The demon scoffed. “I ruled for over a hundred years. It wasn’t stupidity that got me where I was. I know how to manipulate people into doing what I want. The men on motorcycles? Whisper in their ears, telling them of a place where they can satisfy their urges. It was what was needed to start Caden on the path I’d chosen. As soon as he was with you, I sent the skin-walker. It was with the express intention of pushing the two of you closer together. I needed you with him, so that you’d bear witness to my moment of triumph.”
So he’d orchestrated Caden’s need to protect himself, which resulted in the death of the men who’d hurt him? The demon was the one responsible for the death of the clerk at the gas station?
“You can’t win.”
The already-ugly features twisted into a snarl as the demon stalked to Quade, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him in the air. “Seeing you like this? I’ve already won. You left me to suffer eternal torment! You don’t know what it was like. The beatings. The torture. Every day was an eternity, and with every breath I took, I cursed your name.” He leaned in and sniffed Quade. “You were my brother.”
Anger surged through Quade. He was surprised to find his hand had morphed into a claw, but not so shocked that he wasn’t prepared to use it. He lashed out, catching the demon across the face. It threw Quade down and howled its rage.
“I am going to fucking gut you. Every day, like I was, until I found the strength to win. You’re going to watch as demons—my demons—lay waste to your world. Everything you hold precious will die screaming.” It twisted its head to the side and smiled. “Starting now.”
Quade snapped his head in the direction the demon was looking. It had told the truth. Ten and Caden were here. They were being marched in by smaller demons, who didn’t seem overly concerned whether they were hurting Quade’s family. He snarled and made to leap at them, but the demon grabbed Quade by the back of the head and threw him to the ground.
“You’ll go nowhere. I’ve waited untold millennia to see this, and I won’t have you interfering. It’s time we see about remaking reality itself!” He turned to the group that was keeping Caden and Ten. “Hold this one. If he escapes, it’ll be your lives.”
The demons swarmed over Quade, burying him beneath their fetid bodies. Their claws sliced through his skin, and the blood oozed down his sides. None of that mattered, though. The big demon reached for Ten, who drew away, obviously knowing it for what it was. When Quade saw the look of revulsion on his son’s… face… his struggles increased. He had to get to his family, if for no other reason than to find out what Ten had done this time.
Chapter 23
Everything going on around Caden freaked him out. Demons were real and they were holding Quade!
Ten sucked in a breath. “Poppa, that demon. A thousand lifetimes ago, he was Dad’s brother.”
Quade had told Caden how his former self had dragged his brother down into the pits and left him there. He’d thought it was more allegorical than fact, but apparently there was still a lot for him to learn.
“What the fuck do you want?”
The demon towered over Caden. It reached down and wrapped its hand in Caden’s hair, then jerked his head back. “So you’re the wood sprite…. Not impressed.”
Caden recalled the lessons that Peter had tried to impart on him. He wasn’t about to break down and cry just because his world was turning on its ass. The thing about this planet was the plant life that called to Caden. Easily as varied as Earth, the roots went deep into the ground, drawing in nutrients that made them strong in this less than hospitable land. Caden felt them, called to them, and they heard. They pushed up out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the demon, holding him at bay. Only… moments after touching him, they blackened and crumbled away.
“Best you can do, little sprite?” He lifted Caden higher. “This will be far too easy.”
It was then that Caden heard the voice in his mind. One filled with pain, of dying. He tilted his gaze up, saw the tree, and knew the two of them were meant to be together. In fact, they had to be.
“Let me go. I need to get to the tree before it dies!”
“Don’t worry your little head. That’s exactly what I want too.”
The demon threw Caden toward the tree. As soon as he was within a few feet, the energy from the tree grabbed Caden and drew him into it. He watched as the demons sat, waiting for something to happen. When it did, they were unprepared for it.
“Ten!” hissed a voice.
From the sky fell a dark figure. It landed on the demons that held Ten down, tearing into them. It never should have been a battle. One lone being against the horde that held Caden’s son? But A’kosh fought like a man possessed as he ripped into demon after demon, tearing off limbs, biting through throats, and completely ignoring their screams. His entire focus was on Ten. As soon as Ten was free, he stood and peered at the demon who, moments ago, had held Caden.
“Stop this!”
“Too late, whelp. The process, once begun, cannot be stopped.”
Ten’s eyes widened, then flared to life with an unholy glow. The demon clutched its head and screamed as it was driven to its knees. Ten marched forward, ignoring the chaos that A’kosh was causing around him as more demons tried to swarm him. They fell like the first ones had.
“Dad, I’m coming,” Ten ground out.
“Save your poppa!” Quade screamed.
Ten turned, and for a moment, there was such hesitancy in his eyes. Caden didn’t need Ten to save him. There was no pain as the tree absorbed his essence, invigorating itself. With Caden’s life force, the tree was becoming whole once more. A small price to pay if it kept Quade, Ten, and A’kosh safe. Caden closed his eyes, and peace washed over him. He wasn’t afraid to die, because with his death, things would be better.
“Don’t you fucking give up, Caden! I’ll kick your ass,” Quade screamed.
But what was the sense in fighting? It wasn’t as though the world needed Caden, but reality needed the Tree of Life.
“I need you, do you fucking understand? Your son needs you! Matt and Kieran need you. We all will do better with you in our lives.”
The words jolted Caden. He snapped his eyes open and found the demon now had Ten on the ground, pounding fists into his face. A’kosh struggled to get to them, but with his focus split, the smaller demons were dragging him down beneath their weight. And Quade? The dark streaks on his clothes let Caden know that Quade was losing a lot of blood.
This couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. Caden was the fucking Tree of Life, and that meant something, even if he didn’t know what. But after watching the scrub trees tear apart the motorcyclists, he knew what they were capable of if properly motivated. He called out to the tree, pleading with it to help him fix things. At first there wasn’t anything to indicate it had heard, but then the earth rumbled. The tree lashed out, slicing through the demons that were keeping A’kosh away from Ten. It latched onto the one holding Ten and crushed it. Then it sliced through the ones Quade was fighting.
Caden could—would—save his family, then allow himself to do the same for the whole of reality.