Page 12 of Spirit Rites

He takes a step back. “No.I’mnot 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 mein detailwhat 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 wordsqueen or mate.

“Wehave to survive.” His words confuse me.

“What?”

“Wehave 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.”