Death fascinated him, and each body propped against the cave wall reflected a myriad of its facets. Eighteen members of his army. He counted them as he always did, careful to include the newest addition.

Decay had yet to set in, but in the damp atmosphere, the body would quickly rot. The skulls of his oldest kills, frozen in eternal macabre humor, grinned at him in silent approval of their latest recruit.

“James Fox, we welcome you into the General’s Army.” A chorus echoed in his head as he paced before his assembled soldiers, reviewing his troops. “I’m happy to see none of you are going to argue with me over his inclusion.”

His gaze traveled over them, pausing momentarily on the three troublemakers who’d raised a fuss during the last ceremony. He kept his expression stern, even when he glanced at Lilly. While she might be his favorite, he could allow no sign of it to show. She’d been particularly vocal against Neil’s joining. As he marched back and forth, his army remained silent, giving him their full attention. Bailey caught his notice, and he crouched down in front of the blonde. While most people might have been repulsed by the sight of Bailey’s flesh peeling away from bone, the general enjoyed the close study.

Bailey, as a good soldier should, stayed calm and quiet under the scrutiny. After allowing a faint, pleased smile to cross his lips, the general straightened. “I don’t have as long as I like this time. James was a bit troublesome at first, and it took me longer than I expected to prepare him. I know you’ll all be helpful and fill him in on our rules and regulations.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” Their voices amplified and echoed in the large cave.

Content for the moment, he sat on the rock strewn ground, hands folded across his chest and knees drawn up. Since he prided himself on the state of his army, he made mental notes as to what uniform accessories needed replacing. The dampness was hell on metal, cloth, and flesh.

Chapter One

Joshua Finley rummaged through the closet, wondering what all to pack. His lover Ben Gregory would be home anytime now, and Joshua needed to have most of their stuff ready for the weekend. They were meeting their friend Joey Brandt where they’d all spent their childhood exploring. Josh couldn’t remember the last time he stepped foot on Burkett Isle, but he figured it’d all come back to him soon enough.

He grabbed a few of Ben’s shirts and a few of his own, even though it no longer mattered. After a year of dating, the last six months living together, they shared clothes. Good thing they were pretty close to the same size. He stuffed the shirts and several pairs of jeans and shorts into the two duffel bags on the bed.

When the phone rang, he realized with a groan that it somehow ended up in Ben’s bag. He dug to the bottom and found the handset, pressing the talk button before answering.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Ben said. “Has Joey called yet?”

“Not yet. You on your way home?”

“Yeah. Hungry?”

“Nah. I ate a sandwich earlier.” Josh sat on the bed and sighed. “Ben, is this really a good idea?”

Ben didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “You talking about the campout on the island without cell phones thing? Or the campout on the island with the guy I stole you from thing?”

Josh rolled his eyes. “You didn’t steal me from him, smartass. I broke up with him, and you and I started dating a good while later. He doesn’t feel like you stole me.”

Ben chuckled, the sound rather dry and slightly humorless. “Whatever, babe. Anyway. Yes, we need the time away from work, cell phones, and everything else. In all honesty, he hasn’t said a word to me, aside from the expected ‘if you hurt him…’ shtick.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

“Good.” Ben’s smile came through the single word, easing a bit of Josh’s uneasiness about a weekend with their friend, who happened to be his ex-lover. “See you when you get home then.”

“Yup. Later, babe.”

Josh hung up and set the phone on its charger base on the bedside table. Then he picked up the framed photo beside it. He remembered Joey taking the picture about two months ago. Ben stood with his arm around Josh’s shoulders, head tilted to whisper in Josh’s ear while Josh laughed. What he’d said, Josh couldn’t remember, but then again, being close to Ben had the tendency to fog his brain.

“Honey, I’m home!” Ben’s off-tune call drifted down the hall and Josh shook his head.

“In the bedroom!”

Ben paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame, and eyed the bags, then Josh. “We’ll be away for a weekend, not the next decade.”

“Oh, shut up,” Josh laughed. “I only packed two bags. Besides, you never know when you’ll need an extra change of clothes.” He zipped the bags then walked over, arms snaking around Ben’s neck. “What time is Joey supposed to be here? Or is that why he’s calling?”

“He’s supposed to call. Hopefully he won’t want to delay again.” Ben dropped a quick kiss to Josh’s lips. “I’d like to leave before dark. It won’t take us long to get there, but I don’t really want to be on the lake at night.”

“He’s notorious for canceling shit and being late. You know that. When he says he’ll call or show up at a certain time, you have to add another hour.” Josh tugged Ben down for a better kiss, but the phone rang the second their lips touched. “And sometimes,” he grumbled, “the fucker has impeccable timing.”

Ben reached around, slapping him on the ass as he snickered. “You deal with the phone, I’ll repack.”

“Repack?” Josh stuck out his tongue. “Asshole.” He grabbed the phone and answered. “Hello?”

The laughter only stopped when Ben pulled out some of the clothing and tossed it to the side. “Don’t wanna wear that or that.”

It wasn’t hard for Josh to turn his back and ignore Ben. Ben continued to mutter to himself until Josh hushed him so he could hear Joey. “You’ll have to repeat that, I couldn’t hear you.”

“I asked if you two are ready yet. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Oh. Yeah, we’re good, man. Just…” Josh rolled his eyes at Ben. “Ben’s being a pain in the ass.”

“I am not,” Ben shot back, tossing yet another shirt onto the bed. It took Ben a few seconds to choose the shirts and pants he wanted. He stuffed them into the bag, then folded the discarded clothes and put them back in the dresser and closet.

“Just tell him to be ready,” Joey laughed before hanging up.

Josh set the phone back on the cradle and, taking advantage of Ben’s position, landed a hard swat on the man’s ass. “Difficult bastard,” he laughed.

Spinning, Ben grabbed Josh’s hand before Josh could get away. “You want me to be sweet as sugar? That’ll cost ya extra.”

“You’re a fucking tease when you know we don’t have time.” Josh pulled free and pressed close, one hand sliding down to rub Ben through his jeans. “But two can play at that game,” he whispered, stepping back again when Joey’s car horn sounded outside. He winked and grabbed his bag, heading out of the bedroom.

“Who’s the real ass?” Ben grumbled behind Josh. “You’re gonna pay for that, ya know it.”

As they approached the car, Joey opened the trunk for them, and Ben grabbed Josh’s bag from him. He threw them both in on top of his own stuff, then shut the trunk again.

Josh laughed as he got in the backseat. “Promises, promises,” he said. “Hey, man.” He gave Joey a high-five hello.

Ben smirked and nudged him across the bench seat in back. “Hey, Joey.” Then he leaned to the side and whispered, “I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”

“Make sure my upholstery stays clean, guys.” Joey glanced in the rear view mirror and smirked before pulling out of the driveway onto the street.

Ben casually sprawled in the backseat, one hand on Josh’s thigh. “We could give passing truckers an eyeful, but I’ll behave under protest.”

“You? Behave?” Josh gasped.

“Hey!” Ben growled and half-attacked him, startling a low moan out of Josh when he hit a sensitive spot on Josh’s neck.

“All right, kids, enough, or I’ll be sitting in back and one of you can drive.”

“You heard the man. Now behave.” Ben slapped Josh’s thigh lightly, then removed his hand.

“Still say you’re a tease,” Josh muttered.

“Gotta be good at something, babe.”

“You two ready for some relaxing and fishing? I’m expecting some damn good catfish.” Joey eyed Ben in the mirror. “I made sure they included fishing gear with the boat.”

“As long as you or Josh clean and cook ’em, I’ll catch ’em,” Ben said.

Josh wrinkled his nose. “Nasty, but yeah, I seem to always get stuck cleaning them.”

Ben chuckled. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“You’d better. Hey, Joey—how’d the trip to… uh… wherever—you went go? You find what you were looking for?”

“I closed the deal but lost the boyfriend.” From Joey’s uncaring shrug, it was obvious he wasn’t hurt much over it.

“Damn, on your own again.” Reaching forward, Ben lightly patted his shoulder in sympathy.

“Not a big loss. Adam always left his shit all over the bedroom and bathroom. Annoyed the hell out of me.”

Josh stayed silent. Joey’s lack of enthusiasm in just about everything relationship-wise had been part of the reason why Josh left him. They just didn’t mesh, and Josh finally admitted— to himself, anyway—that he’d had a thing for Ben for a while. How he ended up with Joey first, he had no idea.

Ben nudged him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Josh said. “Just zoned.”

“You’ll find the right fit sooner or later, Joey.” Ben settled back, relaxing against Josh.