Banishing the Dark
Page 42

Don’t look at the naked girl. Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look. How could he not look? It was the first naked chick he’d seen in person. Ever. Well, he once accidentally saw Mrs. Holiday come out of the guest shower naked, but that was horrifying.
This was not.
And goddammit, what did they expect? It was a natural reaction. Only it was getting mighty uncomfortable, and he was painfully aware he was sitting next to Leticia. Did she know? How could she not?
He risked a glance at her. She wasn’t staring at his dick, thank God. It was pretty dark back here, so maybe he was safe. But then she caught him looking at her, so he forced his eyes back to the naked-flesh carnival at the altar. No good! Ah, crap. He glanced back at Leticia again, and she had a funny look on her face. Like she was pissed, maybe. Or not. He didn’t know. How could he think with all this going on?
Just when he thought he couldn’t be more freaked out, the people in the seats around him began heading down the aisle. One by one, they headed to the girl on the altar, drank what looked to be wine, and ate some communion-type wafer. Right in front of her, as if they were toasting to her vagina. And maybe they were, who knew? Part of Jupe wanted to find out, and part of him was absolutely horrified to be forced to walk down the aisle with a raging erection.
He couldn’t do it. He prepared himself to make up some excuse and bail—just run out of the room and leave. Then he smelled strawberry jam.
“We don’t go up there,” Leticia’s voice said in his ear.
He nearly jumped out of his seat but had sense enough to pull the hem of his jacket down over his pants. “Why not?” he whispered back.
“You have to be a certain degree.”
“Temperature?”
“Ranking,” she clarified. “For some, you have to be a certain age. I’m not old enough. And you’re not a member.”
Relief flowed through his limbs. And after concentrating really hard and biting the inside of his mouth until pain shot through him, he was finally able to get everything under control between his legs. He wiped sweat off his brow and exhaled heavily before whispering, “Who is that chick on the altar? Do you guys hire a stripper or something?”
Anger tightened Leticia’s face. Her whispered reply was so sharp she might as well have slapped him. “That chick is my sister.”
* * *
The mass couldn’t have dragged on any longer. Jupe apologized to Leticia a billion times. And he continued to do so, even when the whole shebang was finished and everyone filed outside the lodge into the old parking lot in back, which had been converted into a patio. Beneath the cover of two battered canopy tents, people gathered around picnic tables and scattered chairs. They looked so normal—moms, dads, teens. A group of smaller kids who hadn’t been in the sanctuary burst out of the hallway with a lady who must have been watching them.
Jupe was really confused.
And Leticia was walking really fast. He jogged to catch up to her as she headed to a picnic table outside the tent and plopped down on top of it, settling her feet on one of the attached benches.
“I’m really, really sorry,” Jupe said as he approached.
“I heard.” She dug inside a neon-green messenger bag that was slung diagonally across her body, pulled out a tablet, and settled it in her lap to read.
“How was I supposed to know?”
“I thought you said your dad’s girlfriend went to the main lodge.”
“Years ago, before she met my dad!”
“Oh.”
“That . . . what your sister did in the sanctuary was just a little shocking, is all.”
“She was playing the role of the priestess. It’s called a living altar, and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a beautiful ritual that celebrates women’s power. It’s not some cheap stripper show for a bachelor’s party.”
“I didn’t say—” Ugh. Well, he had kind of implied it. He tried again. “I’ve got nothing against strippers. Or naked girls. I mean, I like naked girls.” Oh, God. Shut up. Just shut up. But he couldn’t. “Your sister’s pretty hot.”
Leticia’s nostrils flared.
“I’m sure you’re even hotter,” Jupe said desperately.
She looked horrified. “Naked?”
“No. Yes? No,” he said in quick succession. “Wait, have you, uh, played the role of the priestess?”
Her eyes darted to the side. “Of course not. You have to be an adult to participate in the mass. Eighteen.”
“That’s only four years away. Are you going to—”
“Get naked in front of my lodge?”
Jupe’s pulse doubled. Then the thought crossed his mind that maybe Cady had played priestess back when she was active in her lodge, and that made him feel a little squicky. “Never mind,” he said. “Can we please not talk about this anymore? I’m already freaked out, and you’re making it worse.”
“Now it’s my fault?”
“Let’s blame it on your sister and call it even.”
“You’re a piece of work, Jupiter.” She remembered his name! Jupe grinned, forgetting all the awkwardness for a moment. Until she said, “Who’s Kar Yee?”
“What?” How did she know about Kar Yee? All the awkwardness came back and punched him in the gut. “Did you do some sort of spell on me?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, you weirdo. I saw your Facebook profile online. It says your relationship status is complicated, and you’ve got a bunch of pictures of some woman named Kar Yee. Is that your girlfriend?”