Cade (21 page)

“You stayed on the land?” He had stressed the importance of him not straying from here several times since the incident with Trevor.

Phoenix sighed and rolled his eyes, his reaction that of a typical teenager. Cade hid his amusement. “Yes.”

Cade didn’t care if the repetition annoyed him. He would ask everyday if he had to—and he had so far. It was for Phoenix’s safety and, as tiresome as it was, it would be dangerous if either one of them dropped their guard. The last thing he wanted was for Phoenix to get ahead of himself and think that he could handle the outside world. Racing out into areas where the
Humans
could catch him—or worse, Trevor—could have no good outcome. Cade wasn’t about to risk it. If that meant they had to eat
Human
food to survive because Phoenix needed to stay near home, then so be it.

Cade hadn't heard from Trevor since the day on the field. It worried him in some ways, but then again, maybe it was a good thing. Maybe he was simply off licking his wounds. Whatever it was, the silence was both a relief and a worry.

“Throw it on the side and we can eat it later,” Cade said. “You’re getting good at this.”

“It was an easy one,” Phoenix said as he dumped it onto the drainer. He lay it down so that it was facing away from him. “My sister had a rabbit,” he said pensively as he ran a hand down the dead rabbit’s body. His hand had healed—no one would think that it had been broken just the week before. Whatever the concoction was from Emily, it had certainly helped to speed up the healing process. Occasionally, though, Cade caught Phoenix rubbing his hand as if it hurt, but when he’d ask him, Phoenix would shake his head. Cade knew that the boy was unable to come to terms with the fact that it had healed so fast—he expected it to still hurt. Another part of being
wolf
that he would have to get used to, Cade supposed—advanced healing.

“You have a sister?” Cade asked cautiously, daring to jump on the snippet of information Phoenix had just offered.

“And a brother.” Phoenix turned so that he was leaning with his back against the edge of the sink. He let out a long drawn out sigh. “Do you think I can ever see them again?”

Cade leaned back in his seat. “I don’t know. Maybe.” In truth, Cade thought that wasn’t likely at all. If they were
Human
, they would sure as hell not want anything to do with him.
Humans
were heartless. Really and truly. He paused for a heartbeat, then said, “Do you think that it would be okay to ask you some things?”

Phoenix sauntered over to the table and sat down next to Cade. “Like?”

Cade pushed the sheets of paper he had been working on across to Phoenix. So far he had gone through the lists and highlighted everyone that was a
wolf
. “I have to find the
wolf
that bit you.”

Phoenix leaned closer and inspected the first page. “Why?”

“Because we need to get the
Humans
off our backs. If we can find the
wolf
that bit you, we can send the
Humans
looking for him.”

“But then they die?” His eyes searched Cade’s, a frown marring his young brow. Cade fought the urge to cosset him, to reach out and give his hand a reassuring squeeze. He wanted to care for him and protect him, but at the same time, he had to help Phoenix to become a strong and independent man—it was the only way to survive in the world of
Others
. Cade might not always be around to save him.

“It is against our rules to bite a
Human
. We can’t ever do it.” He stared him straight in the eye. “What that
wolf
did was wrong. You could have died out there. If I hadn't found you that day, you probably would have.” Cade pointed down to the boxes on the floor. “I have to go through all of these. I have to find him. It would help me if you could tell me where you came from.” When Phoenix said nothing, he added, “If we don’t find the
wolf
, the
Humans
will want you.”

Phoenix brought his feet up onto his chair, tucking his knees up against himself and wrapping his arms around them. Fucking
Humans
always caused shit like this. He didn’t like to push Phoenix. He didn’t like the look of fear on his face. “I bit that boy,” he whispered. “I should be punished for that.”

“It isn’t your fault.” Cade slid the papers back in front of him and stared at the list of names without actually seeing any of them. This was the part that was hard to say. He lifted his gaze back to Phoenix’s. “If you are to be accepted into Society, you also have to defeat that
wolf
.”

Phoenix blinked. “I have to fight?”

Cade nodded. He hated to hear the panic in his voice. He had been through enough already. If he could stop him going through more, if he could fight the maker in his place, he would—but that was against the laws, too. It had to be Phoenix that fought him.

“I’m sorry,” Cade said after a moment of silence. “I know it is hard for you. This is how we work.”

Phoenix rested his forehead on his knees so that Cade couldn’t see his face. “I wish I hadn't been so stupid,” he muttered. “I wish I could take it back. I made everything so bad.”

“Take what back?”

Phoenix began to rock and Cade hated that he had to push him like this. But he needed to know what had happened. He slid his chair back so that his whole body was turned toward Phoenix.

“It was so stupid,” he whispered.

“Tell me,” Cade said gently. “Tell me what happened.”

There was another pause and Cade started to lose hope that he’d open up to him. Then suddenly, he murmured, “Our car ... it had broken down. We had been out of town and the tyre needed changing.” He lifted his head slightly and peered at Cade. Cade inched closer so that Phoenix might feel safer. “My mum didn’t know how to change it so we had to get help. We had to call my dad to come, but we had no phone. We walked long the lane and found a house. Then we knocked … and a man answered.”

Cade stayed quiet, listening, and nodded for him to go on.

Phoenix breathed in deeply. “He said he could come and change the tyre, but we wanted to use the phone anyway.”

“The man was
Other
?”

Phoenix nodded. “Yes.” He swallowed hard, his breathing speeding up. “I stayed at the house so I could call my dad. The man had a son and … and ...” Phoenix’s voice trailed off and Cade waited patiently. “I was talking to the boy, and he said he was a
wolf
. When I asked him to show me, he said he could make me into a
wolf
. He said it wouldn’t last so long because I am … was …
Human
.” His eyes closed at the recollection. “I let him bite me.”

Cade’s heart sank.
Shit
. A boy. Of all the things, Cade had feared that Phoenix would have to fight a fully grown man. But it was another boy. Child against child … to their death. He felt sick. “How old was he?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he was my age.”

“How old are you?”

Phoenix focused his eyes on Cade’s. “I’m fourteen,” he said. “It was my birthday two days ago.”

Surprised at that piece of information, Cade stared at him for a quiet moment. “You didn’t say.”

Phoenix shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t want it anyway. Can I be excused to my room?”

Cade didn’t want to let him go just yet. He didn’t want him to sit up in his room alone. He had been through so much already. However, he understood the need to be on your own, just get away from everything and everyone and just lie in the dark somewhere. When there was a huge weight on your chest and that was the only thing that would ease it. “Okay,” Cade said. “We have a meeting this evening with Society. Don’t forget, okay?”

Phoenix nodded his head slowly, then stood and left the room without another word.

Chapter Twenty-Four

When Cade lifted his head up and stretched out his aching back, he noticed that it had grown dark around him. He rubbed his eyes hard and blinked. The hours had rolled by and he hadn't noticed. The tell-tale ache in his stiff back reminded him that he had not moved for a long time, his shoulders protesting as he stretched his arms over his head. He yawned and put his pen back down on the table. He had made some progress—
some
being the key word. The pile that he still had to check remained more than ten times larger than the pile of already checked names—even with the amount of names now reduced by area. He had started with a twenty mile radius of where Phoenix had said he was from. With any luck, that would turn up the asshole who did this. If it didn’t, Cade would just extend his circle by another ten miles, and so on, until he had a name.

He rubbed a hand over his stubble and decided he’d have to shave before the meeting tonight. He hadn't heard Phoenix in quite a while but he knew he was in the house. That piece of him was there—it was like the ultimate tracker.

The time for the meeting was approaching and Phoenix would have to come down soon. He was going to have to face this thing even though Cade wished he could shield him from it. It was a harsh world for a fourteen-year-old boy.

Fourteen
…

Sorrow settled deep inside at the thought of Phoenix’s birthday passing, and none of them had had a clue. It shouldn’t have been that way. He thought about getting him a cake with some candles, but then wondered if that would only succeed in saddening Phoenix more—it would be the first time without his family.

Cade’s stomach growled as he sat there pondering all the things he could do nothing about. It had been growling for the last hour at least. Cade had ignored it, consoling it with the promise of ‘just one more code’, ‘one more name’. The thought,
What if I stop now and the next name is the name?
is what had kept him glued to the papers. He wanted so damn much to walk into that meeting today with a name ready to give to Malcolm and his father. But no. Not today.

Cade didn’t waste time with the rabbit. He cut it, skinned it and then divided it up onto four plates—two for now, and two for later. They were small portions each, but this was how it had to be. They would be hungry when they came back and it would perhaps be too late to hunt. That, or too stressful for Phoenix, especially after everything. He put the two plates in the fridge for later and placed the other two on a tray, which he carried up the stairs.

The small lamp in Phoenix’s room gave out little illumination into the hallway—it was just a small, soft glow. Cade knocked lightly on the door and then pushed it open, not waiting for an answer. Phoenix was hunched over his desk reading, a small lamp on beside him. They had bought books while they were out with the aim of Phoenix trying out the whole homeschooling idea. Phoenix couldn’t attend school, not a
Human
school anyway, and Cade wasn’t sure if he would be accepted into an
Other
school, either, but he needed an education. He had bought everything from educational books—that Cade planned to help him with—so that he remained up to date with the curriculum, and fiction so that he was entertained. Cade had been most pleased when Phoenix had informed him that he liked to read.

“I brought you something to eat,” Cade said, sitting down on the edge of Phoenix’s bed with the tray. Phoenix closed the book he was reading and Cade caught a glimpse of the title. “You like maths?”

Phoenix swivelled around on his chair and nodded. “It’s numbers ... it’s easy. It makes sense. Numbers always stay the same no matter what.”

Cade nodded. He could understand that. It was stable, and god knows the boy needed some kind of stability. “I guess so,” he said. He offered Phoenix a plate and then took his own and began to eat. “So …” he began. “We have to go for that meeting.”

Phoenix didn’t say anything.

“Stephen and Gemma’s father wants to meet you. Do you remember I told you about Malcolm and Emily? Their mother and father?”

“You said Malcolm is the one who makes all the decisions.”

“He is the head of the Council, yes. He wants to meet you and we need to update him on everything.” Cade paused for a moment, and Phoenix remained quiet. Cade had realised that when something serious was going on, Phoenix clammed up. But it would be a mistake to assume that he wasn’t listening, or watching. Those eyes and ears were taking everything in. “My father is going to be there,” Cade added. “And Aaron.”

Phoenix’s expression hardened, his eyes boring into Cade’s as he paused mid-chew. “What if I don’t go?”

“You have to,” Cade said. “You don’t defy the orders of Malcolm.”

“Didn’t you?”

Cade raised an eyebrow.

“When you took me in.”

“I am sure I will pay for that. But it is my problem, not yours. I did what I did, and I don’t regret it. I would take you in again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that,” said Cade solemnly, needing Phoenix to trust him, to feel safe and know that Cade was not about to turn his back on him. “My father won’t do anything now. Neither will Aaron. He is Malcolm’s beta—his second in command. He wouldn’t risk that, no matter what. It has gone to the Council now, so you are safe. Trevor can no longer act without Malcolm’s permission—and Malcolm is a fair man. That is why he is in the position he is.”

Phoenix pushed the last couple of bits of raw meat around on his plate with his fork. “When is the meeting?”

Cade glanced at his watch. “In about forty-five minutes. We have to leave as soon as you have eaten.”

Phoenix said nothing else.

Cade paced back and forth in Malcolm’s study as they waited outside the council room. The study was a large room at the front of the house that Malcolm used for general business and his day-to-day running of the Council. He clenched and unclenched his fists, going from the window to the door and back again. It was like sitting in the dentist’s waiting room and not knowing if the treatment was going to be a simple check-up or an excruciating extraction without Novocain. Each time he turned, he exhaled heavily, all the while colourful epithets floating around in his head. It wouldn’t be polite to voice them out loud in front of Phoenix and Emily, who were both sitting on the small two-seater sofa by the window. Gemma’s mother was trying to read, but every time Cade passed her, she’d lift her head and look at him.

The room was lined with bookcase after bookcase, some filled with books, others holding records relating to the Council. Some of the books were medical journals—old ones that they had acquired from the
Humans
. They had detailed diagrams of the different species, as well as diagrams and photographs of the viscera and internal organs of
Others
. Stephen had once pointed out that no one ever questioned just how they had obtained
those
pictures. Malcolm had told him it didn’t matter.

There were two doors that branched off from Malcolm’s study. One of them led to the hallway and the rest of the house, and the other one was thicker, purpose-built, and it blocked the way to the room beyond. That was the Council’s
quiet
room. A person could be slaughtered in there, and whoever was on the other side would not hear a thing. Stephen often remarked how that was handy—he was most looking forward to acquiring that room when he took over from his father.

“Cadence MacDonald, will you sit down,” Emily said finally. She pinned him with a stare that made him feel ten years old again. All she was missing in her reprimand was his middle name. “You’re making even me nervous.”

“Sorry,” Cade muttered. The door was still closed and he glared at it. It was taking them god damn ages.

“I’m going to get Phoenix a drink. Would you like one?”

Cade shook his head. “I just want this over with.”

Emily came over to him and laid a gentle hand on his arm. “I know,” she said. “It’ll all be fine. You’ll see.” She offered him a warm smile before turning back to Phoenix. “Orange or apple.”

“I don’t mind,” he said nervously.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

Cade sat down in the seat Emily had just vacated. “These meetings always take so long,” he said, but it was more for his own reassurance than Phoenix’s.

“It hasn’t been that long,” Phoenix replied.

Emily came back a minute later with Evie, the youngest child in the family. Curiosity, no doubt, had her following her mother into the room as her eyes immediately fixed on Phoenix. There was no hesitation or shyness to her. She came right in and sat in the single chair opposite them and continued to stare at Phoenix. Emily placed two glasses down on the coffee table between them, the contents of which looked highly questionable. It was orange, but that was no fruit in there, and it was bright enough that he worried he would start glowing.

“Drink it,” she encouraged Phoenix. “It builds you up. You need some muscle on you if you’re to make it like this lot.” She pushed the other one in front of Cade. “You drink up, too. Calm those nerves.”

Evie smirked. She couldn’t keep her eyes off Phoenix, but she looked away long enough to screw her face up at Cade.

“Curiosity killed the cat?” Cade said reprovingly. She was still young, but she was old enough to know better than to stare at people so openly and rudely.

Phoenix reached a nervous hand for his glass and then brought it to his lips. He sniffed at it first, but to his credit, he kept his face expressionless. Cade didn’t need to bring it to his nose to get a whiff of the putrid smell.

“Thank you,” Phoenix said to Emily as he took a sip under her ever watchful eye.

“You make sure you both finish those up.” She nodded toward the drinks then looked at Cade. “I have a full bottle of it for you to take home for him. It’ll keep you both strong.”

Emily wasn’t just the wife of the alpha—she was a healer, too. She worked with potions and god knows what else, and they stank to high heaven. God, even the smell of them sometimes was enough to make them want to vomit for a week. Cade and Stephen often joked that the reason they got better is because she scared any germs away with it. She grew almost everything in the back garden herself, and some in the greenhouse or the attic, where it was warmer. She knew about almost every herb and plant, and probably even weed that existed. But whatever she did—the lotions and potions that she made—that shit worked.

“Do you think they will be much longer?” Cade asked her, scowling.

She shrugged. “Who knows with them? Once they enter that room, it’s like a whole different world. I think they forget the one that is out here.”

Cade slumped in his seat at the prospect and took the smallest sips he could manage from the glass. His taste buds were never going to forgive him.

Thirty minutes had passed when the door finally swung open and Gemma emerged. Thirty minutes that seemed liked thirty hours. She smiled apologetically to Cade. “Sorry we were so long.”

Cade stood and then threw a worried glance at Phoenix, who was staring at Gemma nervously. He didn’t want to leave him alone, not for a minute. Emily must have read his mind, because she smiled and said, “He’ll be fine. I’ll sit here with him.”

Cade returned her smile, but his reluctance to leave Phoenix was no doubt evident. He knew the boy would be fine with Emily. She had a way about her that went against what was expected—she was tiger, and tigers were not known for their nurturing ways. But Emily was the exact opposite. She put god damn Mother Teresa to shame sometimes.

“I won’t be long. I'm just in there,” he said to Phoenix, then followed Gemma into the room with one final glance at him.

Everyone was sitting around the table waiting for him as he entered with Gemma and closed the door. Malcolm sat at the head of the table, and to the right was Trevor. His face was stern and his refusal to greet Cade showed that he had definitely not got over the other day. That man could sulk like a toddler some days. Next to him was Aaron—he at least got a nod of acknowledgement from him. On the other side of Malcom was Stephen. He looked at Cade as he entered and lifted his chin in greeting. “Hey, man.”

Gemma sat down next to Stephen, but Cade opted for the seat closest to the door—and closest to Phoenix.

Malcolm interlaced his fingers, elbows resting on the table, and focused his gaze directly on Cade. “This is quite the predicament that you have put us in,” he said, eschewing any formalities. “You do realise that what you have done is against Society rules.”

Cade nodded solemnly.

“Then you must also realise that if you were someone other than the son of one of my Council officers, I would have no bother tossing you out with the strays and shutting the door behind you.”

“Yes,” he replied, keeping his eyes level with those of their leader. “Thank you for not doing that.”

“Your father has come to us today to bring over this case. He tells me that you have taken in the half-breed and that he is the one the
Humans
are seeking.”

“Yes.”

“And that this half-breed is responsible for the death of the
Human
boy.”