Dark Weaver (Weaver Series) (12 page)

“I’m not a master weaver like you Jo, but I can shift and or,
appropriate weaving abilities if I combine my efforts with the sacred sand,” he said.

“Is that how you restored my gift in the mine?”  I asked.

“Yes, I reclaimed your abilities from Railey that night.”

“Is there more that you haven’t shared Kess?”
  I could tell by the expression on his face that he wasn’t done revealing secrets.

Kess used his hands as he spoke and made a gesture
as if he was holding an invisible box.  He held his hands out in front of Pepper and then in front of Peter.  “I sort of robbed from the Sands of Time, and then sort of shifted your gift to your brother.”

Pepper made her squeamish face and I knew exactly what she must have been thinking by the expression on Kessler’s face.  “Pep, I
had to retrieve his body to pour the sand from the vial into his mouth.  You can see he’s fine now.  If I could have transferred everything mentally, I would have but I had no choice.”

I could have done without those
gruesome details myself, but there was no denying the results of his efforts.  Pepper shivered.  “Okay, so let’s not talk about that part,” she shivered and regained her composure.  “so that was it?” she asked.

“Well, yeah pretty much.  Once his abilities were restored,
he was able to pull himself back. – I’m sorry, it was the only way.”

“So…I’m not a
weaver anymore?”  Pepper asked tentatively.

“No, but—“

Pepper didn’t give him a chance to expand on this, she literally squealed and jumped up to hug Kess.  My jaw dropped.  She wasn’t angry…she was thrilled.

“I think you’re amazing Kessler, and I cannot thank you enough for what you have done.”

“Oh my good gravy Pepper!  You’re seriously okay with this?”

“Of course I am!  Now I can have a normal life with Marty!  Besides, Peter was always the good one and now he’s back so I’m totally fine with this.  Oh, I’m sorry, I guess I won’t be able to be your
mender anymore Jo.”

“Are you kidding me?”  I said with a laugh.  “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy!”  Kess took his hat off and wiped his brow with the back of his hand before smiling
broadly at me.

“See, everything worked out.”

“You knew she didn’t want to be a weaver anymore didn’t you?”

“I did, but she only came to that
decision recently so I just worked with what I had, and it sort of rolled from there.”

“Get over here you nut,”
I said.  Kess removed his hat and set it on the coffee table then cuddled up next to me and buried his head in my lap.  He was clearly relieved that his efforts had not only worked, but they hadn’t upset anyone.

“So now that we have a master
weaver on deck, what’s our plan?”  I asked, anxious to ensure that my family was safe.

“Well, there’s one more thing that we need to do first,”
Kess said, giving Peter a meaningful glance.

Peter cleared his throat.  “I want to give you my abilities Joey.”

Two things ran through my head very quickly:  Why, and how. 

“Because like my sister, I want a normal life.
  I just want to make my music, and I don’t want the risk or the responsibility anymore.  Believe me, I’ve had plenty of time to think about this.”

Pepper patted her brother’s hand.  “I think that’s a good choice
Pete, and I also think you should move to Atlanta.  There’s lots of opportunities for us to make our music there, and you’re going to love Marty!  I’ll bet you guys become the best of friends right off.”

“Atlanta
again, I don’t think so.  Been there done that.  If we’re going to get our music back, we have to stay here in California.”

Pepper pursed her lips.  “Okay you win.  Besides, I think that Marty would rather be in L.A. anyway, is that right Kess?”

“He would indeed,” Kess said with a smile.  “Besides, that way you guys will be near us.”

“So, guys not to jump topics or anything, but my nerves are shot and I’m kind of freaking out about the whole idea of taking Peter’s abilities…could we talk about happy-ever-afters…after?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry Joey, I guess I wasn’t being very sensitive.  It’s just that I’m so happy to have my brother back!”  Pepper said, scooching closer to him and locking her arm in his.  He’d have a heck of a time getting out of his sister’s sight from now on.  Despite the circumstances, I was very happy for her. 

“It’s not as hard as you would think Jo because you’re not taking it from him, he’s giving it to you freely,” Kess said.

“Oh.  Okay, but doesn’t that mean that he’ll connect his fate with mine, and that when I die he will too?”

Kess shook his head.  “No, it’s not like when Gen gave her gift to your
papaw because she didn’t relinquish her abilities to him in full.  She shared them with him.

“Like I did with you when we were kids?”  I asked.

“Exactly, and just like us, that linked them through eternity, or death – whichever came first.  The exception there was that he didn’t keep the gift, he gave it to you instead.  That’s why you didn’t receive the full balance of her powers until she passed when your papaw died.”

“So then how do I get Peter’s gift from him?  Will it hurt?”

“Of course not love.  Nothing that stems from selfless love ever hurts.”

I raised my eyebrows at this.  “That’s not entirely true and you know it Kess.  What’s the one thing that you’ve always told me? 
Oh yes…the consequences.  So what are you not telling me?”

Kess averted my eyes and looked down at the floor.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

“
All right, but you should know that the consequences are mine, and it’s already done.”  He took a deep breath and then blew it out in a huff.  “I told you that I robbed from the sands of time.  What I haven’t told you is that the process of doing that increases my darker traits.”

“Does that mean that you’re going to become a
full dark weaver eventually, are you changing into one now?”  I asked searching his face for some sort of sign that would tell me.  Like the mark of the beast or some evidence of horns sprouting out on his forehead.

“No love, it just means I’ll have to fight those urges harder.  I told you, the consequences are mine and I can handle that.  Not many could dip into those baskets without either facing penalties from the council – including being stripped of their powers, or falling into shear madness from the conversion to the darker threads.  I had Digger’s permission and since he’s the last living council member I can’t be penalized and I’m still sane so…no harm no
foul.”  He concluded with a shrug.

I held out my hand and waited.  Kess reached into his pocket and handed me the small vile.  “I just
have to swallow it right?”

“Not yet,” Kess
said.  “Peter, you will need to concentrate on what you are about to do like it’s the most important weave you’ve ever done.  I know you haven’t had much in the way of mentorship, but if you follow my instructions this will be as easy as pie.  Is there any weaves you want to do before you do this?”

“No man.  I’m done with this and she can have it.  I just want to make my music.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to maybe set up a career first?”

“You’re joking right?  I never used my ability for my music before, and I’m not going to start now.  The only other thing I would want to do is get even with my ex-girlfriend, but I’m going to leave that to you two.”  He said with an evil grin.

“Wait!”  Pepper said urgently.  “Don’t you think that we could weave a place to stay out here at least?  I mean…Marty doesn’t make much and neither do I, and you’ll need a job and a place, and a car at least,”

“I’ve already handled all of that Pep,
”  Kess said with a smirk and tossed her a key ring.  “You live down the road in that white house that sits on the corner, and Peter you’ve got a place, just tell me where and I’ll make it happen.”

“I love you sis, but I don’t want to live by the beach.  I’d rather be in the city – maybe
someplace near Pasadena.  There’s some cool neighborhoods over there and I like that Craftsman style.”

“You want to handle that or would you like me to?”  Kess asked casually.

“I got this.  He closed his eyes and then opened them, but then said “Wait a second, forgot something,” and closed them again.  We all waited silently and then he opened his eyes again.  “Okay, I’m good.  Let’s do this.”

We followed Kessler’s instructions and the exchange was completed.  I was now a fully restored master
weaver, and Peter and Pepper were completely normal mortals.  Kess told Pepper that Marty was now the owner of a club a few blocks away called
No Strings
which made us all laugh.  There would be no more threads for either of them but they would be happy, and that was all that mattered.

Kess and I exchanged hugs with both of them,
Kess put some weaves around them to help keep them protected from dark weavers until we resolved things, and then I weaved them both to the club so that they could meet up with Marty.  I even planted the memories that were necessary to keep the confusion down for Marty.  He’d been through enough and I wanted to make it as smooth as I could for all of them.  It seemed that their lives were finally going the way that they wanted them to.  I had a glimpse of Marty proposing to Pepper, and I knew that a music career was in their future.  It was nice to have my abilities back.  Now I was ready to fight my battles and face the demons.

“Okay, so what’s our game plan babe?”  I asked, anxious to get moving.

“Well, the first thing I want to do is going to be a little scary for you, so I want you to hear me out before you object okay?” 

“I trust you,”
I said.

We stood silently for a moment.  His hands rested the small of my back and mine were curled around his neck.  I could feel the warmth of his stomach on my own as he pressed me closer.  He began to rock me gently and we swayed together in the stillness of the moment.  His eyes were dark and glassy…and I allowed myself to be swallowed in their
depth as they turned completely black.  A sensation of deep heat spread through me starting in my toes and then burning like hot embers up my body.  When it reached my head, I grit my teeth.  Somewhere in the depths of my consciousness, I understood what he’d just done.

Kess released me, his breath coming in short gasps
like he’s just ran a marathon.  I raised my head slowly. Starring up at the ceiling, I drew in several deep breaths of my own.  The newness of the sensations coursing through my mind made me almost insane with desire.  One thought threatened to rip me apart…revenge.

“Look at me
! Kess demanded.”  I was still gritting my teeth, but I forced myself to meet his gaze.  A guttural sound escaped my throat, and I had to command myself to focus.

“You can control it Joey
.  Concentrate!”

“NOOOOOOOO!”
  I growled, and looked away, but he turned my chin to make me look at him.

“Yes.  Yes, you can. 
Focus on my voice.”

My vision was wavy and it was difficult to stand still.  Kess placed one hand on either side of my head and bent his forehead to mine. 
I could hear the erratic beating of my heart, and the steady pace of his.  Then ever so slowly, they began to synchronize.  He began to press images into my mind of my mamaw, my papaw, my sister, and my parents.  Then he pressed images of us together when we were little.  Slowly the heat began to dissipate, and I felt a calmness return to my mind.  It spread gradually through me and my vision cleared. 

“Do you understand now?”

“Yes,” I said in a gravelly voice.  “You’ve shared…your dark traits.”

“Only a small portion love.  It’s just enough to help you understand what we are about to fight.  And it’s enough to arm you with the weapons you will need.”  He tugged my chin up and kissed me gently.  “I’ll take it back when
this is all over.”

“
I’m okay now. I’ve got this.”  I felt the release of empathy that had always kept me restrained, and I knew that I was wired differently now.  Mercy wouldn’t be an option.  The corner of Kessler’s mouth twitched.
That’s my girl.  Now you’re getting it
, he said mentally.  I removed his hat, threw it on the couch, and put one hand on the back of his head so that I could pull it to my lips.  I kissed him intensely, and then I drew back and looked deep into those brown eyes that I loved.  When this was over I wanted lots of alone time with him because I had some wicked thoughts running through my head that seriously threatened to distract me.  Kess bit his lip and raised his eyebrows in surprise so I knew he was tuned in to me.  I got a grip and spoke to his mind.
Let’s go.

I hadn’t realized that I’d changed my
outfit while I was kissing him until Kess blew out a low whistle, and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.  Apparently, some dark subconscious idea converted my clothing into a solid black ensemble that he genuinely approved of.