Nine Marines' Shared Property - Nicole Casey Page 0,33

the fruits that covered him.

I skirted around the table. The room opened to what might have been a dance floor, but there was no music playing. Yet, people moved together as if following a clear rhythm, rocking and swaying; women and men draped in colorful garments, their faces all hidden behind masks.

I hesitated making my way through the crowd when, to my left, I saw them: Taylor, Tristan and Travis. Their faces were hidden, but there was no mistaking them. Dressed in identical black smoking gowns with dark-green collars and cuffs, white Venetian masks, fastened to their faces with white ribbons, covered their eyes and noses.

I felt tremendous relief in seeing them. I started to run to them, but I collected myself and slowed my pace.

They made no movements as I approached. They might not have seen me; they might not have even been looking. Their mouths and chins, the only part of them not covered, remained still like statues.

“I’ve found you,” I said. And I reached out and touched one of them on the chin. I smiled, nearly laughed, for I could not tell who was who. Since I’d failed, in our first encounter, to tell them apart, since then, I’d prided myself in being able to tell at a glance, at a touch, how Travis’s earlobe dipped slightly more than his brothers’; how Taylor’s eyes were slightly rounder; how the crease in Tristan’s forehead angled a bit to the left. But as they stood in a row, dressed identically, their faces covered in masks, I was again unable to tell them apart.

I looked over my shoulder then back to the triplets. I touched them, partially to convince myself that they weren’t statues, but mostly because I longed to. “The wolf is after me,” I said.

As if on cue, they folded in around me, protecting me—so I thought.

One of the triplets took me by the arm. “Come with us,” he said.

They escorted me out of the room and down a winding staircase. Torches with dim flames were mounted along the stone wall, creating occasional splashes of light and shifting shadows.

The sound of the lashing of whips followed by muffled cries reverberated off the stone walls. As I was surrounded by the triplets, I couldn’t see much in front of or behind me. I held onto the waist of my escort in front of me.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the triplets led me down a dark corridor with smooth stone walls, wet like those of a cave. We veered into a gallery where hooded figures lurked in the shadows. A lone torch hung in the center of the wall. On either side of it were metal shackles.

I gasped, spun around and smacked right into the wolf. From behind the wide, toothy grin of his mask, he said, “You’ve kept us waiting. That wasn’t nice of you.”

Before I could react, two hooded figures closed in on me from the sides. They lifted me and carried me back against the far wall. I saw Taylor, Travis and Tristan disappear into the shadows. “Wait,” I said.

The hooded figures set me down. “More waiting?” said one of them. Though his voice was low and affected, I recognized it as J.P.’s, and I was relieved.

I reached out and tried to grab his hood, but he was faster. He snatched my arm and pinned it against the wall. The other hooded figure grabbed my other arm, and in a blink I was shackled to the wall.

One of the triplets approached. He reached out. I thought he was going to remove my mask. I didn’t want him to. But instead, he pulled the torch off the wall, turned and walked away.

As he left, so did the light, replaced now by flickering slashes that danced on the walls.

The hooded figures closed in around me. In unison, they slipped off their robes to reveal their naked bodies: hardened muscles glistening with sweat.

14

Axel

The hours of planning, of setting up our dungeon, of picking out the costumes and the tools, further fanned the flames of desire that consumed me. By the time the ball had started and the first guests arrived, I thought I was going to go mad with anticipation. I distracted myself the best way I knew how: working out. I did pull-ups, push-ups and curls. The distraction lasted only minutes. When I finished, I was left with my muscles more fully awakened and eager to be put to use.

Elijah signaled that she’d arrived.

Manny, dressed in