Was "thread" the Aedh word for DNA? Is that what she was going to do—insert her DNA into mine? What the hell would that do to me? Make me more Aedh? Make me more like them?
"Yes," she said. "And no."
"Well, that fucking answers the question, doesn't it?"
She didn't react to the anger in the statement. No surprise there, I guess. "You will become more fully Aedh than you currently are, and your skills will therefore be stronger, but it will not affect your overall humanity."
The way she said "humanity" made it all too clear that she meant "emotion," and that was a huge relief. As much as I'd enjoyed being with Lucian, I didn't want to be like him emotionally. Hell, the only thing he seemed passionate about—aside from sex—was revenge.
"But won't my father sense such an insertion?" I was his daughter, after all, and he could trace my whereabouts thanks to that fact. Surely that same connection would inform him that something had been altered within me.
"Your father cares as much for the human part of your nature as any Aedh ever does. As long as that is retained—however minor it might be—he will not notice the change." The tone was still smug, and yet oddly kind. Like a parent talking to an obtuse child.
I guess if she intended to weave her DNA through mine she technically could be considered a parent.
"But he can read my thoughts as easily as you lot. It's illogical to think he won't know."
"Which is why you will not remember exactly what we have done," she replied. "In fact, we bet your life on this."
Fuck, they were going to alter my memories. Then the rest of her words sank in and my gut began to churn even harder. "What do you mean, you're betting my life on it?"
"Hieu will not risk our regaining control of the keys, so if he does notice the insertion, he will kill you."
Maybe. Maybe not. After all, my father seemed overly determined to get the keys for his own nefarious reasons, and I was his only way of doing that when he had no physical form here on earth.
But then, what did I really know about the man who was my parent? He'd been one of the Raziq, had worked with them to create the keys. They surely had more of an insight to his character than I did.
"How will this insertion help you capture my father?"