As the old clerk scowled at her, she could see tiny tongues of blue fire dancing in his pupils. The flames flickered and pulsed in the black depths, entrancing Winter with their light and movement. ‘Miss?’ The clerk folded his arms in irritation. When she again failed to answer him, he shook his head in exasperation. Winter was fascinated to see his eyes leaving thin blue light trails with the shaking motion of his head. ‘Your eyes . . .’ was all she could manage. She lowered her sunglasses again, curious to see if the visual effect would fade. The blue light vanished. There must be something about the polarised lenses that hid the effect from her naked eye. Mesmerised, Winter raised the sunglasses and the strange eye-fire became visible again. What was also belatedly visible to Winter was the clerk’s annoyance. ‘Miss, if you’re not going to buy anything else I’m going to have to ask you to leave,’ he said, pointing at the doorway behind Winter. ‘I’m sorry,’ Winter heard herself say distantly.
