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. What are the 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.
He takes a step back. “No. I’m not doing anything.”
I continue to stare at him. “And yet...here we are.”
“Here we are,” he echoes.
I rub my hand over my forehead; I feel like I’m losing my mind. “Your Highness—”
“Kal,” he corrects.
“Kal, Kaldar, whatever. Would you please explain to me in detail what is happening here before I lose my mind?”
He keeps his eyes on mine, and I resist the urge to look away. “The Spirit Rites are a ritual that every ruling power in the Jaguar Kingdom undergoes to test their worthiness before being crowned king. Or queen, in your case. Though we haven’t had a queen enter the rites in a long time.”
“Why not?” That’s the only question I can process right now.
“Because we haven’t had a soul match in a long time in the Jaguar Kingdom. Normally, the next king is pulled into the Spirit Rites when he takes the crown. I went through the Rites when I was crowned king two years ago.”
That catches my attention. “You’ve already done this?” He nods. “And you survived?”
One side of his lip tugs up into a smirk. “Yes.”
“Because we haven’t had a soul match; no female has done them in a really long time.”
“I still don’t understand. Why not?”
“Because all of our kings’ mates have all been women with spirit animals.
If you have a spirit animal, they cannot detach from you.
So, if one of our queens came into the Spirit Rites, she’d have her spirit jaguar with her and would use the strength of her jag to survive the rites.
Because Veyra is corporal, she is her own entity.
Therefore, you can enter the rites without her; and you can’t pull from her strengths. ”
“So, you’re saying that I have to survive some kind of test to prove I am worthy to be...” I still can’t bring myself to say the words queen or mate.
“We have to survive.” His words confuse me.
“What?”
“We have to survive. I’m here with you.”
“Is that normal?” I ask.
“No. Normally, you would have to survive them all on your own.”
I frown. “Then why are you here?”
“I wasn’t going to let you come here all on your own.” His words take me by surprise, and I don’t really know what to say. “I knew what was happening. That’s why I held on; so you would take me with you when you got sucked in.”
“You knew this was going to happen?” My words are nearly a shriek. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have at least tried to prepare.”
“I wasn’t planning on them happening so soon. I was going to explain all of this to you first and also make sure we were both prepared.” He grimaces. “That sort of failed when you fell into me.”
“What do you mean?”
He blows out a breath. “The Rites start the first time we touch.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“That’s why I’ve avoided being close to you, so we didn’t accidentally touch until we’re ready for this.”
I throw both my hands up. “Why in the world wouldn’t you tell me this?”
“I didn’t know you were going to touch me. I was going to explain everything.”
I stare at him in shock. “Why didn’t you say, ‘Don’t touch me!?’ I would have gotten that.”
He gives a small shake of his head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re here now.”
I rub my hand across my forehead. I can’t even right now. “I literally just survived the Spirit Trials. How can this be my reality?”
“I know it’s not ideal.”
“Not ideal?” I shriek, nearly in hysterics. “We have nothing. No food, no water, no extra clothes, no weapons...and we have to survive here in...in...where even are we? Was it like this when you were here?”
“No, every time it’s different.”
I can’t keep my panic at bay. I fan my face. “I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
He turns back to me. “It’s the heat and extreme humidity.
It’s an exaggeration of the heat and humidity of our kingdom.
” Now that he says that, I can’t seem to stop sweating.
I wipe my face; it’s already soaked. At this rate, we’re simply going to melt.
Kaldar reaches back and grips the back of his black shirt and pulls it up and over his face in a flash.
I’m left staring because...well, because it’s Kaldar.
I already knew the guy was incredibly good-looking.
Did he have to take it to the next level?
I swallow at all that tan skin and muscles on display.
I swallow and force my gaze away. Right in time too because he turns back to me.
“I guess you don’t have any clothes you can take off to help you cool down. ”
I stare at him as my mind is incapable of processing what is happening right now.
I’m usually a nice person. I leave the snark to Harper and the aggression to Farrah, but something about all this is making me lose my cool.
“No, Kaldar. I don’t have any clothes I can take off.
I also have no water, no weapons, and no food.
But I already mentioned that. This is—” The ground beneath us rumbles, and I stop midsentence. “What is that?”
He moves back a few steps, so that he’s standing closer to me.
He has a sword in hand, and I’m thankful he keeps a weapon on him.
I scowl at the thought of what Rysden would say to me right now.
He's always adamant about keeping a weapon on us at all times.
Farrah would have a knife on her; she always does.
Kaldar pulls a knife from a sheath somewhere on him and hands it to me.
“Take this.” His voice is low and urgent. The ground rumbles again.
“What is that?” I ask again.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s big.”
I stare at the back of his head, wishing I was Harper right now to give some kind of snarky comeback because really?
“No kidding,” I mutter under my breath. The ground rumbles again, and I tighten my grip on my knife.
The bushes around us start shaking, and I spin around, trying to find the threat.
Suddenly, the ground a few feet away splits open.
I stifle the scream threatening to burst from my throat.
I have less than a second to decide what to do.
Before I can make a decision, strong arms wrap around me and I’m pulled off my feet.
I’m in the air for a precious second or two, and then I’m on solid ground again.
I whirl around to look and see that the ground where I was just standing is gone.
There’s a huge divide between us and the other section of land now.
As if it’s sentient, the land opening turns and starts towards us.
Kaldar shoves me forward. “Run!” I don’t stop to think; I just run.
The ground continues to vibrate and shake, and I don’t have to look back to know the ground is being cleaved in half behind us.
I’m not exactly sure what the plan is, but for now, it’s run and don’t fall in the giant ravine.
I’m in the best shape of my life with having just come through the trials and all the training Rysden made us do, but the panic building in my chest and the cloying humidity make it feel impossible to breathe.
I feel like I'm trying to breathe underwater. I suck in a deep breath and choke on it. “Faster,” Kal shouts from behind me. I trip over something and nearly go sprawling, but Kaldar grabs my arm and tugs me up. “We can’t outrun it!” he shouts from behind me.
“We have to clear it. Maybe the change in direction will slow it down. Go right!” I redirect and run towards the right.
“When I say, turn and we’ll jump over it. ”
“What? That's a crazy idea!” I shout as we run.
“We have to try! Get ready. Wait just a second for it to pass us and then jump. The divide gets bigger the longer it stays open.”
This is a terrible idea.
“Ready? One, two, three. Go!”
I turn directly towards the oncoming divide and wait just a split second for it to pass me before I jump over it.
Kal is just a second or two behind me, but it’s already wider for him to cross than it was for me.
“Run!” Kaldar shouts, pushing me forward.
“Cover as much ground as we can before it turns.” We run fast, but it’s not long before it’s right behind us again.
“We can’t keep outrunning it,” he shouts, stating the obvious. “We have to find a way to stop it.”