House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(55)

He was philosophical. Never how I would have described myself, but I was starting to come around to his way of thinking. “Already marrying Xander and the last girl off,” I teased, needing to lessen the emotion for a beat. “Don’t you think he might want a say?”

Chase chuckled. “Xander is going to be the hardest to crack. He’s adamant that he’ll never settle down. He moves through women … not disrespecting them, but always making sure they know he’s not the serious kind. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

“Do they normally have marriages, or bonds and mates in House of Royale?”

“The caramina – tailed folk – are much more isolated in nature than most of the other houses. They live in pods that move together beneath the legreto. Honestly, no one knows that much about their families and relationships, but from the little I have learned from Xander, I think it’s possible that they do not have any traditional bonds. They tend to just switch and change partners whenever they get sick of each other. If a child results, that’s no problem, because they are raised in a collective, pretty much.”

“So, no one knows who the father is?” That kind of weirded me out. “Do they make sure not to get into relationships with someone younger? Just in case it’s their kid?”

Chase nodded. “Yes, that is generally the rule. Also, most young are sent to other pods. Like exchanges. It would be very rare for that sort of situation to arise.”

Still kind of creepy. I hadn’t met Xander yet, but I had some mental images of him that weren’t very flattering.

“You said tailed folk…” I blurted suddenly as I remembered that. “Like … literally? They have tails and swim under the water?”

Mermaids. My mental image of Xander changed completely, and now he was a hot, buff mermaid. God I was shallow.

“They can choose to have tails or legs. Under the water, I believe they mostly have tails, for the speed.”

“How long can they stay under water for?”

His smile grew and I had to shake my head to focus again. “Forever. They have a dual breathing system that allows them to filter the oxygen in the legreto. Again, they can choose which to utilize.”

That was so unfairly cool. “I’d love to see their world. It’s a bit annoying that I need oxygen out of water to breathe.”

Chase laughed, the sort of full-on laugh that transformed his face – beautiful to breathtaking. How was it even remotely possible this man was bonded to me?

“There is a way you can visit,” he told me, leaning down closer. I had no idea if he had been planning on kissing me, but I wasn’t missing that opportunity. I launched myself forward, pressing our lips together. He wore an odd expression as I pulled back, and I was about to get all embarrassed and stuff because I was not one to usually take the initiative like that, but then he wrapped his free arm around me and pulled me closer. My feet left the branches so that he could reach my mouth easily.

The mark on my stomach tingled, sending trills of sensation down my body into all the other parts that really liked Chase. “I wish Laous was dead,” Chase growled as he pulled back. “The fact that I can’t just keep kissing you right now makes me very unhappy.”

“The world has picked a very inconvenient time to need saving,” I agreed, my lips barely moving away from his.

His look was regretful as he lowered me back down, holding on until I was finally steady on my feet. “You’d better never die,” I warned him. “If you make me addicted and then leave, I’m going to be super annoyed.”

He didn’t laugh as I expected he might. He lowered his head to drop a kiss against my forehead. “You’re stuck with me, sayana, for now and always.”

“Sayana?”

“There is no literal translation to English,” he said, after seeming to think for a moment. “It’s more of a feeling. Something akin to ‘adore.’”

My tear ducts felt very sensitive all of a sudden, and I wondered why that one word suddenly felt like so much – like everything. It wasn’t even the normal four-letter word that most people aspired to hear.

Adore.

This was so very new for us both, and I knew how strong my feelings already were, but in that moment, adore was perfect.

Further conversation was cut off by a loud rustling in the trees. I ducked low; the noise was close and it sounded like there was more than one creature coming at me.

My heart stopped racing when my new friend flew into sight, the bear-owl. “Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “You’re okay. I wondered where you’d gotten to. I’m really glad you didn’t get squished.”

Chase wore a look of confusion, and when the bear-owl tried to fly closer, he stepped around me, blocking its path.

“What are you doing?” I asked, tapping him on the shoulder. “That’s my friend, it helped me find you.” Or at least tagged along for the ride.

The confusion he wore morphed into something like astonishment. “Maya,” he started slowly. “This is an oliconda. They’re one of the deadliest creatures in House of Leights. They’re strong, vicious, and can rip a Daelighter apart with their claws. Claws that secrete a very lethal poison.”

At first, I thought he was screwing with me, especially since he hadn’t thought twice about stepping between me and the oliconda. “Are you sure?” I finally asked. “I carried it on my shoulder for quite a while.”