“You can do that?” Brogan asks. “You can look into people’s futures without even meeting them?”
Camellia shrugs, looking a little uncomfortable. “Kind of. It’s not something either of us should really be able to do. We’re supposed to be tethered to the garden and the souls that are assigned to it, so we should only be able to check the threads of those souls while they’re still attached to people’s bodies.”
Still alive, she means. She shifts and plops herself down on the chair, spinning around and looking like she’s ready to face our judgment.
“We both found that wasn’t the case. I still get flashes of most people I come into close proximity with, and we found that we both can catch glimpses of the threads of fate and karma for people. Even if we’ve never met them. It’s not an exact science or anything, but it’s not like we were scamming people. I kind of saw it as community service. We can also see where they were likely to go to the afterlife depending on their choices, so we were doing people a favor, giving them a chance to redeem themselves so they could change their ways and change their destiny.”
“That’s… against the weavers’ code,” I whisper.
It’s so against the code, it’s basically the opposite of what we’re supposed to do. We are not supposed to try to influence people. No string pulling, like I told Brogan yesterday.
Camellia bristles defensively. “And what about you, Echo? Are you here because you’re a paragon of weaving virtue, because you follow all the rules and stick to the code?”
She’s got me there. But now’s not the time to explain to my mate that I’m a renegade weaver on the run, and I’ve spent the past couple of years shirking my responsibilities and my duties as a weaver. Pretty sure Soren is the one who will be most disappointed in me when I reveal the truth about what I am, but I can’t imagine Brogan will be completely unbothered about it, either. I just want a couple of days of someone looking at me like I created the moon and stars and not like I’m a massive disappointment. Is that too much to ask?
“Yeah, yeah, okay, I get your point,” I grumble. “But this—” I point at the computer. “—you realize it means that we have a lot more avenues that might lead us to finding Wren. There are so many people on the internet that would take one look at a beautiful woman and want to steal her back to their basement lair, or worse.”
“Plus, if you were breaking this weavers’ code, which I’ve just discovered is a thing, then that might be another reason to think that the higher up-weavers are behind Wren’s disappearance,” Brogan says.
Camellia frowns. “I don’t see why Madame would have got involved if that was the case. She’d far more likely sweep it under the rug and wipe all our memories than bother attempting to find Wren. And I’d imagine she’s under the rule of the higher-ups as much as anyone.”
That’s what Leif said yesterday.
I frown, rubbing my forehead. It’s still early and I’m already getting a stress headache. “Did Wren have any repeat customers or anyone that was a particular fan of hers?”
Camellia nods. “She had some regulars, plus some people that messaged her a lot. I’ve already got a friend who's good with tech trying to see if they can track down any information about them to see if I can get their details.”
“Okay, well, let me know when you come up with something and we can pay some of them a visit.”
She nods again, turning her attention back to the computer.
“You’re going to continue with it, even though it might be linked to Wren going missing?” I ask softly, trying to keep any judgment out of my voice.
“Sure. It makes me feel like I’m doing something useful. Plus, maybe it’ll help to lure the person behind Wren’s disappearance out of the woodwork.”
I nod and start to head out, but Brogan is a little slower to leave. He turns to Camellia and his tone is low.
“Hey, Cam?”
“Yeah?”
“You ever do a reading for Wren, or get flashes of her future karma or whatever?”
I turn around in time to see her nod sadly. “Yeah. I kept getting the same thing over and over for her, so I stopped trying.”
“And what was it?”
“That her greatest challenge was for her to be trapped. I figured it was metaphorical or because she was stuck here doing this job and she wasn’t exactly happy about it.”
Brogan’s tone is achingly gentle. “And now?”
“Now, I’m not so sure it was metaphorical at all. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
10
Echo
“Come on, babe, I’m surprised Finn hasn’t tracked you down already. He’ll be dying to show you his pride and joy.” Brogan tucks me into his side and leads me through the garden towards Finn’s den. It’s another gorgeous day in the garden. I wonder if they set the weather to be sunny and warm all the time.
