Dissever (Unbinding Fate Book One) (25 page)

“From what we can tell, it’s just Kim, Matt, Renee,
and about a dozen other Mesen inside,” Patrick said.

Juliette turned to Tanner. “You’ll follow me. Once
we’re inside I’ll find a position for you high enough to give you clear shots.”
She pointed to Addy and Gage. “You’re both going in with Patrick’s team.”

Tanner started to follow Juliette but Addy grabbed his
arm. “Please be careful.”

“You too, girlie,” he said, backing away and pointing
to Gage. “Watch your back.”

Gage nodded and they watched Juliette and Tanner enter
the building. Addy suddenly felt scared and uncertain. Gage grabbed her hand
and walked her around to the other side of his jeep away from the others.

“It’s just like last time. Keep your head up—I can’t
imagine Matt just letting us walk in there.”

Addy nodded as images of the attack on the estate
flashed through her head, making her tremble.

“Come on, shake it off.” He leaned his head down on
hers. “Put your doubts away and just do what needs to be done.”

“I’ll try.”

Gage grabbed her by the shoulder. “No, you’ll
do it
—or
you can just wait out here.”

“I will,” she said, nodding her head.

“Let's move!” Patrick shouted from the other side of
the jeep.

Carefully, they moved up flight after flight of stairs,
clearing the floors of the light crew of Mesen guarding them. When they reached
the ninth floor, she heard shouting and fighting break out. There were a lot
more Mesen in the blue combat uniforms than the dozen Patrick had mentioned. It
was just like in the estate, fighting and Scattering all over the place.
Juliette and Patrick worked as a team and pushed a group of Mesen back up the
stairwell on the far wall.

Addy sliced through an Akori man, making him Scatter,
when she was pushed to the ground from behind. She knew without looking who it
was.

“It's nice to see you,” Renee said, trying to stomp on
Addy’s chest.

Addy found it completely annoying that Renee always
felt the need to talk as they fought. It made her feel like she was trapped in
a Japanese anime where they exchanged more witty banter than punches.

As she rolled out of the way, Addy grabbed Renee’s leg
and pulled her down. Gripping her sword, Addy took a fast swing at her. There
was no way she was gonna let Renee get the upper hand again.

Tanner was perched up in the rafters picking off Mesen
who came too close to her. Arrows flew by her head as she fought with Renee,
who had a dagger. She was able to slice into Addy a couple of times, but the
Team Jax gear stopped it from going deep.

 A scream from the other side of the room stopped
them. It was Kim. Matt had a knife to her throat. Renee apparently had enough
of Addy, and ran behind her brother.

Tanner jumped down from the rafters and stood next to
her. Addy noticed the only ones left on that floor were Matt, Renee, and Kim on
one side of the room, and Gage, Addy, and Tanner on the other side. They began
moving toward Matt.

“We’re gonna head out,” Matt said. “You’re not gonna
follow.”

Tanner looked around. “Who are you talking to, man?”

Footsteps were pounding on the stairs behind them.
Matt whispered something in Kim’s ear. Her eyes got big and a second later, he closed
his, sinking the knife deep in her chest. Shoving her at Addy, he and Renee made
a break for the fire escape.

 Addy shrieked as Gage caught Kim and lowered her to
the concrete floor. Blood was everywhere. Her eyes were wide open and she was
gasping for air.

She was screaming at Kim to stay alive as she tried to
stop the bleeding. “There’s too much blood—
I can’t stop it!”

 Kim started making gurgling sounds as Juliette and
Patrick came running up behind her.

Addy shouted over her shoulder at them. “We have to
get help!”

Gage grabbed Addy and flung her at Tanner. “Hold her
back!”

Tanner’s arms locked around her and she immediately
realized what was happening. “Stop, you can’t—
don’t
, Gage!”

Gage turned back to her; she was fighting to get away
from Tanner.

“
Pay attention
,” he said, quickly putting his
hands on her face. He made her look at him as he spoke fast, in a hushed voice.
“There’s no other choice. I need you to calm down.” He wiped the tears that
were running down her cheeks. “Everything will be
fine.
”

Addy’s heart pounded in her ears. “But you
can’t,
you’ll…” She sobbed, her words were barely comprehensible. “
Please…”

Gage hesitated for a second, but knelt down beside Kim
and put his hands to her wound. Addy kicked and thrashed around in Tanner’s
arms, making him hold her tighter.

A flash of bright blue filled the room. Stunned by the
sudden burst of light, Tanner loosened his grip momentarily, allowing her to
break free.  Addy threw herself toward where he was kneeling, but it was too
late—Gage was gone. The only sign he’d been there at all was his ring, soaking
in a pool of Kim’s blood.

Chapter 23

Tanner and Patrick dragged Addy out of the building.
She screamed and cried until her voice was gone and she tasted blood in her raw
throat.

Back at the estate it was all a chaotic blur. Tanner
carried her into the library and laid her on the chaise by the fireplace. Bernard
and Stubbs raced in and Juliette told them what had happened. Molly was crying
as she sat on the edge of the chaise, pressing a cool towel to Addy’s forehead.
Her throat burned but she still tried to cry out. No one knew what to do for
her and eventually she just blacked out.

Standing on a wooden bridge alone, she was looking
down on a shallow stream far below. The bottom was rocky and she could see the
polished stones just under the surface of the clear water. The sun was high in
the sky and birds flew overhead. The trees made low swishing sounds in the
breeze.

Taking in a deep breath, the air was sweet with the
scent of the wild flowers growing along the banks. She lifted herself so she was
standing on the railing of the bridge. Leaning forward, the wind blew harder
and she closed her eyes, it was what she imagined flying would be like.

Addy opened her eyes. Everything around her was a
blur of color. Gage was falling alongside her. She looked at him, feeling
nothing. He reached out touching her fingertips with his.

With a flash, they stood on a shore looking out
into a dark sea. Storms were swirling overhead, rain was pouring down. Lightning
flashes lit his face and thunder boomed in her ears, making her jump. She
wasn’t scared though.

She waded into the water. It pulled her under, covering
her face. She felt the sting of the salt in her eyes and the burn as it filled
her lungs.

Gage was suddenly next to her. He gripped her
shoulders, pulling her down with his body. He pressed his lips to hers; he
tasted like salt and blood, every memory from the warehouse screamed into her
head.

Gasping for air, she woke up to see she was still in
his room and he was still gone. Her lip was bleeding where she bit it in her
sleep.

Addy was lost, replaying every moment of the past few
weeks in her head. She stayed in Gage’s room and spent the days sitting on the
floor looking through the shoebox of pictures and keepsakes. At night she cried
until she went to sleep, but even while sleeping, dreams kept her aware of all
that had happened.

The others came in and out checking on her, but she
didn’t speak to them. They brought her meals and the only way to make them
leave was to eat a little. The food was pointless—she always ended up vomiting
from crying anyway.

She wasn’t sure how many days had passed, but it was long
enough that Moose had been brought to the main house, along with some of her
things.

It was early and the sun wasn’t up yet when the door
opened. Addy was lying on her stomach, resting her head on her forearm on the
floor. The pictures were spread out in front of her.

Jax crouched down and placed his hand on her back. “Gage
was the reason you were so interested in the Akori who could heal.”

She didn’t answer.

He sat down on the floor next to her. “Look at me
please, Addison.”

After a minute, she turned to look at her brother. He
looked back at her with the same caring expression their grandfather always had
when she was upset. The crying started all over again and she dropped her head.
Jax pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. Addy sat crying into her brother’s
shoulder for a long time. She barely knew him, but knowing he was family—part
of Fate, made her feel better.

“They said you’ve been in here a week.”

It’d only been a week. It felt like years. Her eyes
stung from the tears and her throat hurt. She wasn’t sure if she could speak
even if she wanted to.

Jax wiped her tears. “Has anyone ever told you what it’s
like for the Akori when they drain their power and Scatter?”

Addy thought about it and then shook her head. She just
knew they reappeared in the same spot they Scattered.

“It’s instant because time moves differently for them
once they Scatter. When they reappear, it’s just like jumping through time—like
they blinked their eyes and jumped a couple of decades ahead.”

Addy didn’t know any of that and his words caused her
shoulders to drop.

“So when he comes back, it’ll be just like he never
left for him. He’ll be exactly as he was when he Scattered.” Jax paused and
took a breath. “You won’t be though, Addy. You’ll probably be married with
children by then.”

She pushed him away; his words stung like he’d just
slapped her. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You need to understand.” He made her look at him.
“Gage isn’t dead because he’s not a human. When he does come back, even if you
waste your life waiting around, he’ll just do it all over again. It’s the cycle—the
reason Akori and humans can’t be together. It’s not because they’re better than
us humans, it’s because of this. What’s happening to you is too much to live
with.”

Addy swallowed back tears. “I can’t just forget about
him.”

Jax gently placed his hand on her shoulder. “You never
forget
him, but you gotta pick yourself up and deal with it.”

“I can’t.” She stood up and went over to Gage’s bed,
picking up one of his pillows. “Not yet.”

Jax walked over and opened the French doors, stepping
out on the balcony. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

 “I know everything that’s happened now,” he said from
outside.

  It was hard to resist the fresh air blowing in from
the balcony. Addy walked out and stood next to him. The view of the ocean was
beautiful and the sun was just coming up. “You know everything about
what?”

“The stone gave me all of the previous Overseer’s
memories.” Jax cut his eyes at her. “I know
everything
the other Overseers
knew. I have all of their memories.”

After being inside for so long the bright sun coming
up made her eyes water. Even though it burned, she kept her gaze fixed on it as
she stood next to Jax. “Did you know you’d get their memories?”

Jax shook his head. “No. Grandfather didn’t tell me,
and you can’t tell anyone either.”

“I won’t,” Addy said, finally looking away from the
horizon.

“I can remember everything about the day our parents
died. I can
remember
like I was there.”

She wiped her watery eyes and looked over at her
brother. “I’m sorry, Jax.”

“It’s ok.” He turned his back to the blazing sunlight.
“With what I already knew and what I learned from the stone, at least I know what
the Mesen are trying to do.”

Every time she blinked the image of the sunrise
trailed across her eyelids. “They’re trying to get more powers,” she said,
rubbing her eyes.

Jax looked surprised. “Yeah, what else do you know?”

“I don’t know anything for sure, but we figured out there
are more Akori powers than just event shifting. We think that the Overseer’s
Stone somehow limits them, stopping the Akori from doing the kind of things
that led to trying to overthrow Eva and Andrew.”

“Exactly, but there’s more to it.” Jax turned and took
her by the shoulders. “I need you to pull yourself together. Everyone’s worried
about you.”

Addy looked inside at Gage’s room, filled with all of
his things. Before the last few weeks, he hadn’t been a big part of her life
for years. He was still always around though. She couldn’t pretend that what
was starting between them didn’t happen, but Jax was right, and she did have to
get a grip.

Addy took a deep breath and looked up at her brother. “What
am I supposed to do?” She wrapped her fingers around her cat charm.

“Come down to the library.” He looked her up and down.
“First, take a
shower
—you look like hell.”

Turning the handle and opening Gage’s bedroom door,
Addy stepped out for the first time in a week. She expected something to be
different, but it wasn’t. Looking down the hall, she didn’t see anyone, so she
slowly made her way to the stairs. She was wearing jeans, sandals, and a green
tank top with her necklace from Gage. It felt surprisingly good to be up and
dressed.

At the bottom of the steps she paused, thinking she
might just go back upstairs. She looked down the hall and caught sight of Tanner
walking toward the library. She was instantly filled with anger at him. He must
have known it, because he turned around and began moving in the opposite
direction when he saw her.

“Tanner!” Her throat burned as soon as the words left
her lips.

He stopped with his back to her. Reluctantly, he turned
around and moved toward her.