Lorelei, of fucking course, was not here. But I’d been told there were a few stragglers either still getting ready or already playing out in the woods. Every once in a while, I heard a voice or a squeal in the distance that confirmed this fact. The sun was about to begin its descent, but we were each given a flashlight for safety if we made it past dark.
“You need animal ears at least,” Maisy said, eyeing me with displeasure.
“The outfit is giving kitten,” one of the male subs offered. I recognized him as the sugar baby twink from the auction. “Do we still have kitten ears left?”
Jayne reached into her bag of kinky gear with a smile.
“Cats are predators,” I said, which made me sound like an annoying ten-year-old who knew too many fun facts.
Maisy lifted both brows. Regardless, I maintained my commitment to ecological accuracy in animal roleplay.
“Oh, I’ve got the perfect pair,” Jayne said. She’d already stripped down into strappy black lingerie, forgoing the animal ears over half the crew sported to fit the hunting theme. Most were deer and rabbits.
Jayne handed me a lamb ear headband, which was unfortunately pretty cute, though I wasn’t sure if I couldbaaaat Wes with a straight face. I was certainly willing to try.
I would do anything for the bit.
Everyone was looking at me, so I sighed and tried on the ears.
“So cute!” Agnes said, one of the nude bunnies.
“Much better,” Maisy offered, though she was still clearly maintaining her distance after her displeased text message.
Jayne looked down at her watch. “Does everyone have their bracelets?” she confirmed. “And we remember our rules and universal safe words?”
Everyone nodded. I looked down at my glowing red bracelet. I was theonlysub wearing a red bracelet. The rest were either wearing yellow, green, or purple. I’d learned yellow meant touching from anyone was permitted, but no penetration or oral except from pre-approved hunters. Green meant any sexual play from any member was permitted, but kink acts beyond rough sex needed verbal approval. Purple, frighteningly, meant anything goes with anyone in attendance, unless, of course, a safe word was voiced.
The vast majority of prey wore purple.
Apparently, everyone had to show recent test results in order to attend the event at all, which meant they’d decided to treat Wes and me differently, seeing as I’d never been given that memo. It was strange, but I supposed they just assumed we were only going to play together. Perhaps Jayne had seen it in those psychic dreams of hers.
Two more girls joined us, led by a safety volunteer wearing a glowing blue badge. They were two of Kingston’s slave nuns, nude except their white veils. Both of their thighs were lined with red cane marks, but their faces were serene with holy bliss.
“E and B are already playing,” one of the nuns reported to Jayne.
E. Could Lorelei be going by her birth name? By Esther? Why were they abbreviating names—was it a tool of dehumanization in the spirit ofTheStory of O?
“Everyone please link hands,” Jayne said. “Nova, is this all right?”
The group formed a circle and joined hands. I was surprised Jayne was so conscientious about Wes’s rule regarding no one touching me. I glanced around, making the executive decision that Wes would likely be chill with temporary hand holding.
“Yeah, it’s fine.” I held hands with Agnes and one of the nuns, who winked at me with a warm smile.
Jayne nodded, her eyes shining with excitement. Her light brown skin was luminescent, brushed with shimmery highlight. “This will be The Circle’s second annual hunt,” she said, “and I hope the second of many more to come.” She lit a black pillar candle and placed it in the center of the circle before joining us. “I hand-selected each of you for a reason. Everyone in this circle has shown me they understand what it means to be brave, to fight for the life they want even when the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them. This world does not want us to form conscious communities, to connect with each other in the flesh rather than on our screens. And this world certainly does not encourage a return to the erotic, a return to the mystical, the transcendent, the union of flesh and soul.”
The candle flame danced wildly. I felt a current, a low buzz emanating from where my hands were joined with the others. I wasn’t the most spiritual of people, not like Lorelei was with herendless manifestation and pop witchcraft content consumption. But I couldn’t deny the natural collective effervescence of a group of people linked around a candle, a charismatic voice painting reality in shades of resistance and magic.
“We were born to be spiritual, sensual beings. Beings of dirt and blood and stars. Conduits for the divine and holy. Vessels for the Wild God’s seed.” She grinned. Everyone’s eyes had closed except mine. “When we deny who we are—our natural darkness and light—the world descends into chaos. Let us lead by example, indulge in our shadows and our goodness in equal measure, and be the torch that leads our planet out of the lonely underworld and back into the light of spring.”
I watched the candle flame dance until my eyes naturally closed.
“Let us honor our ancestors, the old, lost ways. Let us return to our essential wildness, to become possessed by gods and goddesses and reenact creation myths, war tales, love stories, and everything in between.”
A giggle sounded from somewhere close by.
My eyes flew open, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up, like I’d heard a ghost. I slowly turned my head. I looked through the maze of trees, toward one of the cottages in the distance that allowed this massive compound to comfortably host dozens of people.
And I saw her.
