Chapter 16
The old woman beckoned to Selene once more with a crook of her gnarled finger.
Leaning over to Tim, Selene whispered, “Is this some kind of joke? Make the newbie get up on stage so she can play the fool?”
“No.” Tim’s voice was shaky as he tugged Selene’s purse from her grasp and tucked it under his arm. “No joke.”
He glanced at Marley. “Goddess have mercy. What do we do?”
“She goes to the crone,” Marley said in a hard voice. His grip around her waist tightened. “Come on, chosen one.”
She hadn’t realized how strong Marley was until he lifted her off her feet and flew her to the front of the throng.
Selene felt blood drain from her face as she approached the tree of flames and the trio of women.
The ring of warriors drew back into a line and dropped to their knees when Marley set Selene on the ground.
“Behold the Great Lady,” the men intoned in unison.
“What the hell is happening? How did she know my middle name?” Selene couldn’t keep the fear out of her voice.
Her eyes flickered to Fenris. His expression was one of surprise but also satisfaction.
Natalie stepped forward. “Selene, it’s okay. You’ve been named to participate in the ritual.”
Her voice was calm, but her eyes were wild.
Everything is not okay.
“Participate how?” Selene protested. “I know nothing about this ritual. I’m just visiting. Pagan tourist.”
She tried to laugh, but the sound died in her throat.
A gentle touch drew her gaze down as small fingers slipped through her own. The young girl smiled up at her.
“The goddess will guide you.”
The girl’s wide, innocent eyes, sky blue and full of puffy white clouds and sunlight, sent a wave of calm through Selene. But a panicked voice shocked her back into the present . . . and a new storm of fear.
“Fen! Fenris!” Josh pushed his way free of the crowd. He stared at Selene, his face filled with distress. “How did this happen?”
The old woman cackled. “The goddess works in mystery, boy.” She smiled toothlessly at Josh, but he remained visibly upset.
Fen rose from his kneeling position and stepped forward. His eyes found Selene’s. She had to bite her tongue so she wouldn’t gasp. His back was to the flaming tree, but somehow the fiery trunk and branches were dancing in his dark irises.
“Selene has been chosen.” Fenris looked at Josh and spoke in a voice pitched low and unyielding. “She is the vessel and will take part in the rite of Beltane.”
Color leached from Josh’s face. “Please, Fenris, she’s my girlfriend’s aunt! This is her first Beltane.”
Selene’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the boy’s hands quivering.
“It’s gotta be a mistake,” he pled.
“The crone has spoken,” Fen said quietly and fixed his eyes on Selene. “There is no mistake.”
Josh’s shoulders slumped, and he stepped back.
The old woman raised her hands once more, and the crowd fell silent.
“The night of Beltane is upon us. Let the Hunt begin.”
The warriors rose to their feet. Selene was too shocked to scream when Fen and his followers turned around and walked directly into the flaming tree. And then they were gone.
Selene swayed a little on her feet. Fainting yet again when faced with paranormal surprises would be embarrassing, but she decided she’d be okay with passing out and waking up in her own bed. This night was getting to be too much.
“Come on.” Natalie took her hand. “We have to get you ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“For your part in the ritual.” Natalie fell in step behind the old woman, who moved with surprising speed. The young girl skipped alongside her, holding Selene’s other hand.
Selene swallowed hard and hoped she wasn’t going to have to walk into anything that was on fire.
“Natalie, why am I here? I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”
“You will when the time comes,” Natalie said. “The goddess will guide you.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means what it means.” Natalie followed the old woman into a pavilion that Selene didn’t remember seeing anywhere in the grove earlier that evening.
The enclosed space was decorated with vines and flowers, and the sounds of a flute and harp filled the air.
It was crowded with people and creatures whose chatter rose into an excited buzz when Selene entered.
Fragments of conversation assailed her ears.
“The Lady! It’s the Lady of Beltane!”
“Wait, is she human?”
“I don’t know her. Do you know her?”
“She has a strong aura.”
“Why would the goddess choose a stranger for Fenris?”
Natalie stopped just inside the entrance and turned Selene to face her. She must have done something witchy because the voices all around them were suddenly muffled, freeing Selene from that distraction.
“Listen to me, Selene.” Natalie’s eyes were bright.
“The goddess chose you as her vessel tonight. I don’t know why.
But it means you’re not who you think you are—at least not completely.
You’re tied to the paranormal world. You wouldn’t have been selected otherwise.
Damn it, I knew I needed to trace your genealogy. ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Selene argued.
“I know you don’t,” Natalie said. “I wish I could explain better.”
She sighed and suddenly embraced Selene.
“It is a great honor to be chosen. Remember that.”
“Okay.” Selene tensed at the fierceness of Natalie’s tone.
“We’re going to give you ritual clothing. It’s a dress like mine,” Natalie said.
Selene nodded.
“You’ll be brought to the site of the ritual. And then you have a choice.”
“What kind of choice?” Selene asked.
“You’ll be asked a question,” Natalie explained. “The answer will come to you. When it does, be honest. And after that . . . well, follow your instincts.”
“Have you been chosen before?”
Natalie blushed. “I have.”
“Is it hard?” Selene frowned. “What if I mess up?”
Natalie blinked at her and then she began to laugh. She laughed so hard that tears trickled down her cheeks.
Selene’s brows knit together. “This isn’t funny, Nat.”
“Oh,” Natalie said, wiping moisture from her cheeks, “it is. It’s very funny.”
“You’re the one who’s been telling me how much I’m not going to like this ritual,” Selene said. “Now I’m in the middle of it.”
Natalie’s face became serious again. “Yes, but now that you are in the middle of it, I don’t know how you’ll feel about what happens. It changes things. It changes everything, actually. That could be better or worse.”
“Can’t you just tell me what’s going to happen?”
“No. But please know that to be chosen is a great honor.”
“You already said that. Why won’t you tell me anything else?”
“If I did, it would influence your actions. What you do tonight must come from your soul,” Natalie said solemnly. “Outside interference is forbidden.”
Selene pouted, and Natalie’s smile became playful. “Sweetie, even if I could tell you what was about to happen, you’d never believe me.”
“Try me and we’ll see.”
“No.”
Selene was about to object again, but she was surrounded and pulled away from Natalie by people dressed in ritual garb.
Whatever was happening to her involved a lot more than a wardrobe change.
Her clothes were stripped off, and she was cleansed from head to toe with warm water and massaged with oil that smelled of apple blossoms and honeysuckle.
And to be honest, that was pretty great.
After all she’d been through lately, she was in dire need of a massage.
Flowers were woven into her hair while a choir of angelic little girls sang to her in a language she didn’t recognize.
A luminescent silk dress was slipped over her head, though, unlike Natalie’s, her dress was left to flow freely along her figure, and she was given no girdle to bind her waist. Someone placed a chalice in her hands.
“Drink, blessed one.” The young girl from the trio of women at the fire smiled up at her.
“What is it?” Selene asked warily.
“Mead,” the girl answered. “Fermented from honey of the sacred hives, blended with herbs sacred to the goddess.”
Sacred groves. Sacred hives. Sacred bees. Sacred herbs. Seriously? Maybe I should ask for some sacred coffee to get myself through the rest of the night.
Selene thought about making the joke but decided it wouldn’t go over well.
All the sacreds might be weird to her, but everyone else was taking the ritual and her role in it very seriously.
She didn’t want to insult anyone, and she couldn’t ignore the fact that her grasp at humor was simply a defense against how nervous she felt.
She raised the cup to her lips. The amber liquid was sweet and smoky but unlike anything she had tasted before.
She swallowed more of it, and warmth spread from her throat into her chest and stomach.
She hadn’t expected mead to be so strong.
Or maybe that was the herbs. No one had warned her that they might have strange effects.
Though admittedly those effects were not unpleasant.
Her skin came alive, crackling with pure energy. Her blood began to pulse with a rhythm drawn from deep within the earth. Something primal stirred deep inside her, waking up parts of her consciousness she hadn’t known were asleep. A connection to the very essence of creation.
Somewhere in the distance, she heard the sound of a horn.
The old woman shouted from the other side of the pavilion. “The Hunt returns!”
Shrieks of delight sounded in the small space. Then Natalie was standing before Selene.
“It’s time.”
She guided Selene from the pavilion toward the giant flaming tree in the center of the grove.
A cadre danced before them, waving branches and tossing petals in the air.
A steady drumbeat sounded all around them, deep bass thrums that rose from the earth and lingered in the shadows.
The crowd of celebrants was there, but they were still and silent.