Rogue's Passion(34)

She frowned. “Fata-blood?”
He rapped his knuckles on his chest. “The magical blood of the Fates. Those who have it flowing in their veins have special abilities that others don’t have.”
“You mean Talents?”
He nodded.
“I’ve never heard it described that way. Are people like me common where you’re from?”
“I would never describe you as common, Liv. But yes, there are more people over there who are Talents.”
Children in Cascadia were told these stories about their birthright from the time they were born, so he was surprised Olivia didn’t know this. The fact that he had no special abilities didn’t matter. These oral histories were passed down to all Cascadians, whether they developed Talents or not. It was part of their heritage.
“Descendants of the Fates sometimes develop special abilities. The Pacifican Army wants to use those with Talents in order to gain power. Not only over my world, but to grow their influence in yours. Imagine what an army of Talents could do.”
She nodded in agreement.
He told her about the Obsidian Wars and the story of the three brothers. “Two were born with powers and one without, and together they controlled the three kingdoms. But eventually, there was a power struggle that stemmed from jealousy and greed. The one brother wanted what the other two had and war broke out between them. It lasted for many years and many people died, until finally the Fates stepped in and created the separate worlds, joined only by a few secret portals.”
She rubbed her forehead. “That story sounds vaguely familiar, but I’m not sure why. It makes sense, though. The army coerces those of us who develop Talents over here to work for them.”
“Yes.”
“Like my brother.”
“And you, too,” he said. “You’re wise to lie low and not draw unwanted attention to yourself. You don’t want to be drawn into this war.”
“There’s one thing I don’t understand. How did Vince and I grow up to have Talents? We’re Pacificans, not Cascadians.”
He gazed out the window, unsure of how much he should divulge. Some family secrets were best kept hidden. Especially tragic ones. And who was he to expose them? A stranger from another world. Although he had to admit, they weren’t exactly strangers, given how they’d spent the past twelve hours.
She must’ve sensed his reluctance, because her hand came down over his. “Tell me, Asher, I deserve to know why.”
“Yes, you do.” For thousands of years, people had been doing terrible things to each other, but it was often the children who suffered most. “It’s the army, Liv. They’ve been coming to our side for centuries. They come because…they steal our children.”
She gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles going albino white, horror and disbelief reflected in her eyes. “That’s impossible. I—we were born here. We’ve got baby pictures taken in the hospital. I’ve got our mother’s mismatched eyes. Vince has—had my father’s nose.”#p#分页标题#e#
He thought about that for a moment. “But what about your parents? Or their parents? Is it possible that one of them was born in Cascadia and stolen as a child? You could’ve inherited the fata-blood that way.”
Olivia’s hand flew to her mouth as the realization hit her. “Oh my God. My mother. She was adopted by my grandparents when she was two years old. She’d been told her birth mother didn’t want her anymore and had given her up for adoption. Her parents had been unable to have children of their own, but because they were older, they were not able to get an infant. My mom was already walking and talking when they got her.”
He exhaled slowly. “Of course, it’s possible that story is true, and your abilities came from an earlier relative, but if I were a betting man, I’d say they told your mother a lie.”
Olivia’s face fell. “A lie?”
It felt like he’d just thrown a brick through a window. He was shattering the beliefs she had about her heritage and family. You can’t undo a revelation like that.
“But my mother doesn’t have any special abilities. It’s just me and Vince.”
“Look at me,” he said, holding out his hands. “I don’t have any special abilities either, but it’s possible I could pass them along to my children someday. It’s very common for Talents to skip generations.” Neither of his parents had been Talents either, but his grandmother, with whom he’d lived for a short time after he’d left home, had been very gifted.
Olivia wiped a tear away with the heel of her hand. This was clearly very difficult for her to accept. How could it not be? Not only was it a lot to take in, he was probably botching the whole thing up. He was sure there were better, more sensitive ways to tell her what he just had. Let me buy you a fancy coffee and tell you how your whole life is based on a lie. He excelled more at action, not words.