"I think there's more to this cave."She crawls to the back of the cave by the fountain."Look!" she said.I was looking. A gap had opened along Marissa'... spine. A black strip held together by strands of gummy waterweeds and barnacles aching to pull tight Marissa's opening skin.I screamed and Marissa turned. Her face changed to match my look of terror and her eyes went from blue to black.I dove through the cave opening before she could move to stop me. The water was cold and dark and dirty. I was. We need you on the mound this week." Fine with me," I told him."Besides which, that means I can get you out on the field with the damn uniform on. Jeez. You nearly gave me a heart attack when you slid on Friday. I hope nobody else on this team goes through The Program." I doubt you can count on that," I grinned. "Some of us are kind of waiting for the day when Ed's number comes up." Oh, geez, that's all I need," Coach groaned. "Get him naked, and he'll be taking time outs to go try to fuck. The reason horses so enchanted me the first time I saw them was my gift to be able to bond with horses, not unlike Gnathar and Gnaths, though not limited to one animal. You should see my Raisa, Sammy, she is beautiful and stubborn and terrible in her anger. She was my protector when they made you give up that job and she has done almost as well as you could. Well, with some help from friends.”“This is so touching I could vomit,” Ceilia said nastily as she came around to stand in front of. I went to the back of the room and leaned against the wall, giving me the view of the entire room. No chance of a backstabbing this way.The man who stood at the centre of the room just flashed an amused smile at me, probably having gauged some of my thoughts. Judging by the confidence he displayed and the fact that most occupants were now looking at him after the brief gawking in my direction, I presumed that he was the host of this evening.A girl entered the room shortly afterwards, prompting.