Filthy rich VAMPIRE

Chapter 41- Thea

This was not what I had in mind for the evening. After Sabine's dramatic announcement, the familiars and I were ushered down an ancient stone staircase into an underground room. Its stone walls and floor lent a damp mustiness to the cold air. Ornate torches burned around the perimeter, but their flames did little to light the subterranean cavern.

"I don't like this," Quinn muttered next to me.

I shivered, wishing Jacqueline had given me a wrap to wear with this dress. Maybe she didn't know about this part. Perhaps I hadn't been paying attention when she warned me.

Quinn wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and we huddled together. Several others around us followed suit. No one spoke above a whisper.

"Did you know this was the first Rite?" I asked Quinn.

She shook her head. "Everyone failed to mention that, and believe me, I asked about tonight. They must have meant it when they said we aren't allowed to talk about it."

"Probably, because they make sure we can't."

"You think they're going to compel us?"

I looked around us. This place was only a step up from being a catacomb or a dungeon. Whatever was about to happen was going to be memorable. There was no way every familiar who attended the Salon would keep this secret.

Before I could tell Quinn this, Sabine descended the stairs. In her hands she carried a basket shaped like a cornucopia. Next to her, an older woman wearing a red gown stood with her hands clasped, bound together by a dark rope. Behind them in two lines, beautiful women, dressed in white, followed their lead. Each carried a small basket of their own.

We all fell into silence as Sabine stopped.

"Tonight, we pay homage to the Bona Dea," she said in a clear, strong voice that echoed off the stone walls. "Damia-mother of us all. From you, our life springs eternal."

"Damia-mother of us all," the woman in red next to her repeated. "From you, our magic bears fruit."

"What in the ever-loving shit?" Quinn whispered.

My thoughts exactly. I felt like we'd wandered into the initiation ceremony for some cult. I spotted more than a few other women glancing around. We weren't the only ones wondering what we'd gotten ourselves into.

"We welcome your spirit among us," Sabine continued.

"We walk in your presence," the woman in red added. She bent, unwrapping the cord that bound her wrists, and dropped it to the ground. But it wasn't a cord at all. It hit the stone with a hiss that made my stomach fall along with it.

"Oh hell no," I said as the snake began to slither across the floor.

The familiars parted, lifting skirts and looking around, panicked.

But there was nowhere to go. Vampires were blocking the stairs, and there were no windows. Sabine called out in a calming voice, "Men have made the serpent your enemy with their lies. You have been taught to fear it, but it only seeks to give pleasure. All of you here know the exquisite pleasure of the flesh. Damia teaches us to embrace that pleasure. Pleasure is power. Pleasure is feminine. Pleasure is the seed that will bear beautiful fruit. The snake is her servant, and it will not harm you. It seeks only to deliver its offering."