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fate and closed themselves off to her desperation. But why would they? She’d come here for help. Surely at one point all of them must have been in her shoes before approaching the clique?
    “Your father is one of the most powerful vampires in France. In the whole of Europe. Did you know this?” Mati asked.
    “Yes,” she answered.
    Mati continued, “He arranged this mating because it would unite your coven with another strong and wealthy coven making both more powerful.
    “What you do not know, or perhaps neglected to tell us, is that upon your birth, those two males you were arranged to marry were brought to your cradle side and allowed to gaze upon you.”
    “I had no idea.”
    “When you opened your eyes and gazed upon them, it was said the males felt something stir between them. A stirring deep within themselves, allowing them to feel each other’s emotions and read each other’s minds. And for the briefest of moments they were able to read and feel yours as well.”
    What did this have to do with anything? So the males could read each other’s minds. Surely it had nothing to do with her.
    “This stirring is very rare. So rare that when something like that takes place, the future males and female must be kept separate. This is done in order for the female’s body to fully develop before being re-introduced to the males. She is usually of the age of two centuries, as you are now, when she is able to handle the links to both males naturally. This abstinence allows the males’ emotional, body and mind links to grow strong between them. Only when their links are strong are they fully able to tap into the female. But that can only happen when they meet again. Usually as per Traditionalist ways, at the mating ceremony. Which you ran from.”
    As Juliette listened to Mati , she felt as if the woman was speaking about someone else. Not her. As if this had nothing to do with her need for independence.
    “Have you been told of this?” Mati asked softly, perhaps sensing Juliette’s confusion.
    Juliette shook her head. “No, I was never told this. I had always thought I had never met them. But I don’t see what that would have to do with me. If anything the thought of two males reading my mind and dominating my thoughts makes me wish to avoid such control at all costs,” she replied truthfully.
    Mati nodded. “As I thought. You don’t understand what this means. It changes things and does make them more complicated.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    Mati sighed, seemingly not wanting to proceed. Not wanting to shatter Juliette’s dreams perhaps?
    “If Vampira accepted you and some day you meet these males, even by accident, you would find it extremely hard to resist them. Much harder than the average female. It is why Vampira sisters have overwhelmingly voted against accepting you into the Sisterhood. You are an extreme risk to the safety of Vampira because if you defy the rules we would have no choice but to oust you. And, unfortunately, by then the mind erase would not work, as it works best when the memory is fresh.”
    Devastation flooded Juliette. She suddenly wished she had been sitting instead of standing here in front of all these females.
    A wave of lightheadedness swept over her and she clutched the fireplace mantel to keep from sinking to her knees in utter devastation. They didn’t want her . The words slammed into her like stakes through the heart.
    Mati continued to speak and her voice seemed to be coming through some long, desolate tunnel. “Having explained their reasons, however, doesn’t make the decision final.”
    Juliette’s head snapped up and a hushed murmur swept through the room as some of the females began whispering among themselves . “W-what do you mean?”
    “It means that I, as the leader of Vampira , am always left with the power of overturning their decisions. I have never used that veto power.”
    Again the claws of rejection swept through Juliette.
    “That is, until