“Hm? Ah, no. It’s just that the Revel is not technically here. It’s far away, in a pocket reality. It appears every Summer Solstice, then disappears for the rest of the year. There are many entrances, each in a different part of the world. We are the only ones to come in through this path, so we’re alone.”
“Aha.”
We walked on in silence, and I mulled over Dora’s answer. Ahead, distant music sounded, uneven and distorted as if slipping in and out of range.
“Dora?”
“Yes?”
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”
She gave me an amused look and stopped under a red lantern, which bathed her pixie blond hair in a brilliant, unearthly glow.
“Jane, you always say, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ So, you’ll see. And believe. And besides, I had to get you to come somehow. You and Eddy broke up almost a year ago, and I’m done watching you pine after him. It’s time to move on, and there’s nothing like the Revel to get you out of a funk.”
She turned away and walked on.
“Huh?”
I looked back to discover the lanterns behind us were no longer lit. The path faded into murky shadow. I shivered and followed Dora. Paying closer attention, I noticed that each lantern I passed under snuffed out as soon as I reached the next.
It felt so creepy, I sped up to keep Dora in sight. She skipped ahead singing, happily gamboling into the eerie unknown. I had no choice but to follow, which was probably her goal. Or maybe she was just so excited to be back to this exclusive party in the woods that apparently included… magic.
The path curved downward, heading into a deep pool of shadow, the lanterns ahead our only points of light.
And as we walked, the sounds of the Revel grew louder. Drumming so deep and piercing it penetrated through my ribs into my chest and stayed there, urging my heart to pound. Violins played shrill, eerie notes, fast and soul-rending.
Flutes, harps, tinkling bells… Sounding closer and then further, closer and further, like a radio searching for the right signal.
Soon, we were close enough for the cacophony of distorted sounds to become music. It raced wild through my veins, filling them with liquid heat.
We turned a corner and the path widened, opening into an enormous clearing. Fires burned, too many to count. Some looked ordinary, but others burned blue, green, and pink.
Between the fires, a multitude of revelers, their shadows big and small, danced, jumped, sang or… writhed right there on the grass, their bodies entangled, bare skin glistening in the colorful firelight.
I had entered the Revel.
Chapter 2
Seduction
Dora turned to me, cheeks flushed, face brilliant with joy. I blinked, thinking she must have done something in the seconds we had been apart, maybe applied more makeup… But no. She was radiant with excitement.
“This place runs on magic,” she said over the music, cupping my ear with her hands. Her breath tingled over my earlobe, sensuous and intimate. I jerked back, startled. Dora laughed. “Look around!”
I did, bearing in mind what she’d said: magic.
The fires burned, sending jets of colorful sparks high into the sky. The music reverberated in my ribcage, my body thrumming to its rhythm. I could feel the balmy air of high summer night, the warmth radiating from the nearest fire… and a tingling in my hands.
I raised up my palms. They sparkled with a silvery powder. Somewhere by my ear, I heard a giggle, but when I whipped my head toward it, there was nothing.
The same silver glitter rained down on top of Dora’s head. She was laughing and twirling in a circle.
“Fairies!” she gasped, laughing brighter.
My eyes were adjusting to the light, and I could now see more than just writhing, dancing, skulking shadows. Right in front of me, three women gestured and laughed, their bodies glittering silver and pink, shoulders and stomachs bare, long hair braided, and large backpacks on their backs.
I looked closer. Not backpacks. Rather… capes?