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 initiationrituals.”
“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 hundredmembers.”
“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 aswell.
“I feel weird,” Imumbled.
“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 toit.”
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’sgorgeous!”
“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 justfine!”
“Thank you,” Imurmured.
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 toit.”
“Okay.” I stared at her, eyes wide. “What am I meant to donow?”
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 thoseceremonies.
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 themaypole.
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 wonderfullyfree.
“That’s enough now,” Camila finally said with a wide smile, grabbing my arm. “You look like you’re about tocollapse.”
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 andlaughing.
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 withanticipation.
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 magicalride.
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 corethrobbed.
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 meback.
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 aFrisbee.
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 ofme.
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 sillyway.
My laughter stopped abruptly as comprehension dawned on me. No wonder I felt so hot, horny, and delirious. Theywantedme to feel like that, and they must’ve ensured it by druggingme.
Oh, shit.The pomegranatejuice…
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-bodyfeeling.
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 likethis.