Tess Embers Quotes

“I tried to blink back the tears that just kept coming. Eventually, I gave up and let my sight be obscured.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I felt my eyes widen slightly, feeling like the kid of the group who didn’t understand anything and was a pain to have around.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“They question me everyday. There’s always bright lights and they give me medicine that’s supposed to make me tell the truth, but it doesn’t work on me. Or maybe it only works when I start talking, but I never do.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I can’t tell you the things I know,” I repeated.
“Why not?”
“They aren’t my secrets to tell.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“Rosalie had never been one to question or accuse, just to forgive -- but I guess everyone had their limits when it came to tolerance levels, and I’d crossed the line.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“Sometimes, even spies don’t make the right decisions. Sometimes we get confused. And this isn’t a movie,” I added, “so there’s no guarantee that the good side will win. Do you understand?”
“The good side will still win,” she said bravely. “We’re just going to have to work for it instead of watching it happen.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“His hair was red, and his eyes were a color blue that put the ocean to shame.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I ran, and I just kept running.
I wasn’t going to stop until I got back to my family; I wasn’t going to stop until I got home.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“Taylor, listen to me. I could tell you that it’s okay. That she wasn’t a wonderful person, or I didn’t love her. I could tell you that she’s happier now, and her life would’ve been sad and filled with pain and longing to see her love again. I could say that I’m not struggling with her death, as well as the death of the hope that she could once again be part of my life. But instead I’ll just say that I’m sad, too, sweetheart. That way I can spare you the struggle of detecting the lie in my words.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I know you’re hurting, Taylor, but grief is clouding your judgement and you need to stay focused. If you attack her now, you won’t win. You know she has the advantage, Taylor. I’ve taught you this. Please, we just need to get out of here.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“You underestimate us, Josephine,” Taylor smiled. “A few guards, chains, and a locked door can’t keep a family apart.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I guess they knew me well, because they were right. They didn’t have to capture me. Because I was going to follow. And even if I didn’t make it out of wherever their new secret hideout was, I was going to do everything in my power to get Christina away from them.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I’m fine. I’m at an antique store, by the clothes store just a mile or so from-”
“Which clothes store, Tess? If you haven’t noticed, there are about a million.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“The lie detector didn’t react to anything I said, but I wouldn’t dare smile.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“Waiting.
That’s always what being a spy comes down to, isn’t it?”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“Mr. Bradshaw was, in a way, my second father. I trusted him and wanted to make him proud. But that day, as I lowered myself to the ground in shock, it was hard to believe I was staring up at the same person.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I was sure the door was locked, so I immediately stuck the bobby pin inside and jiggled it around for a while. Then I gave up and looked at James Bradshaw. He grinned, showing his bright white teeth.
Then something occurred to me. He’d never said the door was locked. I dropped the bobby-pin and opened the door.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I was going to die.
I was going to die, right now, right here, before I even had a chance to thoroughly apologize to anyone for what I’d done...before I had a chance to forgive myself.
I wasn’t even going to leave with a bang, one final act of dignity or at least the thought that I still belonged somewhere; I would die without even the simple acceptance that I’d done everything I could.
Tears welled in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall. I didn’t want to die crying.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“One flub, one little mistake, could ruin everything.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“Do you have anything to pick a lock?” She asked desperately.
“Always.” I slid one of the three bobby-pins I always kept with me off of my waistband, tossing it to her.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I kept thinking I was going to cry, but my eyes didn’t well up. I was done wasting my tears on her and her pathetic mind games. Agent Fern didn’t deserve anything from me -- not even one little tear.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“They might as well have been trying to fit a squirrel through the eye of a needle.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I’m here for my parents, I thought, I’m here for my mom. Because of the letter. To give them a chance, since I never really did. I’ll just leave if they really do turn out to be heartless, or if they really have gone insane because of their thirst for the Didot’s power. I just want to see for myself.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I really had come here.
And I really was staying -- at least for now.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“That was the problem with training to be a spy and developing your senses to the point that I had. Now, I was constantly alert -- even when I wanted to relax, I couldn’t. I was always waiting for someone to jump out and attack me.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“But one thing was for certain: something would happen next. Something always did. Especially when you live the life of a spy.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“I love you, Tess,” he told me, tightening his arms around me as if he would never let go.
He’d better not.
We’d never let go of each other -- not Jayden and me, and not the rest of us. We would always be together; we would always be a team.
No matter what happened. No matter what we went through. No matter where our lives took us.
We would always be a family.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“For once in my life, I wished Mr. Bradshaw had slipped a tracker into my shoe or my coat pocket. I wished that he was still keeping tabs on me, even when I told him that I didn’t need him to, or that I could take care of myself.
Because the truth was that I knew I’d always need help along the way. I needed help now, and at some point in my life I’d need help again.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“I don’t care how desperate you are.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers

“The Didots created happiness and power, or in this case, pain and sadness...but only within its subject’s mind.
The power it held was real, but it was not a physical power. It was the power of persuasion, the power of illusion.
Mr. Bradshaw was a genius.”
― Maya Bode, Tess Embers