Chapter 22. Library Cat
Rhys jolted awake. For a second, he laid there, aching and staring at the ceiling. The pain was familiar. Nowadays, he was lucky not to wake up with a crick in his back or a pounding headache. He knew he should live better, lose a few pounds, but damn if his chair wasn’t comfortable. No, that part he understood. The confusing part was the ceiling. Vast and immense, old hardwood vaults interrupted lush wood panelling. His brows furrowed. Now that he was looking around, the walls were a bit off, too. He had a pretty big library, but he didn’t recall the books looking so… leather-bound and aged. Where were all his figures?
A cat shifted beside him. It lifted its head. “Awake?”
Rhys startled. He looked around, taking in the library, and reality began to reassert itself. He pointed at the cat. “You?”
“Me?”
His jaw worked. Many words and concepts rushed through his brain, all of them jostling to emerge from his mouth at once, but none of them succeeding. At last, he managed, “Az?”
The cat sat upright and curled its tail meticulously around its paws. “That is my name.”
“You’re a cat?”
“You’re a human?” Az returned, in an equally shocked but doubly sarcastic tone.
Rhys sat up, all his pain forgotten. A catboy? Right in front of him? What god had smiled upon him? What a glorious moment, to have lived long enough to see a real live catboy right in front of him. A catgirl would be even better, of course, but he wasn’t going to question the merciful god who had given him this moment. Catgirls and -boys were the epitome of trashy characters. The absolute peak. There wasn’t a catgirl or -boy he wouldn’t defend to the death. Add cat ears to any character, and they got better. It was just a fact.
Rhys took a deep breath. All at once, he said, “Can you turn back into human form but keep the ears and tail, lift one leg and curl your hands like paws, and say ‘meow’ please?”
Az lifted his paw and smacked Rhys hard in his broken bones. A dozen rapid cat slaps landed right on his wounds. Rhys screeched in pain and curled up, trying not to outright scream.
“After I go out of my way to save you,” Az complained, retracting his paw. He licked it primly, disapproval all over his face.