Death Weavers by Brandon Mull

him. “You don’t work for my father?”
    â€œNo,” Cole assured her.
    â€œOr anyone who wishes me harm?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œYou’re with Mira and you’re trying to help me?”
    â€œYes.”
    Tessa gave a small smile. “I can tell when people are lying. You’re not. At least I don’t think so. Can I trust myself as an imprint? I feel normal, but I can’t feel my power anymore. Not at all.”
    â€œI’m here to help,” Cole said, and he meant it more than ever. Tessa was only two years his junior, but her small build, big eyes, and pretty face made her seem even younger. Anyone would want to protect her!
    â€œFather is looking for me too,” Tessa said. “I have to be careful what I share. Even when people mean well, they could accidentally give away clues.” Tessa looked young, but like Mira, she hadn’t aged for more than sixty years. Though still a kid, she had a lot of experience living on the run.
    â€œThe real you is already in trouble,” Cole said. “You’ve probably been caught. We’re not just trying to find you—we’re trying to rescue you.”
    â€œMother sent a young boy to rescue me?” Tessa asked.
    â€œWe have an adult with us,” Cole explained, trying not to feel inadequate.
    â€œDoes that mean there are other kids?” Tessa wondered.
    â€œWell, yeah, three others,” Cole said. “Four if you count Mira.”
    â€œWho sends kids against soldiers and evil weavers?”
    â€œWe’re what Mira has,” Cole said for want of a better reason. “We rescued Honor and got her power back. Constance too.”
    â€œYou found Costa?” Surprised joy lit up her expression.
    â€œAnd restored her power,” Cole said. Tessa’s excitement at the news helped him feel less defensive.
    â€œAll right, I’ll talk to you,” Tessa said. “Where do I begin? Tell Mira I’ve been all right. She always worries. After father took my weaving power, I didn’t feel like myself for years. I went around in a daze. You know the feeling when you forget something important you want to say? You just had it in mind, but then you can’t remember? I felt like that all the time. Something was missing.”
    â€œThat sounds terrible,” Cole said.
    â€œNot too bad,” Tessa said. “I just felt . . . off. More annoying than terrible. Anyhow, a few years ago, I started feeling more like myself again. I began to get impulses about where to go and what to do. I started saying things that disturbed people.”
    â€œDisturbed people?”
    â€œI used to do it all the time,” Tessa said. “I didn’t stop to think about what the words meant. They just showed up. That stopped after father took my power.”
    â€œThen your power started coming back,” Cole said. “It happened to your sisters too.”
    Tessa puckered her lips off to one side. “I don’t feel it now. My power, I mean. Being an imprint. But it was coming back. And people were after us.”
    â€œUs?”
    â€œMe and Leo,” she said. “My bodyguard. He didn’t come in here with me. I hope he’s all right.”
    â€œWhy’d you come here?” Cole asked.
    Tessa shrugged. “On a hunch. My hunches saved us a couple of times, so Leo was starting to trust them.”
    â€œWhere were you heading next?”
    â€œThat’s the big question,” Tessa said. “If you know where I went, you’ll run off to save me.”
    â€œIs that so bad?”
    â€œNot bad. I want to be saved. I just wish I could feel what would be best for you. And for Mira. And for me, too. The feelings were coming back to me. As an imprint, I don’t have the gift at all.”
    â€œWe’ll be careful,” Cole said.
    â€œYou’ll try,” Tessa said. “Honor tried too. She had some soldiers with her. If