Page 57 of Cultivating Caden
“I’d take you here in the middle of your shop if I could.”
“O-okay, do it.”
“I don’t think the lady at the door would appreciate the show.”
Caden jerked around and found Mrs. Conway standing there, glaring at him. He stepped back from Quade, ran a hand over the front of his shirt so he would look presentable, then strode toward the door.
Just as he reached for the handle, Quade shouted, “No!” and threw himself forward, knocking Caden aside.
“What the fuck?”
Grabbing his arm, he hauled Caden up and pushed him away. His face contorted in rage as he yanked open the door. Whatever was standing there wore Mrs. Conway’s face, but the rest of its body was scaly like a lizard. It had talons at the end of its fingers and toes, and when it opened its mouth, Caden saw rows and rows of teeth that reminded him of a lamprey.
Whatever was at the door was definitelynotMrs. Conway.
* * *
Quade cursedhimself for a fool as he got between Caden and the skin-walker. He should have been able to smell the rotted flesh before she got that close to him, but something was masking the scent.
The flowers. Of course. They permeated everything, making it almost impossible for him to smell anything.Shit.
Caden scrambled back until he hit the wall. Even over the aroma of the shop, Quade could smell the acrid fear wafting off him. As the creature moved, Quade stayed in front of it.
The skin-walker pushed through the door, its eyes narrowing. “Give it to us.”
Shifting to his lycan form, Quade hurtled forward, intent on killing the damn thing before it could get near Caden, who seemed to be rooted by fear. Quade understood that. Caden had made eye contact with it, so it had probably started to work its way into his mind before Quade pushed him away. If he didn’t stop it, it would take over Caden too.
The growl emanated from Quade’s throat, harsh and guttural. He’d fought a skin-walker once before. Whoever this person had been, she’d died horribly. Skin-walkers liked toplaywith their victims as they sliced the flesh away from their bodies and peeled it off. It wasn’t unheard of for it to take days for the person to die.
Once they’d taken great pains to remove the skin, the walker would slide into it, essentially becoming the person. Who knew how long Caden had known this thing? It could have been watching him since he arrived in Millinocket, waiting for the right time to take him.
Quade sliced across the walker’s throat, sending a spray of its vile, bitter blood over his face. It collapsed to the floor, dead.
Caden was up a moment later, hiding behind Quade. “Mrs. Conway?”
Quade leaned closer and sniffed. The flesh was already months old.
“No, it’s a skin-walker who has the shape of Mrs. Conway. How long did you know her?”
“She was my first customer. She would come in to pick up flowers for her house every month. A couple of months ago, she got sick and couldn’t have them. I used to send her boxes of chocolate instead.”
“I think the walker killed her a few months ago. I doubt anyone saw her much after that, and if they did… well, it wouldn’t have been for long.”
“What do you mean?”
It wasn’t pleasant, but he couldn’t spare Caden the realities of life. “They eat flesh. Whoever this woman was, she’s no longer among the living. Anyone she met probably fell to the same fate.”
“Are you saying it ate—”
He wasn’t surprised when Caden lurched for a trashcan near the register and dropped to his knees, expelling the contents of his stomach.
Quade went to him, kneeled down, and started rubbing his back. “I’m sorry. It’s just…. They’re after you or us or something. I know why, but not who.”
Caden rose up, wiped a hand over his mouth, then turned to Quade. “Why would someone be after me?”
“Because if you are the new Tree of Life and they somehow manage to kill you, all reality will die as well.”
Blink. Blink. “Oh, so no pressure, huh?”
