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.
Tanner stopped and put his hands up just before he got within her striking range.
“Before you say anything please listen, girlie.” He waited until he was sure she wasn’t gonna hit him. “I had to help Gage—just like he had to help Kim. It was the right thing to do.”
Tears welled in her eyes because she knew he was right. Gage couldn’t let Kim die and Tanner couldn’t let her stop Gage.
Tanner took a step closer to her. “You knew he could heal?”
She nodded.
“So you knew what was gonna happen?”
Addy pressed her palm to her right temple. “I can’t believe he left me.”
Tanner put his arms out and two steps later she had her face buried in his shoulder.
“I was there, girlie. That guy didn’t wanna leave you.”
Addy tipped her head back to look at him. “I’m sorry for being like this. Jax told me to pull myself together.”
Tanner squeezed her tightly against him. “Screw Jax.”
“You’re making it hard to stay mad,” she said with a sniffle.
“That’s the plan.”
“It’s working.”
Tanner stepped back and put his hands on her shoulders. “Does that mean I don’t have to watch out for your right hook anymore?”
She laughed for the first time in a week. “You’re out of danger for now.”
He dropped his arms and grinned at her. Being around Tanner made the hopelessness she’d been feeling fade a little and she was glad Jax convinced her to come downstairs.
“What’ve I missed?” She was almost afraid to hear the answer as they walked to the library.
Tanner told her Jax has been back on his feet for about four days, but for the first two days he and Juliette were fighting.
“They were locked in the library for hours the first day. We could hear him shouting at her about lying to him and deceiving him. Your name was even shouted a few times.” The second day Tanner said Mitchell West had shown up and the three of them were locked in Jax’s wing of the estate for the entire day. “When they came out, it was just business as usual.”
Addy figured Jax found out some things that upset him when he got the Overseer’s memories.
“We were right about everything. The Mesen want Jax out of the picture so they can get more powers and our side’s been trying to stop them. So it’s your basic good versus evil,” Tanner said, smiling. “And speaking of good versus evil—your cat’s a beast. He’s been driving Stubbs’ dogs insane.”
She laughed thinking about Moose torturing the little dogs.
“I really feel like everything I knew about the Akori was watered down truth mixed with lies,” Addy said as they walked into the library.
Jax looked up at her from his seat at the head of the table, the same seat their grandfather used to occupy. “That’s because it was.”