. I was lost, my duty here unclear, though my heart was not. I beg you, forgive me.”

  “You will see me again, then?” she murmured, aching. “You’ll not send me back to the convent?”

  “See you? I’ll not allow you out of my sight from this moment on! Say you’ll forgive me.”

  “Forgive you?” Percy coughed again. “Well, I am rather angry.”

  “You should be angry—with all of us.” Rebecca stepped forward. “Your rejection had everything to do with us and nothing to do with Alexi; he is not the one to blame,” she admitted shakily, glancing humbly at her friend and colleague.

  “Bless me for I have sinned!” Elijah cried, prostrating himself at Percy’s feet.

  “Get up, silly man,” she laughed weakly. “You don’t need a blessing; we all need a good night’s rest. However…what in the name of Holy God just happened?”

  “You’re a goddess,” Elijah whimpered.

  “No, I’m a mortal woman with a horrid headache and a confused identity.”

  “No mere mortal girl could open a gate to the other side!” Elijah assured her.

  Percy shrugged and winced. “Well, it would seem that serpentine friend of yours could, too, and I’d like to think I’m nothing like her…”

  “No, no, you’re clearly the greater power here. What incredible proof! Your business with those doors was very well done, if I may say. You’ve certainly proved us the consummate fools!” he exclaimed, his foppish sleeves flapping as he gesticulated absurdly. Rebecca made a move to elbow him again, but then realized it was no use and only shook her head and sighed.

  “Well, it would’ve been nice to know my power, whatever it is, long ago. It might have saved us all a lot of trouble. No. I can’t be a goddess. If I was, I wouldn’t be in this much pain.” Percy smirked half heartedly. Alexi could only stare, drinking in her every word.

  “Were you one, then, once? Full of sorcellerie et puissance?” Josephine asked. “Do you remember ever coming to us, years ago? Giving us a prophecy?”

  “Oh, why…it’s you, too—the painter. Bonjour. Well, mademoiselle, I don’t know whether I’ve had such dreams or memories, but I’ve never before been capable of magic or divine acts.” She turned to Alexi, giving in to the warmth of his embrace. “And I don’t remember ever seeing you, my dear.” She bit her lip. “I assure you, I’d never forget if I’d seen you before.”

  He drew his covetous embrace tighter, and pressed a finger to the soft skin over her racing heart. “Herein lies the magic,” he declared softly, and Percy’s face lit with a rapturous smile, unwittingly proving his point. “Inside this incredible, radiant heart is all the divinity we need. ‘Tis the whole of my salvation.”

  Rebecca bent carefully over them. “Rest is what is best for you now, Miss Parker. Let answers come later. You’re in good hands with your professor.”

  Staring up at Rebecca, that word struck Percy with sudden horror. “You won’t…expel me for this, will you, Headmistress?”

  The group laughed, albeit some a bit guiltily.

  “No, dear heart—since you rescued the world, we may have to make you faculty.”

  Rebecca gave Alexi an anemic smile; Percy, even in her weakened state, could see many complex things cross between their gazes. Alexi nodded slowly, as if all might eventually pass.

  “Give us a moment, please,” he instructed his friends. “Regroup at the Withersby estate, where Percy and I will soon join you. Don’t worry, there will be time enough for repentance.” Flashing each and every one a caustic smirk, he waved them away.

  Without protest, they quietly filed out. As they turned toward the stairway, the door to Athens and their normal world materialized with the sound of a small rip. Only Jane lingered, shifting for a moment on her feet and wringing her hands.

  “I am so sorry, Alexi,” she murmured. “There was a time when I did not trust that vile woman. I ought to have fought for Miss Percy. I failed you.”

  Alexi shook his head. “Every one of us failed. But all has been made right.”

  Jane wiped her eyes, crossed herself, and was the last to leave the sanctuary. The portal closed behind her, leaving Percy and Alexi alone.

  Attempting to sit upright, Percy found she couldn’t and collapsed once more into Alexi’s clutch. Never had she been so exhausted, yet her heart pounded in this embrace and her body thrilled. “I’ve no idea what has happened to me. Where are we?” she murmured.

  “A special place reserved for us alone, within the academy walls and yet far from them, neither here nor there. But if not for you, this delicate place would have been destroyed—along with much more.”

  Percy shuddered. “Oh, Alexi, I’ve had such visions and terrors! If I’m meant to be here with you now, why did you send me away? You were so cruel.”

  “I fear it was all a horrid test, bringing us to this catastrophic point. I had to act cruel, to make you hate me, otherwise I’d have never been able to let you go. I was in agony—”

  “Good.” Percy’s eyes flashed. “You deserved to suffer, you were awful…”

  Alexi’s expression grew pained. “The rest of The Guard feared I was too taken with you to allow Prophecy to be fulfilled. More than just our own desires were at stake—”

  “You thought it might be that Gorgon,” Percy accused.

  “They thought it was, but I believed in you…and your power proved everything tonight!” Alexi gasped, pressing her to him. “Signs of Prophecy were seen in that…woman. The others were enamoured of her, but I never…I knew I was meant to love the Prophesied, and we were so terrified of fate we’d have ruined everything were it not for you.”

  “So…did you love her?” Percy breathed fearfully, wondering what might have transpired while she was in the infirmary, the exact period of time of which she had no accurate awareness.

  Alexi shook his
head. “Never for a moment. Loving a goddess that appeared to me as a young man was nothing like what began to happen to me when you would come to my office, fascinating me. I began to live for our private moments, unprepared for my reaction, unprepared for what you do to me,” he professed, his words a groan of need as his hands roved her shoulders. “As your professor, it was unbearable. Unattainable as my student, and yet…the difference in our status did add a titillating dynamic to this entire ordeal,” he purred, drawing a finger over her cheek.

  “Maddening, in fact,” Percy murmured, moving her face to kiss his fingertip, her lips lingering there as he reacted with a yearning exhalation.

  Her expression suddenly grew grave. “Alexi, promise me you’ll not leave me alone tonight. I can’t bear it. These terrible events have nearly killed me. Promise me you’ll not turn from me like you did at your sister’s, toy with me like before?”

  Dark eyes burned with desire and adoration. “Percy, the sanctity of our love is tied to the balance of our world and”—he drew a shaking breath—“my very life depends on it.” Loosening the cravat around his abused throat, he pulled at a thin metal chain. A small silver ring was revealed.

  “Strange that we’ve both worn symbols of our fate against our skin,” Percy murmured, staring as he slipped the ring from the chain and held it before her. Delicately crafted, a single silver feather was wrapped into a slender circle. It took her a moment to realize what his presenting a ring to her meant, but when she did, she nearly shrieked in delight.

  “I waited for ages to give this to my destined love, growing older and bitter, losing all hope. Then you waltzed in, Persephone Parker. You lifted me from the ashes. I love you. Your nearness is the cure to my cold, lonely life.” Alexi pressed the ring into her palm, his hands trembling helplessly. “Heal me by becoming my wife.”

  The joyous cry from Percy’s lips could have made flowers bloom. Perhaps it did, somewhere in window boxes above.

  “Oh, my dear professor!” She laughed. “I’ve been helplessly yours from the very first.” Her pale eyes burned with the blue flame that bound them all, that fire triumphant over darkness at last. “My God, your wife!” she squealed as he slipped the ring upon her finger. “I could only dream someone would have me so, and for it to be Alexi Rychman—”

  “It must be me,” Alexi interrupted. “My goddess may live on in you, but even if she doesn’t…I need you, Percy.”

  He fondled her arms and nuzzled her neck as tears of joy and relief from the night’s unearthly terrors spilled down her cheeks, all horror draining away with each salty drop. “You will stay at my side tonight,” he commanded, arms locking around her waist. When Percy drew back, blushing, eyes widening with excited uncertainty, he anticipated her nervousness. “I’ll respect your modesty until we are wed, sweet girl, but you and I have much to discuss.”

  She nodded, shifting in his hold, and he gave a hiss. “Michael may have to wed us immediately!” he groaned, no longer able deny the contours of her body, so evident beneath the thin fabric of her gown.

  Their eyes locked, desperate. The betrothed were permitted such passion…

  All inhibition aside, Alexi slid an arm around her neck and his lips fell to devour her throat, her shoulders. Her senses sharpening with desire, she felt his fingertips upon her rib cage. His hand trembled upon the cloth and crept upward. Percy gasped as she felt his palm graze her breast then cup it. Her skin thrilled, flushed and tingled in places she blushed to acknowledge.

  Responding to her sounds of pleasure, Percy’s beloved caressed her with increasing hunger, his hands roaming and questing. Their bodies joined in a symphonic movement of touch and response, and the light in the sacred chamber grew brighter. The mosaic bird above them glowed as if the heat of their pressing bodies had ignited a divine hearth.

  Percy wept softly, joyously. Her hands seized and fluttered over him alternately. “You delight in this body, then, Alexi? It arouses, not repulses?” she whispered with thinly veiled fear, while every trace of his fingertips caused entirely new delights.

  “Is this not proof?” he panted. “Pale as you are, your features and body are singularly, beautifully perfect—my flawless sculpture come to life, warming to my touch. I warrant, dear girl, that respecting your modesty shall be a—I’d best take my hands from you else I be unable to help myself! Oh, forgive me! You shiver with cold. Have my cloak,” he begged.

  “I don’t shiver from the cold, Alexi!” Percy laughed. “How I rejoice that my strange skin could receive such a loving treatment! I imagined you, imagined this…but the truth of it!”

  He looked down at her and grinned. “I am a man who searches for truth. Truth and a reason.” And with a smile, he descended upon her again, ravaging her lips, his hands began to once more wander.

  There was a tearing sound. At first Percy assumed it was some part of her clothing, but then the corner of her eye saw that the altar door again gaped. “Ah. The door,” she stated.

  Alexi turned and groaned. “Perhaps the heavens know, as I do, that I’m about to lose all hope of control and make these stones our marriage bed,” he muttered, reluctantly drawing back. “Come, love, our friends await.” He unclasped his cloak. “Though we should let them. Lord knows I’ve waited for you forever! Yet…you do deserve an actual bed.”

  He wrapped his cloak around her with great care, and she giggled, quaking with nervous anticipation of the prospect. A sudden dreadful thought clouded her gaze. “Alexi?”

  “Yes?”

  “Am I still being sought after, sniffed out by that Cerberus we fled, holding a grudge from a mythic past? Are we to be hunted, you and I, by…do we dare say Hades himself? Pursued by other strange minions like that Gorgon revealed herself to be? Or have I been able, in any way, by powers I do not understand, to set us free from those horrors?”

  “I cannot say, Percy, for we were given our myth alone. I know only of the phoenix and the Muses. I’ve no memory of them; I know only what was told to us by that goddess long ago.”

  “I had a vision you—what was surely you—died in flames, in my arms,” Percy wailed, recalling the horror.

  “Whatever we were, or we are, we’ve returned to each other. We certainly have foes yet to face; there was too much talk of settling scores for it to be over. But for now, darling…?”

  “For now I, Persephone Parker, am content with you, Professor Alexi Rychman, here in the Queen’s England, enamoured with anything you do and anywhere we go!”

  Alexi swept her into his arms and she squealed in delight, clinging to him as he carried her up through the portal door and past the altar beyond. The sacred chamber closed dutifully behind them. He bore her down the church aisle and out of the silent, empty chapel, then through Promethe Hall’s front doors and into a now-peaceful evening.

  At the threshold of the academy, Alexi placed her on her feet and they gasped in unison at the sight before them. Dozens of peaceful spirits had gathered in greeting, the sorts of spirits that The Guard allowed to roam without censure, souls that just couldn’t quite let go or were tethered by the living who couldn’t let go. Patiently floating on either side of the portico, an incorporeal receiving line had formed for the newly betrothed duo. These spirits’ expressions were filled with warm anticipation, and Percy smiled at each in turn.

  Turning to Alexi, she kissed him reverently, a shaft of moonlight falling on both of their faces like a spotlight. The spirits applauded—and many remarked that it was about damn time.

  “No matter future foes, Alexi, look what a life we will lead,” Percy cried. “Look at our entourage!” Clutching his hand, she could hear murmuring tongues in all manner of accents and languages, and all were offering their regards and congratulations. “Oh,” she breathed, blushing, flattered.

  Percy stared at each spirit with a respect that acknowledged the inner soul, perhaps in a way that was never realized in their mortal lives. Each ghostly countenance took on an expression of peace before the glowing form
dimmed into the darkness. Many spectres waved or blew kisses before they departed to their rest, granted in return for their felicitations a much-needed sleep by a wondrous, compassionate force. The air felt at peace, never so balanced.

  Venturing to look at the sky, Percy was relieved to see it no longer torn. The heavens, and her heart, were now whole. The scales were level.

  “What do all these spirits tell you, my translator and my love?” Alexi asked softly.

  Percy turned to him. Pale and powerful, she was a beaming, heavenly sight on the academy steps, bathed in and reflecting moonlight.

  “They tell us, love, that eternity awaits.”

  Acknowledgments

  Pardon the list, it takes a village…

  Thank you to Paul Peterson, my first and beloved audience.

  To Andy Waltzer, who loves Percy as much as I do.

  To Michael Dixon, who inspired me to finish the book.

  To my family, for everything, always.

  To Marijo, for the brain cell.

  To Marcos, for caring.

  To the RWA NYC, an awesomely supportive resource.

  To Isabo Kelly, for teaching me tons of things.

  To my agent Nicholas Roman Lewis, for always believing in this story.

  To Marianne Mancusi, I promise to pay it forward.

  To Chris Keeslar, editor extraordinaire, thank you for this blessed moment.

  Critics Praise Leanna Renee Hieber and The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker!

  “A compelling, engaging novel that drew me in from page one. Bravo!”—M. J. Rose, Bestselling Author of

  The Reincarnationist and The Memorist

  “I want more! NOW! Such a beautifully written book…The story is fantastic in more ways than one. A gorgeous writer…”