Cade (15 page)

Phoenix pushed himself up, using the wall for support. It was then that he realised that the pain in his feet was gone. He lifted one foot to examine it, expecting to see the blisters that had been there from all the walking. But his skin was completely normal, not a hint of any sores or swellings.

Phoenix walked tentatively from the bathroom to the room Cade had said was his—the door was open so he walked right in. It held a large bed and on it, there was a small pile of clothes for him. He stopped just before the bed and stared into the full-length mirror that stood to the side. All of his bruises and cuts were gone. He blinked in amazement. Was that one of the things that
Others
could do?

He turned to the side and lifted the oversized shirt up to look at his ribs and his back. He took in the skeletal image reflected back at him. His stomach was sucked in, and he could make out each separate rib of his ribcage under his pale flesh. He let the shirt drop and stared back at his face. “You deserve everything bad that happens to you,” he spat at the boy staring back. “Everything that happens now is your own fault. I
hate
you.”

He turned away and snatched the clothes from the bed. Once he was back in the bathroom, he closed the door and turned the taps on. The shower wasn’t so hard to work. He removed his clothes and climbed into the tub, the water cold against his hot skin. It made him gasp, but with it, he remembered different water—dark and cold water. It was there. Like a memory that was hiding just around the corner and he could glimpse the edges. Images flitted through his mind, but he couldn’t make sense of anything.

When he opened his eyes, he realised that the water was hot now—hot enough that it had made his skin flush pink where he had held the showerhead onto himself. He lifted it above his head and let the warmth of the water seep into him. Had it really been five days? It seemed like minutes to him. 

After he was done cleaning himself, he turned the shower off and climbed out to dry himself. He dressed in the clothes that Cade had left him—just another overlarge t-shirt and some jogging pants.

He turned the lamp off in the bathroom and realised that he hadn’t really needed it at all. He could see perfectly well in the dark.

He walked along the landing slowly, listening. He could still hear the voices, but they had moved somewhere else downstairs. He walked to the top of the stairs and stared down before moving, each step slow and cautious. Maybe there would be a whole pack of
Others
waiting for him and ready to hurt him for what he had done to that boy.

The stairs led down to another almost lightless hallway—just a lamp at the bottom on a small table. The wood creaked as Phoenix stepped off the last step, giving him away. The voices came to an abrupt stop, making Phoenix freeze in his tracks. His heart leapt to his throat as he watched a shadow move just on the inside of a half-open door. Cade appeared at the doorway and looked up at him, a smile forming on his lips.

“Feeling better?”

Phoenix nodded. “I have to stay in my …” He stopped. It wasn’t his room. “Upstairs?”

“No. You can come here.” Cade pushed the door wide open. There wasn’t a whole pack of
Others
waiting for him like he had imagined, but one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen sat at a table. Her long, auburn hair was pulled back from her face, and big hoops dangled from her ears. She wore a long skirt and a long top, the kind he had seen gypsies wear in movies. Her feet were bare, too, and it occurred to him that so were Cade’s. Maybe
Others
never needed to wear shoes. The woman stood slowly and the bangles on her wrists jangled gently as she did. It reminded him of his mother—she had liked to wear bangles, too. She smiled, but Phoenix stood there frozen to the spot.

“This is Gemma,” he heard Cade say. “She helped me get you here, and she has been helping me.”

“I'm very pleased to finally meet you,” she said softly, smiling the most amazing smile. She walked to him, slow, even steps so he’d not feel threatened and held her hand out to him. “It’s okay,” she said. Phoenix reached for it. He didn’t know why, but there was some urgent need in him to grab her hand. She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze before letting go. Her hand was light, soft. “Come in and sit down with us.”

He let her lead him to the table.

“Are you hungry?” Cade asked as he walked to the kitchen counter. “I heard you being ill.”

Phoenix nodded slowly and rubbed at his arm. It was itching, like a burn under his skin. “I didn’t mean to get sick,” he whispered.

“It’s okay.” Cade gave him a reassuring smile.

Phoenix shrank into himself at the table, wishing he could just disappear. The itch under his skin grew and spread. He started to scratch but it went up his arm, to his neck, then down his legs. He tried to keep still, but it was impossible.

Gemma frowned at him. “Are you okay?”

Phoenix tried to nod his head but only managed a weird, spastic jerk. He clenched his jaw, his skin burning.

“Cade,” Gemma called out, her voice rising in alarm.

“Shit,” Cade said as he turned and took in the situation. He dropped the bag of meat that he had taken from the side and raced over. Phoenix couldn’t bear it. It burnt everywhere and his need to scratch his skin off overpowered him. He couldn’t help it as he clawed welts into his flesh to make the itch go away. He slid sideways off the chair, unable to stop himself, and felt strong arms come around him, catching him.

“Breathe,” Cade said to him. “Listen to my voice, okay?”

Phoenix tried to focus on Cade’s face above him. He tried to listen to his voice, but it was too far away. Tears prickled at the back of his eyes. Had they done something to him? Put something in his food? Panic rose inside him, his breathing coming hard and fast.

“Phoenix,” Cade called. “Listen to me. It’s just your shift. It’s your
wolf
. Close your eyes and find me.”

Phoenix closed his eyes, and then he was gone.

Chapter Eighteen

Cade cradled Phoenix to him, holding his arms down to keep him from clawing at any bare skin. He sat with him between his legs, his back pressed to his chest. His arms wrapped around his arms as they pinned him down. Blood trickled down from where Phoenix had gouged his flesh to try to ease the itch under his skin. Cade’s forearm had also been caught in his attempt to stop him, but he paid no attention to it, his main focus on getting Phoenix to calm.

In the throes of his hunger and the burn from his shift, Phoenix suddenly had the strength of a full-grown man despite only being a boy. .

“Calm,” Cade whispered to him, pressing his head against the side of his. “Listen to me. We can do this. You and I. We can get through this, but you need to listen to me.
Calm
.” He repeated the words over and over again.

Cade glanced up and found Gemma staring at him—she had been quiet as she had watched him try and soothe the boy with his touch and his words. Her gaze heated as their eyes met, and the words Cade had been speaking suddenly died on his lips. He was brought sharply back to reality when Phoenix arched his back in a bid to get himself free.

“What can I do?” Gemma asked, trying to grab hold of Phoenix’s ankles to hold him still.

“Hold his legs,” Cade said through gritted teeth. Phoenix let out a growl that was neither
Human
  nor
Other
. It was something deep—angry and feral. Something was loose inside the boy, and Phoenix had no control over it. His eyes were open, but they were unseeing. “Breathe for me. Come on, Phoenix. You can do it. Fight this.”

Phoenix let out another inhuman snarl and stiffened his back, almost slipping from Cade’s grasp and knocking Gemma to the side. Realising that trying to be gentle was not going to hack it, Cade used his brute strength to shove Phoenix face down on the kitchen floor, rolling on top of him and pinning him down with the heavy weight of his body. Cade hated to do this, use physical strength against a boy—it went against everything about him. How anyone could do this to a boy was beyond him.

“Please, Phoenix.” It was so hard to keep his voice calm. “Listen to me. Hear my voice, okay? You can fight this. You can.” Phoenix shuddered, his body wracked with spasms under Cade.

Sending a quick glance Gemma’s way, Cade motioned towards the kitchen counter with his head. “There’s meat on the side,” he said. “Go and grab some for me.” Cade had killed a rabbit while Gemma had been there, wanting to give Phoenix something fresh to eat when he came down. The hunger was a powerful thing to have to fight, and it took time to learn to control. Phoenix had no conception of how to do that. All Cade could do at the moment was try bring his hunger down until he could teach the boy how to control it for himself.

Gemma sprang to her feet and had raced back with the dead rabbit in a matter of seconds. Phoenix went predatory still then bucked violently at the scent of the fresh kill.

“Tear some off, Gem,” Cade ground out. “Put it in his mouth.”

It had already been skinned, and Gemma hastily tore off a piece of the slick meat and pushed it into Phoenix’s mouth. His canines had emerged fully now—yeah, this was his shift coming alright. This was the test to see if his body was going to survive this shift. His bones hadn't started to move yet, and his fur hadn’t materialised, but the meat at his lips calmed him and he stopped fighting enough that Cade dared to relax a moment. He lifted a hand to brush Phoenix’s hair from his eyes—bright blue again, shining in such an unusual manner. Cade stared at them with wonder—they truly were a magnificent colour.

“Is that normal?” Gemma whispered in awe. “They're so bright.”

“I don’t know,” Cade said. “Maybe it’s because he’s a mix. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Phoenix had stopped fighting, lying there under Cade rasping from the effort. Gemma tore off another piece of the meat, her trembling hands having calmed somewhat. She fed Phoenix the second bit just as the sound of a car on the gravel outside had both her and Cade swivelling towards the door. Phoenix growled, but Cade had a firm grip on him still. He turned to Gemma. “Stephen?”

Gemma nodded. “I think so. He said he was coming.”

There was a mixture of relief and disappointment at Stephens’s arrival. It was great to have his friend’s help, but it also meant being extra guarded around Gemma so that Stephen wouldn’t pick up on anything. “Go and let him in,” Cade said, holding his hand out for the rabbit.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think he’s calmed down enough now. Go.”

Gemma stood and quickly rinsed her hands before heading to answer the door. Cade waited a moment and when Phoenix didn’t move, he rolled off him, bringing Phoenix with him and swinging him around onto his lap as one would do when comforting a small child. He fed him another piece, and Phoenix chewed quietly, his body calm but his breathing still harsh. “I’m sorry you have to go through this,” he whispered to him. If he ever got his hands on whom had done this to the boy, he was going to make damn sure they felt every ounce of this pain and suffering. They deserved it.

“What’s happening?” Stephen asked as he came in, Gemma close on his heels.

“His shift, I think,” Cade said.

“We gave him a fresh kill,” Gemma added. She crouched down next to Cade and ran a gentle hand down Phoenix’s face. He responded to the comforting touch, turning his head into her hand as she ran a knuckle down his face.

“At least he got proper meat this time,” Stephen said and Cade cast him a wry look. He crouched down in front of them to look at the boy, who was lost in his own mind. “Do you think he is ready to shift? Do you think he can manage it?”

That was the question, though, wasn’t it?
If
he could manage it.

“I don’t know,” Cade said, “but I damn well need to shift. I haven’t been able to, and it’s under my skin.”

“Maybe if you shift, it’ll calm him? Maybe he is feeling your itch.”

“It’s possible,” Cade said. He had already considered that. If they shared everything else, maybe they shared this need, too. It had been a while since Cade had felt that burn, but to him, it wasn’t an itch—not the same way Phoenix seemed to have it. It was more like fire that ran under his skin that needed to be set free. Going too long made him irritated. “Maybe we get him outside and see if we can get his shift going?”

“You have to let him do it on his own, though. He has to learn to do it himself.”

Cade nodded. Stephen was right about that. He had to learn to do these things or he would never be able to. Cade studied Phoenix’s face—there was a little more focus in those eyes. He was fighting his way back. It was hard for Cade not to help him—he could only imagine what it was like for the boy alone in this world.

“Can you get up with him?” Stephen asked. “We’ll take him out back and all shift together.” He paused and glanced at his sister, raking his eyes across her body. Then he glanced back at Phoenix. “On second thoughts, Gemma doesn’t shift at all.”

Gemma raised an eyebrow at him. “And what is wrong with me shifting?”

“Because you're a woman, and he’s a teenage boy. You really want to get naked in front of him? How will that work for his focus?”

“Seeing Stephen’s huge, hairy ass is probably the better choice,” Cade said to Gemma, though he realised that Stephen was right. And the thought of a hormonal teenager drooling over Gemma’s gorgeous, naked body had his mind going crazy. Cade could barely control himself at the sight of her naked—she did things to his senses without even touching him. How the hell was a teenage boy going to react? A
Human
teenage boy at that.

Cade scooped Phoenix up in his arms and stood up. The child’s eyes were half open and his breathing still ragged. He lifted a limp hand as if to scratch another itch, but Gemma grabbed it and gently pushed it back down. He wasn’t fighting now, at least, and that was a good thing. But the itch was still there.

Outside, Cade lay him down on the patch of grass in the back garden. Phoenix rolled onto his side and whimpered.

“Phoenix?” Cade said. “Can you hear me?”

No response.

“Phoenix?” A little louder this time. Unfocusing his eyes so that he didn’t have to close them, and so that Stephen wouldn’t realise he was using the bond between, he tried to connect with the boy. Stephen would start with his warnings about deepening the bond and that it was dangerous for Cade. But it was too late—Cade could feel how deeply they were already bonded. It was like the boy’s life echoed within him. Whether he liked it or not, he was stuck, and the boy was bound to him. “
Come to me
,” Cade urged.

Phoenix’s eyes fluttered open for a moment, and a mixture of relief and fear washed through Cade as he saw the brightness of the boy’s eyes. The wolf was awake, that was certain. Now they just had to bring him out safely. Would Phoenix make it? Would he live through this? “
You have to be strong,”
Cade echoed in his mind. “
We’re going to help you shift, but you have to come out.”

Phoenix blinked up at him. He opened his mouth as if he was to say something, but Cade stopped him. “It’s okay,” he said. “Just find your way back. You can make it.” Phoenix’s eyes brimmed with tears as he tried to talk, but it was nothing but a raspy growl. “Push your
wolf
down. Take control and tell it to back off. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply—slow and deep. Control your breath. Feel it go through your body. Feel it in your arms and down to the tips of your fingers. Use it like energy. Breathe for me Phoenix.”

Phoenix was listening, slowly giving in to Cade’s coaxing. It took a few attempts, but his breathing finally started to come out in a more even rhythm.

“That’s it. Come on, you're doing it.”

Gemma rubbed Phoenix’s back and held one of his hands in hers. “It’s working?” she said, glancing up at Cade.

“I think so.”

Phoenix’s eyes closed tight, a tear slipping from one and rolling down his cheek. His bottom lip quivered as Gemma gently wiped it away. “Come on, Phoenix,” she whispered. “You’re doing so great.”

Cade pulled Phoenix into his arms, cradling him. “It’s okay,” he soothed. “We’ve got you. We do this together. All of us.”

“I’m a monster,” Phoenix sobbed against Cade’s chest.

“No, you're not,” Gemma said as she stroked Phoenix back. “The person who did this to you is the monster. Not you.”

Cade let him sit in his arms, giving him as much time as he needed. How he was coping in this world, Cade couldn’t even guess. Most
Humans
would not have survived this far. Phoenix was a fighter, and he had Cade’s respect and admiration for making it as far as he had.

Taking a long, shuddering breath, Phoenix pushed himself to a sitting position, forcing Cade to let go. His eyes had turned back to normal, but he was still running a fever. Gemma smiled at him, and he didn’t withdraw from her touch when she reached out and brushed his hair from his face. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t be,” she reprimanded gently. “There is nothing for you to be sorry about. Okay?”

“I don’t know how to be like you,” he said to her, his voice breaking.

“And we don’t know how to be like you,” she said to him, and when he frowned, she added, “See Stephen there?” Phoenix nodded, a hint of fear crossing his features as he stared at the big man standing there studying him. He was taller than anyone he had ever met, and packed with heavy muscle. An intricate tattoo ran down the length of one of his arms, immediately drawing Phoenix’s adolescent curiosity. He looked big all over, and the calm air about him seemed deceptive, dangerous. It reminded Phoenix of a leopard, just waiting to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. “That’s my brother. Looks like he can handle the whole world, right?” Phoenix swallowed hard and nodded again. “Want to see how he’d cope in your world?” she whispered conspiratorially. “He isn’t even housebroken. We have to send him outside for bathroom breaks.”

Shocked, Phoenix wasn’t able to stop the abrupt laugh that burst forth. He glanced up at Stephen in fear, worried what that laugh would cost him, but Stephen simply grinned and gave him a small salute. Phoenix felt a tremulous smile form on his lips, and lifted his own hand in a weak wave.

“No more monster talk, okay?” Gemma was scowling at him, but there was a smile on her face.

“Okay.”

Cade helped him to his feet, and then let him go with great reluctance. “Am I sick?” he rasped.

“No,” said Cade. “You need to shift. Your
wolf
wants out and it has been too long.”

“Does it hurt?”

“It isn’t the most comfortable thing,” Stephen said bluntly in the end when no one else spoke up. “Feels kind of like when you have been sitting in one place for too long, and then every bone aches like a bitch with a temper when you try move.”

Phoenix nodded slowly, seeming to accept this information. “How do I do it?” he asked after a moment.

It was the oddest question, yet it was the most reasonable. The three of them exchanged totally bemused looks. How did you explain something that was as natural as speaking?

“I’m going to shift,” Stephen said decisively. He was a man of action, and standing around trying to find solutions had never been his strong suit. “You can watch. It should, we hope, bring your
wolf
out. You’ll start with that itch again. Don’t scratch it, okay?” Phoenix nodded solemnly. “When you feel it, close your eyes and picture your
wolf
. Have you seen him before?”