Page 42 of Spirit Rites

“It’s beautiful.” I’m still a little in awe of it.

Harper cuts a glance my way. “I thought you didn’t like water.”

“I don’t like swimming, but this is gorgeous.” At her skeptical look, I nod towards the water. “You don’t like this?”

“I don’t have to like it here.” She leaves off the implied,You do. “It’s too warm for me.”

I put my hands out and let the sun soak in. “I think it feels amazing. I can’t believe how warm it is here still.”

“It’s too much moisture for me.”

I do understand what she’s saying. It definitely is different than what we’re used to. I can literally feel the water in the air, and it feels a little thick. But I’m sure I’ll get used to it. In fact—

“Where are all the people?”

Harper’s voice cuts into my thoughts. I look around, seeing what she is. “I don’t know.”

“Maybeshecan tell us,” Harper says dryly.

I turn and see a woman with shoulder-length dark hair walking towards us. I watch her a moment and wonder if the better word is striding. She’s definitely on a mission. “You’re awake,” she says when she gets close. “Good. You weren’t out very long then. And your arm? It’s not giving you any pain, correct? If it is, we can get more of the freezing salve. Anything else on you hurt? Kal didn’t really say, not that I expected him to. Men, right? Details are trivial to them.” She waves a hand as if to swat something away. All I can do is stare at her because I thoughtItalked a lot. I’m pretty sure this woman has me beat. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Where are my manners? I’m Maelin, but almost everybody calls me Mae.” I blink and realize she has her hand out.

“Oh, I’m Kinsley.”

“Yes, I know.” Her smile is bright, and I can’t help but return it.

She turns to Harper, who is less than friendly. “Harper. The friend.”

“So good to meet you, Harper,” Mae says warmly. I decide that I like this woman. Anyone who doesn’t let Harper’s attitude bother them is good people.

“Well, we should probably get going. The entire assembly is gathered and waiting for you.”

I stare at her and try to compute what she’s saying. “An assembly?”

“Yes. Oh, don’t look like that. It’s not that big a deal. It’s not the Jade Ceremony yet; you’re not being judged or anything today.”

Her words don’t bring an ounce of calm the way she seems to think it does. “I’m being judged?” My voice comes out higher than I intended.

“Kal didn’t tell you?”

I glance at Harper, but she’s absolutely no help. She simply shrugs like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “Uh, no. Kaldar didn’t tell me anything.”

“You call him Kaldar? His full name? That’s so cute. I can’t believe he didn’t tell you about it. I’ll talk to him. He needs to keep you in the loop on things. Otherwise, how else are you going to know what’s going on?”

I honestly don’t know what to do with this woman. She’s overwhelming, but I’m not sure it’s a bad thing quite yet. “Um, Mae, do you think you could just tell me where Kaldar is? Maybe I can just talk to him and—”

“He’s with the assembly. I can take you there.”

“Are they having like a meeting, though? Shouldn’t I wait until they’re done?”

“No. Of course not. You’re Kal’s mate. Everybody expects you to be with him all the time, especially in the early stages of your mating. Everybody knows what it’s like. Well, not everybody if somebody hasn’t—”

“Mae, take a breath,” a new voice says, startling me. I turn to see one of Kaldar’s warriors from the journey here—Taren, the one who retrieved the antidote for us. I watch in fascination as her cheeks turn pink. It makes her look younger, and I suddenly wonder if she’s much closer to our age than I first assumed.

“Taren, lurking as usual,” she says, recovering.

Taren smirks. “I’m not lurking.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Then what are you doing?”