Dissever (Unbinding Fate Book One) (34 page)

Tanner entered the library
and everyone turned to look at him.

“Who’s sniffing magic
markers?” he asked, making a face.

Addy pointed to the symbol
on the floor.

“Markers really are
magic
?”
Tanner grinned at Addy who rewarded him with a big smile.

“Apparently magic marker can
be used to summon Akori,” she said, turning her palms up.

“No, it can’t,”
Juliette said, sounding irritated. “That’s just a template
to follow.” She once again was looking worried at Jax.

“Enough with the cryptic
exchanging of distraught looks—
what the hell’s going on?”
Addy glanced
around at everyone, except Tanner. “The four of you’ve had worried looks on
your faces since I got here.”

Will walked over and placed
the magic markers on the table. He pointed to the symbol. “It has to be made in
blood.”

“What kind of
blood?”
Addy stared down at the magic marker template. “Just any blood—from anyone?”

“Probably from a
virgin,
”
Tanner said with a grin. “—that’s how these things usually go. I don’t think
we’re gonna have much luck finding it here.”

Forcing her lips not to
curve up, she turned away from Tanner.

Jax took a few steps and
stood in the center of the symbol with a nervous smile on his face. “We use
my
blood—I’m the one summoning her.”

“No way.” Addy shook her
head, realizing just how big the symbol was with Jax standing in the middle. “We’ll
find a different way then.”

“There
is
no other
way,” Stubbs said.

Juliette took a deep breath.
“Will can heal Jax once we get enough blood.”

 Addy shifted her eyes to
Tanner and he turned his head to meet her gaze. If what Matt told them was
true, Will wouldn’t be able to heal Jax—he wouldn’t have enough power.
Supposedly Eva had to combine her power with another Akori’s just to be able to
manipulate Oren’s memories.

“We’re not doing it.” Addy stepped
forward and grabbed Jax by the hand. “You’re not doing it.”

 He took her other hand in
his. “It’ll be fine, so there’s no reason to get worked up.”

Addy quickly had to make a
choice and her stomach was churning. She could tell them she didn’t think the
healing would work, which would make them ask too many questions. She’d end up
having to confess about meeting with Matt. The other option was just to keep
quiet and let things play out. Maybe the healing would
work. Either way,
it’d be a good test to see if Matt was telling the truth.

Surprised at how emotional
she felt, she turned her back on them and walked over to the fireplace. “Why is
there something horrible looming at every turn?”

“If you can’t stay, I’ll
understand.” Jax came over and stood next to her. “Summoning Eva is necessary—we
don’t have a choice.”

He was right about that. Eva
took away any choices the men in her family had. She took a deep breath and lightly
hugged her brother. He pulled her close and buried his face in her shoulder.
Addy was beginning to think he went out of his way to make her feel
uncomfortable.

She backed away trying to
escape his arms. “If you think you can do this then I’ll be by your side.” She went
back to the circle feeling sick with guilt, knowing she’d
never
let Gage
or Tanner take a chance like she was letting her brother.

Jax whispered a few words to
Juliette. She nodded and pulled out one of the many knives she had tucked into
her Team Jax gear.

“Don’t die,” she said,
handing him the knife.

He went to the table where a
small bucket was waiting. Gripping the knife, Jax sliced down the palm of his
hand and made a fist. Blood began dripping into the container.

Addy felt sick watching, but
couldn’t look away as the blood was trickling slowly down his fingers into the
bucket. Her head was spinning. Feeling his arm tighten around her shoulder, she
realized that at some point Tanner had ended up by her side and she was leaning
on him.

“It’s taking too long.” Jax
picked the knife back up, slicing his wrist deeply this time.

“Dammit Jackson, you’re so
impatient!” Juliette rushed over and helped brace him as the blood flowed out
fast.

“Addy…” He started to say
something but lost consciousness.

Tanner let go of Addy and
hurried over to help Juliette keep Jax upright.

Stubbs grabbed the first
bucket and placed another in front of him. “We’ll still need one more.”

Addy watched for several
minutes as her brother bled out before she couldn’t take it anymore. Jackson’s
usually golden skin was pale and his breathing was shallow.

“We have to stop the
bleeding, it’s too…” Addy’s heart was pounding and she was sweating like she was
gonna pass out.

“Wait, we’re almost done.”
Juliette glanced up at Addy. “Will, do something with her before she’s
unconscious too.”

Will grabbed Addy by the
shoulders and turned her away from Jax. “Take a few breaths.”

Addy felt a slight surge
through her body and suddenly she felt more in control and the panic subsided.
She saw his hands glowing and realized he’d used his power on her. Once she was
steady, Will let go of her and walked back to Juliette’s side.

When the second bucket was
full, they moved Jax to the chaise and Will attempted to heal him. She watched
impatiently as he tried several times.

Addy shook her head and
threw her hands up in frustration. “I know what healing looks like and it’s not
working!”

Will dropped his arms and
circled his eyes to Juliette. “Go get Molly.”

Chapter 32

Molly made everyone except
Will leave the room while she tended to Jax. When Addy saw Molly’s face, she
knew it wasn’t good. Stubbs was on the phone calling Bernard, asking if he was
able to get blood for transfusions from any of his contacts.

Tanner made Addy walk
through the garden with him to get some air. Every time she closed her eyes all
she could see was the blood.

“You knew the healing wasn’t
going to work too, didn’t you?” she asked him.

“Yeah, but I didn’t know if
I should speak up,” he said, plucking a pink flower from a bush and handing it
to her. “I think it’s just another confirmation that Oren’s book exists.”

“I searched for it last
night.” She explained what happened, leaving out the part about Jax freaking
out on her. She told him Bernard had the scroll with the symbols.

“I saw you called, but by
the time I got in I figured it was too late to call back.” He lowered his head.
“I’m sorry, girlie.”

“It’s ok.” She stopped
walking to put the flower he’d given her in her hair. “Don’t be sorry. You’re
completely
allowed to have a life. I just forget sometimes that you haven’t always been
around.” She smiled at him. “I can’t believe you don’t run from our weirdness.”

“It’s far too late to escape—I’m
hooked
.” He reached over and straightened the flower. “Besides, it’s my
weirdness too. I feel connected.”

Addy raised her eyebrows
looking hopeful. “Connected enough to take a trip?”

Tanner looked at her out of
the corner of his eye suspiciously. “What are you cooking up
now,
scheming
girl?”

“I think a statue in Jax’s
room told me that the book is in my family’s burial crypt.”

He dropped his head and
shifted his eyes toward her. “A
statue
told you?”

Addy nodded. “I looked into
its eyes and there was like a—I don’t know, like a reflection of the crypt in
them.”

“Did you confirm this
revelation with your cat to see what he thinks? I mean I’d
really
rather
not go if the statue and the cat aren’t on the same page about it.”

 “I’m serious!” She took a
swat at him but he dodged her. “It’s in Kentucky and I wanna go check it out.”

He put his hands up in
defeat. “It sounds like a good place to start looking, but I don’t know.  Jax
is gonna blow a gasket if we take off together.” 

“He’d come unglued if he
knew,
but he’s currently in no condition to object.” Addy felt her flower slipping
and she reached up to reposition it. “Maybe we’ll be back before he even knows
we’re gone.”

Tanner’s eyes flashed with
concern and he carefully took her hands, examining her wrists. “What the hell
happened?”

“It’s not a big deal.” She
pulled her hands away, immediately wishing Will’s little healing trick had
gotten rid of her bruises. “My brother was upset last night after you dropped
me off.”

“Jax?”
Tanner’s face darkened as he spoke. “
Jax
did that to you?”

“Not on purpose—”

“Be ready to go in an hour.”
Tanner stormed off, shaking his head.

Hurrying into the main
house, Addy found Bernard. He was just coming from the library, walking to his
office.

“How is he?” she asked,
catching up to him.

“Molly’s doing the best she
can. I’ve made some arrangements for medical supplies but it’ll still be a
little while until they arrive.”

“Thank you.” She felt
relieved that at least supplies were on the way.

“You should have
stopped
him.” Bernard shook his head at her. “You and Tanner
both
knew the
healing wouldn’t work.”

“Jax would’ve done it anyway.”
She didn’t have time to debate what she should’ve done with him. “I need to
know exactly where the crypt is,” she said as they entered his office and closed
the door. “Tanner and I are going there to search for Oren’s book.”

Addy prepared for a fight,
but surprisingly he didn’t protest. He sat down at his desk and looked through
a file drawer until he found a sheet of paper with the cemetery’s information.
“The location is marked on the map. Be careful—family or not, you’ll still be
trespassing.”

“Thanks, Bernard,” she said,
taking the paper.

“I’ve been working on the
translations for the scroll you gave me and—” Bernard hesitated. “If it says
what I think it does—things are going to get complicated.”

Addy almost laughed. “
Complicated?
I don’t think it’s possible for things to get any more
complicated
around here.”

Bernard ignored her attempt
at humor and kept a serious expression. “I need to get into the library to
cross reference what these smaller symbols inside of the larger one mean, but I
have to wait until things settle down. I’d prefer no one know what I’m looking
for.”

She nodded, feeling somewhat
alarmed at the seriousness of his tone. “Call us if you find something.” She
started to go but stopped, turning back to him. “I don’t know how long we’ll be
gone, but please don’t tell anyone where we’re going.”

“Daddy, you don’t have to
come here, he’ll be fine,” Juliette said as Addy passed her in the hall.
Juliette was on the phone talking and Addy figured she must have been
discussing Jax’s condition with Mitchell. She’d never heard Juliette speak like
that before and it sounded strange after hearing her barking orders off most of
the time.

Addy felt terrible leaving
with Jax in such bad shape, but it was the best time to get away.  Once in the
vault, she grabbed a large empty duffle bag and packed gear for herself and Tanner
inside. She made her way to the garage using the back hallways to wait for Tanner.

In the garage, Gage’s
motorcycle was still sitting where he’d left it. He was always doing something
to it, and as usual, it was disassembled. Someone had been driving his Jeep,
probably Will, and it was parked in the wrong spot.

Tanner sent a text message
saying he was outside of the front gate waiting. She’d never seen him drive
anything other than his motorcycle, but the car out front was a newer model Cadillac
CTS in black. Oliver was driving. When they saw her, Tanner climbed out and
threw the bag in the trunk.

Addy looked from the driver’s
seat to Tanner, who was seated next to her in the back seat. “Oliver’s driving
us?”

“Just to the airport.” He
tipped back into the headrest and turned to her. “I chartered a plane.”

“Oh.” She’d just assumed they’d
be driving.

Roughly six hours later they
were in their rental car pulling up to the cemetery gate. “It’s already closed?
It’s only 6pm,” Addy said.

“Relax, girlie. We’ll just
find another way in.”

It was still daylight
outside so they parked down a quiet street and started to survey the perimeter
of the cemetery. It wasn’t very good news. A tall stone wall topped with sharp razor
wire surrounded the entire cemetery.

They walked over to the gate
and got a good look inside for the first time. “It’s amazing.” Addy was in awe
at what she saw. “It’s definitely where the crypt is.”