Dissever (Unbinding Fate Book One) (33 page)

“That’s the cemetery where
Oren Sanders was buried. It’s a tribute to your family, of sorts.”

She put her hand over her
mouth, shaking her head. That’s where she recognized the building in the
statue’s eyes from.

He came over and stood by
her, looking up at the painting. “She’s so beautiful.”

Addy cut her eyes at him. “Yeah,
lovely—so where exactly is
that
?”

Stubbs hesitated, glancing
over at her. “Addison, what are you up to?”

She put her hands up
innocently and tried to sound casual. “I’ve never been to my family’s crypt. I might
like to take flowers sometime or whatever.”

He didn’t seem to buy it,
but he still told her that it was in Europe originally but was relocated to the
North America because of The European Revolution of 1848. The estate was in
America and with the unrest happening in Europe. Her
however many great
grandfather, the Overseer at the time, wanted the crypt moved.

She figured she’d asked him enough
and didn’t want him blabbing to Jax about her questions. She made some casual
conversation about how Moose missed his dogs and hoped he was satisfied that
she’d dropped it. In the morning she’d have a much easier time getting the
information she needed out of Bernard.

Grabbing the scroll, she
headed back to her villa. She really wished Tanner was there so she could talk
to him about the statue and tell him she had the scroll. She was also still on
overload after everything they’d learned from Matt.

She changed her clothes and
sat down on her bed with the scroll she’d gotten from Jax’s room. She unrolled
it and studied the pictures of the Akori Shepherd symbols. Just as she saw
before, one had a bow next to it and the other had a sword. She figured that
was why Tanner was so amazing with his bow and she could wield a sword pretty
well. Addy wasn’t Akori, but since she’d been given the mark by the Overseer’s
Stone, she definitely felt more skilled with the sword.

Examining the writing and
using another book for help translating, she came to a passage that described
the Akori Shepherds as the warriors of the Akori people. They had fighting and
tracking abilities that were greater than any of the other Akori.

Getting tired of going back
and forth between the book and scroll, she closed the book, rolled up the
scroll, then turned out the light. She reached under her pillow and twisted her
fingers around Gage’s shirt and closed her eyes. In the morning, she’d finally
meet Eva, the one who put it all in motion.

Chapter 31

The sun was barely up when
Addy entered the main house. Her sleep was restless and she decided to get up early
and go see Kim. Her entire night was once again filled with dreams about Gage. She
walked through the garden to the main house with the scroll of Akori symbols
tucked into her bag. She couldn’t wait to show it to Tanner.

The smell of coffee filled the
kitchen as she made her way to the back stairs. Bernard sat at the table alone
with a newspaper.

“You’re up early,” he said
to her.

“It’s gonna be a busy day.”
She reached in the cabinet and grabbed a mug for coffee. “You’ve been pretty
quiet through all of this.”

“It’s Akori business. I know
my place. You’re doing remarkably well.”

A lot had happened since
she’d talked to Bernard last and she decided that maybe it would be a good
opportunity to tell him what had happened.

”Do you have time to take a
walk?” she asked, refilling his cup.

“Sure.” He folded his
newspaper and picked up his coffee.

Addy made sure they were far
away from the estate before she began talking. They walked down the sidewalk
that ran along the street with all of the souvenir shops. The street was still
empty, except for a few people jogging or walking dogs.

She wasn’t sure where to
begin so she started with her visit to Kim. Bernard didn’t seem very shocked
about what she told him. Kim had been confiding in Doris about her belief that
Matt and Renee weren’t all that bad. Then she told him about her meeting with
Matt.

“It sounds like you believe
them,” Bernard said. “Think it’s wise to get mixed up with him behind your
brother’s back?”

 “Jax won’t understand. I
guess I get why they would want to destroy the stone though. It makes sense. If
Eva really compelled Oren, then everything our family’s done was based on
deception.” Addy took a deep breath. “But I want Gage back and maybe that’s
clouding my judgment.”

“There’s nothing wrong with
missing him. If it were Doris I’d tear down cities with my bare hands to get
her back,” Bernard said, patting her shoulder. “Does that mean you think the
book of Oren’s exists?”

“I actually do.” She started
telling him about searching for the book and the statue in Jax’s room. “I know
it sounds strange, but I feel like that statue was telling me it’s in my
family’s crypt.”

Bernard didn’t say anything
for a couple of blocks as they walked. “If we assume that the statue was
telling you where to look for the book, which I’m not entirely on board with, I
guess the crypt would make sense based on what Matt and Renee told you.”

“Do you know where the crypt
is located?” she asked, crossing the street to head back toward the estate.

“It was moved to America around
1850.” Bernard explained that a new crypt was constructed in Kentucky and the
bodies were transported from Europe once it was completed. “I know it’s quite
large. The entrance is in a cemetery and it extends deep underground.”

“It contains all of the Overseers—Even
Oren?”

“That’s my understanding,”
Bernard said as they approached the estate.

Addy stopped walking. “I
also have a scroll—the one I saw Jax with. It has drawings of the Akori symbols
that Tanner and I have.” She reached into her bag and handed it to him.

“I’ve been searching for
anything with details about your symbol.” Bernard took the scroll. “I wonder
where he found this.” He turned the scroll over in his hands, examining the
paper and edges.

“I haven’t looked at it very
closely—you know I’m
terrible
at the translations. But I did see that
the symbol Tanner has means a strong ability with a bow, and mine shows skill
with a sword.”

“I’d like to examine it if
you don’t mind,” he said as they reached the door to the estate.

She nodded. “There was one
more thing.” Addy told him about Jax wanting to keep her and Tanner apart and
about him blowing up at her the night before.

“As far as your brother’s
motives for trying to keep you and Tanner apart—I can’t even
begin
to
figure out what’s in that boy’s mind. He’s definitely more like Mitchell West
than Fate.”

 “What about Tanner?” Addy
put her hand on Bernard’s arm, stopping him before he went inside the house.
“Have you found anything out how he ended up with the Sutherlands?”

He looked uncomfortable with
her question. “Addison, I can’t discuss it; he specifically asked that I keep
it to myself.”

“Oh.” She looked down and immediately
felt bad for asking. She was just dying to know about him. She felt so close to
Tanner, yet almost everything about him was still a mystery.

“Just continue to be his
friend.” Bernard said, patting her arm. “He’ll talk to you about it when he’s
ready.”

Addy nodded her head at him.
“Will you be joining us when Jax summons Eva?”

She hoped he would, but he
shook his head.

“Stubbs said he’s unsure
what Eva will be like, and he’d rather keep any humans outside of your family away.
But I won’t be far if you need me.”

They parted ways at the
stairway and Addy went up the back stairs to Kim’s room. She waved to the
guards and opened the door. Kim was at the table finishing breakfast when she
walked in.

Kim glanced up at her with a
tentative smile. “Are you still mad at me?”

“I don’t know Kim,” Addy
said, closing the door.

“I’m sorry if saying this
makes you upset, but I don’t regret helping Matt.”

“Honestly, Matt made a lot of
sense when we talked last night.”

Kim stared down at her
plate. “How’s he look?”

“Same as always, a little banged
up where Gage’s dad got ahold of him, but he’s the same Matt.”

Kim tipped her head up. “I know
he’s right, Addy. The four of us will be back together soon causing trouble
like always.”

Addy nodded, but seriously doubted
if she and Gage would ever be able to forgive Matt for everything he’d done.

“Thanks for the picture.”

Kim smiled and nodded.

Addy sat down across from
her at the table.

Kim reached over and
squeezed her hand. “Have faith, he’ll be back.” Then she raised her eyebrows
and smiled at Addy. “How
together
were you two?”

“He never even
kissed
me,” Addy said, shaking her head.

Kim shrugged her shoulders. “That’ll
just make it better when he’s back.”

Addy smiled at her, thankful
she’d kept her jokes about her still being a virgin to herself for once. As
much as she regretted that they’d never even kissed, she figured that not
knowing what she was missing was probably a good thing anyway.

 “Have you talked to Matt?”
Addy asked her, not knowing how his telepathy worked.

She nodded. “But he can’t
drain too much of his power so he was really short.”

 “We might have a lead on
the book. I’ll keep you posted.”

Kim’s demeanor changed and
she shifted in her seat. Addy knew what was coming next.

“When can I leave here? I’m
tired of being locked up—I’m no threat to your brother.” She looked just like
Matt did when he spoke about her at the warehouse. “I just wanna go be with
Matt.”

Addy could completely understand
how she felt, but she didn’t know how to answer. Jax would
never
agree
to let Kim just walk out of there. She also needed Kim to communicate with
Matt.

Doris opened the door and
peeked in.

“They want you in the
library,” she said to Addy.

Addy stood, moving toward
the door. “I’ll talk to Jax and see if I can at least get him to let you go
back to your villa.”

In the library, the large stone
table they always sat around had been turned, opening up a wide area of the
marble floor.

Will was squatted down next
to Juliette, and they were making a large symbol with markers on the marble
floor. Jax was sitting on the table with a book open on his lap looking
troubled. Stubbs stood beside him looking equally as distressed.

“Does it
really
need
to be that big?” Jax asked, looking from the book to Stubbs.

Stubbs nodded. “It must be made
precisely as described in the book.”

Juliette and Jax exchanged
worried looks.

Addy was concerned by the
general tone of the room. “What’s wrong?”

Jax jumped off the table and
walked toward her. Taking her hand, he led her down a row of books to one of
the alcoves away from the others. He was being extra intense and he put his
hands on her face, turning it to look at him.

“I can’t tell you how sorry
I am about last night. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that.” He looked at
her wrists that were deeply bruised with his finger imprints. “I’d never
intentionally hurt you.”

His face was only inches
from hers as he leaned down and spoke, making her extremely uncomfortable.

“Things are stressful around
here—you’re under a ton of pressure.” Addy tried to reassure him by speaking in
a relaxed tone. He looked very tired and weary. “I know we haven’t known each
other long, but if Fate had a plan—
I trust you.”

Addy was careful not to say what
he did was ok though, because if he ever pulled anything like that again,
brother or not, she was gonna make him regret it.

“Thanks.” He smiled at her,
relaxing a little and backing away. “What grandfather told you about reading
all of the books here—it was true,” Jax said as he looked around. “The Overseers
as a group have read every single one.”

Addy smiled at him, trying
to keep the mood light. “That means you have too.”

“That’s right.” Jax glanced
around and stopped his eyes on her. “The things I learned from Grandfather’s
memories, you’re not the only one who—”

They heard Juliette calling
his name and Jax dropped his shoulders with a defeated sigh.

Addy was keeping score and
that was the second time Juliette had interrupted them when Jax was about to
open up to her. Jax’s face was stressed and she felt kind of bad for him. She
patted his shoulder, which was the best she could do to try to ease him. “We
can talk later, ok?”

He nodded and they walked back
to join the others. The symbol ended up to be about six feet around with
several curving lines intertwining within it when it was completed.