Cade (17 page)

He turned and left his heart lying in pieces around her feet.

Chapter Twenty

Cade rolled onto his stomach and stretched out in the empty bed. He had no idea what time it was really, nor did he care. He hoped he had slept for a long time. His body had needed it, and his shift had certainly done the trick to ease out some of the kinks. The sun was shining in through his open curtains—he hadn't bothered to close them the night before—not that he tended to anyway. They made him feel closed in when his
wolf
craved freedom and the outdoors. The room smelt of morning and sunshine, and Cade took in a great lungful of it, welcoming it into his body. Everything was silent, all except for the sound of the birds chirping outside.

Cade sat up abruptly, the sheet pooling around his bare waist. His
wolf
had gone predatory still. Something was wrong. He glanced around his empty room. The house was
too
silent. He reached out with his senses but he couldn’t hear or
feel
the boy.

Phoenix wasn’t there.

Cade sprang up from the bed and grabbed his jeans from the chair. Pulling them on almost whilst running, he darted from his room and into the sunlit hallway. The bowl Cade had left outside Phoenix’s door the night before, with fox that Stephen had brought back with him, was there, empty and licked clean. The relief that Phoenix had at least eaten was fleeting, Cade’s rising panic overwhelming any other feeling. 

Cade didn’t bother to move quietly as he approached the room. He tried the door but it was locked. Frowning, he peeked through the lock and saw no key on the other side. The door had been locked from the outside. Even while sensing that the room was completely empty, Cade still knocked first and called his name, even though he didn’t expect any answer. “Phoenix?”

When absolute silence greeted him, Cade swore and backed up from the door. “Shit.” He should have done this last night.
Fucking idiot
. Instead, he’d gone to bed, passed out, and now Phoenix was gone. The kid was already scared and that made him a danger to himself. So much went through Cade’s mind in the milliseconds he stood there. Most of them ended with Phoenix dead and some fucking
Human
holding his head like a prize. What had he done?

It took two attempts for Cade to kick the door in. It crashed open, the wood splintering in the frame from the effort. Cade wasn’t surprised to find the room empty. He sniffed the air—the smell of Phoenix was still strong in the air. He can’t have been gone long. Cade gave a quick glance around the room. On the chair was Phoenix’s bag and his notebook. That had to mean he had to be coming back. He’d not leave those things behind—the notebook had seemed to mean a lot to him from what Cade had realised. He had the door key, too, so that meant he hadn't left the room as his
wolf
. He was in human form, and he was on foot.

Cade did a quick check of all the rooms he passed, even though he knew it was pointless. He ran down the stairs to his kitchen, his heart thumping in his chest. He wasn’t in there, either.
Shit, shit, shit.

The key dangled in the lock of the back door—Cade always kept that hung up. The door was unlocked when he tried it, and he yanked it open and burst out of the house. Dropping to the grass, he breathed in deeply, trying to pick up Phoenix’s scent. It intermingled with Gemma and Stephen’s scents from the night before, making it harder to deduce which way the boy had gone.

He tried desperately to think like the boy; to put his mind into that of Phoenix’s. What would it be like if he was him? Which way would he go? Maybe down through the overgrowth? It was covered and easier to hide … Cade stopped himself. Phoenix had
Human
thoughts, not
wolf
. It wasn’t in his world to think about stalking and hunting and keeping himself hidden.

But still, that way
felt
right. It called to Cade. “Shit,” he muttered to himself as he launched himself barefoot through the grass. He raced to the bottom, almost at the overgrowth when a sharp pain shot up through him from his foot. He staggered then stumbled to the ground, blood gushing from his foot. He swore as he tossed the broken piece of mirror he had just stood on away. It hit the dilapidated greenhouse and smashed into tiny little pieces, its sounds echoing and mingling with the sounds of something else. He felt it more than heard it—a screaming echo in his mind. The hackles on his neck stood up. He caught a flash of movement and his heart stopped. He knew that it was Phoenix. And he knew he was in trouble.

Phoenix woke to the sun streaming in through his window and caressing his face. He squinted and tried to rise, but every part of his body was aching. He didn’t remember falling to sleep the night before. His mind was dark and foggy, which usually meant that he had a migraine coming—he felt no pain, though. He listened to the sounds in the house, any indication that Cade was up and about, but everything was quiet. He hadn't heard Cade since the night before. He lay back with a sigh—he would have to apologise for ignoring Cade the night before. He had fallen asleep thinking about everything that had happened. So much of what he saw happen to Stephen scared him, but then he thought back to the
wolf
in the road—to Cade. He had been such a magnificent
wolf
. It caused excitement to bubble in Phoenix’s chest. Imagine if he could shift into such an impressive animal. Even Gemma and Stephen—after all that ugly deformity—they had emerged such beautiful creatures.

Phoenix rolled onto his side and slid out of the bed. Cade was still sleeping, he was sure of that. He had no clue why, but it was like he could sense his presence in the next room. He knew he wasn’t alone in the house. He had heard Cade come upstairs before he went to bed, after Stephen and Gemma had left. Cade had tried the door again, but he hadn't called his name this time. He had placed a dish outside and Phoenix had salivated just from the smell. All his senses were so acute now, it still amazed him. He had waited for Cade to go to his room, and then gave him enough time to have fallen asleep before he dared to unlock the door to sit on the floor and eat. It wasn’t rabbit, he was sure of that. It tasted different, richer, but whatever it was, it had sated the itch enough that he could rest. Phoenix had tried not to think too much about what it was. He had chewed and swallowed each juicy mouthful and had disgraced himself by licking the plate clean afterwards. It was like there was a separate part of him—actions that weren’t his. He had eaten the meat as if it was the best feast he had ever sat down to. He couldn’t get enough of it, but his mind still fought with it because it wasn’t right. Yet, when he tried to cast his mind back to normal food—burgers and chips, pizza—he had almost retched. He couldn’t even remember why he had eaten so many of them before. Just the thought of them disgusted him now. However, the thought of raw meat and how it tasted made him salivate.

Making a firm decision right there, he decided that he was going to show Cade. He wasn’t going to disappoint him like he had everyone else. He unlocked the door and crept out of his room as silently as he could, locking the door behind him again. He paused and listened, but there was no movement from anywhere in the house. He crept along the edges of the hallway and hesitated at Cade’s door. He could
feel
him in there—it was so strange, but in his mind, it was as if he could even visualise how he was lying on the bed. He didn’t understand how, but he just knew.

Phoenix tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen. Once there, it was easy enough to get out of the house. Cade kept his keys hanging on the wall on some joke key holder. Phoenix found the back door key and let himself out into the fresh morning. It was so clear outside, like life hadn't yet polluted the day. Phoenix breathed in the fresh air and let the warmth of the morning sun touch his skin. It felt like forever since he had found any joy in anything, even in its smallest measurement. He closed his eyes. “
I miss you, mum,”
he whispered quietly into nothing. He didn’t let himself dwell on it, though. He had done a lot of thinking and he could either run from this situation or he could embrace it. He was hoping to do the latter. He just had to learn how to shift—and he was going to learn to do that now. Maybe he could show Cade later. His heart warmed with the promises he made to himself, and the way he imagined Cade might be pleased when he managed it. It was so strange. He didn’t really know Cade at all, but yet he felt like he had known him all of his life. He didn’t even know his surname. It was madness.

Phoenix went around the side of the house and came upon a small stream he hadn't noticed the night before. There was a small bridge that went over the water and Phoenix wondered if Cade had made that. The path down the side of the house led to the front garden, which was really just a patch of neatly trimmed grass surrounded by a stone wall. The house really was isolated. Now that it was day, he could see just how much. There wasn’t another house in sight. Everything was trees and fields and hedges. Phoenix stepped out from the safety of Cade’s property and onto the road he had raced down the night before. It was never-ending even now as he looked down it, both ways. He realised then that he could just leave, just walk and Cade would never know. Maybe it would save him a lot of bother. He had killed a boy—the mere thought caused an ache in Phoenix’s chest. He had killed two people with his actions. What if Cade found out what he had done? Would he throw him away, too, the same way his father had? Would he beat him as well and wish him dead?

Maybe if he managed to shift, he could be like them and then they would want him ... Cade would want him. He hadn't meant to get afraid the night before and disappoint him. He would shift and show Cade and then he’d be proud.

Maybe he would let him stay.

He turned, glancing around—he needed some place close to shift, but not too close. He didn’t want Cade to wake and find him. He knew he’d look for him the moment he realised he was gone; he was sure of that. But he wanted this to be a surprise.

The itch had begun again under his skin. It was like tiny claws this morning, scratching and nipping away under his skin. He rubbed at his arm with the flat of his hand, and while it relieved it a little, it wasn’t that much. He began to walk, determined to find the right spot to do this. His mind was so full of everything that Phoenix almost didn’t notice the big, blue car that was coming down the road. He stopped dead in his tracks, his heart starting to thud loudly in his ears. As the car got closer, it began to slow. Phoenix didn’t know much about cars, but this one looked big and posh. Bikes were his thing—his and his father’s—another thing he had destroyed. They had been building one together and were going to take it out onto the dunes and race it. Phoenix pushed away the pain of the memory.

The car rolled to a stop just in front of him, and Phoenix had no idea what to do. Did he carry on forward? If he turned and headed back, they’d know he was running away. He started to regret his decision to come so far from home. He took slow, tentative steps forward, walking close to the hedges. Two men sat in the front of the car—one old, like his dad, and one maybe as old as Cade. The older man wound his window down and smiled at Phoenix. He had a perfect smile, big white teeth, and perfect black hair. He wore an expensive-looking suit, like the kind his father used to wear. The man was
Other
, Phoenix could tell. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. He could …
sense
it.

“Excuse me,” the man said. Phoenix stopped, but said nothing. His heart was pounding so loudly, he wondered if the man could hear it. “Do you live around here?” He had a deep accent, something northern. Phoenix didn’t know what it was exactly, but the man’s words were clear and well-spoken.

“I live just there,” he muttered, pointing to Cade’s house and making sure the man knew he had a safe place to run to.

“This house here?”

Phoenix nodded. “I live with my …” He hesitated, unsure what to say. What exactly was Cade to him? The man tilted his head to one side, still smiling, waiting. He reminded Phoenix of the Cheshire cat in the Alice books. He swallowed hard. “… brother,” he finished.

“Not your parents?”

“My mum is …” He couldn’t stop the tremor in his voice as he spoke, or the way it cracked.  The man raised a questioning eyebrow. “She died,” he said quietly. He had never said it out loud before.

“That’s too bad,” the man said. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

Phoenix nodded. Maybe they just needed directions.

“I’m a little bit confused.”

Phoenix held his breath, waiting.

“If your brother lives there, in that house, I think I might be a little lost, because last time I was here, my son lived in there. Has he moved out?”

Phoenix’s eyes went wide and his stomach roiled. This was Cade’s father.

“That’s what I thought.” The man grinned and narrowed his eyes. “You’re a hybrid, aren’t you? A half-breed? Tell me, are you the one that ate that poor little
Human
boy a few days ago?”

The man opened his car door and began to climb out. Phoenix turned and ran. He ran as fast as he could back towards Cade’s house, into the garden and down the side. He ran across the bridge, to the small patch of grass. The man was right behind him—he was fast and he was gaining on him. He shouldn’t be so fast, Phoenix thought. He was old. Panting, he raced through the overgrowth of Cade’s garden to the bottom where it broke away to a field. He scrambled over the wall there. It was easy enough—it wasn’t very high, just stone like the one at the front.