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Charlie scoffed. “Modesty is for losers.”
“Modesty used to be for winners.” I raised an eyebrow in challenge.
“Well, I’m sorry that it’s not like it was in the good old days, Grandma.”
“Grandma?” I gasped, my mouth dropped open in shock, and my hand flew to my chest.
He grinned. “You heard me.”
I glared and pointed my finger at him. “You’re skating on thin ice, mister. Just you wait until we are out of this cave.”
His eyes darkened, and his smile turned seductive. “What are you going to do?”
“I-I-I’ll tie your shoelaces together, laugh when you fall, and then roughly disinfect your scraped knees.”
He choked on a chuckle. “Ruthless.” He picked up my hand and whispered, “But you know better than to play nurse with me, Clawdia.”
My breath caught. “I do?”
“You do now. I might play back.” He chuckled as my cheeks burned, and I suddenly became aware of how close we were. My eyes dropped to his lips, and the temptation to lean over and kiss him was palpable.
A grunt from behind us suddenly brought me back to my surroundings. A cave. Trapped. With my soul pair only inches away.
My head snapped toward him, but his eyes were closed, and his head was leaning back against the wall.
What am I doing?
Flirting with Charlie, while a lifelong dream, was betraying my bond with Zaide. A bond that he just met his gods to have. To save me.
Guilt rolled in my stomach, and I drew back from him and sighed, resting my head on my knees, hugging my legs.
I am a terrible soul pair. Something is obviously wrong with Zaide, and I’m too busy flirting with Charlie. For shame, Clawdia.
Charlie must have come to the same conclusion, because I saw a flicker of regret as he repositioned himself. He licked his lips in a nervous action, which sent my pulse skyrocketing.
I tilted my head, alarmed. “Charlie?”
“There’s something else you need to know,” he said, staring at Zaide.
I followed his gaze but couldn't see anything alarming other than Zaide's quietness and distant behavior. I turned back to meet Charlie's gaze. “What?”
“Zaide's gods … they saved you for a price.”
I whipped my head to face Zaide. He didn’t even glance my way. I wondered at his unusual behavior and panicked. “Zaide, no.”
“It was a price he would happily pay again. So would I. Don't worry.” He placed a cold hand on my shoulder, and I shivered.
My head spun with thoughts of what he could have given to them. I thought about his disinterest and spiraled from there. Was it his magic? Our bond? His mind?
My voice wobbled as I said, “You’re making it worse. Just tell me. What is it? What did they want?”
He ran his hand down my arm and picked up my hand to play with my fingers as he quickly explained, "The titans are suffering. With so many as slaves, they’re losing hope and losing their faith in their gods. Not only that, but with the birth pool gone, there are no new titans to teach about the gods. The gods want them free and back to worshiping them. They want us to do it.”
There was silence as my brain raced to process the information. "Why can't they do it themselves?"
Charlie shrugged. "They can't directly interfere with other realms, and titan slaves are sold in many places. At least, that’s what they told Zaide."
I nodded slowly as relief and calm settled in my mind. “Oh. Well, that’s an honorable task at least.”
