Dissever (Unbinding Fate Book One) (13 page)

“Where’d that come from, Addy?” Bernard stepped closer
to examine it. “I’ve never seen one like it before.”

Bernard wasn’t an Akori, but he studied alongside Fate
and had a lot of knowledge about the Akori and could read their language.

“As soon as I touched the Overseer’s Stone, there was
a blue flash and some kind of current shot through me. I feel sick and my neck
hurts like I got burned.”

“Fate didn’t have that mark, did he?” Kim asked.

Addy dropped her hair and turned to look at them. “No.
But Fate was the Overseer, I’m not.”

Kim looked confused. “But they said—”

“I’m not—it didn’t work. They assumed because the
stone reacted to me that I got the power, but I didn’t. I just let them think
it worked because of what you said, Bernard.”

“How do you know it didn’t work?” he asked her calmly.

“I just know. I feel something different. I can’t
explain it. The stone did something to me.” She reached up and touched the
symbol. “Fate told me after I claimed the stone, if it worked, I’d go into some
kind of trance that would last for days.

Bernard thought for a moment. “That must not be common
knowledge, or the Akori who realized you were unsuccessful kept quiet.”

They decided they would just keep what happened
between them, and that it was best not to let any of the Akori, even their
friends, know that there was no Overseer. They would all find out soon enough.

“We’d better get back before we’re missed. We’ll begin
researching the symbol and its meaning as soon as the estate settles down.”
Bernard started to leave.

“Bernard, hang on a minute,” Addy said, trying to
sound casual. “I need to get out for a little while, and…I need some money. I
think I’m gonna do some shopping.”

He looked shocked by the sudden direction change. “Addison
it isn’t really the time to—” He stopped when he caught her eye. “There’s cash
in the top drawer.” He pointed to the cabinet behind his desk. “Take what you
need.”

Bernard patted her on the arm and made his way out of
the office. She opened the drawer and grabbed the entire stack of cash.

“What are you doing?” Kim asked, staring at the wad of
money in her hand, wide eyed.

Addy turned to her. “Go pack a bag and meet me at the
garage. We’re getting out of here.”

Chapter 11

Kim was reluctant to leave Tremain, especially since
all Addy could tell her was that a feeling was urging her to go. It sounded
like she might have the same condition as Tanner, but Kim didn’t know Addy had
been talking to him so she couldn’t even discuss that part with her. If her
feeling really was like what Tanner had, she felt terrible for not being able
to help him.

On the way to her villa to grab a few things, Addy
stopped in the library and picked up a couple of books on Akori symbols. Kim
was going through them, page by page, trying to find the one on Addy’s neck.

The searing pain from her new symbol went away, but
the glowing continued. She wished the pulling sensation driving her to move in
the opposite direction of Tremain would subside. Addy didn’t use her navigation
system, she just drove blindly in the direction she felt the pulling was the
strongest.  

The girls had been driving for nearly an hour when
Addy had to stop for gas. The car didn’t have much when they left, and it was
on fumes as she pulled into the station. They both stood outside of the car as
Addy pumped gas.

“You know what Matt said?” Kim asked her as she leaned
up against the side of Addy’s car.

Addy smiled sweetly and motioned for Kim to stop
leaning on her car. Kim took a step away and made a face at her.

“I can only imagine what Matt—”

“I’m being
serious
. He told me Gage has been
miserable not talking to you.”

The mention of his name made her stomach flip, and she
suddenly felt bad again about making plans with him she had no intention of
keeping. “We didn’t really talk for years. There’s no way he’s become
that
attached in a couple of weeks.”

Kim shot her a disapproving glare. “Really, Addy? The
guy’s known you your
entire
life. Why’s it a stretch he'd fall for you? I
can’t believe you’re not interested.”

The pump stopped and she placed the hose back on it’s
hook.

 “I
never
said I wasn’t interested, I just
don’t think it’s that easy, that’s all.”

“It
is
that easy.” Kim pointed at Addy as she
turned to get back in the car. “The only one making it hard is
you
.”

Addy sat back in the driver’s seat. “He asked if I’d
see him tonight. He’ll probably be looking for me soon.” It was hard not to
think about Gage, especially with Kim randomly bringing him up. She reached in
her bag and turned her phone off, not wanting to deal with any calls.

Addy’s car was black outside with black leather interior,
which made the burning heat feel even more intense. They drove with the top
down for a long time on northbound A1A. The ocean was in view a lot of the time
and the perfect day turned into a beautiful evening.

Addy glanced over at Kim, who was beginning to look
tired. “Do you want to get a hotel room somewhere?”

She closed the book she was looking at. “That depends,
how close are we to wherever it is we’re going?”

Addy shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. The
feeling isn’t getting any stronger or weaker, it’s just pulling me. I’m not
really tired yet.”

“Let's just keep going then.” Kim closed her eyes.
“I’ll just rest here.”

At about 3 a.m. Kim’s phone rang. Startled from her
sleep, she searched her purse for it.

“It’s Matt,” she said. “What should I do?”

“You can answer it and lie to him about where we are,
or you can just let it go to voicemail—your choice.” Addy hoped she wouldn’t
answer it.

“Nice
choices.
” With a sigh, Kim hit the reject
call button. “Sorry Matt.”

A minute later her phone chirped indicating she had a
voicemail. She put it on speakerphone and played the message.

“Hey Kimmy. Just wondering where you guys are. Everyone’s
freaking out. Bernard said you were going shopping, but it’s after 3am. Gage
took some of the others out to search for you. Give me a call back.”

Knowing Gage and the others were out looking for them
made Addy feel terrible. Kim closed her eyes and Addy just kept driving.

The sun was coming up, so Addy stopped to pick up some
coffee and bagels. She should’ve been tired, but she was wide-awake.

Kim was awake when Addy got back in the car.

“We’re going shopping. The only clothes I brought are
what I’m wearing. Everything else was dirty,” Addy said, handing her a cup of
coffee and a bagel.

“Shopping sounds good,” Kim said through a yawn.

“I also think we’re getting close to wherever it is
we’re going.” Addy could almost see in her mind where she was headed. “Let's go
a little bit further and maybe I can find exactly where it is.”

“Ok, but what do we do when we find the place?” Kim
tore a piece of her bagel off and popped it in her mouth.

Addy had no idea what she was gonna do when she
reached her destination. If it was anything like Tanner’s situation, she’d just
be stuck hanging out until her feeling subsided, as Tanner’s did.

“I guess we’ll see when we get there,” she said,
pulling back onto the road.

She checked the map on her navigation system and
discovered that they’d traveled less than 350 miles, but they’d been driving
for 12 hours. The road they traveled on skirted along the small islands off the
coast and she couldn’t drive very fast. They were directly east of Jacksonville,
still along the coast.

Turning down a private street with large, exquisitely
landscaped homes, they drove around in circles for a while. Addy was having a
difficult time getting a fix on where exactly she was being pulled. It was
difficult to tell, but when she made one final turn into a cul-de-sac, she knew
she’d found the right place. 

She pointed at the huge house straight in front of
them. “There.”

“There?” Kim motioned toward the house with both
hands. “
That’s
where we’re going?”

“That’s it.” Addy thought the feeling would get better
being so close to where her body was telling her to go, but it didn’t, and the
symbol on her neck was beginning to burn again.

“That’s a pretty big gate. Are we just gonna walk up
and ask to come in?” Kim asked, smiling.

“Find something to write the address on,” she said. “I
think we should look the address up online and see who lives there.”

Kim dug through her purse, pulling out a pen and a gum
wrapper, quickly scribbling down the house number.

“We need a better plan than just walking up to the
door.” Addy started to drive away. “Let’s get out of here for now. I need to go
shopping and get cleaned up.”

Addy pulled around the circular drive as a motorcycle
was pulling in.

The person riding the bike was a guy, wearing
sunglasses and a backward baseball cap. She checked her rear view mirror and
saw him pulling up to the same gate they were just looking at.

Kim’s phone rang. She turned it over and held it up to
Addy. “It’s Matt again.”

Addy looked at her quickly, then back at the road. “I’m
not gonna tell you not to answer it.”

Kim sat there for a minute watching the phone ring, a
picture of Matt wearing a jester’s hat flashed on its screen. She sent it to
voicemail and waited for the message notification.

“Molly found a note Addy left for her about her cat.
I guess that means you two knew you weren’t coming back. Gage was out all night
searching but Bernard called him back to the estate. He’s pretty pissed. Call
me, dammit!”

When they got back to the estate, she’d have a lot of
explaining to do. Addy really felt bad and couldn’t blame Gage for being angry.
She probably wouldn’t have to worry about any random acts of affection from him
any time soon.

“How about we get a little sun,” Addy said, trying to
avoid discussing Matt’s call.

They found a spot on the beach and sat in the sand. It
was still a while until the mall opened. They discussed how to handle getting
into the house. Neither one of them were particularly good at being sneaky. Addy
was usually the reason she and Gage got busted trying to pull off capers as
kids. He should’ve known better than to send a five year old to do a ten year old’s
job though.

Grabbing Kim’s phone, Addy opened the browser and
searched for the address Kim wrote down, trying to see who lived at the mystery
house. No matter what she did, she couldn’t find anything.

 “That address doesn’t even exist,” she said. “There’s
just nothing.”

Kim leaned over and looked at the phone. “But we saw
it! Maybe I wrote it down wrong.”

“No. I’m sure you got it right,” Addy said. “We’ll
figure something else out.”

Addy knew she’d written it down correctly because Tanner
was drawn to the estate, which didn’t have a real address either, but she
couldn’t say that to Kim.

The shopping mall they went to turned out to be pretty
upscale. Addy still wasn’t tired at all, which concerned her, but she didn’t
think she could sleep anyway. They spent hours going through the stores and by
the time they were done, the trunk was stuffed with bags. They had new tops, shorts,
dresses, handbags, and so many shoes. Addy even hit the video game store and
grabbed a game she wanted.

Kim pointed out a spa when they first arrived at the
mall. They made appointments for later that afternoon.

When they left the mall, they were both dressed in new
clothes and accessories from head to toe, had new haircuts, manicures, and
pedicures.

Kim’s long blond hair was cut into a short bob. It
looked just like it did when Addy first met her. After having Stubbs trimming
her hair for the last few years, Addy was clueless about what to do with hers. Short
wasn’t an option because of the new glowing symbol, which had been tough to
explain to the woman who was cutting her hair.

After excessive amounts of discussion by the stylists,
they decided to leave it pretty long and just cut layers and frame it around
her face. She’d never colored her hair before, but they insisted on adding
highlights.

Standing side by side in the mirror, it was incredible
how different they looked. Kim snapped a picture with her phone, which was
flashing its low battery warning.

Kim spotted a Chinese restaurant on the way back to
the mystery house so they stopped and ate dinner. Addy’s fortune cookie read, ‘
Help!
I’m being held prisoner in a Chinese bakery!’
It made her feel much better
about her own situation.

Chapter 12

“Dang, those are some nice cars in the driveway,” Kim
said as they sat parked down the block from the mystery house.

Addy knew immediately that Akori lived there. She’d
discovered living with them her entire life that Akori had a big addiction to
fast and flashy cars and motorcycles.

The garage doors were open and a black Alfa Romeo Spyder
and a red Lamborghini Gallardo were parked in the driveway. Between them was a
yellow Can-Am Roadster. Gage was big into cars and motorcycles when they were
kids. To pass the time in the car he’d quiz her about what vehicles they were
passing on the road. Thanks to that, Addy always had an eye for cars and bikes.

Addy checked the mirror and fixed a smudge in her
eyeliner. “Ready?”

As she stepped out of the car, she heard a motorcycle.
Looking back, she saw the guy from earlier pulling up behind her. It was around
dusk and the light was dingy. She strained to get a good look at him as he
stepped off his bike.