Page 54 of In Her Own Rite

“Absolutely fucking not.”

“Why?” she asks. “Women have done the rite before. Saga did it. My aunt Dagmar, too.”

“It’s not about being a woman,” I say. “It’s about the fact that there’s a gang of bloodthirsty zealots running around the island, and I’m not gonna let you climb up a mountain high on drugs while they’re still around.”

“First of all, you don’t get to ‘let her’ do anything,” Maren says.

“No offense, Mare, but you can’t girlboss your way out of this one,” I snap. “The rite requires serious training.”

“I need at least a month, right?” Em says, glancing at Seb for confirmation. “I could take Gabe’s slot in March. That gives me six weeks. There’s no way they won’t have caught the rebels by then.”

“This is insane,” I say, bringing a hand to my head. “You can’t be serious. Guys, back me up.”

“I mean, yeah, it’s rushed. But it’s an idea,” Seb says. “Why not try, at least?”

“Because Em doesn’t train!” I snap. “I’d been training every day foryearsbefore I did the rite.”

“Okay, but the amount of time you spend working out isnotnormal,” Gabe says. “Seb trained for, what? A month?”

“Yeah, and look what happened to him,” I snap. “And he was in better shape than Em is now. He’s got, what? Six inches and forty pounds of muscle on her? She can’t do this!”

“Please don’t tell me what I can’t do,” Em says quietly.

I look down at her, sitting on the couch between Maren and Gabe. Even between the two of them, she looks small, ethereal, delicate. Like a fairy, not a warrior.

“Em, listen to me,” I say. “My rite was brutal. The amount of blood I lost was unreal. We fought until daybreak.”

“Okay, but every person’s rite is different,” she says. “The ancestors change the challenge for the person. We won’t fight the same thing.”

“Wewill,” I say weakly. “Tell me you don’t know what you’ll see up there.”

She looks at me, silent.

“Well,Ithink it’s cool as fuck,” Quinn says.

“Yeah, same,” says Maren.

“So one of you do it, then,” I say, throwing my hands in the air.

“I would,” Maren says. “I’d try the training, at least. But if Em wants to do it, I’m not going to take that from her.”

“This is insanity. How can you guys not see how insane this is? People havedieddoing the rite.”

“That hasn’t happened in decades,” Gabe says. “Not even since our parents’ time. Worst case, she taps out, and then we’re back where we started.”

“Isthatthe worst that happens?” I ask. “Some people leave their rite in pain for the rest of their lives. Some peoplein this room, in fact.”

The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, and instantly, I feel awful. It’s not Seb’s fault, what happened to him. But it’s true—his leg has been fucked since the night of his rite, and even the years of physical therapy haven’t been able to take the pain away. I’d do anything to go back in time and do it differently. To be in his training pack. To stop him from fighting too early.

“She can learn from my mistakes,” Seb says. “I’m not saying it’s a good idea. But if she wants to do it, we can try. I can try to train her.”

“Dude.” I look at him. “Would you letyourgirl go up there and risk her life for this? For ahouse?”

“I trust Maren to handle herself,” he says. “She doesn’t need my permission to do what she wants. If Em wants to try, we should let her try.”

“Wait, since when is Emyourgirl?” asks Quinn.

“We don’t have time to unpack that right now,” Maren mutters.

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