She smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll warm up as soon as we get there. The torches are amazing. They heat up the entire clearing.”
I returned her smile and settled into my seat, gazing out at the lake. A yellow crescent moon hung in the sky with a million twinkling stars, casting a shimmering glow over the inky water, and the hulking silhouettes of the academy buildings stood sentinel in the distance.
My vision suddenly turned blurry and wobbly, and I thought I saw twenty different shooting stars at once, sending white and yellow sparks all over the lake. The messed-up vision was accompanied by an odd physical sensation, like an out-of-body experience. I knew my brain was sending signals, telling me to blink and shake my head to clear my vision, but I couldn’t move.
A moment later, the strange feeling was gone, and I could see perfectly again. I took a deep breath and told myself that it was just a bit of seasickness. After all, I wasn’t used to speeding around on a motorboat.
We arrived at the old pier on the island shore about five minutes later. Camila helped me out of the boat, and then she took my hand and led me down a dark, winding path behind all of the others.
I recognized the path from the time I sneaked over to the island and caught a glimpse of Dayna’s initiation. It was surrounded by densely-packed trees, and it smelled of damp leaves and moss. From somewhere up ahead, faint voices and music filtered through the air, and an orange glow eventually became visible, lighting our way.
We stepped into an enormous clearing lined with golden torches. They were the same ones I saw last time—tall rods with carved serpents entwining them, topped by golden sconces for the roaring flames.
A tall maypole stood in the middle of the clearing, covered in colorful flowers, foliage and ribbons. In front of it was a stone altar and a large golden throne.
Around the edges, men in long black robes and domino masks sat on stone seats, laughing and chatting with each other. They were accompanied by a large group of young women in see-through white chiffon gowns over skimpy gold underwear. Loud, rhythmic music filled the air around them, emanating from a large black speaker beside a pine tree.
“Who are they?” I asked Camila, pointing at the unfamiliar women.
She leaned down and whispered in my ear. “They’re older members,” she said. “They aren’t at school anymore, obviously, but if they’re in the area, they attend the parties and initiation rituals.”
“Oh. Right.”
“Not all of them are here. Some are busy with college on the other side of the country,” she went on. “You should see it when everyone gets together, though. There’s over a hundred members.”
“Wow.”
The strange out-of-body feeling hit me again, and my legs swayed. My pulse was speeding, and heat was flushing through my body. Tiny beads of sweat were breaking out on my forehead and neck as well.
“I feel weird,” I mumbled.
“It’s okay,” Camila said, squeezing my hand again. “It’s the heat from the torches. It makes you feel kinda drowsy. But don’t worry. It’ll go away as soon as your body gets used to it.”
When the masked men noticed us approaching, they stood up and cheered. The unfamiliar women hurried over to join us and fawned over my makeup, hair and gown. “This is the new one?” one of them said excitedly to Camila. “She’s gorgeous!”
“We’re so glad you finally decided to join,” another one said to me, rubbing my left shoulder. “Good luck with your initiation. You’re gonna do just fine!”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
The girls led me over to the maypole. Each of them grabbed a ribbon, except Camila, who took two. She handed one to me. “Here,” she whispered. “Hold on to it.”
“Okay.” I stared at her, eyes wide. “What am I meant to do now?”
She grinned. “Dance!”
The music turned louder; a strange, pulsing drumbeat accompanied by flutes, horns, and metallic rattles. It made me think of ancient Druids carrying out an arcane ceremony, and as the girls started to dance around the maypole, holding onto the colorful ribbons and twirling in liquid movements, I felt as if I were being transported back in time, right into one of those ceremonies.
My nerves held me back for a moment, but when the music got even louder, it was like someone had injected adrenaline straight into my bloodstream. My legs started tingling, and I started moving in time with the drums, closing my eyes as I lost myself in the dance. Eventually I lost all sense of everything in the clearing except for the music and the maypole.
I wasn’t sure how long we danced. It felt like forever, but I didn’t care. I wanted to keep going until my legs went numb and my skin was drenched with sweat. It was one of the only times I’d ever felt so wonderfully free.
“That’s enough now,” Camila finally said with a wide smile, grabbing my arm. “You look like you’re about to collapse.”
She pulled me over to the golden throne and instructed me to sit down. I did as she said, blissfully sinking into the velvet cushioning along the back and sides. The rest of the girls kept on dancing around me, shrieking and laughing.
Someone turned the music down a moment later, and one of the robed men stood up and called for quiet. The girls abruptly stopped dancing, and their heads turned to me, eyes wide with anticipation.
Every inch of my skin began to tingle, and my head started spinning. It felt like the clearing had been put on a carousel, slow at first but gaining momentum with every second that passed. It didn’t feel bad, though. It was fun, like I was on a magical ride.
A giggle bubbled up to my lips as the robed man made his way over to me, and a strange warmth began to trickle through my veins. I squirmed in my seat, thighs twitching as my core throbbed.
I’d only felt this way a few times before; that hot, sticky arousal that made me ache like mad. It usually came from being close to Hunter. But he wasn’t here now. No, he’d lost me, and he was never getting me back.
My vision started to go fuzzy again, and I felt like I was looking at everyone through water. Their voices sounded strange, too.
The man started to speak, reciting what sounded like ancient Greek words from a yellowed scroll. I stared up at him, wondering what he’d do if I pulled his mask off and tossed it through the air like a Frisbee.
Another giggle bubbled up my throat. I coughed to make it go away, but it didn’t work, and my shoulders started shaking with mirth as laughter spilled out of me.
I thought the man would be annoyed, but instead he smiled and kept reading. The amused expression on his face told me that he expected me to behave in such a silly way.
My laughter stopped abruptly as comprehension dawned on me. No wonder I felt so hot, horny, and delirious. They wanted me to feel like that, and they must’ve ensured it by drugging me.
Oh, shit. The pomegranate juice…
I blinked, trying my best to regain control of my mind and body. Whatever Camila or Paisley had slipped in the juice was obviously a happy drug like molly mixed with something else that made me have the strange out-of-body feeling.
Clearly, it was meant to make me have a good time at the initiation, but that didn’t make it acceptable. I was furious that they’d taken advantage of my trust like this.
The man turned to the crowd of onlookers and started speaking in English. “As you know, we have to be absolutely sure that the person we are initiating as a member is not only loyal enough to keep every secret divulged to them, but also has the guts to digest all of it. Not everyone can manage that. Hence, the ritual. It exists to test the mettle of our newest recruits, and only those who pass can fully peek behind the curtain.”