They were standing in a lake, and it was just after midnight because the moon was high in the sky. There were no clouds, and they were surrounded by hundreds of trees. The air smelled crisp, clean, and sweet. They were standing in the water together while Hale held her naked skin in his arms. Hale's wet leather clung to his legs, and her small but full breasts were pressed against his bare stomach. He was leaning down, holding her tightly.
Gairett tried but couldn't pull the location of this place from Hale's mind.
"Remember Melly. You were bathing. You knew you never had to bathe, but you always did. You loved the water but more than that you simply enjoyed it, enjoyed how we didn't understand your pleasure in it. I came out and held you. Just like this." He nudged her back, and her nipples were standing up, taut, and beautiful. Her hair was wrapped all around her. Intertwined in between her breasts and around her small waist and floated lightly in the water, like snakes floating and curling around a twig.
"I kissed you that night, remember? Like this." He reached down and pulled her lips to his. Pressed lightly. His fingers curled in her hair, and his tongue explored every inch of her inner mouth and soft lips.
Hale tasted like the wind and copper. Gairett, simply stood there, in shock that she'd kissed him back. He didn't know how much more he could take. How much more insight into things she did with Hale, could he see? He wasn't prepared to handle things if they progressed too far. It was too confusing and far more sexual than he, as his brother, could nauseatingly take.
Hale stepped back and looked into her eyes. "I told you I loved you. And that I wanted to be your mate. Just me. That I didn't want anyone else. However, as always, you repeated what you always did. You told me I wasn't the one. That you were sorry you couldn't be with me. That you had looked into the future, and I wasn't in it like that. That I had someone of my own." He breathed out a small laugh. "You said you saw the same for Gairett as well. Remember?"
Hale had gone back to a whisper and spoke as if he was breathless. "You said that when you looked into the future, it wasn't you who continued the bloodline." Hale retreated back and stared at her, standing there in the water, nude, with the moonlight glistening off her face and perfect skin. "I pulled the amulet out, remember, and gave it to you. You let me put it on you then." He paused, almost tentatively. "Can I put it on you now?"
She nodded, not wanting to disappoint him, nor change his mind. Gairett wanted that necklace, no matter what he had to do to get it.
Hale lifted her hair and clasped the necklace together. He let her hair fall down, and brushed it aside, trying to fix it for her. "You were always so beautiful. Oh! I ruined your flower. Here."
Hale's illusion dropped, and Gairett almost didn't get his back up in time. They were back at the tribal area. He took the ruined flower from her hair and replaced it with the one Gairett had originally placed in his hand.
"There. All better." He brushed the side of her face, and cheek with the backs of his fingers, and moved a stray clump of wet hair out of her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her again, and then slowly sat back.
His eyes were becoming hazed and Gairett could see his hold on Hale was lessening. So Gairett threw out Melisa's voice again, with such a deep tone and beat, it would have been hard for even their parents to ignore. "Hale, you're sleepy. Look." She held her hand up gesturing to the horizon. "The sun is rising. Go, lie down, and rest. I will protect you. So, slumber deeply alright?"
The room was back, but Melisa stood at the end of the bed. Hale too, stood up, the blankets pooled at his feet. He bent and grabbed a handful of blanket and walked over to lie down, pulling the sheets from around his ankles. She laughed when he couldn't get them unwrapped fast enough and his frustration peaked through as he kicked at the bundled ends.
"You'll get cold. Here." She picked at the blanket until it was smooth around him and laid it fully over him. "Now fall asleep, with no worries. I'll take care of the necklace. Thank you for giving it back to me. Now relax, okay?"
She turned and walked out of the room. Only now, she was Gairett again, and he took the necklace off to look at it.
This was in Velori's drawers. Why?
Gairett could still feel his brother's lips on his. It would have sickened him if he thought about it too much. Right now, his mind was on the amulet, and the place where Hale had given it to her. He had no idea where it was. How much more did Mel keep from him? And why?
He sat down in the computer chair. When it rocked back, he feared the chair was broken and he threw out his arms and legs in an attempt to catch himself. This sent the amulet sailing through the air.
When he realized what had happened, irritation crept in, then humor. Laughing at himself he got up and retrieved the necklace. This time he would be prepared for the chair to recline and melted back into its relaxing tilt.
Looking at the necklace, and smelling her so close to him, was making a deeper hole in his heart. It was a coral fairy. Coral was Melisa's favorite stone. This is why the tomb was done in it, and most other things that had been special to her. It was brown coral, and the small fairy was about a half-inch in width and an inch in length. It was hung on an old gold chain. The hair of the fairy wrapped around her nude body, covering everything that showed. Her wings were bent like she was picking herself up off the ground. It was beautiful, but he couldn't remember Melisa ever wearing it. Or her telling him about it.
Why and HOW did Velori have it? Oh GOD, Velori!
He jumped from the chair and went to the closet to grab one of her bags and started picking things off the bathroom floor at random. He went over to the sink and was throwing stuff in the giant backpack when he saw himself again in the mirror. The whole left side of his face was covered in blood, and his hair was slightly matted from it as well.
Hale's sweat had gotten on him when he was hugging 'Melisa'. He wiped his hand in the air, over his face, and the reflection looking at him now was the clean-shaven, clean-cut, dark-tanned Gairett, he always was before. Pleased with himself, he ran back into the bedroom, and as quickly and as quietly as possible he shoved some of her shirts and pants into the bag. Without getting any light on Hale, he opened the balcony doors and stepped outside.