Page 34 of Illuminated

“I do appreciate the enthusiasm, I really do. Would you possibly let me talk you out of it? You were really enjoying editing.”

“I can still do that later. I’m not letting you leave here without me.”

Auris sighed. “Very well. You and I will go together.”

* * *

We walked out to the porch and down to the beach. We hurried. Even in daylight, Auris seemed to have far less trouble with the terrain, at least less than me, but I refused to slow him down.

Around us, the pastels were draining from the world, giving way to colder blues, and I hoped for night to come quickly.

Unlike our beach walk the other night, we didn’t go to where the waves licked the sand, but stuck much closer to town, the dunes between us and the water.

From there, the Seafront Bar was above us. Fairy lights around the eaves had already blinked on, and the noises of people getting drunk with background music made the place hard to miss.

“What now?” I asked, but Auris had already pulled out his phone and was texting.

“Harold is taking a video for me,” Auris said.

He looked at me, but his eyes were still silver.

“Okay.”

“Ethan. You need not worry.” He hugged me close, and we kissed, right until I heard the small noise of an incoming message.

“Is that it?”

Auris was already opening the video, and we watched it together. The background noise was music and people talking, nothing unusual for a bar. The two men at their table were priests all right, I could see that white collar under their more regular clothes, a zipper sweater on both of them, an outdoorsy-type vest on one.

Noticeably, what they were wearing was pretty much what would be suitable for spending time hiking. Everything was clean and fancy and a darker palate, but it wasn’t the kind of attire you’d wear in church, especially not their boots.

“They were talking about hoping to find me,” Auris said when the video had ended.

“Huh?”

He shrugged and put his phone away. “I read lips. Not an exact science, but well enough.”

I hugged myself, walked three steps toward the bar, then back to Auris.

“We need to leave. No, you need to leave. They won’t do anything to me, so I’ll stay here and distract them, and then we can meet up later. You can take my car, and I’ll tell them you stole it.”

Auris’s eyes narrowed, and their silver was getting duller, darker. “My sweet, you will do no such thing,” he said, and I watched as the brightness drained from the world and his eyes alike, as black overtook them. “I will not leave you to them, because they would not just allow you to walk away if they suspected temptation.” He looked up. “But I will deal with them.”

“But --”

“Look at me, Ethan. Night has fallen. This is my time, not theirs. You saw what I can do.”

I nodded. “Right. They don’t have… I don’t know. Silver bullets?”

He chuckled. “Those will not do a thing, my sweet.” He put his hands on my shoulders. “Listen, I cannot lose them, which means I need to do this now. Can you find your way back to the house?”

I shook my head. “I’m not leaving you. I… can I help?”

Auris froze, then shook his head. “You have a blockheaded streak, but very well. You can go inside, if you like.”

“Then what?”

“See if they come talk to you. I’m pretty sure they will recognize you.”

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