Dissever (Unbinding Fate Book One) (28 page)

Will shuffled through the
miscellaneous items left in the box. “There aren’t any pictures of you as a
teenager in here.”

Addy hadn’t really thought
about that. “He got older and just kind of did his own thing. Five years make a
big age difference.”

Will nodded. “It can be when
you’re young.”

She got up, putting the box
on Gage’s dresser. “We didn’t have enough time.”

“I’m sure he feels the same
way.” Will walked around, looking at all of the things in Gage’s room. “Tell me
about him—what’s he like?”

That was a difficult
question and she didn’t know what to say.

She finally looked directly at
Will for the first time. “He’s perfect.”

A pained expression swept
across his face. “I’m learning what it’s like for those of you left behind when
we Scatter and I’m not at all pleased.”

Addy shrugged her shoulders.
“That's the way it’s always been.”

“Not
always,”
he
said. “How old do you think I am, Addison?”

That was a trick question;
she had no possible way of knowing. “In human or
Akori
years?”

“I guess you can’t tell.”
Will chuckled, which definitely gave away the fact he was much older than he
appeared. “I’ve been around nearly as long as Eva and Andrew. Trust me when I
say it wasn’t always like this.”

“Most of the power was taken
away after the attack,” Addy said. “Eva made the Overseer’s Stone.”

He nodded, walking around
his son’s room, picking things up and examining them. “Will you do something
for me?”

She was surprised he would
ask her for anything, but she nodded.

“I have business away from
the estate for a couple of days and I need you to make sure Molly doesn’t
leave.” Will shook his head. “She always runs when she gets scared.”

“You’re still together?” The
words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and she grimaced as she
watched the expression on his face change to one of hurt.

“Of course we are,” Will
said. “Nothing has changed.”

Addy felt bad for asking him
such a personal question, but it make her realize what Jax said about how the
Akori Scattered was true. They did come back in the same mindset as when they
disappeared.

“Sorry, but she told me—”

“Molly’s just a little
shaken over Gage. She’ll be ok.”

She nodded and tried not to
think about what happened so she wouldn’t lose it in front of him. “My brother
knows you’re here?” She sat down on Gage’s bed.

“Yes, what I’m doing is for
Jax.”

It dawned on her that Will
was probably the Akori Patrick said Jax was waiting for when he left the
meeting so fast last week.

Will took a couple of steps
toward the door. “It was very nice to meet you, Addison.”

“It was nice to meet you too,”
she said, playing with her cat charm.

“One more thing,” he said. “Don’t
tell
anyone
you saw me.” Then he walked out quietly.

Moose scratched at the door
to get in and he jumped up in bed with her as she turned out the light. She
couldn’t believe she just had a conversation with Gage’s father. Fate was right
when he said they looked exactly alike. They could pass for brothers easily,
and it was almost unbearable to look at Will. It was clear he felt like she did
about Gage being Scattered and she was happy there was someone around who
understood.

Addy decided that in the
morning she’d get her cat and start staying at her villa again. She’d never be
able to get her life back if she continued to spend every night crying in
Gage’s bed.

Chapter 26

Addy took a few deep breaths
and turned the corner to the hallway where Kim’s room was located. Patrick was
one of the guards and he greeted Addy with a smile.

“Hey Patrick,” she said as
she waved to him.

He nodded back. “I saw you
during practice with Juliette this morning. You’re getting pretty good with
that sword.”

“Thanks.” She pointed toward
the door. “Jax wants me to talk to her, is she alone?”

“Doris just left. Do you
want me to come in with you?”

Addy shook her head. “No,
it’ll be fine.”

Her hand quivered as she
turned the knob and entered. Kim was sitting on the bed sorting out stacks of
photos.

“I thought you were never
going to come!” She jumped up and threw her arms around Addy, who just stood
there stiffly. Kim dropped her arms and backed away. “What’s wrong?”

Addy gasped.  “What’s
wrong?
Are you kidding?”

Kim had been sharing every
secret Addy told her with Matt for weeks leading up to the attack. She told
Matt where the
Mesen
could find Jax. She
probably helped Matt steal the Overseer’s Stone and then she broke them out of
their cells and ran away with them.

Kim turned her palms up. “Addy,
I’m so sorry Ga—”

“Do
not
say his name!”
Addy pointed at Kim. “I don’t care if Matt
did
make you do those things—you
should’ve told me what he was up to.”

Kim looked shocked Addy was
upset with her. “Matt didn’t make me do
anything
. What they’re doing will
make life better for all of the Akori. I wanted to help him; it was to help you
too.”

“What
exactly
is it
you think they’re doing, Kim?” Addy didn’t try to hide her anger. “How’d you
even get mixed up in this?”

“They’re trying to free your
family from the Overseer’s Stone and give his people back their power.” She
walked over and looked out the window. “The night on the beach after I was
fighting with that girl, Matt told me everything. He said if it worked out we
could finally be together.”

Addy was trying to hold back
all of the terrible things she wanted to spew at her. “And he can accomplish
that by using people, stealing, and
killing?”

Kim whipped around with a
look of horror. “Who’d Matt kill?”

“He tried to kill you! If
Gage hadn’t saved you—” Addy stopped.

Kim shook her head as Addy
spoke. “Matt wasn’t trying to kill me! He
knew
Gage would save me.” She
said that the day Addy collapsed after practice, Molly wasn’t the only one who
figured out Gage had healing power. “Besides, Gage will be back soon anyway.”

Addy gaped at her. “Is that
what he told you? That’s a lie!” Her hands were clenched in fists and her nails
dug into her palms. “Don’t you think if it was possible he’d be back here—and back
with
me
?” It took everything she had not to grab Kim and shake some
sense into her. “Matt lied to you to make you feel better about what he was
gonna do to Gage.”

“You
really
think he’s
bad don’t you?” Kim looked down at the pictures on the bed. “He’s not, Addy. They
all just want their power back—they wanna be free to use it without Scattering.”

“Use powers without Scattering?”
The whole conversation was going very different from what she expected. “He
said they could do that?”

“They said a long time ago,
before the Overseer’s Stone was created to block their powers, Akori could
freely use as much as they wanted and never Scatter. They had other powers too.
Renee can make herself, and anything or anyone she touches invisible.”

Addy wrinkled her brow,
thinking about how Renee wasn’t even supposed to have powers. “That’s how you
got out of the estate—you actually saw her do it?”

“Yeah, it’s true—she can.” Kim
told Addy that Matt could communicate with her using telepathy. He did it the
first time on the beach after the fight. He talked her through getting them out
of their cells and Renee made them invisible.

The night on the beach
finally made sense. The three of them really were having a conversation she and
Gage couldn’t hear.

Kim walked over and stood in
front of Addy. “He needs your help.”

“I’d
never
help him,”
Addy said, taking a step back.

 “He knew you’d say that.
That’s why he needed Gage to be…” Kim began shaking her head.

 “Matt
tricked
Gage
into healing you so he’d Scatter?” Addy stood staring at her. “He knew I’d never
help him with anything unless he had something to hold over me.”

“Yes.” Kim shifted her eyes
to the floor. “He didn’t want to—it was the only way.”

It was a smart move on his
part because Matt had her caught. He knew Addy too well to even be remotely
concerned she wouldn’t help once he dangled the carrot of getting Gage back in
front of her. There was still the other side of the coin though. If there really
was a way to bring back a Scattered Akori, someone at the estate should’ve
already known about it. Odds were Matt was lying, but Addy couldn’t chance
missing an opportunity to get Gage back.

Addy took a deep breath and
looked up at Kim. “Next time Matt contacts you, set up a meeting with him.”

Moose was happy to be home.
He walked around and rubbed on every corner of the furniture. She opened the
window and soon the stuffy air from her being gone for the past two weeks was
replaced with the sweet smell of the flowers blooming in the garden. She
cleaned the place from top to bottom and when she was done it felt like home,
not the same as it had before, but about as much as any place could.

Addy felt pretty good about
everything until she came across one of Gage’s t-shirts as she cleaned her
room. He stayed with her on her first night back after finding Jax and she’d
slipped his shirt on when she got out of bed. She contemplated tossing it in
with her laundry, but jammed it under one of her pillows instead.

Jax asked her about her
conversation with Kim. She told him what she could without letting him know how
Matt was trying to use Gage to get her help. There was no way she could tell
him about the meeting she’d asked Kim to set up. If there was even a slight
possibility Matt was telling the truth about Gage coming back, she had to find
out more.

On her way to see Kim after
practice she’d spotted Tanner walking with Bernard. He was holding a Scythian
style bow she’d never seen him use before. Bernard was pointing something out
to him on the grip. Seeing them together made her wonder if Bernard was making
any progress finding out more about Tanner’s past.

Again, she and Tanner had different
practice times and he wasn’t in the library when she saw Jax. Not running into
him right then was alright with her anyway. Seeing him at the beach the night before
and not talking to him made her feel a little guilty—like she’d been spying on
him or something.

Addy grabbed her clothesbasket
and headed back to the estate to pick up her laundry. Jax was standing on the
terrace with Juliette and Patrick. She tried to head around to the lower doors,
avoiding them, but Jax spotted her and called her over. She reluctantly sat her
basket on the table and joined them.

Jax looked good, more like
the Mr. July she remembered.  He looked her up and down, shaking his head. “When
was the last time you left the estate?”

The day Gage Scattered, she
thought. “The day we went to get Kim.”

Jax shifted his eyes to Juliette.
“Take Addy out somewhere—
anywhere.”

Juliette looked about as
interested in doing that as Addy felt. The sunshine made her look really beautiful. 
Her wavy shoulder length dark red hair and green eyes suited her oval shaped
face perfectly. Unfortunately, she wore Team Jax gear almost every day, which
gave her a masculine edge.

“That’s ok. I’m fine hanging
around here.” Addy pointed at her basket. “I’m doing laundry anyway.”

Juliette looked at Jax, then
to Addy. “Be ready in ten minutes, Sleeping Beauty.”

Jax rolled his eyes. “I
think you mean
Cinderella.
”

 “Whatever, just be ready,” Juliette
said, heading toward the house.

Twenty minutes later, Addy
was sitting next to Juliette in her
black Alfa Romeo Spyder.

“So where are we going?” Addy asked her.

“To a salon that's in Miami—Jax thinks you need to go
out and do
girl stuff
.”

“Oh.”

They drove to an upscale part of the city and pulled
into the valet lane out front of a busy salon. They climbed out and Juliette
shot the valet a look that warned him to treat her car with care.

The salon was extremely busy, and Addy doubted they
could get in. To her surprise, they were quickly taken back as soon as Juliette
said who she was.

“Do you come here a lot?” Addy asked as they followed
the woman from the front counter to the back.

“I’ve never been here. Angelica recommended this
place.” She made a motion across the room with her head. “Who’s that girl over
there that keeps looking at you?”

Addy tried to place the girl who was getting her nails
done. After thinking carefully, she remembered her as Tanner’s friend Aimee. She
was almost unrecognizable without all the gobs of make-up she’d been wearing
when Addy met her at Tanner’s show.