Peregrine asks us to join hands, and Caleb winds up on my right side. His grasp is so warm and comforting, it makes my heart hurt.
Pascal grabs my other hand and says, “Just go with it. Open yourself. There’s nothing in the world like being possessed. On Mardi Gras, it’s supposed to be positively orgasmic.”
I play along as Peregrine moves to the center of the circle, lights a cluster of dandelion and anise seed and calls to Eloi Oke. Chloe steps into the middle of the circle as she and Peregrine raise their hands to the sky and begin to dance in the center of the room. They’re chanting softly, and as the tempo picks up, the rest of the group begins chanting too.
“Open yourself, Eveny,” Margaux hisses at me across the circle just before her eyes turn empty. “Don’t be so selfish as to think you’re above all this. It’s your fault Arelia’s not here to help us.”
I glance at Caleb, but his eyes are already glazed over; he seems to have slipped into another level of consciousness along with everyone else.
One by one, around the circle, I see people’s expressions go blank. Everyone’s still singing the same phrase over and over—something like, “Esprits du passé, entre en moi.”
I search my rudimentary French knowledge; they’re saying something along the lines of Spirits, enter into me.
As a breeze picks up inside the room, I feel something pushing at the corner of my mind. I know without asking that it’s a spirit trying to get in; it feels like the pressure just before Glory’s spirit slipped into my body at Cristof’s. I push the presence away; I have to keep my wits about me tonight.
Move aside, girl, a hissing voice in my head says suddenly. I want to use you.
“No,” I say aloud. Caleb glances quickly at me and then goes back to looking blank. Everyone else in the circle seems lost in his or her own world; they’re all stumbling around now. They’re all possessed.
Move aside, I said! The voice in my head is more insistent now, and I mentally push back. The spirit trying to get in is stronger than I expected. Do you really think you can stop me?
I summon all my energy and push back. “Yes,” I say aloud. “I do.” There’s a sharp pain on the left side of my head, and then, all is quiet, and the pressure is gone. The spirit has moved on.
Soon, the rest of the Dolls begin acting like they’ve gone crazy. I watch, my breath caught in my throat, as Margaux flings herself to the ground, wailing and rolling around. Peregrine’s eyes are wide and her limbs rubbery as she contorts into Gumby-like positions that no human body should be able to move into. Justin is lying on his back, languidly making snow angels on the marble floor, while Pascal and Chloe are draped all over each other, their hands roaming each other’s bodies. Even Patrick and Oscar are dancing in the corner with blank expressions, and Caleb is leaning against the wall, moaning softly with his eyes closed.
I take a deep breath and pretend that I’m possessed too, so that the other spirits won’t get suspicious.
I cringe as Oscar begins to rub up against me. I take a deep breath and let it happen for a moment, playing the part. Then I begin to dance, as if the spirit inside of me would rather do that than be groped. Oscar follows, grunting at me, but then he loses interest and moves over to Margaux, who’s rubbing herself against a chair now.
Peregrine finally writhes over to the giant triangle in the corner of the room, picks up the wand that lies beside it, and strikes it. The sound reverberates through the house, and everyone stops what they’re doing instantly and heads in a single file line toward a door in the corner of the room. Peregrine opens it, revealing a big walk-in closet containing at least a hundred silk robes in varying shades of gold, green, and purple. One wall is filled entirely with elaborate feathered masks propped on long, wooden shelves.
Without speaking, the others begin shedding their clothes with a complete lack of self-consciousness. Margaux simply steps out of her dress, bra-less, and casually grabs a robe from the wall, cinching it around her waist. Chloe and Peregrine are both wearing elaborate, lacy lingerie sets, but they don’t seem worried about anyone seeing them as they shed their dresses too and step into robes. Everyone is still possessed, as evidenced by the completely empty looks on their faces, and my heart thuds faster as I realize I’ll need to take off my clothes too.
For an instant, I could swear Caleb’s hesitating. But then his face goes blank, and he begins taking his suit off slowly. At least he’s not really in there, I tell myself as I unzip my dress.
I try not to look as he peels off his jacket then his shirt, revealing abs that look like they’ve been chiseled from stone and arms that ripple with strength. I bite my lower lip as he unbuckles his belt, unzips his pants and takes them off, revealing a pair of charcoal gray boxer briefs. I hurry to shrug off my own dress as he throws on a green robe from the closet. It feels like Caleb is watching me, but he goes back to swaying languidly as soon as I look in his direction. I swallow hard, slip into a rich green robe that matches Caleb’s, and cinch the belt tightly.