Although they were in the mist, the face that had gathered the features of every pretty girl Shade knew was utterly unaffected by it. Shade could clearly see every detail on that face.
Desire opened her pale palm, revealing the black sliver. The contrast between white and black was especially striking at that moment, but unexpectedly, she did not crush and destroy the sliver. Instead, she placed it on the water and let it drift toward Shade, her violet eyes still watching him.
"Little boys are always curious about all sorts of things. Since you really want to know, then I'll let you know something. I've always been very good to you."
The black sliver quietly drifted to the shore, then abruptly sank into the water. Bubbling sounds and light emerged from beneath the surface. After thinking suspiciously for a moment, Shade stepped closer to the shore, letting the lake water soak his boots, then lowered his head to look at the image in the water.
Desire had definitely tampered with the sliver, so Shade knew that what he was seeing was not the full story. It might not even have been real.
The woman's head smiled at him, while he looked at the two pink lights in the image on the water.
The suggestive pink light had the power to delight the mind and excite the flesh. The two beams seemed to chase and collide with one another. After waiting a moment, Shade saw one beam fly into the sky while the other fell toward the ground.
The light that flew high into the air was dyed with brilliant golden radiance, while the light falling to the earth was stained with a pitch-black sheen. They parted ways from then on, yet remained connected.
The image ended abruptly, and the