The thin curtains waved wildly from the warm breeze that filled the room with sea-scented air. It was mid-morning and the sun was shining brightly outside.
After opening her eyes, Addy froze when she remembered she wasn’t alone. Assessing the situation, she noted she was lying on her side up against Gage, who was on his back. Her head was on his shoulder and her arm was across his chest, tucked under his shoulder. One of her legs was even looped around his. He moved slightly and she could tell he was already awake.
Addy braced herself and peeked up at Gage. “You’re still here.”
He smiled down at her. “It was kind of hard to get out of your iron grip.”
Addy bit her lip, realizing he was her hostage. She started to move but he pulled her back, making her feel a little less like she’d been holding him against his will.
Addy scooted up so her chin was resting on his shoulder and he ran his fingers through her hair.
“I expected you to have princess or pony sheets on your bed still.”
Addy buried her face in his shoulder and lifted the blanket to show him the other side of it.
“You have a reversible kitten comforter on your bed?” He moved so he was on his side with his head on his elbow and smiled at her. “The truth is out—you’re not a grown-up at all.”
“Shhh… don’t tell,” she said, giggling.
He set his head down on the pillow next to hers so they were lying on their sides, face to face and his fingers traced the outline of her neck. The light touch of his fingertips made her skin tingle and she closed her eyes. He slid his arms around her and pulled her closer.
Addy’s mind was racing. There was no possible way all the events of the past few weeks really added up to Gage in her bed. Twenty-four hours earlier she’d been plotting how to get into Jax’s house with Tanner. The day was starting out way too smoothly, and she opened her eyes just to make sure Gage was really there.
Feeling somewhat guilty about her perfect morning, she figured she may as well get one thing checked off her to do list.
She shifted her body and spoke quietly. “Gage?”
“Hmm?” His hand ran down her back, giving her chills.
She almost forgot what she wanted to say. “The day I passed out after practice—we never really talked about it.”
He pulled her closer to him. “There’s not much to talk about, it just happened,” he said, shifting his body to look at her. “I’m glad it did.”
Addy laced her fingers through his and scooted against him. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
He wrapped his arms around her tighter and began tickling her ribs.
Addy twisted and turned as she squealed, trying to squirm out of his grasp. All the effort she was putting into getting away only seemed to make Gage more determined to hold her there.
“Seriously?” She could barely stop laughing after finally fighting him off.
She’d ended up straddling him with his hands pinned at his sides. He looked a little too pleased with himself, which she found annoying.
“Pay attention,” she said, trying to be serious. “I won, so now you have to listen to me.”
His blue eyes stared up at her. “I let you win.”
“You never let anyone win,” she said,
“Huh.” He lifted his eyebrows and looked her up and down. “I guess I was the winner.”
Addy fought off a smile and climbed off him, flopping herself down on the bed so her feet were resting on the headboard. She struggled to get her mind back on track—Gage was a huge distraction.
“Jax told me Fate knew another Akori who could heal,” she said, before he could derail her again.
He sat up and looked at her. “You told Jax I healed you?”
She scooted over so her head was on his knee and peered up at him. “Of course I didn’t tell him.” It stung a little that he’d automatically think that.
Starting at the beginning, she repeated what Jax told her about the day her parents died, leaving out a few details like the part about the group of Akori who called themselves Mesen being responsible for it. He looked almost relieved when she was finished.
“So I’m not the only one who can heal then.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Guess not.”
Addy climbed off the bed and caught her reflection in the mirror. She suddenly felt naked, wearing only a light pink lacy cami and white boy shorts. She grabbed his t-shirt off the floor and slipped it on while walking over to the patio door. Little birds were hopping around, pecking at the grass and Moose was at her feet going crazy over all the activity.
Gage stood up and stretched. “I probably should’ve told Fate about the healing, but with his health, I didn’t want to put that on him too.” He walked over and looked at the pictures stuck to her mirror. “Nice canoe trip from hell pictures—remember how cold that water was?”
“It’s kind of hard to forget,” she said over her shoulder. “If you and Mattie hadn’t kept tipping the boat, it wouldn’t have been so bad.”
Fate and Josh took them on a canoe trip once when they had a small stretch of mild weather where they were living. The boys kept knocking them all into the water the entire day. That was the last time she set foot on a boat with Gage or Matt.
“It was still fun,” Gage said as he studied the pictures closely. “We all look so little.”
Addy leaned over and checked the clock. It was already 11am. “It’s pretty late. We should probably get to the house and see what’s going on with the search.” She was also thinking people might be looking for them as she peeked at him. He was shirtless and headed in her direction.
Gage walked up behind her and put his fingers on her hips. She tipped her head back and smiled up at him.
“I’m gonna go back to my room and shower,” he said, sliding the screen open. He ran his hand down her arm and then stepped out onto the patio.
The garden was beginning to grow and small pink flowers dotted some of the bushes. After catching her reflection in one of the windows, she admired what a difference new clothes and a haircut could make. She didn’t even look like the same person, which she figured went well with the changes to her life.
Jax was outside of the library talking to two Akori she didn’t recognize along with Mitchell West.
He gestured toward her the second he saw her coming. “My gorgeous sister arrives, looking beautiful as usual.”
Addy didn’t get why he had to be so dramatic—he’d known her for like one day.
“Good morning,” Addy said to the group. She turned her attention to the man and woman she didn’t know and smiled. “I’m Addison Sanders.” She figured she’d better keep up the formalities.
“Pleased to meet you, I’m Sade LaCroft, and this is my son Patrick.” She spoke in an extremely well mannered voice.
Addy noticed they were both wearing silver necklaces and each had a charm in the shape of an Akori symbol with a gold L over it. The design was similar to the ring Gage wore.
Jax smiled at Addy. “Sade and Pat will be joining us here at Tremain.”
“Wonderful,” Addy said with a little too much enthusiasm. “I look forward to getting to know both of you.”
Mitchell West took her hand and kissed it. “It’s very nice to see you again, Miss Sanders.”
That was something she’d never experienced before. She had no clue what the appropriate response was, so she just kept smiling. He was the man who’d spoken up when Preston Worthington attempted to rattle her the day she had tried to claim the stone. She never would’ve guessed he was also hiding her twin brother.
Addy looked up to meet Mitchell’s green eyes. “Will you be staying with us as well?”
He glanced at the other three. “Unfortunately I cannot. My business requires that I travel.”
“Speaking of business, if you’ll excuse us, my sister and I have family business to discuss.”
Mitchell lightly hugged Jax and said he’
d see him soon.
Jax ushered her into the library and closed the doors.
“Is Preston Worthington part of the Mesen?” Addy asked as soon as the doors were closed.
Jax turned around, looking surprised. “What made you ask that?”
“I met him and Mitchell the day I got the mark from touching the Overseer’s Stone. He and Mitchell didn’t seem to get along so I just figured if Mitchell is on our side, then Preston must be on theirs.”
“No, Preston’s not with the Mesen—he’s not really with the Akori either. He says he is, but he’s completely self-serving, probably worse than the Mesen.”
Addy leaned up against the table. “What about Mitchell, how’s he related to Juliette?”
“Mitchell’s her father—he’s like a father to me too,” he said. “Their family’s been close with ours for generations. That’s why Fate placed me with them.”
Addy frowned. “That’s just another thing you know more about than I do.”
“They kept their distance once I went to live with them for obvious reasons.” Jax walked over and spun the globe near the fireplace. “You look lovely in pink by the way.”
“Thanks,” she said, running her hands down her hot pink sundress. “Jax, I’m sorry I talked to you like that in front of everyone last night.” She wasn’t exactly that sorry about it—he was acting like a total ass. She just didn’t want any animosity between them.
Jax just smiled and pointed to the end of the table. The Overseer’s Stone was back.
She shifted her eyes from the stone to her brother. “You found it?”
“Whoever took it decided to return it last night. Right after several Mesen tried to stop Juliette from getting to my house.” He explained that he never needed any books to track down the stone—he was just testing the people in the library’s loyalty and trustworthiness by making them think he could locate it. “Once they thought I could track down the stone, whoever took it panicked and brought it back.”
Addy was silent once she realized what he was getting at and she didn’t like it one bit.
“One of the people we met with last night is either responsible for stealing the stone or knows who is,” he said, crossing his arms. “Someone here is working with the Mesen.”
She couldn’t believe he thought one of them would do such a thing. “Those people are my friends. They would never—”
“Addison, yes, one of them did. We have spies within the Mesen, it’s only logical that they’d do the same.” He placed a hand on each of her shoulders forcing her to sit. She noticed he was still wearing the bracelet he had on the day before. “We need to discuss each of them so we can figure out who it is.”
“But you asked for the people I trusted the most.”
Jax told her whoever was working with the Mesen had to be someone who had access to private information. That’s why he asked for the people she trusted. They began going through each person she said she trusted and explained who they were and what her relationship was.
“Tell me about the human—Kim?”
Addy told him the story of how they met and became friends. “She doesn’t have much interest in any of this.”
“What about her boyfriend, Matt?”
She explained how Josh, Renee, and Matt ended up living at Tremain after their parents Scattered. “And Matt’s not Kim’s boyfriend, by the way. They just spend a lot of time together.”
Jax gave her a knowing smile and nodded. “We already covered Molly, but what about that brooding son of hers?”
Addy was quickly getting tired of defending all of her friends and answered in a resentful tone. “His name is Gage and he’s completely trustworthy. He was very close with Fate.” She explained Gage’s duties, and the training Bernard had given him.
Jax was quiet for a few moments when she finished. “It sounds like he’s actually better qualified to be the one of the people behind this than anyone else.”
“He didn’t do it—I know for sure he didn’t.”
“And how do you know that?”
“He was at my place all night.” She grimaced as she said the words.
“Disregarding grandfather’s rules about dating the Akori guys already, huh?”
Her face got red as she looked at him. “It’s not—”
Jax raised his hand to stop her and moved on. “Bernard is the only person I think we can truly trust. What do you think about him?”
That caught her off guard considering Jax didn’t even really know Bernard. “Of course I trust him, but why do you?”
“Because he’s the only one Grandfather told me I could always trust,” he said, turning his green eyes toward hers, “besides you.”
“Oh.”
“I forgot about Tanner, I think he’s legit too.”
Addy thought about Tanner; her feelings about him had really changed over the last couple of days. She felt as close to him as she did the rest of her friends. It was actually unsettling how close she felt. “Tanner is good in my book, but obviously I’m not the best judge.”
“It’s tough to be objective—they’re your friends.” Jax got to his feet and paced around. “Things are heating up and I want you and everyone else prepared. A lot of the new Akori around here are friends. They’ve been training and preparing for when I came here to claim the stone. They’ll fight with us if needed.”
Addy stared at him, still processing his words. “Is that really necessary?”
“The rumors from our contacts say the Mesen are trying to organize and forcibly take over Tremain before I can claim the stone—even if it means killing you and me.”
Addy’s jaw dropped. “Do you believe that?”
Jax turned his palms up. “I honestly don’t know. We need to be ready for anything at this point.”
“What happens next?” She walked over to the stone and reached up, touching the back of her neck. “When do you plan on claiming it?”
He leaned up against the table next to her. “When Jules gets back. I want to talk to her before I’m unavailable for a few days.”
She’d forgotten that part—when Jax claimed the stone, he’d be out of it for several days. “What should I do while you’re… busy?”
“Make sure none of your friends try to kill me, for one.” He gave her a half-serious smile. “Grandfather said you had some combat training. Work with Juliette, she’ll teach you to use weapons.”
She turned her head away from him and rolled her eyes. “That’ll be great.”
Bernard tried teaching her to use a variety of weapons, but she was the best with one she found on the bottom of a shelf in the weapons vault. She showed it to Fate and he told her it was the Akorian Sickle Sword.
At about 22 inches long, the sword had a slight curve, and wasn’t as large and clunky as the other swords and maces. Plus, it was extremely light and thin. The blade and hilt were etched with symbols like the ones on the Overseer’s Stone.
“So what’s up with Juliette?” Addy asked Jax. “Are you together?”
“We’ve been together my entire life—I grew up with her,” Jax said, smiling at her. “But no, we’re not together. She’s a good friend to have. One day you’ll be glad she’s around.”
Addy wasn’t so sure about that. Juliette didn’t come across as her kind of friend. “She wasn’t hurt when they attacked her last night?”
“Nope. She can hold her own in a fight.” He shifted to look at her and nodded his head. “She’ll teach you a lot.”
Jax’s phone rang and he said he had to head out to meet up with Juliette. He told Addy to be back at the library by 6pm.
Chapter 19