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By Root 3804 0

men, but I held their power in me. Richard’s burning warmth, and Jean-Claude’s cold hunger. For a space of heartbeats I had wanted to feed on César. This when I had walled up the marks, boarded them up, chained them, locked them with everything I had. When the marks were open between the three of us, the desires that ran through me, the things that I thought, were too horrible or maybe just too alien. Not for the first time I wondered what piece of me each of them held in their bodies. What dark desire or strange urge did I leave behind? If I ever talked to either of them again, maybe I’d ask, or then again, maybe I wouldn’t.

I felt someone hovering close. I shook my head. “Don’t touch me.”

“Let us get backstage, then I can apologize.” It was the priest’s voice.

I lowered my hands and found him standing beside me. He held out his hand to me. I didn’t touch him. “We meant no harm.” I laid my left hand in his and found his skin quiet. There was nothing but human warmth and the solid feel of him. He led me towards an area to the far left of the stage. César was already there with the three other women.

The werejaguars were there like guards, and it seemed to have made the blonde and the one with all the hair brave again. They were pawing César, and he was kissing Ramona, who was kissing him back with enthusiasm.

The priest led me towards them, and I hung back. I whispered, “I can’t.” I meant that I couldn’t touch César again so soon. I didn’t trust myself, and I didn’t want to have to say it out loud. I didn’t have to. The priest seemed to understand.

He leaned close. “Please, just stand near them. No one will touch you.”

I don’t know why I believed him, but I did. I stood near the near-orgy, trying not to look as uncomfortable as I felt. Then a large white screen came down out of the ceiling, and before it was solidly in place, the priest drew me to one side. A woman my size with hair my length appeared and moved towards the mini-orgy. I watched her join the group, and a jaguar dragged the blonde out. A woman that matched the blonde came to take her place. They replaced everyone, even César, with actors, who did a shadow orgy against the white screen, thrown large for the audience. The actresses matched all the women chosen, at least for a shadow play. Which is what Dallas had meant when she said they needed someone my size with long hair to complete the brides.

The actors weren’t really doing anything, but it must have looked awful from the audience’s point of view. Clothes flew and the women were topless. I wondered if the shadows looked as topless as the real thing.

The priest drew me away until we stood in a small curtain area. He spoke low but clearly, so I guess we could talk without being heard onstage. “You would never have been chosen if we didn’t think you human. Our deepest apologies.”

I shrugged. “No harm done.”

He looked at me and there was a weight of knowledge in his eyes that I couldn’t lie to. “You are frightened of what lies inside you, and you have not made peace with it.”

That much was true. “No, I haven’t made peace with it.”

“You must accept what you are, or you will never know what your true place in the world is, your true purpose.”

“Don’t take this wrong, but I don’t need a lecture tonight.”

He frowned at that, and there was a flash of anger. He wasn’t used to being talked to like that. I was betting that everyone was afraid of him. Maybe I should have been, but what fear I had of him or them had vanished when I realized I wanted to take a bite out of César’s neck. That scared me more than anything they could do to me tonight. All right, almost anything they could do tonight. Never underestimate the creativity of a being that is hundreds of years old. Most of them know more about pain than we poor humans will ever know. Unless we are very, very unlucky. I was either feeling lucky or stupid.

He made a small motion and the werejaguar that had chosen me came to us. He dropped to one knee, head bowed. The priest said, “You chose this woman.”

“Yes, Pinotl.”

“Did you not feel her beast?