At the far end of the room there’s a slightly raised dais. A simple black banner hangs on the wall behind it, emblazoned with the same venom-green design that was on the invitation: a dagger pointing down, surrounded by a halo of light.
There's maybe twenty other people dressed similarly to us milling around, both men and women. Aside from some super quiet whispering between a few of the initiates, the room is silent.
“What happens now?” I mumble to Gabby.
She swallows heavily, turning to me and shaking her head. “Not sure?—”
We both jump a little at the heavy, rhythmicthunk-thunk-thunk. The man in blood-red robes who escorted us in a moment ago steps onto the dais, now holding a heavy staff in his hand. He taps it heavily on the ground again, instantly grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.
“Welcome initiates,” he says in a deep, bass-heavy voice. “In a moment, you will meet your Adept, to whom you are a prospective Acolyte. Some of you know your Adepts. Some ofyouthinkyou do. Several of you don’t know them at all. But regardless of which camp you fall into, know this…”
The room issilent, every breath held and every eye wide as we stare at the masked speaker.
“Tonight is going to be one of the most difficult nights of your lives. The warning in the invitation you received was not hyperbole. Tonight will involveseriousrisk to your well-being…perhaps your very life.”
My pulse skips as a cold sweat creeps down my spine.
“There is no going back now,” the man continues in a voice devoid of emotion. “As stated in your invitations, attendance constitutes consent. There are twenty-five of you present here tonight…”
A long moment of silence descends over the frozen initiates.
“And roughly three quarters of you will be eliminated from consideration before the evening is over.”
Jesus.
A sharp tremble ripples through my body. I glance over at Gabby, whose teeth are gnawing at her bottom lip.
“You will now be met by your Adepts. Go with them and do whatever they ask. Refusal to comply will result in immediate removal from the initiation.”
He tilts his head back, looking up at the glass ceiling high above.
“Per silentium. Per sanguinem.”
Through silence. Through blood.
Suddenly, a heavy door swings open behind us. We all turn, and my heart starts pounding harder when a number of people emerge, all in black and wearing black Bauta masks adorned with venom-green filigree.
A tall guy a few yards away from Gabriella and me is the first to find his Adept.
“Let’s go,” the equally tall but much more muscular man in the black and green Bauta mask growls. Gabby and I glance at each other nervously before we turn back and see the Adept leading the initiate out of the room.
A red-haired girl is next, whose terror is visible even through her mask when her Adept, a tall, athletic brunette woman, steps in front of her and wordlessly crooks a finger for the initiate to follow.
My pulse races as I watch initiate after initiate getting pulled from the room.
Gabby gasps audibly next to me, making my head snap to the side. I gawk at thehuge, broad-shouldered figure looming over her, staring menacingly down into her stunned face.
Didn’t she say her Adept was agirl?
Just as I think that, Gabby’s big green eyes get even bigger behind her mask, her mouth falling open.
“Wait, I?—”
“Change of plans,” the man’s dark, deep, slightly amused voice purrs from behind his black and venom-green Bauta mask.
Gabriella’s face goes pale. “But?—”
“You either come with meright now,” the man growls in a low, dangerous tone, “or else there’s the fucking door.”
