Immortal Memory (Iris' Atlantis 1)

8: Homenight

Julia

It was dark. I opened my eyes carefully. A terrific headache threatened, just waiting for an opportunity to hit me sprawling onto the floor. I was thirsty.

I was in a very soft bed.

And I wasn't alone.

Someone was snoring just by my ear.

Worse. They had an arm flung over me.

As I carefully lifted the arm, I found it to be hairy enough to make the bet it belonged to a man. I slipped off the bed and into a small passage beyond the bedroom door.

There I dared finally breathe freely. The man in the room continued dreaming peacefully. I drew in a breath, and concentrated onto my surroundings. I tried to search for the name of the man in my memory, but as of then it still failed me. Unfortunate. But until I found out more about him, I would just need to be careful. It would be a safe bet to assume he was the boyfriend Hellebore had mentioned. But I wouldn't count on it.

I found the kitchen easily enough. The faucet was interesting, but usable. There were glasses in a cupboard over the sink. The light switch was also of curious design, but logical enough to use.

The cold water felt good in my throat and seemed to push the looming headache even further back.

I walked to an extremely tiny room opposite the kitchen. There were black boxes on a black table. Many black cables. There were really two tables in the room, but the second didn't have anything interesting on it., It was the first one that fascinated me. One of the boxes even had a little light that changed colors.

I lifted a small object off the table and turned it in my hands. It too was attached to the black network of spaghetti that covered the tabletop. So many unexplainable things this era had.

I peeked carefully outside a dark window. The apartment wasn't high up. But it wasn't on the ground level either and there was a white apartment building just opposite the window.

I became suddenly aware of my nakedness.

I retreated from the window, slightly red faced.

Why did this Lavender sleep naked! I wondered if the man in her bed had something to do with this. And became even redder.

The apartment was truly small and thus the closet wasn't hard to locate. I thanked the great goddess that Lavender seemed at least mildly organized. It took me maybe half an hour to sort out what to wear and which clothes were intended for my body type, but later I felt better.

The bathroom was my last stop. I took a good look at my features. I was pretty. And a woman, a fact mildly alarming that I decided to leave for later worrying.

I picked up a citrine by the sink. There was a mild enchantment trapped inside the stone that I could feel humming against my skin. Maybe from the witch who had brought Lavender's bag. I remembered some of that fever dream. Not much. It was hazy. But the witch had of course left an impression. And the vampire.

I wondered if I was in trouble.

I weighed the citrine in my hand. No. No, I wasn't in trouble. If the witch was trying to purify the body of a demon, she couldn't know who I was. What I was capable of. This was definitely my body. Nothing to purify here.

Except for a few skincare problems. I smiled at my own eyes, my blue eyes the centuries hadn't touched. It didn't matter where I surfaced, woman, man, lowborn, witch or a king. Well. I had never been a king. But I had been a duchess, once.

I had been a duchess last time.

I frowned at my reflection. I was a woman. Why, for the name of all the saints, was I in a female body? Every other generation was supposed to be male. I was officially disappointed. And angry.