“Ah. I see. Not just a link to your future existence,” a tall curvy woman said stepping out of the shadows.
Dark hair, like Morik’s, fell in waves down her waist. I wondered if hers hid horns too. Wearing a long diaphanous dress, layered over a simply spun fitted tunic, she glided further into the light her stride so smooth, I looked to the ground to see if she actually used her feet to move. Her skin didn’t carry his reddish tone. Instead, her ashen hued skin made her look sick.
Her eyes sweep over me and she gave Morik a small smile. “I’m truly happy for you, brother.”
Brother? My eyes bounced between the two of them. Other than the hair, there wasn’t much resemblance. Her eyes lacked the amazing colors that Morik’s possessed… pale white orbs, they lacked all color.
Morik seemed to relax. “Tessa, this is Lurel, one of the few of my kind that I can tolerate for more than a minute,” he said now smiling at Lurel in return.
He didn’t claim her as sister. Interesting. I nodded a mute greeting, not sure I wanted to risk the standard greeting nice to meet you. It’d be a lie.
“So what are the two of you doing in Morik’s cave of wonders,” she asked me directly, maintaining her impish smile.
Shrugging, I looked toward Morik unsure how to answer.
“Doesn’t she speak?” Lurel asked.
Flicking a glance back at her, I struggled to maintain a pleasant face. “Yes,” I said firmly, “I speak. We’re picking things to bring back to Morik’s home.”
Her eyes flicked to Morik, her smiling growing. “She is adorable.”
I didn’t particularly care for the way she spoke as if I were his pet.
“Yes,” Morik said softly, “I believe Ahgred finds her adorable as well.”
Sparks of red drifted into the liquid mercury of his eyes. Fascinated, I watched the change. Starting from the outer edge, the color began a slow spiral to the center as he spoke.
“He lured her into the dark using another human.” He glanced at me and the red’s saturation in his eyes paused. “I prevented his touch in time.” The way he said it sent shivers down my back. He noticed. “We should return.” He directed his gaze back to Lurel.
Her brow furrowed with concern. “Call on me if you have need.”
Morik nodded and flicked off the flashlight. I blinked at the dark and when I opened my eyes, we stood in my bedroom, the things I’d pointed out piled at our feet. I glanced at the alarm clock. We’d spent more time than I thought wandering his treasure room. My stomach rumbled as soon as my brain knew it was lunchtime. Funny how that worked.
“So, what’s for lunch?” I grinned up at him and noted red still held his irises. “Hey. None of that.” Leaning against him, I gently reached up to smooth his hair back. A simple touch meant to comfort and distract him. I didn’t want him to dwell on what could have happened.
My fingertips brushed a horn. The ridged surface begged for further exploration. I traced it to the tip and he held still for me. The sharp tip scratched against the pad of my finger and he whispered for me to take care. Yellow replaced any trace of red and I smiled at him, lowering my hand and accidentally brushing the tip of his ear.
He closed his eyes with a shudder, whispered a quiet, “Let’s look in the refrigerator,” to answer my question and then vanished leaving me standing there with a hand still raised in the air.
“Morik?”
He called back from the kitchen, “I have many ingredients, but am not sure what they could make.”
Shaking my head, I wandered back out to the kitchen. Bent at the waist, he inspected the contents of his refrigerator, not giving me an opportunity to study his eyes. I inched close and looked over his shoulder to see what he had for food. When I rested a hand on his back, the muscles under my palm quivered and then settled. His reactions confused me but I refrained from asking, fearing another rule.
Focusing on the food, I pointed out we could piece together a sandwich. He even had an avocado.
Morik began gathering ingredients and passing them back to me. Stacking them on the counter, we worked together to make lunch. I noted his eyes once again swirled silver with veins of brown. Struggling to recall all of the color patterns during our time together, I turned to study him openly while he spread mayonnaise on the bread.
Whenever I looked at his eyes for long moments, they pulled me in. The particles of color blended and swirled in soothing patterns. Captivated, I moved forward noting a single fleck of violet. It drifted in from the outer edge and began its slow spiral to the middle. The middle acted as a drain or something because all the outer colors moved toward it. Never away. When they reached it, they disappeared. I inched closer to observe. His breath brushed my face. More violet flooded the iris and I made a puzzled sound watching the center. No, not disappear because there was never a void of color.