Page 48 of Stray
Natalia chuckled. “Toms will be toms, won’t they?” She turned back to Ella and Lyra with a warm smile. “It was lovely to see you both. Good luck tonight.”
“Shewon’t be participating,” Lyra muttered under her breath, once Natalia was out of earshot. Ella decided to pretend like she hadn’t heard, either. She wasn’t sure why they all seemed to think she was chomping at the bit to participate when the matter was already settled in everyone’s mind, including hers. Marissa had been acting like the new Empress for as long as anyone could remember, and tonight was just about making it official.
After what felt like an eternity, the guests began to filter through the temple doors. The chatter of the last hour and a half faded to reverent silence. Ella was in no hurry to keep up with the others, so she hung back until she was gradually herded in with the crowd. With a bit of space from Kyrie and Emily, she found herself enjoying the sensation of stepping into another world.
And that was exactly what the temple felt like: the gateway to a hidden world too beautiful to comprehend. The air itself hummed with magic, as if something truly extraordinary was mere seconds away from happening. There were candles on every stone surface, and an altar on the other side of the pond in the center of the room, covered in flowers and other offerings. The heady scent of incense hung heavily in the air, making the moonlight streaming through the crystalline glass above even dreamier.
Ella’s eyes fluttered shut as the splendor around her seemed to seep into her pores and rush through her veins. The remaining noise in the room fell away, and for one moment, she felt as if she was alone in this sacred space, treading on the precipice of another world.
A better world.
“Careful now.” An unfamiliar male voice drew her from her reverie and grabbed her arm, pulling her back from the edge of the pond.
Ella gasped, realizing only then how close she’d come to falling in. When she turned to look at her rescuer, her head spun. She’d only ever seen Bishop Meyer from a distance, but if she’d thought he was intimidating then, she was woefully unprepared for what it would be like to stand face to face with him.
Bishop’s pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight, but the sheen of his blue eyes was even more resplendent. He’d cut his dark hair shorter than it had been years ago, the last time she’d seen him from a distance, but it complimented his masculine beauty well. He was Axel’s height, though not quite as solidly built. There was something far more elegant and catlike about him, while Axel had always reminded her more of a wolf than the tiger he was.
If he was this captivating as a human, she could only imagine what Bishop was like in his jaguar form.
“I’m so sorry,” she stammered.
He cocked his head, a glimmer of confusion in his eyes. “I’m just glad you’re alright. Wouldn’t want to take a dip before the ceremony begins,” he said with a wink that made it damn near impossible to breathe.
“Oh,” she murmured, trying hard to fight the trance-like urge to stare at him like an idiot. “I’m not one of the candidates.”
Bishop raised an eyebrow. “You’re of age, aren’t you?”
She hesitated. “I’m eighteen, but…”
Before she could explain further, the priestess took her place at the head of the altar and lifted her jeweled hands high. “Welcome, my kin,” she called in a voice that filled the room. Everyone else fell silent, but Ella could hardly hear over the sound of her rushing heart with Bishop standing close enough to brush her arm, his hands slipped casually into the pockets of his designer suit.
If there was anyone who could claim to be competition for Axel, it was certainly him. Ella knew there were just as many in the Meyer pride holding out hope that Bishop would secure the throne for their ranks for another cycle. It was just a matter of which one of them Marissa would choose, but it wasn’t unheard of for an Empress to pick more than one suitor. Ella just knew Marissa and Axel well enough to know that he would never tolerate being tied with another male, let alone in second place.
“Tonight, we continue this most sacred tradition over which I was privileged to preside twenty years ago,” Tessa continued, her tone much warmer than it had been at dinner as she looked out over the colony she had shepherded faithfully for decades. Any sore feelings Ella might have harbored toward her for the punishment she’d been receiving on Tessa’s behalf ever since that night soon faded. It was clear she loved what she did, and if more people in the Hill pride were like her, maybe thingscouldbe different, after all.
It was the first time Ella had actually felt like she belonged to the colony rather than existing on its perimeter. As she listened to the priestess recite the ancient texts that had been commemorated to their goddess by her earliest predecessor, she fell under the spell of the beautiful words. About half of them were said in the old language, and while Ella had never learned to speak it in more than bits and pieces, her heart understood every breathy cadence.
“Impressive, isn’t she?” Bishop asked knowingly.
Ella managed a nervous smile. “She’s very eloquent.”
“I will now ask the candidates to come forward,” Tessa continued. “Gather in a circle around the water and we shall introduce you to our Lady one by one.”
Ella stepped back as the other young queens took their places with surprisingly little vying for the best spot, considering what was at stake. Then again, maybe they all just knew there was no point in trying when the pact was as good as sealed.
“You’d better go up there,” Bishop said, giving Ella a gentle nudge.
She stumbled forward, too paralyzed by awkwardness to explain now. She settled for moving as close as she could without being obviously part of the circle, and it seemed to work. She received a few strange looks from the other candidates, but Marissa didn’t seem to notice and Ella assumed that if she couldn’t see Emily in the crowd, the Matriarch couldn’t see her either.
“Let us begin,” said the priestess, motioning for the first candidate to come forward. Ella recognized her as Mya, one of Kyrie’s classmates at the Academy. She’d sneaked up to his room one weekend and mumbled a bashful apology when they’d crossed paths in the hallway.
Mya took her place at the edge of the pool and seemed only a tad embarrassed as she slipped her loose shift dress off her shoulders and let it pool at her feet. Nudity was somewhat commonplace, considering that they couldn’t shift with clothing, but Ella imagined it was still an uncomfortable position to be in under these circumstances. At least there was one benefit to not being a real part of the pride.
As Mya stepped down the first steps leading into the shimmering silver water, Ella couldn’t help but notice hardly anyone was watching. Instead, most of them were looking in Marissa’s direction. For her part, Marissa was doing a good job pretending that she had no idea what was about to happen.
As Mya stood illuminated in the moonlight, the water barely clothing her chest, she breathed a visible sigh of relief. Her skin, while pleasantly aglow with moonlight, was not moonmarked, and her auburn tresses were still the same rich shade.
“May the moon shine upon you, dear one,” Tessa said warmly, touching Mya’s forehead with sacred ash as she climbed out of the pool and pulled on the pristine white robe another priestess had waiting for her.
