Dissever (Unbinding Fate Book One) (4 page)

 “Let's get on with it,” Fate said, ignoring Bernard’s
question. “Addy finished sorting and shelving the first four boxes of books
that arrived and she assured me she’ll complete the last two tonight."

“She should be fluent in the Akori language in no
time,” Stubbs said, breaking into a grin.

“I wouldn’t get carried away.” Bernard laughed loudly.
“If she hasn’t learned
yet,
I don’t—”

“
Hey,
I’m still in the room.” She pointed out,
smiling.

For the most part the men discussed topics Addy didn’t
really know much about and it was hard not to zone out. Some Akori were very
politically motivated, and Fate had Stubbs keep a close eye on them, reporting
what they were involved in.

She was kicking herself for saying she’d finish the
books after the meeting. She'd planned to hit the beach for a bonfire, but it
looked like she had no choice but to stay late and finish up. As positive as
she was that she’d never be the Overseer, being prepared was important to Fate.
She didn’t want him to worry about whether she’d be able to handle the job if
by some miracle she got it.

When she tuned back into their conversation, they were
talking about the Akori who called themselves Mesen—they were Akori that never
came to the estate. They basically did their own thing and didn’t have contact
with the Overseer or Tremain.

It was all extremely boring and she was tapping her
fingers on the table, which earned her a sharp look from Fate. The most
exciting news to her was that they planned to have her friend Matt’s Uncle Josh
open the pool in the garden.

“Where’s Gage tonight?” Fate asked, slowly looking up
at Bernard. “The girls saw a suspicious looking man hanging around today and
I’d like him to look into it.”

Bernard and Stubbs had strange looks on their faces
and Fate shot the two men what appeared to be a warning look.

“Elsegood is posted out front at the gate,” Bernard
said, flipping through the schedule in the stack of papers he always carried
with him. “Should I have him join us?”

It drove Addy crazy that Bernard would just randomly
call people by their last names. It was like he had intermittent military
flashbacks.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Just ask him to
speak to Kim about what she saw and check around. He can give us a report
tomorrow,” Fate said.

Bernard nodded to Fate. “His father should be back
soon.”

Addy perked up. “Gage’s father?”

Fate finished the last of his wine. “Yes, it’s been
nearly twenty years. Will could return anytime.”

Gage’s father, Will Elsegood, Scattered when his power
drained just before Gage came to live at Tremain with his mother Molly. Addy
knew Gage looked just like him with his golden hair, light blue eyes, and lean,
tall build from the pictures she’d seen in Molly’s room.

Stubbs walked over and poured himself a glass of wine,
then refilled Fate’s glass. “Molly told me she plans to stay on at Tremain as
long as she’s needed.”

Molly never developed any powers, just like Matt’s
sister Renee. Before she came to Tremain, she was a doctor at a human hospital and
over time started caring for Fate when he became sick.

Bernard straightened up the messy stack of papers in
front of him. “It’s going to be tough once she’s gone to get the kind of
medical care she provided us with over the years.”

Addy scooted up to the edge of her chair, dropping her
hands on the table. “You guys think after Will comes back Molly and Gage will
leave Tremain?”

“Molly will for sure, but Gage will probably stay on,”
Bernard said, smiling. “He enjoys my rigid combat practices too much.”

Molly took care of Addy for Fate when she was little,
so she and Gage were together a lot. The thought of them leaving was shocking.

Bernard stood up and pushed his chair back in. “I’ll
see you for combat practice in the morning, Addy.” He headed out the door to
see Gage.

Because of his military background, Bernard was very
big into self-defense and combat. He started teaching Addy how to fight as soon
as she could stand on her own. He'd trained her to defend herself, as well as
take someone down.

Her grandfather agreed to let Bernard train her as
long as Addy also learned how to play the piano. Luckily Bernard’s wife Doris
was her piano teacher. That made it fairly easy to get out of boring piano
lessons to practice combat.

Bernard was close with Gage and trained him to fight
just like he did Addy. Her and Gage practiced combat together when they were
young, but once they were older they each got individual lessons. 

 Addy got to her feet and took a few steps toward the
door. “If we’re done here, I’m gonna finish sorting the books and head out.”

Stubbs waved her back to the table. “Come have a seat
for just another minute.”

She tried not to show how irritated she was, but
guessed by the look on her grandfather’s face she’d failed miserably.

“Addison,
don’t
act that way.” Fate raised his
voice. “I taught you better than that. Sit down and—”

“Sorry,” Addy said, stopping him before he got any
more upset. “What else do you need from me?”

She was staring at the painting on the wall above the
fireplace of a man and a woman; Andrew and Eva, the oldest Akori, standing in what
looked like a cemetery. They were both still around somewhere, but neither of
them had been at Tremain since before she was been born.

“We just need to tell you a couple of things and then
you can go. I know it’s boring.” Stubbs always tried to smooth things over when
her Grandfather got upset with her. “You remember we never move the estate to
the same place twice, right?”

“Yes,” she said, glancing between Fate and Stubbs.

Fate cleared his throat. “We’ve been here before.”

Never
ever,
had an Overseer broken the rules
and selected the same location twice. That was a big bomb to drop.

Fate took a sip from his glass. “This is where you
were born.”

“Oh.”

Addy didn’t say it out loud, but she knew it also
meant that it was the place her parents were killed. It happened on the day she
was born. She wasn’t sure how to feel about being back there. Deep down she
knew she was
supposed
to miss her parents or be sad, but it was hard to
feel that way about people she didn’t know.

“Akori can sense your grandfather because he’s the
Overseer. No matter where we move the estate, they can always find it as long
as he’s here.” Stubbs put his index finger up as he spoke. “That’s important
because Scattered Akori take so long to come back and Tremain is never where it
was when they Scattered.”

Addy already knew all that and she was getting antsy.
“Ok, but why are we back
here?”

 “The Akori who Scattered about twenty years ago will
begin rematerializing soon.” Fate leaned back in his chair, looking toward the
window even though it was too dark outside to see anything. “This beach is the
last location of Tremain they’ll remember.”

Stubbs stood up and walked over to the fireplace, then
turned to face her. “We hope the Akori will start looking
here
if they
don’t sense an Overseer. If you don’t get the Overseer’s power, there’ll be no
other way for them to find Tremain.”

Chapter 3

When Addy was finally set free, she headed out walking
across the garden to her villa. She was still wearing her bathing suit under
her tank top and shorts. Her sunglasses were perched on top of her head,
holding her long dark hair out of her face. She hadn’t had time to change
before meeting with them, not that they cared. She’d known all of them her
entire life and the last thing they were worried about was what she looked like.

Approaching the sidewalk that lead to her door, she thought
she saw someone walk between her villa and the unoccupied one next door. She
crouched down and slowly moved into the shadows.

Once she got up against the wall, she slowly peeked
around the corner. No one was there. Occasionally humans would find their way
into Tremain and get confused because of the Akori symbols placed around that
were used to hide it. She decided to walk around the perimeter of her villa to
be sure it was all clear. She turned the corner to check around back and felt
like she ran right into a brick wall.

Addy quickly discovered it wasn’t really a brick wall—it
was more like a guy who didn’t even budge when she plowed into him.  She hopped
to her feet and swung around. Using the wall to push off, she tried to land a
hard kick to the side of his body. He was fast and blocked her foot, sending
her to the ground. She started to get up, but he pushed her back down.

“Addy,
wait!”
Gage stood over her with an
amused expression.

 “What the
hell
are you doing stalking around
my place in the dark?” Her voice came out in a strange half-scream, as she scraped
herself off the ground.

He offered her his hand but she was too startled to
take it.

“You alright?” His tone was just short of laughing.

Without answering or waiting for him to explain why he
was creeping around, she turned and walked back to her front door.

“I didn’t mean to freak you out,” he said, standing
behind her on the porch as she opened the door. ”Bernard said there was a
strange man at the beach earlier when you and Kim were down there. I was
checking out the area around both of your places.”

She’d completely forgotten about the beach guy. “No
worries. I’ve just got information overload after meeting with Fate. I wasn’t
thinking about that. I’m fine, so just go do your thing or whatever.” She’d
always hated embarrassing herself in front of Gage. “I’m heading down to the
beach anyway.”

Her cat Moose was looping himself around her legs and
meowing, clearly upset she ran out so fast earlier, forgetting to feed him.

“I’ll wait and walk with you since I’m heading back
down there anyway.” He was still standing on her porch holding the screen door
open. “If you come across any strangers I might have to protect them from you.”

She shot him an innocent look and tried not to smile.
“I thought you were a burglar or something.”

“If that had been anyone but me they’d be hurting.
You’ve gotten pretty good,” he said.

“Thanks.” She dropped her purse on the table, making
her way to the kitchen to get the cat food.

Noticing Gage was still standing with the door open, she
motioned for him to come in. As he pulled the door shut, she realized it was
the first time she and Gage had been alone together in at least five years.

The kids who lived at Tremain went to school on the
estate and typically hung out together. Gage did his own thing for a few years
and didn’t hang around anyone but Matt. Addy still tried to be his friend for a
while, but he pretty much ignored her. She eventually gave up on him. They were
around the same group of friends all the time now that they were older, but
only occasionally spoke to each other.

Addy fed Moose, who was acting as if he was about to
faint from hunger, even though his bowl was still half-full. Looking around, she
was really glad she’d cleaned her place the day before. Kim and Matt were
usually the only people she had over, so cleaning wasn’t ever a real priority
and the mess had gotten pretty out of control.

Gage stepped a little further inside and looked
around. “Nice place.”

All of the villas had
exactly
the same layout. The
only thing different about hers was that she had a couple of extra windows
because it was located on the end. The inside of each was painted the same
antique white color with light hardwood floors. They were even furnished with
the same beige living room couches, chairs, and wood dining room tables. Addy
brought all of her own furniture from her room in the main house so at least her
bedroom was decorated exactly how she wanted.

“Yeah, real unique. So are you planning on moving out
of the main house?” She put the cat’s food away and gave him fresh water.

Gage sat down on her sofa, picking up her box of video
games and flipping through them. “I’m not sure, I mean I’d like to, but your
grandfather likes to keep me around.”

Being close to the Overseer came with a ton of responsibilities
and Fate always had something he needed Gage for. She typically heard his name
mentioned in their meetings. Addy wondered if he’d work for her if she became the
Overseer.

Gage pointed at Moose. “You finally got a cat, huh?”

“Yep, last year when Fate finally let me move out of
the main house I adopted from the animal shelter.”

“How’s this one?” He held up a first person shooter
game that came out a few weeks earlier.

“Amazing, I finished the campaign in like the first
two days. Matt and I were playing online but Kim was getting pissed about it.”

Gage raised his eyebrows. “Huh, I might have to snag
it for a few days.”

“Take it. I picked up two new games before we moved
and I haven’t opened either yet.”

Moose made his way over to Gage and began sniffing at
his shoes.

“I’ll be right back,” she said and headed to her room.

Addy stripped off her suntan lotion covered clothes
and searched for something to put on. The selection was terrible and she had to
settle for a dark gray tank top and more cut off jean shorts. She decided to
skip the sandals—she discovered earlier that she hated wearing shoes in the
sand.

Tossing her sunglasses on her dresser, she grabbed a
brush and painfully pulled it through the knots in her thick hair. It had grown
down to her elbows, which was longer than she liked it. She hoped since they were
living somewhere nice she’d be able to go to a real salon and get it cut,
rather than Stubbs trimming it.