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“Threads?” I turned back to Ryder.
He stepped closer, pulling me into his embrace. “Yes. See?” He picked up the multi-colored thread that resembled some kind of umbilical cord, twisted in every shade of the rainbow.
“Where does the thread start?” I asked, looking for where it entered his body.
“My navel, of course.” He laughed lightly. “It’s a ghoul thing.”
It was cute, in a weird way. “Why is it so colorful?”
“Every emotion and facet of my personality, my unique abilities and skills, they all combine to make this thread. It begins a solid color at our birth and then thickens and changes, growing longer and more colorful as we age.”
Huh. Interesting. “It’s so odd,” I admitted. “We don’t keep ours after birth.”
“No, and you wouldn’t want to nor need it.” He paused and lifted my hand to his thread, nearly touching. “Once you touch mine, we’ll be forever linked. This isn’t physical like a human consummation. A ghoul’s thread isspiritual. It’s the source of my power, angel.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
He smiled and his whole face took on a boyish quality that was at once endearing and sweet. “Yes. Ready?”
I exhaled a deep breath and nodded as my hand closed around the warm thread, Ryder’s hand over mine as a pulse throbbed beneath my palm. My whole body trembled as awhooshof power and sudden knowledge flooded my brain.
I gasped as I saw Ryder as an infant, held in a woman’s arms and lovingly snuggled close. A man kissed his forehead and picked him up, swinging Ryder around as a toddler as he laughed and squealed. Another set of images of him as a youth, a teenager, and then a young adult emerged. Milestones and specific moments that must have been pivotal to his growth and development into the man he was flashed across my mind and picked up speed until I felt dizzy and nearly nauseous.
Throughout the quick succession of memories was an undercurrent of joy and laughter, emotion, and a ready enthusiasm for life. Ryder was a unique and interesting man who was open, honest, and full of warmth and passion.
The memories slowed down until they stopped on the first time Ryder saw me during Samhain. I felt every emotion in his chest as his attraction, desire, and curiosity became my own. Each moment we saw one another, every laugh, every word he spoke were seared into my brain. They joined the images from his childhood and adolescence until I kneweverythingabout him – his strengths and weaknesses, his desires, and dislikes, and even his mistakes and successes.
His joy becamemine.
His sorrow becamemine.
His burdens. His needs. Every part of the manandthe ghoul.
I felt my body collapse as he caught me, overcome with the extent of this knowledge. “My Cassie!” he called out; his voice tight with concern.
My vision cleared as Ryder’s face focused into view. “You . . . you’re . . . mine,” I whispered in awe.
“Yes,” he confirmed with deep conviction. “Always.”
Trembling with emotion, I pulled him close until our lips met. This kiss was different, deeper, stronger, more powerful than any kiss I’d had before. “Ryder,” I finally managed to whisper. For the first time, I noticed the tears that glistened in his eyes.
“Cass, my angel, I feel so much from you.” He shook his head. “Your loss, your parents, your suffering . . . I’m so sorry for everything you’ve had to endure.”
“Did you see my childhood? All my memories?” The thought was a little disconcerting. No one knew my pain. I hid it well and wasn’t inclined to dwell upon it. Living in the past was something I never indulged. Only the present and the future mattered.
“You don’t have to worry with me,” he assured. “I amyours. Every secret is safe.” His forehead lowered to mine. “I will guard and protect you until I no longer exist.”
“Ryder, does this mean we’re bonded?”
“Yes, it’s actually much more to a ghoul. It’s a form of marriage, but not in the sense that humans think of it. It’s a merging of hearts, memories, and power. You will gain a portion of my abilities over time.”
Nowthatwas cool. A witch with ghoul abilities likesoul touch? How awesome was that?
Until I remembered he liked to feast on zombie flesh.
“I’m not eating anyone’s brains,” I replied, nearly gagging.
He laughed hard and shook his head. “It won’t be like that,” he assured me. “I promise.”
