It is spectacular in here. There are all the colors of the rainbow and ones I didn't even think I'd see before. A man wearing traditional Fae silks the color of purple iris, and khaki colored pants walks up to us, his blue eyes sparkling and his blond hair slicked back.
"Welcome," he says.
"Thank you for letting us come here," I say, trying to ignore the shadows that writhe on my arms.
The faerie male nods his head. "I am Izak, High Lord of Winter Court. And I will be doing the Kalabai ritual with you two."
Izak leads us through the streets of the faerie settlement. The streets themselves are colored light pink, sea foam blue-green, and tinged with silver.
The streets are crowded and people are everywhere. Well, I guess I should say faeries are everywhere. There is a kaleidoscope of color as we walk down the streets and down a ramp, into a new place that looks like town square, where a bunch of priests, priestesses, and acolytes stand around the town square, wearing gray cloaks and black and white robes.
"Why don't they wear bright colors?" Dylan asks.
When I look at him, I see frost has completely covered his face. Shadows flicker at the edges of my vision, and I blink to try and get them away.
"They don't wear those colors because they represent neutrality and purity, which is best shown through gray."
"Oh, okay," he says.
"Alright, Brother Raul, bring the enchanted chain here."
"The what?" Dylan asks.
"We have to bind you and your vampire friend together, using a ribbon that is enchanted so it won't break or anything. You need to embrace your vampiric powers, and you need to respect and work with each other. You need to trust each other, else you won't survive. Your corrupted powers would kill you."
My heart hammers in my chest. I look at Arlo and Emma and Freya, who are all looking at us nervously. I look at Dylan, and he's looking at me.
"You ready?"
I nod. "As I will ever be, I suppose," I say.
Then, Izak and Brother Raul tie Dylan and I together, bound loosely at the wrist. The ribbon is red and silky, made from fae silk. It is soft and not meant to chafe.
I look at Izak, and he waves his hand in the air, and a shimmering orb of light shines bright in the moonlight, and he smiles at us.
"Good luck and blessed be."
Dylan and I walk through the portal, vanishing into a swirl of multicolored light.