chapter 21
An hour later, Addy was sitting at a table with a guy and two girls who were dating a couple of the members of Tanner’s band. He introduced them as Trisha, Aimee and Stan. The way they were checking out the other guys at the club she decided they were using the word dating extremely loosely and that they were probably more like groupies. Checking her phone, she was disappointed that Gage hadn’t answered the text she’d sent him about meeting her.
The jam-packed club was like a warehouse with dark walls, floor, and ceiling. Tables were scattered around the perimeter of the dance floor and a narrow bar ran the length of the back wall. Lights flashed from overhead to the beat of the music.
Addy wore a short teal and blue halter dress and matching platform heels. She’d been worried about being overdressed but ended up looking conservative compared to the way the two girls at her table were made up. Her hair was pulled up with a few strands pulled loose hanging down around her face and neck.
The girl named Aimee leaned toward Addy. “So you’re the one Tanner cut his hair for, huh?”
Addy was caught off-guard by her question and shook her head, a little surprised by the fact that he’d mentioned her to his friends at all. “I wouldn’t say that he cut it for me, but I think he looks pretty good.”
The three people at her table exchanged doubtful looks and Addy felt under the microscope.
Trisha stirred her drink with the straw. “We met your brother Jax the other night—he’s a handful.”
“The girls couldn’t keep their eyes off him,” Stan said, smirking. “Every guy here wanted to beat him down.”
“My brother’s good at making people wanna hit him,” Addy said, shaking her head. “We’re nothing alike.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t like Jax; he was just different from the people she normally associated with. When she pictured a brother, it wasn’t Jax.
They made a little small talk and had a couple of drinks. The DJ stopped playing music and Tanner came on stage. Addy felt bad she’d never asked Tanner much about his band. She didn’t even know the name, which was Twisted Memories, until they got there. She also didn’t know he played the guitar and did most of the singing.
The other guys in the band looked pretty much like Tanner did the first day she met him, except the drummer. His head was shaved and he was covered head to toe in tattoos and piercings. He also didn’t feel the need to wear a shirt—not that you could tell whether he was wearing one or not with all the tats marking him.
The first song was hardcore rock and had the whole place on its feet. Apparently, Twisted Memories had a pretty big local fan base. After another two songs, Addy checked her phone and saw she’d missed a call from Gage. There was no way she could call him back in there. She started to get up to go outside and call him when she spotted him walking in.
The flashing lights in the club made Gage’s golden hair and light eyes stand out even more than usual. Matt always said that human girls were especially attracted to Akori guys, and it wasn’t their fault that he and Gage always had girls falling all over them. Looking around, she believed it.
Some of the girls, including the two at her table were following him with their eyes as he walked through and scanned the crowd. Wearing dark pants, and a blue and black button down shirt with the sleeves cuffed, even Addy had a hard time not staring.
Standing up, she walked over to meet him near the bar. “You made it!” She had to shout over the pounding music.
He broke out into a smile when he saw her. “You look fantastic,” he said in her ear.
“So do you.” She motioned around the room. “Obviously the other girls here agree.”
He acted surprised and looked around. “What other girls?”
Addy instantly pretended to gag. “You can put away the cheesy lines, I’m pretty sure we’re past that point.”
He smiled and turned his head. “You sure? I’ve got more if you don’t like that one.”
“I’m good,” she said and took both of his hands, pulling him behind her to the table where she’d been sitting.
Addy pointed at each person. “Gage, this is Aimee, Trisha, and Stan. They’re friends with Tanner.”
They all greeted him and Stan flagged down their server to get Gage a drink.
Trisha scooted closer to the table and shouted over the music. “So you’re Addy’s boyfriend then?”
Addy felt her face flush. She couldn’t believe how they just said whatever came to mind.
Gage flashed a grin at Addy. “I’m working on it.”
Tanner was incredibly talented on stage. Addy would’ve never imagined he could be like that, and it really made her wonder why he’d ever want to put up with the issues at the estate. If she was him, she’d have bailed as soon as Jax made the pulling feeling go away.
The band vacated the stage and the DJ started playing loud club music. The packed area around the stage became a dance floor again and it was completely crowded as they made their way through.
Addy’s head spun as she and Gage danced with the rest of the group to the loud music. The lights flashing on and off made rainbows of colors that were hypnotizing.
Gage pulled her into his arms; she was out of breath and hot. He bent down and picked her up so they were face to face and her feet were dangling below her. Addy slipped her arms around his neck tightly, pulling herself against him.
Gage leaned his forehead against hers. “Do you remember dancing with me before?”
She did remember and she wished she could forget it. Doris and Stubbs were teaching them how to do some traditional Akori dances and she was paired up with Gage. She was 12 then, and she stepped on his feet and tripped him, causing him to fall. It wasn’t one of her better moments.
“Yeah,” she said, biting her lip.
He grinned at her obvious embarrassment over the memory. “You’re much better now.”
Once they went back to the table, it wasn’t long before Tanner joined them, looking surprised to see Gage.
“Thanks for coming, man.” They did the guy handshake-half-hug-back-pat thing.
“That was awesome,” Addy said, stepping forward and smiling at Tanner. “You were so good.”
He stepped over and hung his arm around her neck. “Thanks, girlie.”
“Yuck Tanner, you’re all sweaty—get off.” She laughed and pushed him away.
He tried to act offended, but once she stuck her tongue out at him they both started laughing.
Gage grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up against him. His timing told her that he wasn’t completely convinced that she and Tanner were just friends yet.
Addy got Gage and Tanner talking and they discovered they both liked video games and motorcycles, and video games with motorcycles, a lot. From that point on, they forgot she was even there. She didn’t really mind though. She wanted them to get to know each other and be friends.
After a few more drinks, the other girls dragged her out to dance. The floor was still crowded and the lights were flashing fast to the music.
Addy thought she caught sight of a pair of Akori hands draped around a nearby girl’s shoulders. It looked like whoever it was had a ring similar to the one Gage wore. She tried to see if it was anyone she knew, but lost sight of them in the pulsing crowd.
She stopped dancing and just stood there, being slammed around by the dancing masses. Looking around, she could have sworn someone was calling her name. There was no way she heard anything over the music, but she still felt something odd and started to walk to the back of the club.
Approaching the far end of the dance floor, she saw the blue glow of Akori hands. It was a guy who was turning down the hallway that went to the bathrooms. He tucked his hands in his pockets and she saw him look at her out of the corner of his eye.
As she stepped off the dance floor Gage grabbed her hand, spinning her into his arms. “We’ve been looking for you.”
Tanner was standing behind Gage. He looked toward the hallway, then back at Addy. “You ok, girlie?”
“Yeah, I just thought…never mind.” She glanced at the direction she’d been headed and suddenly the urge to go that way faded.
It was way past last call and everybody started to spill out onto the sidewalk in front of the club. Gage told Tanner he was gonna take Addy back with him and they headed out.
The tropical night air was still hot from the sun blazing down all day. They traveled the roads along the ocean back to the estate. The top of his Jeep was off and the wind whipped through her hair. It wasn’t long before it was pulled free from the hairpins she had holding it up and flying all over the place.
Gage had his hand was on her leg, tapping his fingertips to the song that played on the radio. Her shoes were in the back seat and her feet were up on his dashboard. They could’ve been any young human couple driving home from a date.
For the last few hours she’d pushed every terrible thing that was happening in their lives out of her head, but the closer they got to the estate, the more difficult it was becoming. She wondered if once Jax gained his power she’d be able to leave. Getting away from Tremain and having a normal life somewhere sounded incredibly appealing.
Addy leaned her head back and turned to Gage, reaching over and running her finger along the side of his neck. “Would you ever leave the estate, like just go—live like the humans?”
Gage shifted his eyes to her briefly, and then looked back at the road. “That’s a random thing to ask.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to be free from all the drama?”
“Is that what you want?”
Addy turned the idea over in her mind. “Jax won’t need me. I think I wanna get away.”
He was quiet until he stopped at the next traffic light and she was beginning to regret what she’d said.
Gage slipped his fingers through hers. “After everything settles down we’ll take a long road trip away from the estate,” he said, kissing the top of her hand, “and if you decide you don’t wanna come back then we won’t.”
“That sounds so perfect,” she said as they were turning into the driveway. “We have to bring Moose though.”
“And your reversible kitten blanket?”
“Of course.” Addy’s smile immediately faded when she saw the estate.
The lights were all on in the main house, which was unusual for 3am.
Gage sighed and let go of her hand. “What now?”
She checked her phone. “Seven missed calls from Bernard.”
Gage parked without even bothering to put his Jeep in the garage and they ran into the house.
Juliette was talking to a group of Akori when she spotted them. “Addison, your human friend released all of our prisoners.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Bernard said.
“Addison, your human friend and all of our prisoners are gone—I wonder what happened,” Juliette said sarcastically, glancing in Bernard’s direction.
Addy couldn’t speak, her head was spinning. That just didn’t sound like something Kim would, or even could, do.
Stubbs walked up fast with Patrick and joined them.
“It was Matt,” Stubbs said to Juliette, “he made her do it.”
Juliette’s eyes met Stubbs then she shifted to look at Patrick. “Have you finished searching their rooms?”
“Yeah,” he said, glancing in Addy’s direction, “and we found some interesting things.”
“We should speak privately.” Juliette started to walk away with Patrick, but looked back over her shoulder. “I’ll meet with you in the morning, Addy.”
Stubbs gave Gage an odd look. Addy followed his eyes and realized Gage was holding her shoes and purse, which he must have grabbed from his back seat on their way in. She sheepishly reached over, taking them from him.
Gage ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “How’d they get away?”
“Someone unlocked their cells and they walked right out.” Bernard threw his hands in the air. “And no one saw anything.”
Addy put her hand on her forehead. “So what do we do?”
Stubbs gave her a reassuring smile. “We all get some sleep and pick back up tomorrow.”
Bernard and Stubbs walked away, Winkie and Brutis trailing behind them. The older men looked exhausted.
Gage took her hand once they were alone and stepped in front of her. “Just stay here tonight. You shouldn’t be alone with them out there.”
She didn’t object, and they walked to his room.“Why would Kim do that?” Addy dropped down on the edge of the bed. “I told her to stay away from him.”
“People do crazy things when they think they’re in love.” He handed her one of his t-shirts to put on. “I’ll set up on the couch tonight,” he said, grabbing one of the pillows off of his bed.
She slipped his shirt on over her dress then slid her dress off and sat back down on his bed. She was surprised he was gonna sleep across the room since he’d just spent the last two nights in her bed.
“We should’ve known something was going on the night Kim was fighting on the beach.” Gage tossed the pillow on the couch. “Remember the way her, Matt, and Renee were looking at each other?”
Addy remembered. “It was like they had an entire conversation going without us.”
“Something’s not right.”
She reached up, pulling her hair into a ponytail. “This entire place isn’t right anymore.”
Gage nodded his head and came over to sit next to her. “It can only get better though.”
“I hope you’re right.” She doubted it could get any worse.
He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her over to sit on the floor by the couch.
“Do you remember the year you begged Fate for a cat for your birthday, but he said no?”
“Yeah, that was my 11th birthday, the first year you and Mattie—you guys didn’t come to my party. Molly said you both went on a ski trip.” Thinking about Matt put a knot in her stomach.
That was her worst birthday ever. The boys screwing around and causing trouble was her favorite part of every party they had at the estate and it wasn’t the same without them.
“It was a last minute thing. I planned on coming Addy, but it was just—”
“No worries, it was a long time ago.” She hadn’t meant to make him feel bad. “Anyway, what about it?”
“Hold on.”
He went into his closet and she could hear him digging around. After a minute, he came back with a shoebox and sat back down.
“What’s that?” She watched him open the lid.
Addy looked in the box and it was full of junk from when they were kids. Pictures, movie ticket stubs, cards, ski lift tickets, and bracelets from carnivals.
“My mom always used to toss things in here she said I should keep.”
She reached in and picked up a picture. Gage, Matt, Renee, and Addy were standing on the top of a ski hill. Gage was holding Addy up by the back of her jacket. It was the first time Fate let her go snowboarding with the others. She was only seven. There were more like that from birthday parties and holidays. There was one that Molly took of Gage holding Addy’s hands when she was still learning to walk. He was only about six, wearing a blue shirt with a dump truck on it.
Gage was digging through the box, and she examined the items he removed. He pulled out a small pink pouch and handed it to her.
“Open it.”
She loosened the drawstrings and carefully emptied the contents into her hand. It was a silver chain with a black and white cat charm made of gemstones. Addy raised her eyebrows and looked at him.
“It was supposed to be your birthday gift the year I missed your party.”
She stared back at him skeptically.
“It’s true—why else would I have that, Addy? I got it at the gift shop in the ski lodge. When we got home you didn’t talk to me for a week. I just never got around to giving it to you after that.”
He reached for it and put it around her neck, fastening the clasp.
She shifted her eyes down to the sparkling cat charm. It was exactly what she would have picked out herself.
Gage looked like he was waiting for her to say something.
She crawled over to him so she was sitting on his lap, tipping the box accidently. “It’s perfect.”
They picked up the contents of the shoebox, talking and laughing at the different things they remembered. She had been so angry with him for not being a part of her life for the last few years that she’d forgotten how much a part of it he used to be. He was in almost every one of her memories in one way or another.
Seeing pictures of Matt and Renee stung, flooding her with feelings of anger and sadness at what they’d done. She could tell Gage felt the same uneasy feelings looking at their faces.
Putting the lid on the box and standing up, he pulled her to her feet.
Gage twisted his fingers around the sides of the shirt she was wearing, pulling her closer and smiled down at her. “Despite what’s happening around here—tonight was perfect.”
Standing on her tip-toes, she slid her hands up his shoulders and through his hair, and pulled him to her level. “I almost feel guilty.”
She softly kissed along his neck. His arms tightened and he leaned into her.
When her lips reached just below his ear, he suddenly picked her up, carried her to his bed, and tossed her down.
She slid over, expecting him to follow. Instead, he whispered goodnight and headed for the couch.
“Where—Gage!” She sat up, staring at him in disbelief.
“When this is over.” He smirked, switching the lamp off.
“When this is over?”
“Your words—not mine.”
With an exasperated sigh, she collapsed back onto the pillows, pulling the blanket up over her head.