Page 67 of Kiss of Light

“Hey. When we get back to Palissandra, we can tell your father the truth about what happened. He’ll lift the death sentence, and he’ll turn against Salaq because of what Ravij did to you. Win win.”

He looked at her, amused.

“Palissandra? Outsiders don’t visit Palissandra, shaitun. Vetali don’t look kindly on people who aren’t their own kind.”

“Sounds suspiciously like discrimination to me.”

“Oh, one hundred percent. That’s how my father has operated his realm for centuries.”

“So what happens when a Vetali brings home a girlfriend who isn’t a bloodsucker?” she asked playfully. He looked down at their threaded fingers before answering.

“Vetali don’t date, as such,” he said carefully. “It’s one reason I left Palissandra in the first place. As the heir I was expected to find a partner, and I decided I wanted some fun first.”

“How are you supposed to find a partner if you don’t date?”

“We have mates selected for us.”

“You… what?” She looked at him, eyes wide in astonishment. “Someone chooses your partner for you?”

“Not someone. Something.In a word, fate.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s an evolutionary thing. You already know that Vetali can’t change other species into Vetali by biting them, don’t you? That’s just an old wives’ tale.”

She nodded.

“I knew that. Humans think they can become vampires by being bitten or drinking their blood, which is horse-shit. But I’ve never really thought about how you, um, reproduce before.”

“Vetali can only bond with someone they’re compatible with. The partnership is unbreakable. And there’s no telling where or when we’ll meet our chosen mate. It happens when it happens.”

“And this person you bond with… you can have children with them?”

“There is a ritual. Old magic. Powerful. It makes the female fertile. It’s the only way Vetali can reproduce.”

She felt her chest constrict and carefully kept her expression neutral.

“How do you know when you’ve met the right one?”

He turned to look down at her.

“I’m told the feeling is unmistakable. A double thump of the heart. An absolute knowledge that the person you’ve found is undeniably, indisputably yours.”

“Oh.”

If she asked, he thought, he’d tell her. That the first time he’d set eyes on her, all the things he’d described had happened.

But she didn’t.

She turned away and busied herself putting her blade back in its holster.

“We need to pick up the pace,” she said shortly. “There’s still a few hours walk ahead of us.”

Twenty Seven

They jogged the rest of the way. She was glad of the physical exertion. The faint burn in her muscles distracted her from what she’d just learned of Vetali culture.

Lemar was the heir to Palissandra. Somehow, in the chaos of the last few days, and in the passion they’d shared so recently, she’d conveniently let that fact slip her mind.

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