Houses, that night Rue had called her his daughter.

"How dare you dishonor my House and my daughter this way, Ty!" Rue had yelled, his eyes red and his fangs fully extended. "You have broken all of our laws and I pass judgment on you now."

Ytrayi judgment was swift and brutal. Nothing Claire could say would have stayed Rue's hand.

Claire jerked, remembering the carnage. Her heartbreak. After Ty had been killed Claire had never felt so alone, not even after her mother had died.

Adam pulled back. "What's wrong? You're crying. Are my kisses really that bad?"

She allowed a smile to flicker over her mouth. "If Rue ever finds out we were together, he will tear you limb from limb." She paused. "Literally."

Adam sat up. "Claire, are you worried for me?"

She propped herself on her elbows. "Yes."

"That's very sweet, but I've had demons wanting to tear me up before and I've always managed to stop them."

She blinked, looked at him with solemn eyes. "You would not be able to stop the Cae of the Ytrayi. He's worse than an Atrika when properly motivated, when his control has snapped and he scents blood."

"Rue's kind of the baddest of the bad, huh? Why would he want to hurt me for touching you?"

She pursed her lips, thinking how to phrase her answer. "In their culture, the father is responsible for the females until they are mated. Under no circumstances are males allowed to touch unmated females. If a male does so, the father is honor bound to eviscerate them."

"Wow. I've always had a thing for dangerous sex, but that goes above and beyond."

"The catch is that I cannot be mated. It's against their law for an aeamon to mate a daaeman and since there are no aeamon males on Eudae… Also, Rue declared himself my guardian when I became his handmaiden. The night he caught me with Ty I discovered that meant he considered me his daughter and, as such, under this cultural law."

"You know, I'm beginning to really not like this guy, Claire. So you were supposed to remain a virgin for your entire life, then? And he would kill anyone who laid a hand on you?"

"Yes. As a female aeamon, I was the most defenseless individual in their culture and Rue was very protective of me. I was to remain untouched until the day I died, even though it wasn't fair to me and I did resent it."

"But I'm not a demon, Claire, I'm an aeamon male. What if I want to mate you?"

She smiled. "Are you asking to bind my life with yours for all eternity? Death do us part?"

"Uh."

Her smile widened. "Then you cannot touch me. Touch me and be eviscerated."

"Yeah, well, I don't live on Eudae. I don't play by their rules. You shouldn't either, Claire."

"If I did, I would've remained untouched for my entire life."