“No, but I’m sure you’ll explain it to me.”
She ran her hand through her dark tresses. “This is bad. This is so bad.”
“Dammit, Hilda,” Jack snarled. “What’s going on?”
She stopped and reached for Jack’s hand. “Okay, what I’m going to say is culled from myth and legend, so there’s no way to know just how much of it is real and how much is made up.”
“Go on,” Quade said impatiently.
“A wood sprite is a unique being. In all the realms, only one exists at any given time. If Caden is a wood sprite, that means the Tree of Life is dying, and Caden is meant to infuse it with his life energy.”
Not one bit of that made sense. “Pretend I’m stupid and explain it to me in small words.”
She snorted. “No need to pretend since you fucking claimed him. Oh my God, what have you done, Quade?”
The urge to bite her head off rode Quade hard. “Just get on with your story.”
“The Tree of Life exists across all the known realms. It’s like a gateway for travelers to access them. If you look at pictures, you’ll see how everything is connected by the Tree. If it dies, all of reality will crash in on itself. Caden being here means that he’s supposed to take its place, so when it dies, reality will continue on.”
“That makes no sense.”
Hilda sighed. “Where was Caden born?”
“I have no clue. Ten didn’t tell me.”
“Get him down here, now.”
Quade picked up the phone and dialed Caden. When he picked up, Quade’s heart seized again. What power did Caden have over Quade that he made him so… un-lycan-like?
“Can you come down to Jack’s office? Get on the elevator, take it to the sublevel, then follow the white line on the floor.”
“Sure, is something wrong?”
“I’m not certain, but we need to talk to you.”
“What about Matt and Kieran?”
“Where are they?”
“Sleeping in the spare bedroom.”
Worms slithered through Quade’s gut. He wasn’t sure how he felt about them being near Caden. Right now, the number of people Quade trusted were hovering just above zero.
“Let them sleep. See you in a bit.” He hung up the phone and turned to Hilda who was glaring at him. “You really have no clue what you’ve done, do you?”
“What the fuck did I do?”
Her gaze softened. “Oh, Quade. When a lycan claims someone, he binds their energies together. It’s supposed to make both of them stronger. If Caden is a wood sprite and he does become the Tree of Life, that energy will be absorbed by the Tree and you’ll die.”
Die? Well, that sucked. Meh…. “Then I die. I won’t let Caden be alone.”
The thought that he could die rocked Quade, but he was adamant. If he had to die with Caden, then so be it. But…. Whatever. He was ready to die if he had to.
The door opened and Caden peeked around the corner. When he saw Quade, he smiled and stepped inside, moving to take a spot beside him. Quade immediately felt better having Caden nearby. He wanted to reach out and take his hand, but thought they should talk first.
“What’s going on?”
Jack stood and held out his hand.
Caden’s gaze traveled up, up, up. “Holy shit.”
Hilda chuckled. “And he’s the baby of the family.”
“Have a seat.” Jack gestured to the empty chair. “We need to talk to you.”
Sitting down with a thump, Caden continued to stare. “How tall are you?”
“He’s tall enough to reach things on the top shelf for me. That’s the only reason I keep him.”
Caden’s laugh was lyrical, and it struck Quade how much he loved hearing it. How much he… loved Caden. When did that happen? How did that…? Ten. He’d been linking them all, so that Caden would get more comfortable in Sanctuary. He’d let Caden and Quade see memories, and now it was as if they’d shared those. What was that little bastard up to?
Jack’s booming voice pulled Quade’s attention back to the conversation. “Okay, we need to know, where were you born?”
Caden shifted in his seat. “I’m not sure. My mother adopted me. She told me she found me in a pumpkin patch, and that I was the cutest little pumpkin she ever did see. But she didn’t know where I was born either.”
Hilda and Jack exchanged meaningful looks. “I don’t think she was kidding,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“She may have embellished the pumpkin patch part, but I think she did find you somewhere.” Hilda leaned forward on the desk. “Do you remember having wings?”
“Wings? Why the hell would I have wings?”
But the expression that crossed Caden’s face told Quade he wasn’t being entirely truthful.
“Caden, you need to tell us anything you can think of so we can help. Even if you believe it’s stupid, you have to talk to us.”
In his seat, Caden looked down as he twisted his fingers together. “I’m sure it’s nothing. When I was five, I fell out of a pine tree and broke my arm. The thing is, there was literally no way I could have climbed that tree. It was so tall, and the branches didn’t start until halfway up. I remember looking up at it and wishing I could be up near the clouds, and then… I was. I looked down, realized how far it was to the ground, and got scared. When I woke up, I had a busted limb and my mother telling me I’d been foolish enough to try climbing it.”
“He flew, I’m certain of it.” Hilda reached out and took Caden’s hand. “What else? Anything you can tell us might help.”
“There’s nothing else. I had a pretty average childhood for the most part.”
“Any unexplained sickness?”
“Ten told me I got sick because my body was getting ready for puberty.”
“Ten told you that? When?”
“Last week, maybe the week before. I just thought it was a strange thing to say, but everyone tells me he knows stuff, so I assumed he was right.”
Jack glared at Quade. “Go see Ten and find out what the hell mumbo jumbo he’s spouting. If he knows something, I want you to beat it out of him if you have to.”
Quade got out of his chair and rushed for Margaret’s place. When he got there, he didn’t bother knocking, just opened the door and stepped inside. He found Margaret in the kitchen, stirring something in a pot. She glanced up, then pointed down the hall. “Ten said you were coming. He’s in the back bedroom.”
Doing his best to rein in the anger that was flooding his body, Quade stomped down the cluttered hallway. He could smell Ten, and he knew the boy was afraid. He banged open the door, but Ten didn’t jump. He sat hunched over at the desk, sniffling.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to go with him and your wolf was supposed to recognize him. The attack shouldn’t have come for months.” He whirled around and leveled his gaze at Quade. “Now everything is different! I told you Caden needed you, and now he’s going to die and it’ll be your fault! I hate you!”
The vehemence in Ten’s voice shocked Quade. He rushed forward and grabbed Ten’s shoulders, the small body wracked with spasms as he sobbed and pounded his tiny fists against Quade’s chest.