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“Gem…” Royal says in a low voice as he places a hand on my shoulder.
Pushing myself up, I look at Royal and frown. “It’s just a tattoo? Or is this like your body count?”
Gemini holds up a hand. “One. X-X-X-V-I-I are the roman numerals for thirty-seven. Two. We got them because we were foolish kids who didn’t know shit and thought the thirty-seven was something more important than college or any job, and that we would do it together. And three. It’s a group. A society, if you will. One so exclusive and so secretive that only members should know of its existence, and any anyone else usually doesn’t live long after finding out. And as a bonus…” he rolls his eyes. “That body count is too high for me and too low for Royal.”
“Wait,” I say. “Secret society? Like Skull and Bones? Or the Illuminati?”
“Nuh-uh.” Gemini waves his finger back and forth. “Three questions, three answers. Any more than that, and I might have to kill you. And not in the Syn’s empty threats kind of way, but for real.”
“He’s serious, so drop it,” Royal says as Gemini gets off the bed and starts walking to the bathroom.
“But—"
“I mean it, Tori. Gemini sounds like he’s talking his usual crazy bullshit, but this is real. It goes higher and deeper than you could ever imagine, and people don’t just die, they disappear.”
“And on that note, Gemini says, it’s shower time.”
Three questions and three completely unsatisfactory answers, but I know that’s all I’m going to get. Pushing it will not only not get me more answers, but it might also raise their suspicions.
A hot shower sounds amazing, but I’m too exhausted to move. Thankfully, Royal takes care of that, carrying me to the bathroom, but instead of putting me in the shower, he places me on Gemini’s toilet.
“What are you doing?” Gemini asks.
“Unless you’ve got a kink for golden showers—and I do not want to know the answer to that…” Royal quickly says, before Gemini can comment. “Then you’re going to let Tori pee before she gets in the shower.” He glares at Gemini. “And because I feel I need to state the obvious with you, you’re not taking a piss in the shower.”
There’s something about this whole situation that seems to have moved into a level of familiarity I don’t think I’m prepared for. But I’m too tired, and I’ve also not had a chance to question Gemini. So, I do what I’ve been doing since I walked into this house and say nothing.
Between the two of them, they help me into the shower and spend time making sure I’m clean and washed before seeing to themselves. Then, as we walk out of Gemini’s bathroom, Gemini sniffs the air.
“Is something burning?”
“Shit.” Still wrapped in a towel, I hurry downstairs, as fast as my protesting body will allow. Royal and Gemini are behind me as I enter the kitchen, just as the smoke alarms blares into life.
Royal steps around me, grabbing the oven mitts from the side. He pulls the first tray out. Smoke pours out, but Royal doesn’t stop. Instead, he heads straight for the back door, opens it, and then throws the offending item outside.
As I’m turning off the oven, Gemini pulls his towel off and starts swinging it vigorously beneath the smoke alarm just outside the kitchen until the alarm falls silent.
When he and Royal both walk back to the kitchen island, I’ve got the remaining trays on the side. Royal had thrown all the potatoes into the garden, but what’s left looks more like jerky and stones.
XXX
Syn
Thanksgiving was always JP’s favorite holiday. He used to say Christmas was selfish—people cared more about giving or receiving gifts than just being grateful for everything they already had in their lives. Thanksgiving, according to JP, was a holiday for the family.
Sometimes I wonder if me and him were really brought up in the same family.
The moment he started high school, all his free time was wrapped up. If he wasn’t doing extra-curricular activities to fill in his resume, then our father was taking him to all kinds of meals, meetings, and fundraisers.
If you were serious about being president, you started early.
Thanksgiving wasn’t a holiday to spend with the family. It was extra time to spend shmoozing anyone who could ultimately donate to your future campaign. The last Thanksgiving JP was alive had been no different. I spent more time with Royal and Gemini than I did my brother.
JP was murdered in the beginning of November. That same year, when Thanksgiving rolled around a few weeks later, instead of everything being cancelled, we continued like nothing had changed.
Only this time, I was the one schmoozing.
When I was younger, I used to tell JP that I was going into politics someday too, because I wanted to be his VP. Once I got a little wiser, however, I decided I didn’t want to be Vice President. I didn’t even want to be involved in politics.
