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"I trust very little," I told him as I stared up at the twinkling stars and the glimmers of forces greater than ourselves. But my expression was blank as my emotions were shut down and locked away at the mention of fate and trust.
I felt his eyes assessing me, trying to understand my reaction, so I forced the tension in my body to fade as I turned to face him and changed the subject. "We should practice seeing and manipulating blood threads."
He blinked and then asked, "Is that what she sent us out here to do?"
"She is very astute." I allowed a small smile to crawl onto my face, and Zaide returned it.
"How do we do it?" He moved closer to me. The warmth of his body, the sight of his blood pulsing in his veins and the scent of it floating in the air … Zaide awakened every one of my senses.
I wanted to sink my teeth into his neck, taste him, but stopped myself from reaching up and pulling him to me. Just barely. Instead, I stepped back and bit my tongue, the pain allowing me to focus on the task at hand.
"It should be as natural as using your own power once we have …" I looked for a tactful way of putting it since he may not be quite as accepting as he said he was. "… consummated our bond. But for the moment, you'll need to touch me and seek out my power. It will respond, and you will see different threads."
He stepped closer, and I forced myself to stay still as I was once again overwhelmed with his closeness. He brushed a hand down my arm before clasping his large hand around mine, intertwining our fingers. He closed his eyes in concentration. Within seconds, I felt his power shift under my skin and search for mine. At their meeting, my body trembled with the force of the emotions and power as they coursed through me.
Darkness. This is … incredible.
His eyes popped open and then widened in shock as he looked at me through the veil of my power. "You are covered in red lines."
"Those are my blood threads."
"Can you see the healing threads I see?"
"I can." He was entangled in a long green thread which told me of his good health.
"What are blood threads? How do you use them?"
"All titan threads relate to a particular fabric of the universe. Blood is a key component for many living creatures, and I can manipulate those lines. I can cut the blood threads of beings and leave them to bleed out, or I can use their blood to control them, which is much more difficult, or I can tie them, causing clots. You get the idea." I trailed off when I saw his face pale slightly.
He was capable of violence, my strong soul mate, but he had a gentle soul that had been darkened with cruelty. I didn't want him to need to use my power, but despite his distaste for it, I knew he would use it if pushed to protect his family.
"It's not like that for healing," he murmured.
"Titan gifts can be threads of a physical nature or abstract. Blood is physical. But healing is abstract. You cannot touch it physically or manipulate it as you could if you could see the threads of gold. Therefore, your threads are wrapped around living things to show you their current state. If you were a cruel pair, you might see your threads as power over illness. You could take away health instead of giving it, turn red what was green, perhaps move the injury or disease from one place on the body to another."
He frowned. "I hadn't thought about it that way. No one corrected us when we believed it was healing."
I nodded, the knowledge from my fathers flooding out. "In the old days, I believe it was individual titans who announced their gift. For some, there is no one correct answer. Someone who could see threads in light could also be someone who controlled the dark. Our perception shapes everything."
Zaide’s gaze locked with mine, and he swallowed. "Will you use it as healing or to manipulate an illness?"
I wasn’t perturbed by his question. If I didn’t know the gentle soul of my mates, I would be concerned they could use my gifts for ill. Yet I couldn’t offer him reassurance. My soul was not gentle.
"I will use it as I use my own gifts—to benefit me. I have never been burdened with many morals, and when the situation calls for it, I am not afraid to protect myself with whatever means necessary." I watched his face carefully and noted the struggle in his eyes. "I will ask that you do the same so we do not end up dead for it."
He nodded slowly. "I understand and will do so, as I have before, but I don't think Clawdia will. Nor do I want her to dirty her pure heart with evil deeds."
"We will protect her as much as we can. Although she looks human and fragile, you must remember she holds the other half of your titan soul. She is strong. And in time, she will prove it."
Zaide frowned as he deliberated but changed the subject by asking, "How do I use your threads?"
I lifted our joined hands and turned them so my palm was facing up. "Look at my hand and focus on the threads.” His gaze lowered, and I could see in his eyes the focus he had as he stared at the threads weaving across my palm.
“Now cut them," I demanded.
He hesitated for a moment, his eyes flicking up to meet mine, then back down at the threads, before pain blossomed in my palm as the vessels were cut. I hissed as blood pooled under my skin.
"Pull," I grated out.
