Page 82 of Cultivating Caden
Chapter 21
Quade sneezed,then did it again. He’d only been dimension-hopping once before, and that sucked too. His lycan senses were being overwhelmed by the weird sights, sounds, and smells of this place. The air was rife with formic acid, likely from A’kosh’s people, and for Quade it was worse than inhaling pepper.
“I… am… sorry.”
Quade spun and found A’kosh staring at him.
He opened his mouth, his mandibles on full display. “Is… sorry… not… right?”
“You can speak English?”
Standing straighter, A’kosh nodded. “Ten… teached… me.”
He probably should have been surprised, but where Ten was concerned, very little phased Quade.
“You have no reason to be sorry. You did what you needed to protect your people, and I respect that.”
“I protect Ten.”
The words were said with a passion that shocked Quade. “He’s my son, so I will protect him too. But I’m also going to do what I can to rescue your people.”
A’kosh cocked his head. “Why?”
“Because you’re important to Ten, and because you’re a good… person.”
The almost-healed lip jutted out. Seemingly, pouting was the same, no matter which dimension you were from.
“But I hurt your friend.”
Quade needed a few moments to clear the fog that was settling over his brain. The smells were making him light-headed.
“If someone threatened to hurt Ten or Caden, I would probably do the same as you. And Perkins will be okay, thanks to you giving the doctors your venom.” The air seemed to become thicker. “I need to rest a minute.” Quade sat down and leaned back against a tree.
A’kosh stood over him, his gaze darting around. He sniffed the air, and then his jaws opened wide as he hissed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Not right. Smell is… strange. Like death.”
Struggling to stand, Quade’s vision darkened. He called for his wolf and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get an answer. It didn’t matter. He could still fight as a human. He’d trained for it his whole life. Only…. He hunched over, clutching his stomach as pain seared through him.
A roar shattered the silence as it echoed around them. Quade put a hand on A’kosh’s arm, but was shrugged off. Thunderous footsteps grew louder as they drew near. Quade leaned against the tree, uncertain what was happening to him. He’d never felt so weak before.
When the Bogran Prime burst through the trees, Quade knew they were in deep shit. There were five known Bogran Prime in all the worlds, and each of them ruled over thousands of others. They were larger, meaner, and a hell of a lot stronger than the Bogran Quade had fought before.
Putting a hand on A’kosh, Quade tried to shove him out of the way. “Run.”
“No. I protect you for Ten.”
A’kosh rushed forward, leaping into the air. He landed on the Prime’s chest, sinking claws and teeth into it. Unsurprisingly, the Prime batted him aside. But with a determination that Quade could scarcely believe, A’kosh got up and threw himself on the Prime’s back. This time, when he sank his mandibles into the Prime’s neck, it bellowed, shaking the area around them. A’kosh was everywhere, scrabbling over the tree-sized body, biting, slashing, tearing. Blood and the green ooze from A’kosh’s bile poured from the beast’s wounds, and for a split-second, Quade believed A’kosh could actually win.
Until the Prime wrapped a hand around A’kosh and squeezed. A’kosh screamed as his carapace cracked, and the sound ripped through Quade. He tried to stand, to help, but whatever was in the air had taken away all his strength. Another loud snap and A’kosh went limp. The Prime threw his body aside, its gaze locked on Quade. The instant it happened, all hell broke loose as Ten’s voice wailed in Quade’s mind. As bad as it was for him, it seemed infinitely worse for the Prime, who clutched its head and bellowed. It was when it dropped to its knees that Quade saw blood pouring from its eyes and ears.
Quade could do nothing but lay on the ground, watching as his son tore the Prime’s mind apart. His sweet, gentle child wasn’t in control anymore. He savaged the Prime, whose anguished cries were unlike anything Quade had heard before.
Ten, stop. Ten! You’ve got to stop. Find that control you always wanted to help me with.
Words meant nothing. The Prime continued to thrash about, clutching at its head. When long, taloned fingers jammed into its eyes and plucked them out, Quade was at a loss. He dragged himself along, trying desperately to reach A’kosh—another person he’d failed. Pulling himself up next to A’kosh’s body, he was surprised to find that he was still breathing, albeit harsh and wet. A long, jagged crack in his shell seeped a viscous black fluid. Quade was sure A’kosh was dying.
