Weavers (The Frost Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF

stiffly as she worked. It would probably always bother her now, just like Jonn’s leg always pained him.
    Maybe they had more in common than I thought.
    I chased that thought away quickly. The idea of Everiss and my brother was utterly nonsensical. And how could we continue to hide and feed her for the rest of our lives? It was not a sustainable plan, not in the long run.
    The stew wasn’t finished cooking. I sat back on my heels and looked around. I didn’t see Ivy anywhere. Jonn was still working steadily. Everiss sat quietly, yarn in her lap. She didn’t look at me.
    “I need to talk to you,” I said, stealing a glance over my shoulder at Jonn’s back.
    He didn’t raise his head to look at us. He hadn’t heard.
    Everiss’s fingers went still in a way that suggested she’d been expecting this. She set the yarn aside and clasped her hands together in her lap. “Yes?”
    “In private. Perhaps in the bedroom?”
    She followed me. I shut the door and leaned against it. She sank onto the bed, her face carefully neutral and her mouth pressed in a determined line.
    A shiver of apprehension ran through me. At the moment, I would rather run through the Frost without snow blossoms than have this conversation.
    “Adam tells me you are interested in joining the Thorns,” I began.
    She rubbed her injured arm and avoided my gaze. “Yes, if they’ll have me.”
    “Why?”
    Her eyebrows drew together, and she lifted her chin with a defiant jerk. “Well, everyone else thinks I’m dead. I have nowhere to go. And in case you forgot, the Farthers destroyed my father’s life and scattered my family. I have reason to want them all gone.”
    “We help Farther fugitives,” I said. “And you Blackcoats hate all Farthers. Don’t you think it’s a conflict of interest?”
    “Our greatest interest was justice,” she said. “It always was.”
    “That’s utter nonsense.”
    Her eyes blazed. “You don’t know anything about it. You refused to join.”
    “I refused to join because it was utter nonsense.”
    “Jonn says—”
    “That’s another thing we need to discuss,” I interrupted. “My brother.”
    Everiss winced. Clearly, I’d hit a sore spot. She knew she was leading him on. I felt equal parts vindication and dismay. Poor, lovesick Jonn. She was going to break him.
    “It’s not like that,” she said, clasping and unclasping her hands. “I care about him. We wrote letters for years. He’s—he’s my friend.”
    I wasn’t backing down. “Does he know that your feelings tend toward friendship only?”
    She bit her lip and didn’t reply, but guilt shone in her eyes.
    I scowled. Well, I wasn’t surprised. Jonn was about as subtle in love as a yelping puppy. But still…frustration rose in me like a wave, threatening to spill from my mouth in the form of angry words. Ignorance of his feelings might have induced me to forgive her. Now, my dislike was even stronger. She knew, and she did nothing to stop it. At best, she was being careless. At worst, malicious or manipulative.
    “You’re going to break his heart, Everiss.”
    “I’ve been meaning to speak with him,” she mumbled, fidgeting with the edge of her dress and avoiding my eyes. “There hasn’t been a good time. I don’t know what to say.”
    Suddenly, I felt bone-weary. She wanted me to give her an answer, a plan. A command, even. “I’m not your Ma,” I said, standing to my feet and crossing my arms. “I’m not going to tell you what to do. But know this—if you hurt my brother, you’ll answer to me.”
    I left her sitting on the bed and returned to the fire to check the stew. It was bubbling and hot. I went to fetch the wooden bowls from the kitchen.
    Jonn lifted his head from his papers as I crossed the main room for the kitchen. His eyebrows pinched together. “You and Everiss are talking again?”
    “It wasn’t a friendly chat,” I said, instantly annoyed at the hope springing into his eyes. Was he imagining some storybook