chapter 8
On her way into the library the next morning, Addy heard voices coming from the door that was cracked. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but once she realized who it was, she couldn’t walk away.
“Gage, listen to me. I know it seems harsh, but it’s the best way,” Fate said, in what sounded like a forced even tone.
“You don’t understand. It’s not that I’m refusing to do it. I can’t do it—not anymore.”
She heard footsteps, so she took a few steps back and then slowly walked up again. Gage opened the door all the way and walked into her.
“Sorry,” he said, grabbing her shoulders to steady her.
She felt a flash of heat that made her face flush.
He glanced down at her for a split second, then let go and walked away.
Addy entered the library and studied Fate. He looked bothered, but seemed to snap out of it at the sound of her voice.
“What’s wrong with him?” she asked, gesturing to the door Gage had just exited through.
“Difference of opinion,” Fate said. “He’ll be fine.”
He put her right to work retrieving books for him from different shelves around the library. She worked with Fate until lunch, when he told her he was going to be leaving the estate to meet with some old friends and she could have the afternoon off. Addy was looking forward to a free afternoon and she headed to the dining room to meet Kim.“So what do you think they were talking about?” Kim asked.
Addy shrugged as she finished chewing. “Probably about Gage not wanting to babysit me anymore.”
Addy was telling Kim about her encounter with Gage and the conversation she’d overheard between him and Fate in the library. The girls were seated on the terrace eating lunch.
“After last night, I can’t blame him,” Addy said.
She was seriously embarrassed about what she’d said to him, but if the end result was not having him outside her door at night then she could live with it.
“It couldn’t have been that bad.” Kim suddenly smiled at her mischievously. “Here he comes with Mattie. Should we ask him what he thought about it?”
Addy looked up catching Gage’s eye and quickly looked back at her sandwich, suddenly losing her appetite.
“Don’t you dare,” she whispered to Kim, who just kept smiling.
Matt pointed to Kim’s plate. “What’s that?”
Kim didn’t eat meat, so her plates were always full of some strange mixture of odd colored veggies and non-meat, meat flavored items. Addy and Matt were always grossed out by her food concoctions.
Kim smiled at Matt. “Taste it and find out.” She scooped up a fork full and aimed it at him.
“That sounds awesome, but I’m gonna pass.” Matt made a disgusted face and took a seat next to her.
Gage pulled up a chair and gave Addy a nod. That’s how he always greeted her when they were in a group, which made her relax a little. She hoped what happened between them wasn’t such a big deal after all.
Addy pushed her plate over to Matt who picked up her sandwich and took a bite of it without even acknowledging the fact she’d put it there. He’d been eating her leftovers since right after the day she met him. It was just their thing after so long.
“I wanna go down to the beach after lunch,” Kim said. “Are you guys free this afternoon?” She caught Addy’s eye and smiled.
Matt glanced at Gage and answered for both of them. “Yeah, we were talking about heading down.”
Kim shifted her eyes to Addy. “What about you?”
Addy thought about saying she had to get back to the library, but remembered she’d already told Kim she was free. She decided some sunshine would be nice, and that she was gonna kill Kim for putting her in a potentially awkward situation.
“I guess I’m in too,” she said.
“Great.” Kim smiled at her innocently, taking a bite of her mystery meal.
Addy and Kim spread out a large blanket in the sand and used their shoes to hold the corners down. Matt snagged a big umbrella from the resort next door and stuck it in the sand to cover part of the blanket.
Addy was lying on her stomach getting sun, and she could hear Kim and Matt in the water splashing around and laughing. They’d been at the beach about an hour and Gage still hadn’t shown up.
Gage’s behavior toward her had been odd since the estate relocated, but last night was the cherry on top of his Sundae of Strangeness. She’d written off his behavior the night after healing her as just being overly emotional about using his newfound power. Last night was different though, and she’d been up late thinking about him and what he’d said.
Most Akori were pretty quick to invade each other’s personal space with hand holding and touching, but she’d never seen Gage act that way. He’d always been much more reserved than Matt, who was typically the one all over her.
“I hope you’re wearing sunscreen, girlie.” A familiar voice said, startling her from her deep thoughts.
Addy looked up and Tanner was inches from her blanket. He didn’t look like the same guy she and Kim spotted on the beach their first day there. He was barefoot and shirtless, wearing only shorts and sunglasses. He skin was tan and tattoos covered the tops of his arms and shoulders.
“I’m sorry about bailing on you last night like that,” she said, looking around for her friends.
“No big deal. You forgot your sandals though. I grabbed them—they’re back at my place.” He motioned toward the water. “You don’t swim?”
“I do, I just felt like getting some sun.” Addy sat up and put her sunglasses on. She grabbed the sunscreen realizing she was feeling a little crispy and started applying it to her shoulders, stretching to get her back.
“Here,” Tanner said, squatting down and taking the bottle from her. He began rubbing sunscreen on her back.
“Oh,” Addy said, turning a little further toward him. “Thanks.”
“My band has a show tonight over at the resort. Since I can’t leave, I got them to let us play. It’ll be a lot mellower than what we usually do, but it’ll be good. You should come by.”
Addy smiled as she watched a couple of girls walking by checking him out. “You’ve made some friends over there, I take it?”
“Spending a lot of time and money at the bar has its advantages.”
Addy spotted Gage walking toward them, closing in fast. He was wearing sunglasses, but she could tell his gaze was fixed in their direction.
“I’ll have to see what’s going on, but maybe.” She was in a panic to get rid of Tanner. “Thanks,” she said, taking the bottle of sunscreen.
Tanner glanced back in the direction she was looking. He smiled and stood up, rubbing the excess sunscreen on his arms. “Don’t forget about tonight, girlie,” he said, pointing at her as he passed Gage, giving him a nod.
“What’s tonight?” Gage asked, sitting down on the blanket, glancing back at Tanner.
Addy watched Tanner as he walked away. He had a ton more tattoos on his back.
“Huh?” She acted like she’d missed the question.
“Where’d Kim and Matt go?” Gage glanced up and down the beach.
Addy shrugged her shoulders. “They were in the water last time I checked, but you know them—he leads, she follows.”
They sat quietly and watched a group of little birds run back and forth in the sand avoiding the waves, pecking at the small pieces of seaweed that washed up. She was thankful to have them as a distraction because the awkward silence was killing her. She was wishing she’d just lied and said she had other plans. Addy began plotting in her head how she was gonna pay Kim back for putting her in a painful situation when Gage interrupted her.
“Come swim with me.” He stood up and grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet.
Addy started to refuse, but he kept ahold of her hands and pulled her toward the ocean.
The water was cold, and by the time it was up to her midsection, she was covered in goose bumps. He just kept leading her deeper, laughing at how cold she looked.
They stopped when the water was almost at her shoulders. The waves were rough, making it hard to stand and Gage pulled her toward him to stop her from being knocked around by the water.
“Ok, when I say go, jump into the wave,” Gage said, standing beside her.
She smiled at him suspiciously. “Is this one of those things where you say to go, but only I go, and you stand there laughing at me?”
“Get ready,” he said with a smile. “Go!”
They both jumped forward and were thrown backward from the force of the water as it rolled by them. Gage had obviously done it before, but Addy on the other hand wasn’t prepared. She ended up with water up her nose, and sand in her bathing suit from scraping along the bottom. She tried a few more times and the result was basically the same. They both popped up from the water laughing each time.
Addy was completely winded from laughing and being pulled underwater. Gage pulled her up so her arms were around his shoulders and she was on his back to catch her breath. Gripping him tightly as a wave crashed against them, she retraced how she actually ended up in the ocean clinging to Gage. Her murderous thoughts aimed at Kim began to fade.
“You’re pretty terrible at this,” he said.
“Whatever. You only pick games you’re good at.” She tried not to laugh, but couldn’t stop herself.
He smiled over his shoulder. “Still using that excuse, huh?”
She wrapped her legs around his waist and let go of his shoulders to pull her knotted hair out of a ponytail. Gage took it as an invitation to lean back and dunk her under the water. He pulled her back up so she was in front of him and he held her against him while she wiped the water from her face.
“Ok, that was just mean,” she said, trying to look serious.
He just smiled at her innocently and adjusted his arms so she was somehow closer to him than she’d already been.
It was getting to be way too much closeness. Addy was still breathing hard and if she didn’t get away from him soon, she was never gonna catch her breath.
On the shore, she saw a few kids sitting in the shallow water. They were getting knocked back with their legs flailing in the air each time a wave crashed.
“I wanna do that,” she said and pointed at the kids, breaking free from him.
She made her way to the shallow water, Gage following her. They sat side by side like the kids and waited for the next waves.
“You’re doing it wrong!” One of the little boys shouted at Addy. “Like this.” He pointed for her to move her legs like he had his.
Addy smiled at the boy, then turned and stuck her tongue out at Gage. “At least he helps me.”
“You definitely need help,” he said, grinning.
The waves continuously crashed. They were thrown back several feet each time, and then dragged out to where they started by the receding water.
Eventually, the kids moved near them and tried sitting in all kinds of positions to see which pushed them farthest. Addy’s stomach hurt from laughing at the silly things they were doing.
“You finally found something you’re better at than me,” Gage said, getting back into position.
Just as the next wave hit, he gave Addy a small push that put her off balance and caused her to be almost washed ashore on her back. He pulled himself through the water with his hands so he was lying on his stomach next to her, smiling triumphantly.
“Maybe I was wrong.” He stuck his tongue out at her.
The second she looked at him they both cracked up.
“You are so immature.” She rolled her eyes at him, smiling.
“And this is what I’ve been dealing with since I was seven,” Matt said from behind them.
Addy was leaning back on her elbows, so when she tipped her head back, she was looking at Matt upside down. He was pointing at her and Gage. Kim was next to him smiling, but when they made eye contact, Addy could tell she was anything but happy.
Beside Matt stood two girls, the humans who were at the fire on the night she met Tanner.
Gage was already on his feet when the blond one asked if Addy was his sister.
“Right, because they look so much alike,” Kim said, grabbing Addy’s hands and helping her up from the water.
They walked back to the blanket and sat down while Gage and Matt talked to their friends.
Addy put her sunglasses on and looked over at the guys. “Where’d you pick up the third and fourth wheels?”
“They spotted us walking and latched on.” Kim shook her head, clearly annoyed. “The blond one, who I’ve decided to call Tweedledum, asked Matt where Gage was. Being the pal that he is, Matt offered to show her.”
“Matt really is a great guy,” Addy said. “I think I’m done here anyway—wanna head back?”
Kim just nodded and Addy could tell she was pretty upset. They packed their things and folded up the blanket.
“Don’t let him see you’re bothered about it,” Addy said. “Smile like it doesn’t matter to you what he does.”
“But it does matter,” Kim said. “Maybe that’s what you do to Gage, but I’m not like that.”
Addy was surprised she’d say that to her. “Gage is barely even my friend; he’s free to do whatever he wants.”
Kim shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Ok.”
Glancing over, she knew she had to go say bye to them, or it would look like she was mad. She took a few deep breaths and put on a happy face.
Addy realized the idea it didn’t bother her to see Gage talk to girls was over. He’d shaken up everything she knew about her feelings for him and she was really paying for it with the twinge of jealousy she felt watching him smiling at someone else. She mentally kicked herself repeatedly for letting him do it as she made her way over to the group.
Addy stopped in front of them. “We’re heading back to the estate.”
Gage turned to her looking a little disappointed. “Already?”
The idea of staying ran across her mind, but she shook it off and answered. “Yeah, I’ve got some plans.”
Addy wasn’t sure if she was going to see Tanner play or not, but leaving because she had plans sounded way better than saying she was leaving so she didn’t have to watch him talk to Tweedledum.
Matt put his arm around Kim. “I guess there’s a band playing at the resort next door tonight. We’re all gonna go later.”
Kim wasn’t as good as Addy at hiding her emotions, and couldn’t keep her irritation to herself.
“Have fun,” Kim said, pushing Matt away, and heading for the estate.
“Damn,” Matt said, watching Kim walking away, “what the hell’s her problem?”
Addy ignored him, and painfully turned to Tweedledee and Tweedledum smiling sweetly. “It was nice to see both of you again.”
Waving to Matt and Gage, Addy walked back to the estate. Her cheeks hurt from flashing so many fake smiles.
Kim must have walked fast, because she wasn’t visible in the distance. She was probably more upset about Matt than Addy realized. He always acted so careless with Kim’s feelings, but they both knew they shouldn’t be so close.
The situation with Gage was getting out of hand too. Addy needed to stay away from him as much as Kim needed a break from Matt. It was all too much and she didn’t know what he wanted from her, especially since he’d switched gears so quickly when Matt showed up with Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
The idea of going to see Tanner play at the resort was scratched since Matt and Gage would be there with their new friends. After showering and changing, she decided just to go up to the main house and get some dinner.
Fate was on the terrace when Addy walked up the stairs. He didn’t usually eat dinner outside, but it was a nice evening. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Moving the estate there had taken a lot out of him and he was using a wheelchair because he’d become too weak to walk. She figured Molly must have brought him out.
Addy looked down at the garden. Matt and Gage were just walking up from the beach.
“Everyone seems happy here.” Fate watched the boys walking toward the main house. “How do you like it?”
Addy shrugged. “It’s nice. The ocean is beautiful.” She was still watching Gage as she spoke.
“Yes, it truly is,” Fate said with a smile.
She sat with her grandfather for a long time talking about when she was a child. They laughed as they tried to list all the different places they’d lived and he finally explained why he’d always kept them living in such cold spots.
Apparently Akori didn’t generally like the cold weather, so he kept the estate in cold locations to discourage them from coming to live there. He said he wanted her to live in a family atmosphere, without a bunch of strangers coming and going.
“I always wondered about the snow. Gage and I used to think it was to punish us.” She smiled, thinking about it. “We’d be extra good when we knew it was time to move.”
“Our little troublemakers tried to be good, huh?” Fate smiled, patting her hand. “You used to be like his shadow. If I could find him, I could always find you too.”
“Yeah, then we grew up—things changed,” she said, then looked down at her hands. “Plus, five years is a big age difference.”
Fate reached for the teapot but Addy shooed him and picked it up instead, refilling his cup. He sipped it for a few minutes without speaking. She almost didn’t know what he was talking about when he finally looked at her and spoke.
“Perhaps it was at one point, but maybe not as much anymore. Friends, especially ones you’ve known your whole life, are very important. You’ll learn that as you get older.”
Realizing she wasn’t dreaming, Addy reached over for her cell phone that was buzzing like crazy. It was 2am and she’d been asleep for a couple of hours. Since Tanner’s show was out of the question, she’d opted to just go back to her villa after dinner and play one of her new video games.
There were four missed calls in the last two minutes from Renee. She hit the button to call her back, trying to even remember the last time Renee called her, especially in the middle of the night.
“You need to come down to the beach,” Renee said, instead of hello when she answered the phone. “I’m not sure where my brother is—he’s not answering his phone. Kim’s down here arguing with some girl about him.”
“I’m on my way.” Addy ended the call and ran out the door, dialing Gage.
“Hey,” Gage said. “It’s late. Is everything—”
“Where’s Matt?” Addy asked.
“He’s right here, why?”
“Tell him to get his ass down to the beach.” She ended the call without waiting for a response.
Addy could hear the girls yelling as soon as she got to the end of the path connecting the beach to the estate. A few of the Akori from the estate were there, along with Tweedledee and Tweedledum, standing near a roaring bonfire.
Kim was obviously drunk and swearing like a sailor.
Addy was jogging, but broke into a sprint when she saw Tweedledee reach back and smack Kim across the face.
Kim lunged at her. Addy reached them, shoving the girl aside and grabbing Kim, pulling her back.
Tweedledum—the friend of the girl Kim was fighting with, grabbed a fistful of Addy’s hair. The sudden pain caused her to lose the hold she had on Kim, who landed in the sand on top of Tweedledee.
“Let go!” Addy screamed at her.
Tweedledum released Addy’s hair and yelled at her, pointing. “Don’t push my friend!” She went for Addy again.
Renee knocked Tweedledum to the ground and pointed to the other girls. “Just get Kim!”
Addy’s head was throbbing and she really wanted to punch the chick right in the face. Instead, she glared at her and once again grabbed Kim, pulling her away from Tweedledee.
“Get off me, Addy!” Kim fought, trying to get away from her grasp.
“Stop then!” Addy was shaking her to get her attention. “He’s not worth it. Matt is definitely not worth this.”
Kim quit fighting Addy. She began crying and sat in the sand burying her face in her hands.
Renee was yelling at Tweedledee to stay away from Kim as Matt came running up, Gage behind him.
“What the hell’s going on?” Matt asked, looking at the five girls.
Renee whipped around to face her brother. “You can’t tell?”
“See what you do!” Addy was on her feet shouting at him. “You rub it right in her face until she can’t take it anymore.” She turned to Kim. “And you just keep going back for more. It’s like both of you enjoy hurting each other.”
Matt tried to speak, but Gage gave him a look that said he should probably keep his mouth shut, which unfortunately for Gage, drew Addy’s attention to him.
Addy shifted her gaze to Gage who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “And you let him do it right in front of her. You may be free to do whatever or whoever you want, but he’s not.”
Gage took his own advice and didn’t respond, but she could tell he was stunned at her outburst.
“Meanwhile, I’m out here in my pajamas getting my hair pulled out by these—bitches!” Addy rubbed the sore spot on her head. Feeling rage building up, she looked directly at Tweedledum, taking a quick step toward her. “I should wreck you!”
The two girls looked around Addy at Matt and Gage as if they expected help.
Gage walked past Addy, brushing his fingers lightly along her arm. His touch mixed with the adrenaline pumping through her body felt like needles piercing her skin and she pulled her arm away.
“Leaving now would be a good idea,” he said to Tweedledee and Tweedledum when he was between them and Addy.
They protested and Gage said a few more quiet words. Addy could hear one, or maybe both of them crying and they started to walk away.
Renee broke up the rest of the group that was standing around gawking, warning them to keep what they saw to themselves. If Fate found out, he’d send Kim home.
Only Matt, Addy, Gage, Kim, and Renee were left.
“This is ridiculous,” Addy said when the girls were out of earshot. “First Matt’s beating up some poor guy just for dating Kim, and now she’s fighting over him.” She threw her hands up. “We’re not dealing with it anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” Kim said, without lifting her head up.
Addy sighed and dropped her shoulders. “It’s not just you Kimmy.”
“Matt, are you listening?” Gage asked him.
He didn’t answer.
Matt was staring at Kim with so much intensity it creeped Addy out.
Kim suddenly picked her head up, looking curiously at Matt.
“Matt!” Renee shook his arm, snapping him out of it.
He glared at Renee. “I know,” he said through his teeth.
Kim, Matt, and Renee were glancing between each other without saying anything.
Addy peeked at Gage who appeared as confused as she felt. He apparently felt left out of whatever was going on too.
Renee nodded her head suddenly. “Maybe you two need to stay away from each other.”
Matt gave her a pointed look.
“Hey,” Gage said, reaching over and nudging Matt’s shoulder. “If Fate finds out what’s been going on he’ll send Kim home.”
Matt nodded at Gage. Addy could tell by his face he didn’t like the thought of Kim leaving. He kneeled down in the sand and began whispering something to Kim and she nodded her head a few times. Then Matt sat down and wrapped his arms around her.
“Unbelievable.” Addy rolled her eyes.
Gage shifted his eyes to meet hers and shook his head, turning his palms up.
Addy turned, heading for the estate. “I’m going back to bed.”