Death Weavers by Brandon Mull Page A

you’re here, Honor failed. If Honor couldn’t do it, what are Mira and some kids going to do?”
    Cole remembered Desmond and Oster, knights from Blackmont Castle who had joined Honor in her quest to find Destiny. “We have to try,” Cole said. “We can get more help if we need it. Mira will never give up on you.”
    â€œI know,” Tessa said. “But maybe she should.”
    â€œNot going to happen,” Cole said. “We’ll just end up looking for you with less information. It’ll take longer. Mira will be in more danger.”
    â€œI guess,” Tessa said reluctantly. “When I first arrived to this cave, I didn’t know what I was looking for. That’s how it always used to work. I said what I felt, did what I felt, and interesting things would follow. Back home at the castle, I was never in danger, but people around me always told me how what I said or did changed their lives. Sometimes it was good. Saved their marriage. Helped their business. Cured their cat.”
    â€œYou cured cats?” Cole asked.
    â€œI shared some recipes,” Tessa said. “Just don’t ask me to remember them. The words spilled out. I didn’t know how people would take them.”
    â€œYour mom has a gift like that,” Cole said. “Knowing things.”
    â€œWe had some things in common,” Tessa said. “But hers was different from mine. Nobody was like me. My gift is . . . weird. Poor Mother.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI would always say the most dreadful things to her.”
    â€œLike what?”
    Tessa rolled her eyes and extended her arms like a sleepwalker, then spoke in haunted tones. “You will lose everything you love most. Enemies plot behind every door. Your joy will turn to ashes, your peace to turmoil, your dreams to ruins.” She lowered her arms, and her voice returned to normal. “I was fun at parties.”
    â€œThose words just came?”
    â€œI couldn’t resist,” Tessa said. “Mother loved me, I think, but she didn’t like speaking to me. She started avoiding me.”
    â€œWhat you told her kind of came true,” Cole said.
    â€œDoesn’t make me fun to be around. Who wants bad news? Not many people liked speaking to me.”
    â€œWhat about the people you helped?”
    â€œI like to think about them. But my messages didn’t always help. What if some girl started telling secrets from your past that could destroy your career? I got people arrested. I ended friendships. I could be scary. What if I explained how your cousin felt when he drowned, though you didn’t know what I meant at the time and it didn’t happen until the next day?”
    â€œFreaky,” Cole said.
    Tessa brightened. “Mira liked me, though. I never knew things about her. Words didn’t come when we were alone.”
    â€œNever?”
    â€œNot once.”
    â€œDid you ever try?”
    Tessa’s face grew serious. “I never tried. With anyone. I couldn’t stop the feelings or cause them.”
    â€œDid you miss your feelings when they were gone?” Cole asked, wondering if it might have been a relief.
    â€œI did,” Tessa said. “More than I would have guessed. I didn’t know how much my power guided me until it was gone. When my abilities started to come back, my life was more dangerous than before. The feelings have helped me.”
    â€œWhat did you learn here?” Cole asked.
    Tessa frowned. “Are you sure I should tell you? Mira is with you. My power doesn’t work as an imprint. I have no feel for whether telling you will be good or not. It could be so dangerous.”
    â€œI told you: we’re not going to stop looking for you,” Cole said. “You might as well help us.”
    Tessa covered her eyes with both hands, as if trying to hide. “Have you heard of Gamat Rue?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThe old prison?