Venetian courtesan Catarucia Rigarda Archisani, spurned by her lover, wishes to be so beautiful that she will never be forgotten or ignored. When the capricious gods Venus and Amor grant her the wish, her only escape is to remain masked, except in the presence of her blind musician, Giancarlo Salvi. Accused of bewitching the men of Venezia, Catarucia must not only defend herself, but find a way to break the curse she so foolishly brought upon herself.“Masked” originally appeared in Written on the Coast: Thirteen Tales of Magic and Mayhem Written in Lincoln City, OR, Soul’s Road Press, 2012.