chapter 9
Fate had taken a turn for the worse and for the last week, Addy was spending all of her time during the day in the library or by his bedside reading to him. She began researching anything that had to do with humans involved in Akori practices. She was trying to keep her promise to figure out what was wrong with Tanner. If nothing else it was at least a good distraction.
Addy couldn’t find anything that seemed connected to Tanner, but she did read some disturbing stories about humans who’d been marked with Akori symbols. In the stories, the symbols caused them to become ill, and in most cases die. She took the books to Fate’s room and read the stories to him. He was amused by her horror at the tales and he told her that just like most things written by the Akori, it wasn’t true.
The only escape Addy had from the building pressure at Tremain was Tanner. She’d been meeting up with him at the beach every night. They just sat in the sand and talked about anything that came to mind. They didn’t talk about their personal lives, but she mentioned that her grandfather was sick. The subject of why he was there in the first place was carefully avoided for the most part. Her time talking with him at night gave her something to look forward to all day as she muddled through.
At the same time all of that was going on, Addy was trying to push Gage out of her head. Actually she really wished she’d never let him in. She expected him to be pissed at her for yelling at him on the beach, but he didn’t seem to be fazed by it. If anything, he was nicer since it happened. Anytime she saw him he was really friendly, not distant like he’d been before.
Between her grandfather’s failing health and researching Tanner’s issue, she didn’t really have the time to figure out what Gage’s intentions were anyhow. She was sure he wanted to be her friend and she figured that was enough.
Despite what Kim said, Addy wasn’t necessarily avoiding Gage in general. She was just going out of her way to avoid being alone with him. Way too much random embracing occurred when they were alone and Kim couldn’t seem to grasp the concept that it was a bad thing.
Kim and Matt were closer than ever. They said they weren’t together, but Kim told Addy that Matt promised not to see anyone else anymore. Tweedledee and Tweedledum hadn’t been back as far as she knew, which was fine with her. It took all of the willpower Addy had not to tear into Tweedledum the night by the fire. The only thing that stopped her was remembering what Bernard taught her about choosing her fights carefully and not hurting people just because she could. Gage stepping in between them was probably a big factor too.
Addy sat tapping a pen on the table in the library as she read through another useless book. Frustrated, she slammed it closed. She checked the time and decided she needed a break. It was the middle of the day so she let Molly know she’d be back shortly and walked next door.
When they parted ways the night before, Tanner told Addy he had friends coming to stay with him at the resort for the next two nights, so he wouldn’t be able to meet up. She was bummed, but figured she could use the extra sleep. Between being up early to be by Fate’s side, and staying up late to hang out with Tanner, she was running on about 3 hours of sleep a night—if that.
At the front desk of the resort, Addy asked for Tanner and waited while the extremely courteous woman working at the counter called his suite.
“Mr. Sutherland said he’ll be down shortly. You can wait over there if you’d like,” she said, pointing to a sitting area.
Mr. Sutherland? Addy laughed to herself as she walked over to have a seat. The place was even more incredible inside than it was outside. A waterfall started about 20 stories up and cascaded down into a sparkling pool with a fountain in the middle.
Along the edge of the pond, she spotted the most beautiful violet flowers she’d ever seen and had to fight the urge to go pick one. She stepped carefully when she noticed that parts of the floor were glass blocks. She could see water flowing and fish swimming under her feet as she walked across them. The entire place was packed with tropical plants and trees of every size and type. Birds of all colors even flew overhead freely.
It was only a few minutes before she spotted Tanner. He looked great. The beach definitely suited him, whether he liked it or not. She stood up as he got close and waved.
“Hey,” he said, stopping in front of her. “I’m surprised to see you, girlie.”
“I’m sorry to just show up. My grandfather’s sleeping and I needed a break.”
“It’s alright.” Tanner smiled and raised his brow. “Just remember to schedule an appointment next time.”
“Will do,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Tanner tipped his head toward the door. “Wanna take a walk?”
She nodded. “Sure, but it has to be a quick one.”
“The beach turned out to be better that I thought,” he said as they headed for the door.
“So it doesn’t suck?”
“Not entirely.” Tanner reached down and plucked one of the pretty purple flowers she’d spotted by the pond and handed it to her.
The extremely courteous women at the front desk gave them a disapproving look, making Addy giggle and walk faster for the door.
“So the friends I have over are the guys from my band,” he said, once they were outside. “We’re going over a recording contract that was offered to us.”
Addy nudged him with her shoulder. “Congratulations—that’s awesome. I wish I had more time to hang out. I’ve never even heard you guys play.”
“Yeah, me too.” Tanner nodded and peeked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t you find it a little odd that—”
Addy put her finger up to stop him, turning her head to listen.
They were almost at the edge of the property and she heard someone calling her name. She moved forward a few steps and saw Gage walking quickly toward them. He slowed for a split second when he saw Tanner, then started again.
“Addy, it’s—” He stopped mid-sentence, glancing at Tanner. “We need you at the main house.”
She looked from Gage to Tanner and bit her lip.
“Go on, girlie,” Tanner said, making a shooing motion. “We’ll catch up later.”
Without waiting for her to respond, Gage grabbed her hand and they started to run. She looked back, but Tanner was already out of sight.
She choked back a sob as they reached the front door of the estate. “Is he…”
Gage wiped a tear that was trickling down her cheek. “I haven’t seen him. My mom just said to find you.”
They went up the stairs together, but he stopped as she started to go inside Fate’s wing of the estate.
Addy stopped when he did and turned to him. “Come with me—please.”
He nodded, following her inside. He really didn’t have much of a choice since she was still clutching his hand.
Her grandfather’s friends Bernard and Stubbs were standing outside his bedroom door. They both looked up when she entered. Bernard gently tapped on the bedroom door and Gage’s mother Molly came out.
“Addy…” she said and immediately began to cry.
Seeing Molly cry caused Addy to hold her breath trying to keep her composure. She was feeling lightheaded when suddenly Gage was shaking her. She gasped for air and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Alright, honey, you need to pull it together and get in there,” Stubbs said, holding a tissue out to her.
Bernard stepped closer to her and took the tissue from Stubbs, wiping her face. “You’ll be ok. We’ll be right here if you need us.”
Addy nodded and took a few deep breaths. Letting go of Gage, she went inside.
They were alone and Fate was lying propped up on his bed. He looked like he was asleep. When she touched his hand, he opened his eyes slightly and smiled.
“My favorite girl,” he said. His voice was almost too low to hear.
Addy couldn’t speak. She had a lot she wanted to say, but nothing would come out. She knew this moment was coming because he’d prepared her for it for years. Now that it was here, it was nothing like what she thought it would be.
“You’ve done a good job, been a good girl.” He was still speaking so softly she could hardly hear him. “I hope you had a good life here with us.”
She stood speechless. She wanted to tell him that she had a wonderful life because of him. No words would come out of her mouth.
“I should have—” He struggled to catch his breath. Tears streamed from his eyes.
He was having a difficult time speaking so she just rubbed his hand and kissed his forehead.
Molly came in to check on him and Addy took a step back to give her room.
“Oh Fate,” she said, “You can let go, it’s ok.”
Addy wanted to scream at her not to say those things, because it was not ok. She could only stand there, frozen and unable to speak. All the thoughts swirled through her head. Fate was dying right in front of her. She wanted to move, but her feet were glued to the floor. The words just repeated in her mind, she could taste blood in her mouth where she was biting down on her cheek to avoid crying.
Molly went to the door and Addy heard her tell the group that was gathering in the hall they needed to come say their goodbyes. Bernard and his wife Doris came in followed by Stubbs. A few other Akori who spent a lot of time at Tremain took turns coming in and out. They each whispered things to Fate. He nodded a couple of times in response, but didn’t speak.
Gage came in next. He walked to the edge of the bed, leaned down, and whispered something. Fate smiled and nodded his head. Gage turned to leave but Fate reached for his hand.
“You were right,” Fate said in a weak voice. Gage leaned back down and whispered something that made Fate smile while more tears trickled down his face.
When he turned to move away Addy couldn’t look at his face, but she could feel Gage’s eyes on her. Instead of walking over to the door, Gage took a couple of steps back and pulled her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest and all the tears she’d been holding back came rushing out.