Heart Song (Forbidden Mates, #3)

by Heather Guerre

“I’ve been told that humans can swim in water.” Theyma smiled. “You can’t swim?” Rakhnar frowned. “You really can? No. You don’t have fins. Your bones are too heavy.” Theyma laughed. “I really can swim. Lots of humans can. I didn’t learn until I was older, but people who grow up around bodies of water often learn when they’re small children. Human infants can swim by pure instinct.” “No.” She laughed again. “I am completely serious! Humans can swim!” Rakhnar had to accept that she was telling him the truth. Which made the other rumors, fantastical as they were, suddenly possible. “You can’t… fly?” Theyma gave him a strange look. “Of course I can’t.” She held out her slender, scaleless arms. “I don’t have wings.” “You don’t have fins either!” She laughed, folding her arms back in against her body. “What about your teeth?” She touched her mouth. “What about them?” “If you damage a tooth, it does not grow back?” “Yours grow back?” “Yours truly don’t?” “No. I mean, we get two sets, basically. We get baby teeth, but those fall out and are replaced by adult teeth. If we lose adult teeth, we have to be able to afford dental prosthetics, or just live with the missing teeth.” Rakhnar couldn’t fathom it. It was like being told that damaged scales or claws wouldn’t grow back. “Do your other body parts generate?” she asked. Rakhnar stared at her, momentarily frozen by an appalling thought. “Do none of your body parts regenerate?” “What?” “Your skin—the medical AI said you exhibited de...