Page 11 of Spirit Rites
“This is called hugging.”
I hear her sigh. “I know that.Whyare we hugging?”
“Because you’re one of my best friends. And I love you, Harper.”
She’s quiet a moment. “I love you too, Kinsley.” Her words suck the air from my chest. She’s never said that before. I’ve always known she loves me, but she doesn’t ever say it. She’s not generous with hugs or anything touchy feely. Somehow, her words catch me now. Maybe it’s because of the imminent threat of having to leave here and leave her and Farrah; maybe it’s everything we’ve been through. But it all feels like too much. Another tear drips from the corner of my eye. She pulls out of my hug and steps back. When she sees the tears, she stops and studies my face. She crosses her arms over her chest. “Pack a bag. We’ll leave tonight.”
“What?!” We both turn at the sound of Farrah’s voice. She looks between the two of us. When she sees the tears on my face, she walks quickly towards us. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I manage to get out at the same time Harper speaks.
“We’re leaving here tonight.” Farrah’s eyes widen, and she looks between the two of us. “We’re not giving our friend away just because some guy comes here and says so,” Harper finishes.
Farrah glances at me. “Okay. What’s the plan?”
Harper doesn’t hesitate. “We will leave during the night and get as far from here as possible. Will you come with us, so we can ride a horse to the city walls. It will be faster that way, and then you can bring our horse back here.”
“No. If you’re leaving, then I’m going with you.”
“Farrah, you can’t go with us. You have Rysden now,” I remind her. “And a life here. I’m not going to let you give that up for me.”
“I would,” she says, and I can see she means it. My waterworks start up again, and I swallow hard. “Oh Kinsley.”She hugs me tightly, and I squeeze her right back. I wonder if this is the last time I’ll see her. If Harper and I really do this, I won’t be able to come back. She steps back and squeezes my hand. “I’ll help you with anything you need. But right now, you need to come out here and talk or the guys are going to know something’s up.”
“Rysden will as soon as he sees you,” Harper says accusingly.
Farrah wipes her eyes and scowls at Harper. “No, he won’t. I’ll get my emotions under control.”
When we walk out a few minutes later, I paste a smile on my face. For all of Farrah’s confidence, one look at her has Rysden rising out of his seat with a look of concern on his face. I smile in spite of myself. He’s one of the good ones. It helps ease the ache in my chest. I haven’t really let myself dwell on the fact of what is going to happen. But the facts can’t be denied. Veyra is mated to Jespar, who’s bonded to the king of the jaguars. I’m pretty sure there’s no getting out of leaving here and moving to the jaguar kingdom and living with people I’ve never met, no matter what Harper says .
Chapter 5
I sit across the table from Harper and somehow manage to keep a smile on my face. Harper’s continual gaze on me lets me know I’m not fooling her, and it makes me love her even more. The fact that she’s willing to leave everything just for me means the world. Will I actually do it? Let her blow up her life for me? No. But the fact that she’s willing to means a lot. I glance over and see that there’s a bowl still sitting on the table near Kaldar. It bothers me that it’s not put away, so I push out my chair and head down to the end of the table. When I reach the end of the table, I can’t quite reach the plate. I step forward but forget to take into account the table leg beneath the table. I trip over it and stumble forward. Trying to find my balance, I reach out. Since Kaldar’s the closest thing, I reach out to him. Everything seems to slow down. Kaldar’s eyes widen, and he tries to pull back. But I’m already in motion.
“Kinsley, don’t touch him!” I hear Farrah shout, even as I fall into him. His arms come up to brace me, and the world spins around us. The ground disappears beneath my feet, and I lose all sense of reality, time, and space. When I finally feel solid ground under my feet again, I bend over and try to catch my breath. Instead, I throw up all over the ground for the second time in the past twenty-four hours.
“Just take a minute,” I hear a voice say not far from me. “It’s disorienting, but you’ll recover in a minute.”
I stand up and look around, trying to keep the panic rising in my chest at bay. “What happened? Where are we? What is this place? Where is everybody?”
“Don’t panic.”
I spin towards Kaldar. “Don’t panic? I am absolutely panicking. Where are we?”
He takes a hesitant step towards me, like he’s afraid I'm going to completely unravel. It’s not completely impossible. His face is grim, and I don’t think I’m going to like what he’s about to say. “We’re in the Spirit Rites.”
“Come again?”
He turns away from me, like he’s trying to figure out where we’re at. “We’re in the Spirit Rites.”
“I heard you the first time. Whatarethe Spirit Rites?”
He turns back to me with a guarded expression. “They’re a series of tests designed to determine whether you’re worthy of being,” he pauses. I stare at him, waiting for him to finish his thought. His jaw tightens as he continues. “The queen of our kingdom and also,” he breathes out a sigh. “My mate.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
I have absolutely no clue what to say right now. “You’re testing me to see if I’m...worthy?” I can barely form the words.
