When Addy was finally set free, she headed out walking across the garden to her villa. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about the reason Fate brought them back to the place she was born. It was a smart move—practical. That’s why he was such a great Overseer. Even if by some miracle she was able to claim his position as Overseer, there was no way she’d ever be as good at it was he was.
Addy was still wearing her bathing suit under her tank top and shorts. Her sunglasses were perched on top of her head, holding her long dark hair out of her face. She hadn’t had time to change before meeting with them, not that they cared. She’d known all of them her entire life and the last thing they were worried about was what she looked like.
Approaching the sidewalk that lead to her door, she thought she saw someone walk between her villa and the unoccupied one next door. She crouched down and slowly moved into the shadows.
Once she got up against the wall, she slowly peeked around the corner. No one was there. Occasionally humans would find their way into Tremain and get confused because of the Akori symbols placed around that were used to hide it. She decided to walk around the perimeter of her villa to be sure it was all clear. She turned the corner to check around back and felt like she ran right into a brick wall.
Addy quickly discovered it wasn’t really a brick wall—it was more like a guy who didn’t even budge when she plowed into him. She hopped to her feet and swung around. Using the wall to push off, she tried to land a hard kick to the side of his body. He was fast and blocked her foot, sending her to the ground. She started to get up, but he pushed her back down.
“Addy, wait!” Gage stood over her with an amused expression.
“What the hell are you doing stalking around my place in the dark?” Her voice came out in a strange half-scream, as she scraped herself off the ground.
He offered her his hand but she was too startled to take it. “You alright?” His tone was just short of laughing.
Without answering or waiting for him to explain why he was creeping around, she turned and walked back to her front door.
“I didn’t mean to freak you out,” he said, standing behind her on the porch as she opened the door. ”Bernard said there was a strange man at the beach earlier when you and Kim were down there. I was checking out the area around both of your places.”
After the news about why they were there, she’d completely forgotten about the beach guy. “Right, the man... I’ve just got information overload after meeting with Fate. I wasn’t thinking about that. I’m fine, so just go do your thing or whatever.” She’d always hated embarrassing herself in front of Gage. “I’m heading down to the beach anyway.”
Her cat Moose was looping himself around her legs and meowing, clearly upset she ran out so fast earlier, forgetting to feed him.
“I’ll wait and walk with you since I’m heading back down there anyway.” He was still standing on her porch holding the screen door open. “If you come across any strangers I might have to protect them from you.”
She shot him an innocent look and tried not to smile. “I thought you were a burglar or something.”
“If that had been anyone but me they’d be hurting. You’ve gotten pretty good.”
“Thanks—I guess.” She dropped her purse on the table, making her way to the kitchen to get the cat food.
Noticing Gage was still standing with the door open, she motioned for him to come in. As he pulled the door shut, she realized it was the first time she and Gage had been alone together in at least five years.
The kids who lived at Tremain went to school on the estate and typically hung out together. Gage did his own thing for a few years and didn’t hang around anyone but Matt. Addy had still tried to be his friend for a while, but he pretty much ignored her. She eventually gave up on him. They were around the same group of friends all the time now that they were older, but only occasionally spoke to each other.
Addy fed Moose, who was acting as if he was about to faint from hunger, even though his bowl was still half-full. She was really glad she’d cleaned her place the day before. Kim and Matt were usually the only people she had over, so cleaning wasn’t ever a real priority and the mess had gotten pretty out of control.
Gage stepped a little further inside and looked around. “Nice place.”
All of the villas had exactly the same layout. The only thing different about hers was that she had a couple of extra windows because it was located on the end. The inside of each was painted the same antique white color with light hardwood floors. They were even furnished with the same beige living room couches, chairs, and wood dining room tables. Addy brought all of her own furniture from her room in the main house so at least her bedroom was decorated exactly how she wanted.
“Yeah, real unique. So are you planning on moving out of the main house?” She put the cat’s food away and gave him fresh water.
Gage sat down on her sofa, picking up her box of video games and flipping through them. “I’m not sure, I mean I’d like to, but your grandfather likes to keep me around.”
Being close to the Overseer came with a ton of responsibilities and Fate always had something he needed Gage to do. Addy typically heard his name mentioned in their meetings and wondered if he’d work for her if she became the Overseer.
Gage pointed at Moose. “You finally got a cat, huh?”
“Yep, I got him last year when Fate finally let me move out of the main house. I adopted from the animal shelter.”
“How’s this one?” He held up a first person shooter game that came out a few weeks earlier.
“Amazing, I finished the campaign in like the first two days. Matt and I were playing online, but Kim was getting pissed about it.”
Gage raised his eyebrows. “Huh, I might have to snag it for a few days.”
“Take it. I picked up two new games before we moved and I haven’t opened either yet.”
Moose made his way over to Gage and began sniffing at his shoes.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and headed to her room.
Addy stripped off her suntan lotion covered clothes and searched for something to put on. The selection was terrible and she had to settle for a dark gray tank top and more cut off jean shorts. She decided to skip the sandals—she discovered earlier that she hated wearing shoes in the sand.
Tossing her sunglasses on her dresser, she grabbed a brush and painfully pulled it through the knots in her thick hair. It had grown down to her elbows, which was longer than she liked it. She hoped since they were living somewhere nice she’d be able to go to a real salon and get it cut, rather than just having Stubbs trim it.
After grabbing a few hairpins from her drawer, she pulled her hair up into a half twist and smoothed the loose pieces behind her ears. She looked in the mirror while she put on some lip gloss and noticed a slight tan already. She was glad she hadn’t burned after being in the sun most of the day.
Gage was down on the floor rubbing Moose’s belly when she walked out of her bedroom. The cat was pretending he was starved for attention, as well as food. She leaned against her door frame watching.
“He’s got you caught in his trap,” she said. “He’s acting really sweet and loveable, but when you try to stop petting him he’s gonna bite you.”
“No you won’t, will you buddy?” Gage spoke to the cat in a goofy voice. The cat responded by arching his back so he could rub his head on his hand.
“It’s suddenly getting weird in here—we should go.” Addy blew the cat a kiss and headed for the door. “Bye Moose, I’ll be back to cuddle with you later.”
He glanced up at her and smiled. “And that wasn’t weird?”
Gage started to follow her and Moose tried to bite his hand. He was too fast for the cat, who stalked off acting offended.
“He’s mad,” Addy said, closing the door.
“Maybe I’ll let him win next time.”
“You never let anyone win, Gage.”
&
nbsp; He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smirked.
“Who’s down by the fire?” Addy asked as they walked to the path leading to the beach.
“It's just the usual crowd,” he said, walking in front of her, “plus Kim, Matt, and Renee.”
It felt warmer outside than it did earlier in the sun. Gage looked hot in his white button down shirt and jeans. Like temperature hot, she could see beads of sweat on the back of his neck. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one lacking summer clothes.
“So, what was your take on the guy at the beach today?” he asked, pulling at a piece of the tall grass when they walked past it.
“I don’t have one really. He seemed out of place—but honestly, I wouldn’t have even noticed him if Kim hadn’t pointed him out.”
Addy only mentioned it to Fate earlier to hijack the conversation until Bernard and Stubbs joined them.
Gage shook his head. “You’ve gotta watch what’s going on around you now that we’re here.”
She stopped walking and gave him a bewildered look.
He turned to face her. “What?”
Even at five foot seven, she was at least eight inches shorter than Gage, and had to look way up to see his blue eyes. “What do you mean now that we’re here—they told you?”
“They didn’t have to tell me, I remember being here. I was five last time. It’s where your parents were...” Gage shifted his eyes away from hers.
“My parents died here. You can say it.” People always acted as if they had to be so careful talking about her parents and it completely irritated her.
Gage put his hands in his pockets. “We just gotta watch out here after what happened last time.”
It all came together and Addy eyed him closely. “Is that what they think—they’re thinking the humans who attacked my family will try again?”
A group of humans who’d discovered the Akori and their powers killed her parents the day she was born. They wanted control over the Akori and thought they could get it by ending the Overseer’s bloodline. They’d already killed her dad, Fate’s male heir. Coming after her was pointless since she was a girl—there’d never been a female Overseer and she doubted she’d be the first. Addy suddenly realized that Fate doubted it too, or he wouldn’t have moved the estate back there.
“They’re probably wrong, but Bernard just asked a couple of us to keep an eye on you. There’s nothing to worry about,” he said, moving to put his hand on her shoulder.
She dodged him and stepped back, laughing. “You’re babysitting me? Oh my god—that’s hilarious.”
She was actually pretty irritated he was only hanging out with her because he was told to. It totally made sense though—more sense than he suddenly wanted to be friends. Even when she and Gage were just with Matt and Kim he didn’t talk to her.
“I’m just keeping an eye on what’s going on.”
Addy smiled and shook her head at him. “Let's get down to the beach.” She put her hand up like she was making a pledge and tried to paste a serious expression on her face. “I promise to be more observant of my surroundings.”
Not about to let him see her disappointment, she turned and padded down the path. The fire was in sight and she couldn’t wait to talk to Kim.
“You’re an interesting girl, Addison Sanders,” Gage said, catching up to her.
She avoided looking at him. “Why’s that, Gage Elsegood?”
“The way you are—or maybe it’s more the way you deal with things,” he said. “It’s like nothing fazes you. We’re in the place your parents were killed and your grandfather’s sick. You shrug it off like it’s nothing.”
Addy couldn’t believe he’d just said that to her and didn’t have a chance to hide the shock that ran across her face. After years of barely speaking to her, the fact he’d decide that was an ok thing to say was outrageous.
“So what should I be doing?” She demanded. “Splitting my time up between mourning for parents I don’t even know and contemplating how I'm going to feel when Fate dies?”
Gage put his hand up and tried to interrupt her, but she just kept going.
“I didn’t know my parents and Fate’s been prepping me for life without him as long as I can remember.” Addy stopped walking and stared at him. “Apparently you’ve forgotten that I’m the one who’s spent a large part of her life learning how to be the Overseer, even though I never will be. You used to be there; you should remember.” She turned away and started toward the fire again. “Once Fate dies our way of life is over.”
She thought that last part sounded a little overdramatic, but it was true. They didn’t live anything like humans their age. They had responsibilities, but everyone who lived at Tremain spent a lot more time hanging out and partying than most humans ever did.
Gage started to say something but she waved him off and they walked the rest of the way in silence.
Just before they reached the fire, Gage leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You don’t have to remind me who you are, Addy.” He walked away without looking at her to join Matt and a couple of girls she didn’t recognize.
Chapter 4