Dissever (Unbinding Fate Book One) (27 page)

“I’m sorry. I tried to stop
him from—” Addy tried to apologize, but the words got caught in her throat.

“I know. Tanner told me what
happened.” Molly walked over to her dresser and picked up another stack of
clothes. “Do you remember how he was never sick when you were children? When
you’d get sick, he’d hover over you and tell me and Fate to make you better.”

“I don’t want you to go.”
Addy felt panicked. Gage and Fate were gone and Matt, Kim, Renee, and Josh had
betrayed them. Molly leaving was more than she could take.

Molly sat down and put her
arm around her. “It's going to be alright, sweetheart.” She pulled her back to
look at her face. “You have to be strong. You can’t walk around like this,
people need you.”

“I don’t know if I can.” She
tried to catch her breath.

“Gage wouldn’t want you to
be like this because of him.”

Addy knew she was right. “How’d
you deal with it when Will Scattered?”

Molly stood up and walked
over to the window. “I had Gage, which helped. I had to stay strong for him. It
was hard enough for him to lose his dad. He couldn’t lose me to my sorrow too.”

Addy studied Molly. She was
a very attractive woman. Even at nearly 50 years old, she looked much younger.

“Time is the best healer,”
Molly said, taking a deep breath. “I’ll always love Will, but I know our life
together is over. I’m thankful he gave me Gage and I’m glad we got to come here
and live with you.”

“I’m glad too.” Addy picked
up a picture in a frame of Gage when he was little sitting in Will’s arms and
studied it. He’d grown up to look just like his father. The ring Gage was
wearing when he Scattered was sitting on the table next to another one that
looked just like it. Addy figured it belonged to Gage’s father. “How come
Gage’s ring didn’t Scatter with him?”

Molly walked over and picked
up both rings, slipping them both on her index finger. “I’m not exactly sure,
but it has something to do with the symbol engraved on it. Some Akori families
wear them so if they Scatter a piece of them is left behind—like a marker on
the spot we disappeared.”

She’d seen several Akori
with different pieces of jewelry engraved with symbols and initials. Mitchell
West and both Sade and Patrick LaCroft had them.

“I have to get back to the
library, but don’t leave without saying goodbye.” She turned to leave then
stopped. “Molly?”

Molly turned from her
packing and raised her brow at her.

“Does Will know your
relationship is over?” Addy didn’t wait for an answer.

Walking down the stairs, she
ran into Jax. He looked as cool and collected as always.

He slowed down and smiled at
her. “On your way back down to the library?”

“Yep. Who were you meeting?”

He avoided her eyes and put
his arm around her shoulders. “You look so much better.”

“I’m your
sister
Jackson, your charm doesn’t work on me.” She shrugged him off. “Don’t start
keeping secrets and hiding things.”

“I promise I’m not lying to
you about anything.” At the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and turned to her.
“I’m not gonna lie; there
are
things I haven’t been able to tell you
yet. Some things I just found out myself. When the time comes I’ll tell you
anything you want to know, ok?”

Addy shrugged. “I guess.”

They walked to the library, but
the only one there was Bernard. He brought up another topic she didn’t wanna
discuss.

“We need to talk about what
to do with Kim. She can’t remain locked in the bedroom,” he said to Jax and
Addy.

“How is she?” Addy asked
him, not sure if she really wanted to know.

“Scared and worried about
you,” he said. “Doris has been sitting with her.”

Jax tapped his finger on the
table. “When you’re up to it, you’ll talk to her and find out what she knows.”

“Me?” Addy glared at Jax.
“Why?”

“You’re the only one she
wants to see.” Jax explained that Kim didn’t even think she’d done anything
wrong. She still didn’t believe that Matt and Renee were really trying to hurt
them.

Once everyone else returned,
Jax picked back up where he left off.

“The Mesen have nothing to
lose, they’ll continue to attack my family. Even if we Scatter them they’ll
just come back and try again,” Jax said, turning his palms up. “We need a more
permanent
solution.”

“Like what—giving back their
power?” Bernard asked.

“It's not that easy.”
Juliette dropped down into a chair, scooting it up to the table. “We’d need Eva
here and we don’t even know if it’s
possible
to unblock the power.”

Tanner walked over to the
table and leaned against it. “Well, the
Mesen
must think it’s possible to get the power back, or they wouldn’t keep trying.”

Addy thought for a minute.
“We need to know what they know, that we don’t know.”

Her words made Tanner laugh
immediately. “You
think?”

She shot him a look that
screamed
shut-up
and continued. “I think we should propose a truce with
them. Then we all get together and sit down to discuss what concessions can be
made. I’m sure they don’t like having their people Scattered any more than we
do.”

Juliette shook her head. “I
highly doubt they’ll agree to that again.”

“Again?” Tanner repeated.

“That actually might work—at
least temporarily.”  Jax stood up and headed for the door. “I know
exactly
who to send to them with the offer.”

Chapter 25

The ocean was lapping on
the shore, reaching up and touching her toes. It was dark but the sand was
still warm from the sun burning brightly all day. The sky was filled with stars
and the moon shined brightly overhead. The breeze blew across her shoulders
causing her to shiver. She leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder and he
pulled his arms tight around her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Hello?” A voice said,
startling her awake. “Hey, are you ok?”

Addy sat up, shaking off her
dream, to see a young couple was standing over her. They were looking concerned,
maybe even a little scared.

After getting her bearings
Addy managed to answer. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” She tried to smile at them.

The girl shrugged and they
started down the beach.

She was so sure she was losing
her mind. Another week had passed and she was struggling to be normal. During
the day, she went along with everyone else, training and doing whatever Jax
asked her to do. At night she stayed in Gage’s room or wandered to the beach. She
knew it wasn’t normal and was beginning to question her own sanity.

Picking herself up, she
walked back down the beach to the path that led to the estate. She started hearing
the faint sound of music.

Instead of turning up the path,
she continued walking. The sound was getting louder and she spotted someone
sitting on the beach. Upon getting closer, she recognized it was Tanner playing
his guitar and singing in a low voice. She sat down and listened to him in the
sand near the tall grass.

Since the day she came down
from Gage’s room a week earlier, she’d hardly seen Tanner. He was around, but
they were pretty much doing opposite schedules with different practice times. Jax
always seemed to have something for one of them to do.

On stage, Tanner was so
energetic and loud. Sitting in the sand playing and singing, he sounded
completely relaxed and comfortable.

After a few minutes of
listening, Addy started feeling like a stalker. She figured she better leave or
go talk to him. She stood up at the same time as another person did. A girl had
been lying in the sand in front of Tanner, watching him play his guitar.

Addy hadn’t noticed her there,
but she was sure the girl saw her when she stood up. She wasn’t about to go
over and talk to him after discovering he wasn’t alone. She’d never really
thought about Tanner dating. He’d never mentioned his girlfriend and Addy
wondered if he’d told her about the Akori and Tremain.

Walking back to the house
through the garden, she noticed just how much of it had been repaired since the
attack. New statues and benches replaced the broken ones, and it was beginning
to look like she remembered it before the attack.

 It was quiet inside the
estate, but the candles in the library were still burning. She peeked inside to
see Jax at the head of the table with his face in a book, sound asleep. She
wondered how long it had been since he had a real night’s sleep. Looking at him
like that, she would’ve never guessed he was the same arrogant guy she met a few
weeks earlier. Since claiming the stone he didn’t even talk the same.

Addy decided to go in and
wake him to go to bed. A scroll was unrolled on the table with drawings of
Akori symbols. It caught her eye because they appeared to be the same ones she
and Tanner had. There was a bow by one, and a sword by the other. The best
translation of the faint writing she could do quickly was that they were marks
of the Akori Shepherds. The bow and sword indicated the particular skill associated
with the symbol.

Jax yawned and leaned back
in his chair. “What are you doing in here, it’s late.”

Addy shifted position so he
wouldn’t notice her eyeing the scroll. “You should go to bed.”

He stood up and stretched.
“We should both get to bed.”

“Ok.” Addy watched as he
rolled up the scroll and tucked it under his arm with some books.

“Can you please talk to Kim
tomorrow for me? We need to find out what she knows.”

“I’ll try.” She’d been
putting it off for a week.

“Thank you.” He leaned over
and kissed her on the crown of her head. “Good night.”

They parted ways at the
split in the hallway.

Addy was burning with
curiosity about why Jax had that scroll and why after all of her researching
she’d never found anything detailing the symbols her and Tanner carried. She
decided that she’d have to find a way to get another look at it.

Walking quietly, Addy headed
back to Gage’s room. She couldn’t wait to set her head down. The light in his
room was visible under the door as she approached and she didn’t think she’d
left it on. Pushing the door open, she realized that she wasn’t alone a few
seconds too late. She was quickly grabbed from behind and her mouth was
covered.

“I’m not going to hurt you.
Don’t scream,” A male voice said in her ear.

She nodded her head, but she
fully planned to pound the guy as soon as he released her.

When he let go, she spun
around ready to lash out, but froze in place. She had never met him, but she
knew exactly who he was.

“Will Elsegood—you’re Gage’s
father.”
Her chest tightened. It was like looking at Gage, maybe just a
few years older. She quickly turned her eyes to the floor and bit her lip.

“I didn’t know you’d be
coming back here tonight. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You’re back,” Addy said,
still shocked. “Does Molly know?”

Will nodded. “Yes, we’ve
talked.”

They stood in awkward
silence.

“I’ll go,” she said, reaching
for the door handle. “I’m sure you’d like to look around and all that.”

He shook his head and
motioned for her to stay.

“I Scattered when he was
five.” Will turned his head, studying his son’s room. “I wasn’t planning on
using my powers anymore, but I was needed. He’d just started playing t-ball.”

She laced her fingers
together, thinking about all the times she played baseball with Gage. “He’s so
good at sports. He’s good at everything he does.”

Will laughed and Addy
realized she probably sounded like an idiot. “You and my son are close. Molly
mentioned you guys were friends.”

Addy was still looking at the
carpet and felt her face get hot. “We were.”

“You
still
are.” Will
spotted the pictures she had spread out on the floor and sat down. He picked
one up and examined it. “Is this you?” He pointed to one where Gage was laying
down in the snow and Addy was in the process of burying him.

Addy smiled. “Yeah, he put
up with so much from me.”

She sat down and they looked
through each picture in the box. She explained what they were doing and where
they lived at the time.

They came across the picture
she and Gage agreed was their favorite. In it, she was seated at the piano
playing and Gage was seated next to her with his back to the keys. She was only
three and had just learned to play
Mary Had a Little Lamb
. She’d been
trying to show him but he kept turning away. Out of frustration, she shouted ‘
Pay
Attention’
at him
.
They’d always said it to each other after that. First
as a joke, then it just became part of their normal way of talking.