"Answer it. New permanent mark on your body that'll hurt a little to get."
"How big is it going to be?" I asked.
"About the size of the circle at the end of a cardboard paper towel tube," Mike said. I thought for a second. I'd been thinking about getting a skull on the back of my neck, under my hair. Might as well just do that.
"In the middle of the back of my neck," I said.
"That'll work. I'm assuming you don't know Latin?" asked Mike.
"You would assume correctly," I replied.
"Alright, Charon's going to repeat what I say in English. There will be some instructions for you guys to follow and some things that won't matter to you. Pay attention and do as I say," said Mike. Brennen turned off all of the lights and closed all of the blinds and curtains around the house until it was pitch black. "Satan, come back out here."
We heard Colby take a few steps out toward us and then a loud bang.
"Ow! Fuck," he hissed. "Couldn't have turned the lights off after I got over there?"
"No. We don't want her dead before we even start," said Mike. Colby slowly walked the rest of the way over and I heard Mike move to him. Mike set Colby's hand on my back, making me jump a little from not expecting it.
"Put your mark right over hers," said Mike. Colby's fingertip lightly traced the bare skin of my back until he felt the waxy semi-circle. "All of you. Marks together," ordered Mike. "Okay, now hold at least one hand with each other. Two if you can, but contact between your marks stays. We need at least one hand."
Colby's hand reached out and gently took mine in his. I felt my chest start to tickle inside.
"Uh, Mike?" I said uneasily.
"Fuck, your chest?" he asked.
"Barely, but yes," I replied.
"Damn it, you guys. Stop it," Mike said.
"Stop what? I still don't even know what's causing this," I replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Think about pain. Physical pain. Like when that guy shot you. Think about how the bullet felt," Mike said.
"Uh, okay," I replied.
"Focus on it. Really focus. But keep your eyes open and listen to my voice."
"Alright," I said. Mike took a deep breath.
"Septem peccatis, gubernaculis tractanda ego dabo vobis," Mike said.
"Seven sins, I give you guidance," Brennen translated.
"Animarum errantium: spirituales nequitias."
"Wandering souls, lost spirits."
"Ill cupiditates et affectus involuntarium."
"Ill feelings and involuntary desires."
"Et posuit ei requiem hodie, et ceterorum domantur,"
"Will be put to rest and tamed today."
"Offeram tibi domum quoque octavus."
"I bring before you the eighth house."
I stopped listening to Mike and focused on the English Brennen was translating to.
"She gives guidance, she knows structure. Lilith brings forth the final key to reuniting what was destined to be."
The guys were both quiet for a second when I felt the wax in my back start to heat up again.
"Press your marks together. Put some pressure into it," Mike said, returning to English. Colby's hand pushed into me more. "Don't stop thinking about the pain, Lilith."
I thought hard about the look in Axel's eyes when he drew his gun on me. The anger, the hate, the jealousy behind them. I didn't have to use that as a distraction for long, though. The place where Colby's mark was touching mine started to buzz, like it was vibrating. It heated up more, not ever getting painful, but uncomfortable like Mike said.
"Mammon. Leviathan," Mike said. I looked over to where Sam and Kat had been when the lights were turned off, and saw a glow form between their arms. "Hold both hands together now."
The glow partially illuminated the room and I could see the amazement on everyone's faces as their two pieces of now glowing wax in the shape of their marks floated up out of their arms and into the air. Kat's was green and Sam's was yellow, like their urges. The pieces of wax moved themselves up in front of Sam and Kat's faces, which were visible in the light.
"Kiss her," Mike said to Sam.
Hold up. Was that a part of this? Was I going to have to kiss Colby in front of all of these people with weird glowing wax in front of my face when we'd basically never made more physical contact than we were now?
Sam kissed Kat, their hands still holding each other's. As their lips met, the green and yellow crashed together, letting out a flash of light as they fused into one. Sam pulled back to see a pentagon floating in front of them, still half green and half yellow.
"Asmodeus. Lucifer," Mike said. The same thing happened to Jake and Tara, their figures floating out in front of them. Again, Mike told them to kiss, and the pink and red shapes molded together, their colors still separate.
"Belphegor. Beelzebub," said Mike. Same thing, purple and orange meeting, the color not mixing. "I'm going back to Latin now."
I listened to just Brennen again.
"Take this offering of the six bonded souls."
"Today the king and queen of the underworld are present. They make their advance as the rightful rulers of The Order of The Octet."
"True love and true connection unite The Octet as one. May these pairs be eternally bonded and group eternally joined."
As Brennen finished repeated Mike's last sentence, all of the different shapes started to float toward Colby and me. I shifted back from instinct, but Colby's sturdy hand kept me in place. The shapes all came and lined themselves up in front of our faces.
"Lilith, count to six in Latin. Slowly. Unus, duo, tres, quattuor, quinque, sex," said Mike. Jake giggled when Mike said sex. "Asmodeus!" Mike barked. Jake immediately shut up. I took a shaky breath.
"Unus," I said. The first shape moved closer to my face and centered itself in front of the rest.
"Duo." The second shape lined itself up behind the first one, about an inch behind it. The others followed suite as I counted. "Tres, quiattuor, quinque, sex." They were all in a single file line now, leading straight back.
"Hold both hands," Mike said. Colby moved his hand from my back to hold my second one. "Now say seven and eight. Septem and octo."
"Septem," I said. I was so, incredibly thankful we didn't have to kiss for Colby's semi circle to sneak out from between our clasped hands. The blue arc floated up to the front of the line. "Octo."
The last symbol softly peeled itself out of my back and floated up to the others. Mine was white, not assigned a color yet. It lined itself up at the back of the line.
"Face each other. Lilith, turn your back toward the symbols. So they can reach your neck. Satan, let go of her hands. Hold her face to keep her still," said Mike. Colby let go of my hands and very gently laid them on either side of my face.
"Qui facti sunt," said Mike.
"They become one," Brennen said. And, with that, I felt a deep, stinging pain in the back of my neck. My body tensed up from the pain and Colby gripped the sides of my faces tighter. The stinging grew stronger and I couldn't help but let out a yelp of pain.
"Satan, distract her. We have to count. You're seven," said Mike. "Lilith, you're eight."
"Okay," Colby whispered.
"Unus," I heard Sam say. One of the shapes slammed itself into the back of my neck, feeling like it had punctured my skin. It was like getting a piercing, except in a straight, continuous line and the pain didn't stop.
"Fuck," I hissed under my breath.
"Shh, you're okay," Colby whispered, inches away from my face.
"Duo," said Kat. Another one jammed itself into my skin and I let out a squeal.
"Tres," said Jake. I felt my core start to shake from the pain.
"Quattuor," Tara said. I brought my hands up and set them on top of Colby's, pressing them against my face harder to counter the pain in my neck.
"Quinque," said Corey. I cried out again, unable to keep quiet.
"I know, you're almost there," Colby whispered to me.
"Sex," said Devyn. I let out another grunt through my now gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry," Colby whispered before continuing. "Septum," he said. His mark had been the biggest so far, considering it had to be big enough to circle halfway around everything. I let out a short scream when his punctured my skin. Tears leaked out of my eyes from how much it stung.
"Hold her. Tight," Mike said. This was going to be the worst one, I knew it. Colby stepped closer to me and pressed his forehead against mine.
"On three, okay?" he whispered. I could feel his breath on my lips and I nodded against his face. "One, two, three."
"Octo," I said, almost yelling, bracing for the pain. The last piece shot into my neck harder than the rest had, so hard that I physically jolted forward, slamming my body into Colby's. His hands moved away from my face and he wrapped me into a tight hug. I grabbed two handfuls of his shirt and leaned into him as the pain seared through my entire body now, no longer just my neck.
"Mmm," I squealed, trying to endure the pain. Colby hugged me tighter and I tried to focus on how his arms felt around me instead of the red hot stinging pain coursing through my veins.
"Consummavi!" Mike yelled after another few unbearable seconds. Brennen didn't bother to translate that one.
As soon as the word left his mouth, the pain stopped and my entire body went completely limp. I slumped against Colby, my hands releasing the fabric I'd been tightly gripping and my knees buckling under me. Even my neck went slack and my head tipped sideways. My eyes fluttered shut and everything became still.
"Get up. Eyes open," Brennen said shortly. I opened my eyes to find myself laying next to Colby on the kitchen floor, whose eyes were also shut. I jolted up and immediately leaned over his face, unsure if he was okay or not. But his eyes opened, too, and smiled when they looked into mine. I saw a ring of rainbow light reflecting in them.
"What isâ," I said softly.
"Turn around," he said. I slowly stood up and turned around to see a giant, glowing pentagram floating in the middle of the room over the island. Everyone else was getting up off the floor too, except for Mike and Brennen.
"Holy fuck," breathed Dev, staring at the light.
It was honestly the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. It was like a rainbow, but all one color. It pulsated with different hues and tones, unlike anything I'd ever seen before. We all stared at it, almost unable to look away. I could look at this light forever and never get tired of it.
Mike held up his hands and clapped.
All of the color suddenly shot toward me and went straight into my eyes, the bright light burning and blinding me. I fell back onto the floor and lost consciousness.