Threads That Bind (Threads That Bind, #1)

by Kika Hatzopoulou

Io could wield patience like a weapon.

Her envy wasn’t the noxious kind. Her heart just craved. The softness, the calm, the intimacy. To know what it’s like to be loved.

“You might survive,” Io told Edei, “but tolerating wickedness seems to me just a slow kind of death.”

Edei’s laugh echoed down the busy street. A breathtaking sound; Io wished for a bottle so she could distill it. Open it on sleepless nights and lull herself to sweet dreams—gods. She really was a weirdo.

“If he seizes you, remember that you feel fear every day and yet you keep going.” “Feel your fear and keep going anyway. By Edei Rhuna.” Chimdi said it as though she was quoting from a great wordsmith.

“Listen, I wanted to tell you earlier that, um. I think you’re right. About tolerating violence being a violence in itself.” She hadn’t quite said it that way, but his words were almost better. Deeper.

“Discussing the future like it’s something concrete, like our fates are inescapable, theirs to decipher like pages in a worn, weathered book. Destiny robs us of choice, and I can’t live like that. I won’t.”

“I think the people we love can be cruel. Our love doesn’t absolve them. Nor should it.” “What kind of person are you,” Edei whispered, “if you love someone who is cruel?” It was a question Io had often asked herself. She opened her mouth, closed it. Tried again. “You’re someone who loves. That’s it. That’s the only part that’s yours to give and yours to take.” This was one of those lessons you had to speak to hear, wasn’t it?