chapter 15
Chairs were hastily set up in the garden and everyone was gathered. Addy stood at the front of the group next to her brother.
There were still quite a few more Akori there than usual. Tanner was seated with Bernard and Stubbs behind her with Winkie and Brutis at Stubbs’ feet. Kim and Matt were sitting on a bench together looking happy to be reunited.
Standing at the back of the group was Gage with his mother Molly. They both looked confused at what was happening. She figured they’d already heard rumors about what she was going to say.
“Thanks for coming together so quickly everyone,” Addy said. “In the last few days a lot’s changed. I hope you’ll understand after my brother and I are done explaining.” There was a roar from the group.
Jax took her hand in his, which made her slightly uncomfortable.
“My name is Jackson Sanders. Some of you may already know me as Jackson West.” He went on to explain a condensed version of what happened. When he was done, no one said anything out loud, but a lot of whispering was going on.
Addy glanced at Gage, who didn’t appear angry for the first time since she’d been back. He met her eyes briefly, and then turned to talk to Molly.
“Well then, let’s move to the library and get the Overseer’s Stone claimed,” Bernard said as he stood up.
Kim ran up and gave Addy a hug. “When you left this morning the last thing I expected you to bring home was a brother, especially that one.”
“You’re not the only one,” Addy said. “I’m glad you made it back safely—sorry I abandoned you.”
Kim shrugged and looked at Matt out of the corner of her eye. “It was no big deal.”
“Sure, she only made me stay on the phone with her the entire drive back,” Matt said, clearly pretending to be annoyed.
Matt called Gage over to walk with them. He didn’t say anything to her and she kept Matt and Kim in between them. Jax left out a lot of details about what happened. On the way to the library, Addy quietly filled them in on what he excluded.
“Your brother seems alright,” Matt said, shrugging his shoulders. “I just can’t believe you have a brother.”
“Tanner says I should request a DNA test,” she said, smiling.
“What’s with the Tanner guy?” Matt asked and Kim immediately elbowed him. “Hey, it's a fair question.”
“He’s my friend.” She looked over at Tanner who was talking to Bernard as they walked. “I can’t wait for you guys to get to know him.”
Approaching the library, they heard a commotion. Addy rushed in to see what was going on. She hurried to Jax and realized what they all saw.
The Overseer’s Stone was gone.
“Close up the gates!” Bernard shouted. Several Akori ran from the room.
“Jax!” A female voice shouted. “You just got here and you’ve already sent the place into chaos?”
It was Juliette West, the redhead from Jax’s house.
“I’m innocent this time,” he said, holding his hands up.
Juliette looked around at the crowded library. “Got any ideas about who’d take it?”
“A few. We need to clear the place out a bit and talk.” Jax directed his attention to Addy, as Juliette started herding the people out. “Who do you trust?”
“I trust Bernard, Kim, Matt, Gage, Renee, Josh, and Molly.”
He cut his eyes to look at Stubbs. “Interesting you didn’t mention the barber.”
“Oh I didn’t—I guess I just forgot him.”
“Listen,” Jax said, “someone here may have sold us out. Grandfather thought so, that’s why he sent me away and never told you or anyone else here about me.” Jax looked around. “Now that everyone knows about me, it’s all gonna come unglued.”
He grabbed her hand and led her down a row of books to an alcove at the end.
“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Jax said when they were alone. “Have a seat.”
Addy sat on a stone bench, pulling her feet up she was sitting cross-legged. “Great, more I don’t know.”
“Akori politics are very—complicated. They all have varying allegiances—whether they admit it or not. Some of them even believe that the Akori can gain additional power by eliminating the Overseer.” He sat down next to her and tipped his head to the side. “The humans aren’t the ones we have to watch out for, it’s other Akori. The ones that call themselves Mesen.”
Jax told her that the day their parents were killed, they left the estate and headed to a hospital for a carefully planned secret cesarean section. When they didn’t show up for the appointment, their grandfather was contacted.
Unable to locate them, he had no choice but to call in an Akori Shepherd who led him to their bodies. Their mother was dead, the babies were still inside her womb, and their father was with her dying. Fate summoned an Akori to shift the event but she was unable to. That meant Akori were involved in the attack.
“You’re telling me it was Akori that killed our parents—not humans?”
“Talk quietly.” He looked around and lowered his voice. “Our parents were murdered by Akori—well, they don’t call themselves Akori. They’re a group who split off from the Akori. They call themselves Mesen.”
Addy shook her head. “Fate told me that Mesen was what Akori who didn’t come to the estate were called.”
“It’s partially true, they don’t come here.” Jax continued on, telling her that Fate had the babies cut from his daughter-in-law’s dead body, as their father died. They were alive, but needed medical attention. Fate knew an Akori who had healing powers and he was able to save them.
Addy tapped her fingers on the stone bench. “Do a lot of Akori have healing powers?”
”No, he’s the only one we’ve ever known of.” Jax gave her an odd look. “It's funny that’s the only question you have after what I’ve just dumped on you.”
She ignored his comment. “So Fate brought me here and the Mesen thought only a girl was born? Is that why they’ve stayed away? They were just waiting for Fate to die?”
Jax nodded.
“How’d he hide you so well? None of us here had any idea you existed.” She still couldn’t believe it herself.
“Our grandfather handed me over to the West family because he knew he could trust them. They prepared me for taking over Tremain—and dealing with the backlash once the Mesen found out I existed.”
Addy thought for a minute. She’d never heard exactly how her parents had been murdered, just that it was on the day she was born and the ones who did it were human, not Akori.
“You know so much more than I do about everything,” she said, leaning forward on her elbows.
“I had to know everything because I was going to be the Overseer one day. Grandfather didn’t want you to live in suspicion of everyone. He also needed you, and anyone around you, to really believe that you were his only heir.” Jax put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s easier for me because I’ve always known about all of it—you didn’t.”
She shifted uncomfortably under the pressure of his arm. “Maybe.”
Jax tightened his arm around her. “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.”
Addy smiled at him slightly and immediately started feeling creepy for checking out her own brother earlier.
“It just feels like everything I knew about my life was wrong.” She stood up and looked around at the library where she’d spent countless hours with her Grandfather. “Fate once told me he’d read every book in here.”
Jax ran his slender fingers along a book spine the way she always did. “If he said it, then it was true.”
“Do you know how the Mesen found your house earlier?”
“They shouldn’t have known about me yet. We think maybe they followed you, but we’re not sure. We’d been watching for Tanner for a few days. That’s why I had Angelica and a few others posted around the area. We’d have been screwed if she hadn’t spotted the Mesen coming.”
Addy crossed her arms and leaned against the book shelf. “What do you know about Tanner? He’s never talked about his family until today. Judging by the places he stays and the bike he drives, I think he’s got a ton of money.”
Jax turned his palms up. “I only knew Grandfather was sending him. I was a little surprised his parents never told him what he was, but maybe even they didn’t know. I’m thinking we shouldn’t press him to talk about it—at least not yet.”
He must have noticed the same vibe she did when Tanner mentioned his family; it was like he didn’t want to talk about them.
Jax stood up next to her. “Think Bernard’s right about grandfather having his friend adopt Tanner?”
“After finding you—I think anything’s possible. We should ask Bernard to talk to him.”
Jax raised his eyebrows. “He actually offered to talk to him. After we met earlier I talked to Bernard about a few things, including Tanner.”
“Oh,” she said, tugging at a loose string on the seam of her shirt. Addy turned to face Jax. “Why didn’t you just come to Tremain as soon as Fate died? He could’ve just told you where it was instead of summoning Tanner to bring you.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to come before he passed so you and I could meet for the first time with him here, but he said I had to wait for the Akori Shepherd. He told me he had a plan and I was not to deviate from it.”
“I guess Fate knew what he was doing.” She just wished she knew what it was.
“You don’t call him Grandfather?”
She shook her head. “I never have. Everyone else called him Fate when I was little, so I just started calling him by his name too.”
Addy never thought calling her grandfather by his first name was odd. Jax calling him grandfather seemed strange to her.
“We’d better get back. I’m sure the library’s cleared out by now.” Addy smiled at him thinly. Her head was spinning and it was everything she could do to keep it together.
The library was empty when they walked back to the main area, except for Juliette, who was perched on the long stone table they used for meetings.
“Why is there still no electricity in this room after all of these years?” she asked.
Jax looked around and smirked. “Jules, where is everyone?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted the room cleared?” She hopped off the table and walked toward Jax.
“Haven’t we talked about you taking things too literally?” Jax snickered, opening the library doors. He looked at the group outside. “She means well.”
“The Overseer must be surrounded by loyal people, who will do what he asks without question every time.” Bernard gave Juliette a pat on the shoulder. “You did fine.”
“What kind of weapons do you have around this place?” Juliette asked him.
“We have a very well stocked weapons vault.” Bernard loved anything having to do with fighting and her question made him smile from ear to ear. “I’ll show you when time permits.”
Jax asked the group of people Addy said she could trust and Tanner to come in. Then he closed and locked the library doors. Stubbs wasn’t included and she really felt bad. Kim and Matt sat together on the chaise lounge by the fire. Kim had never been included on any Akori related discussions and she looked nervous.
“Any ideas about who took the stone?” Josh asked, in his gruff voice. He didn’t talk much, but he was always loyal to Fate and took good care of Matt and Renee.
Jax hoisted himself up on the stone table to sit. “Nope.”
Gage was leaning against the wall near the fireplace. “What are you doing to find it?” He glanced at Addy, catching her eye.
“Nothing currently,” Jax said while he examined his own perfect fingernails.
Addy stepped forward and put her hands up. “I think Jax means we haven’t started yet but—”
“Why don’t you care that the Overseer’s Stone is missing?” Bernard asked, walking up to Jax. “What do you know about it that we don’t?”
Jax leaned toward Juliette, who was seated on the table next to him. “There’s a reason my grandfather liked him.”
Addy was starting to get irritated at Jax’s ridiculous comments. She was just about to lose it when Tanner walked up and hung his arm around her shoulders. Gage shifted uncomfortably against the wall and divert his eyes.
“Alright partner, tell us what you know so we can all bail,” Tanner said. “I have a gig tonight.”
Jax sat up straight. “Really, where at? I’m free later.”
Addy couldn’t take another second of his unconcerned attitude. “Jax! Either put on your big boy pants and contribute, or get out so the grown-ups can talk.”
He looked shocked. His posture and facial expression completely changed.
Juliette bumped his shoulder with hers. “She told you.”
“I apologize,” he said to Addy, then looked around at everyone. “There’s nothing anyone but me can do with the stone. I’m not sure why someone took it, but I can easily locate it.” Jax turned to Juliette. “I’ll need a couple of books from our house to do it. You can head back there tonight and grab them for me.”
“Will do,” she said, sliding down from the tabletop.
Kim cleared her throat and leaned forward. “If you’re the only one who can use the stone—then how’d Addy use it to get the symbol like Tanner has?”
Matt put his arm around Kim as Jax shifted his eyes up at her.
Jax gestured toward Addy with his head. “She’s still a Sanders, even if she isn’t the Overseer.”
“We think Fate had me use the pattern that marked me so I’d find Jax,” Addy said, glancing at her brother.
“But we can’t be sure of anything at this point,” Bernard said. “She touched the stone but it marked her and Tanner—that may indicate something else entirely.”
Jax cut his eyes at Bernard, and then looked around at the group. “There’s nothing else we can do tonight. Don’t tell anyone outside of this room what’s happening and I’ll let you know if anything changes tomorrow.”
He headed for the door but stopped in front of Addy, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. “Get some sleep—you look terrible.” He walked out the door with Juliette before Addy could respond.
Addy walked home alone through the garden wondering how things had gotten so messed up so fast. How she could possibly have ended up with a brother like Jax was a total mystery. And on top of Jax there was the missing Overseer’s Stone. The thought of Fate knowing how screwed up everything got made her cringe.
Then there was Tanner. Addy felt terrible about getting between him and Fate. She’d only wanted to protect him, but she really should’ve just brought him to the estate. At least she’d been right about him being an Akori and not knowing it. She really wanted answers to Bernard’s theory that her grandfather gave Tanner to his adopted parents. She just didn’t want to be pushy about it and cause him to stay away. She really liked having him around.
Just over halfway back to her villa she was startled out of her thoughts by someone calling her name.
“Wait up, Addy.” Gage was coming up behind her.
A rush of excitement that turned into irritation swept over her.
“Gage, I’m really tired, I literally haven’t slept since I left here a couple of days ago.”
After he saw Tanner dropping her clothes off, that was probably the wrong thing to say. The way he acted earlier was absolutely ridiculous, and she was actually feeling pretty pissed at him. He’d always been the one of the most reasonable people she knew.
“I’ll just walk you to your place.” He caught up fast. “I’m an ass for jumping to conclusions and I’m sorry. I’m here to help you any way I can—not make things harder.”
Addy didn’t say anything until they were out in front of her villa. She gazed out at the ocean, thinking about what to say carefully before she spoke. “I used to wonder about that—if you’d stay here to help me after Fate was gone.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Your brother may be the Overseer, but I’m here for you.”
It seemed like a lifetime ago since the day she woke up and spotted the beach at their door. So much had changed so quickly. She didn’t even know where to begin with Gage. Before the estate moved, she’d just thought of him as an acquaintance—someone she used to know. Since being there he’d somehow become a big part of her life again. Over the past few days she’s realized that even though they didn’t talk, they’d really never stopped being friends.
“I kept telling myself you didn’t know me anymore.” She got up on the step to the porch and turned so they were looking face to face and spoke quietly. “But it turns out that you’re probably the person who knows me the best—you’re my oldest friend.”
She took in a deep breath of the floral scented air and looked closely at him.
“It’s so damn disappointing you didn’t know me better than to think I’d run off after a guy, Gage.”
It looked like what she said really hit him and he lowered his head. Gage just stood there looking frustrated, like he didn’t know where to start. He took her hand for a few seconds and then let it go. Addy had never seen him look so uncertain.
Standing only inches in front of Gage—seeing him look so distraught, it was hard not to reach out and touch him. She crossed her arms to stop herself from being tempted.
“Just try to understand,” he said, taking a small step closer to her. “Every day of your life I’ve known where to find you. For the first time I didn’t—I couldn’t. You don’t know how—” He closed his eyes while he took a deep breath, and then started again. “After we read the notes, I remembered seeing you with that guy—Tanner a couple of times, it just made sense. Your text message said you needed space so—”
“I needed time to sort out what was happening without you guys worrying.” She put her hand on her forehead in frustration. “So much has happened. I can’t even think straight anymore, I’m so tired.”
He dropped his shoulders. “Why don’t I just let you get some sleep then? We can talk when things settle down.”
She nodded her head, crossing her arms again.
“Goodnight.” He brushed the back of his hand lightly against her cheek, and walked back to the main house.
Addy began tossing the idea of stopping him around in her head the second he turned his back, but she decided to just let him go.
Moose was super happy to see Addy, and he weaved in and out of her feet as she walked around getting ready for bed. It was breezy and mild outside so she opened a window to let fresh air fill the room. Turning the lights out, she climbed under the covers. Moose happily jumped up to lay next to her.
As tired as she was, the day kept replaying in her mind. Jackson was her brother, which was completely unbelievable. He seemed fine with it, but he’d known about her his whole life. She’d slipped into the role of his sister earlier and tried to take things as they came without overthinking it.
Actually, it was reassuring to know he was around and had a handle on the things she didn’t understand. The brother part was going to take some time to digest though. She figured Fate really went to a lot of trouble to keep Jax a secret, and it must have been so difficult to hide him—especially with that mouth of his.
Knowing the real details of her parents’ murder was unreal to her. Thinking that misguided humans killed them was one thing, but Akori doing it was completely different. Addy was beginning to think she really didn’t know as much about the people she grew up around as she thought.
Thinking back to earlier on the front porch, she wished she’d stopped Gage from leaving. She didn’t want to fight with him and she was a little scared things would go back to the way they were before when he didn’t talk to her. She could’ve just dropped the subject of how he acted earlier and told him about the Akori Fate knew who could heal. Losing him as a friend after just losing Fate was something she couldn’t handle.
Gage was a whole other big issue though. With all that was going on, it was ridiculous that she kept thinking about him, yet she couldn’t help herself. The message from Matt saying Gage had been out looking for her all night, on top of what he said outside made her feel bad. He probably always had known where she was—he’d been around her entire life. There was no way she could have told him what she was going to do when she left the estate though. She didn’t even know herself.
Addy reached over and picked up her cell phone. It was almost 1am. She should’ve been asleep, but she was too busy fighting with herself about whether to put the phone down or send Gage a text. She really wanted to see if he was still up, but she wasn’t even sure where their friendship stood. Eventually her better judgment lost out and she sent him a message.
Awake?
He responded a minute later.
I am now.
She put her hand over her eyes. “What am I doing?” She spoke out loud, startling Moose. A few minutes passed while she was trying to decide what to do and her phone chirped again.
Need something or just wanna wake me up?
Clearing her mind as best as she could, she decided what she wanted and quickly typed the message. She hit send before she had time to change her mind.
Come over?
There was no response after ten minutes. Tossing her phone on her nightstand, she turned over and closed her eyes.
Knocking at the patio door to her bedroom startled her out of a light sleep. Addy took a few seconds to process the sound, then went over and slid the door open to see Gage standing there.
Dread swept over her as she realized that she’d managed to call him over in the middle of the night and had no idea why.
“Hey,” she said. She couldn’t see him very well in the dark, but it looked like he was smiling.
“Did you really wake me up, ask me to come over, and then go to sleep?”
“Sadly yes, but in my defense, you didn’t say you were coming and I’ve been awake for days.” She stepped out of the way so he could come in.
Gage took a step closer to her and leaned down, brushing his fingertips along her cheek. “Are you alright?”
“I don’t know why I asked you to come over.” Addy looked up at him. “I was just thinking too much about what’s been going on around here.”
He moved a little closer. “Try not to worry, we’ll figure it all out.”
It was more than just that though. Maybe because she was delirious with exhaustion she decided she might as well just say how she felt.
“Gage, I don’t wanna argue with you, and I really don’t—I’m afraid things will go back to the way they were when you didn’t talk to me.”
He shook his head as she spoke and tipped her head back to make her look up at him. “We’re not arguing, and things between us will never be that way again. It never should’ve been like that.”
Feeling tired and overwhelmed, she walked over and sat down on the edge of her bed with her hands over her face.
He followed and stood in front of her, smoothing her hair. “This doesn’t seem like our home anymore.”
Addy put her arms around his waist and pulled him closer so she was resting her head on his stomach. “No, it doesn’t.”
She doubted the estate would ever feel like home again. Almost every detail of her life there had been in some way or another untrue. She was tempted to feel angry at Fate for keeping her and Jax apart, but she kept reminding herself that he did what he had to do to keep them both safe.
Gage’s fingers running through her hair made her already tired body relax to the point where she was about to fall asleep sitting there.
He started to pull away. “C’mon, you need to get to sleep.”
Addy tightened her arms around him and pulled Gage closer. “I’m sorry you were out looking for me.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” He kneeled down so they were face to face. “Just don’t take off without telling anyone again.”
Gage stood her up and helped her into her bed. He pulled the blanket up over her, disturbing Moose who gave him an irritated meow before hopping off the bed.
“Get to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He started to leave but she reached up and hooked one of his belt loops with her index finger. He was the only thing that felt familiar with her life completely turned upside down—she didn’t want him to go.
“Addy, I can’t—” He hesitated, but she didn’t let go and tugged him toward her.
Giving up, Gage pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his shoes. Moving in next to her, she scooted close and he slipped his arms around her. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.