by Mason Sabre
When he had done everything else but those, Phoenix went down to change the bowls and cloths and found some crepe bandages in the cabinet in the kitchen. Once he was back in the room, he pulled one of Cade’s hands into his lap and squeezed the foul-smelling liquid onto his palm. He didn’t want to touch the flesh there at all—it seemed like it would come away with even the slightest contact. He held Cade’s arm by the wrist, putting his hand over the water so that the blood ran into it. When the wounds were cleaned as much as he could manage, he gently patted it dry and then took one of the soaked bandages to dress the wound. He placed a dry one around the outside of that, making sure that while he was gentle, the right amount of pressure was being applied. When Cade’s hands were finally wrapped, Phoenix stared at them for a minute, praying it would work.
Putting everything away, Phoenix sat at the side of the bed near Cade’s head and watched him resting. His breaths came deep and even, and he almost looked as if he were sleeping peacefully now that all the blood and grime had been washed away. “Cade,” Phoenix whispered. “Cade, do you want something to eat?” Phoenix wanted to give him a small shake to wake him, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere to touch. He eventually placed a hand on Cade’s shoulder and shook him gently.
Cade sighed and lifted his hand to his face, but Phoenix caught it and put it back down so that he didn’t hurt himself. Cade needed to eat—that was the thing, right? That’s what Cade had done with Phoenix. Food was vital in building his strength back up … that’s what he had taught him. He remembered the frozen meat Cade kept in the freezer. He had shown Phoenix how to defrost it so that it wasn’t cooked, just warm as if it were a fresh kill still. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said as he slipped away from Cade’s bed.
Phoenix moved fast, doing everything just as Cade had shown him. Running it through his mind so that he didn’t get anything wrong, he chopped the meat into small bites and then took the bowl upstairs to Cade’s room.
Cade had partially rolled onto his side while Phoenix was gone, but he was still completely out of it. He hoped he’d be able to get him to have some food. Phoenix climbed onto the bed beside Cade again and took the tiniest of the cuts from the bowl to gently push it between Cade’s lips. Cade’s canines were half down, and they had pierced his bottom lip. When Cade made no move to take the meat into his mouth, Phoenix pushed the morsel inside and waited. There was no response and Phoenix felt his heart sink.
“Cade?” He pushed at Cade’s shoulder again. “You need to eat. Cade.”
After what seemed like forever, Cade murmured something, and much to Phoenix’s relief, he began to chew on the meat that was sitting in his mouth. He rolled onto his back and raised his hand to his face again—Phoenix caught it, gently placing it down on the bedcovers once more.
“Phoenix?” Cade croaked. Phoenix hadn't realised he was crying until a tear rolled off his face and landed on Cade’s arm.
Cade peered at him through slitted eyes. “Phoenix … god … you’re okay …” he rasped, his breathing heavy as he tried to speak. He reached out a hand to him and Phoenix grabbed his wrist gently and held it.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “I make everything so bad.”
“No,” Cade gave a weak shake of his head. “No, you don’t.” He started to cough with the effort of talking.
When the coughing fit had ended, Phoenix asked softly, “Do you want some more food?”
Cade nodded slowly and opened his mouth for another piece, his drooping eyes fixed on Phoenix as if he couldn’t believe he was sitting right there with him, alive and well. It took a good hour to feed Cade the entire contents of the bowl, with Cade drifting in and out of sleep. When he was done, Phoenix sat cross-legged on the bed next to Cade and watched him fall back to sleep. He took the dishes downstairs, and by the time he came back up again, Cade was asleep properly. He didn’t wake him this time. Instead, he turned off the lamp and curled himself up in the bed next to Cade and went to sleep.
Something woke Phoenix about an hour later, a shifting on the bed that disturbed him. The light flicked on and Phoenix bolted upright. Cade was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head down and his breathing ragged.
“Cade?” he said anxiously.
Cade began to slide forward and caught himself on the side instinctively. He bellowed as the pain hit him, the sound one of utter anguish.
Phoenix leapt over the bed to the other side. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to go to the bathroom,” Cade spluttered.
“Here, let me help you.” Phoenix lowered himself onto the bed and offered him a shoulder. Cade was so much taller than he was, bigger too, but he was going to try his damnedest to support his weight.
“You can't carry me,” he wheezed.
“I can.” With sheer stubborn determination, Phoenix slipped Cade’s arm over his shoulder and held his arm in place. Cade leaned on him and, for a second, Phoenix almost lost his balance as he tried to lift him. Others seemed so much heavier than even fully grown Humans. Cade had to use the bed to support himself, but his hand wouldn’t allow it, and he snatched it back up. “We just walk slowly,” Phoenix panted.
Cade shuffled his feet, but they eventually made it to the bathroom, stopping occasionally so that Cade could lean against the wall and catch his breath. He stopped at the door and sagged against the frame. Breathlessly, he said, “I've got it in here.”
Cade staggered into the bathroom and Phoenix pulled the door behind him, staying put on the other side. His nerves were a mess as he listened. He heard bangs and crashes and each new one brought with it the almost overpowering urge to race into the room and check that he was okay. Cade swore several times and Phoenix forced himself to wait and not barge in. It was a relief when the toilet flushed, and then Cade came out minutes later.
Behind Cade, the bathroom was a mess. The glass that held their toothbrushes was shattered on the floor. The towel rail was hanging off the wall and some of the towels lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. Phoenix could clean it up after.
“I’ll be okay tomorrow,” Cade mumbled. “It just all needs to pass through my system. It’s the silver.”
Phoenix nodded, his heart clenching as he realised that even through his pain, Cade was trying to reassure Phoenix and ease his worry. He helped Cade back to his room and when he was lying down on the bed, Phoenix sat himself on the edge. He leant against the bottom board, his legs bent at the knees. He had Trevor’s card in his hand—he turned it over and over as his words echoed in his mind. Would Cade always suffer? Was this really the way to fix it? It certainly couldn’t make it any worse.
When Cade was fast asleep again, Phoenix snuck from the bed and the room and went downstairs. Trevor answered on the first ring as if he had been waiting.
“Phoenix,” he purred down the line.
“I’ll do it,” Phoenix said. “I’ll challenge my maker.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Every hour seemed to drag by. Phoenix was sure that the hands on the clock must be going backwards. His stomach hurt from the anxiety of it all. He sat at the bottom of the bed watching Cade. He was sleeping again. Phoenix had washed and changed his dressings, fed him and given him the stuff from Gemma’s mum. This couldn’t be allowed to happen again. Not to Cade, not to anyone. Who else would get hurt because of him? He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to find out, either. He just knew that it had to stop. He couldn’t let Cade become a stray because of him. He would leave before that happened, and Cade wouldn’t find him. Trevor was wrong there. He would hide.
Phoenix crawled along the bed to Cade. He didn’t know what it was inside him that needed the contact, especially with Cade. It was like a craving inside that just needed to be close. He had tried to sleep in his own room, even with the doors open, but after an hour, he had given up and climbed back into Cade’s bed and lay and watched him. He took Cade’s bandaged hand in his and rested it across his lap. He told himself that he was just seeing to the dr
essing, but it wasn’t that. Not really. Phoenix unwound the bandage, making sure not to hurt Cade. Sometimes, the dressing fused to the wound, and Phoenix used water to try to pry it free, but it just made the wound weep and Cade wince. Phoenix wet the dressing now so that he could lift it off. The wounds on his hands didn’t seem to be healing.
“What time is it?” Cade asked sleepily, making Phoenix jump.
Phoenix glanced at the digital clock on the side. “Just after six.”
Two days Cade had been lying there. Two days Phoenix had hardly left his side. No one had come—not Cade’s parents, not Stephen nor Gemma. Gemma had called, but Phoenix hadn't been able to hear what she was saying, even with his heightened hearing. Her words had been muffled and inaudible to him. In the end, she had mumbled a ‘take care of him’ and then hung up. Cade’s mother had called, too, her voice always quiet and quivering. He could tell that she was crying each time she spoke. Phoenix’s heart had sunk, hoping she or Gemma would come—even for just a few minutes. Or Stephen, at least, but no one ever did. So when someone knocked on the kitchen door, Phoenix jumped enough to startle Cade and make him wince as he caught his unbandaged hand.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
He slipped Cade’s hand from his lap and rested it on a towel that he had been using to protect the bed, and then cautiously went down to answer the door. Relief filled him when he stopped to peer out of the window at the bend on the stairs. Stephens’s car was parked outside. He raced down to let him in through the back door—only when he swung the door open, it wasn’t Stephen who was standing there. It was Gemma. She sagged against the doorframe, offering him a weak smile. Phoenix hastily stood back to let her in, but when she let go of the door, she almost fell on him. He instinctively reached out to catch her.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I had to come. I couldn’t take it anymore. Where is he?”
“He’s in bed,” Phoenix said, helping her in and getting her to the chair at the table. He rushed over to the sink and poured her a glass of water, which she took from him gratefully, sipping slowly.
“Thank you,” she said. Her arm was bandaged like Cade’s, and wet, too. Whatever wound she had, it was weeping.
“Your arm is bleeding.” Phoenix raced to the counter and got the clean bowls and ointment he had been using with Cade. “Let me fix them up,” he said once he had brought them back to the table. When she didn’t say anything, he looked at her. “Please,” he whispered. “I made all this happen.”
She put her arm down and Phoenix began to unfasten the bandage. Her wound wasn’t as bad as Cade’s, more like a deep gash rather than the burns Cade had.
“How is he?” she asked.
“He’s okay. He sleeps most of the time.”
She nodded. “I feel like most of my energy has been zapped from me. All I want to do is sleep.”
“It’s normal?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. My mum says that it’s the silver. It pulls all our energy and then our bodies fight to repair.” She smiled then. “My mum is so pissed at my father for this.”
“Do you hate him?” Phoenix asked and when Gemma frowned, he added. “For putting you in the cage?”
“No,” she said. “I get it. He has to do what he has to do. He let us out early. He’s not all bad, you know? Just has to show that even his children aren’t immune to the rules.”
“Your dad let you out?” Phoenix cleaned around the edges of her wound, being careful not to touch it.
She nodded again. “My dad and Stephen. They came back after the run and let us out. I don’t even remember it really.”
“And Cade?”
“Stephen brought him home.”
Phoenix nodded. He applied some of the medicine to Gemma’s wound and, like he had done to Cade’s, applied a wet bandage first and then a dry one. “I think it is cleaned up enough now.” He looked up ate her, her tired eyes struggling to stay open. “Do you want to go up and see him?”
She nodded wearily, but made no attempt to move when Phoenix did. Her hands lay out in front of her on the table, and it looked like she was ready to pass out. Phoenix held his hand out to her.
“Let me help you,” he said.
She pushed herself slowly, each movement seeming like too much effort. He vowed that no matter what happened, neither of them was ever going into the cage again. Not if he had anything to do with it. Phoenix checked the kitchen clock and his stomach fluttered. It was approaching seven—another two hours and he would meet Trevor, and everything would be fixed. Even if he didn’t win, Cade wouldn’t have to suffer again … and neither would Gemma.
Gemma was lighter than Cade, and it was easier when she draped her arm over his shoulder. She used one hand against the wall as they walked slowly through the house to the stairs. She had to take those one step at a time, pausing every so often just to gather herself again and let her eyes close for a moment. Phoenix stood directly behind her, ready to catch her if she should fall. “Do you need to sit down?” he asked when she stopped for longer.
“I’m okay. I just need a minute. If I sit, I’m not getting up again.”
He understood and waited. How she had driven to the house, he had no idea. She could hardly walk. He waited with her, hands ready as she began to walk again. She made it this time, all the way to Cade’s bedroom door. She hesitated there and peered into the semi-lit room. “Oh god,” she sobbed, covering her mouth with her hand at the sight of him. Phoenix had to admit it wasn’t a good sight. Phoenix had cared for him the best he could, dressing all of his wounds. The room smelt medical, but at least that was an improvement to the smell of blood and charred flesh.
“He’s okay,” Phoenix said. He left Gemma leaning against the doorway and rushed over to the chair at the side of the bed. He cleared it, putting all the bottles and cloths onto the floor so that she had somewhere to sit. “Here.” He helped her shuffle into the room, but she didn’t go for the chair. She walked around the side of the bed, and Phoenix helped her as she started to climb on. Phoenix kept his hand on her back, ready if she was to fall sideways and off the bed. She crawled up to Cade, and snaked an arm around his middle, snuggling against his chest.
“Is he awake? How long has he been like this?”
“Gemma?” Cade croaked quietly before Phoenix could reply. He coughed and Phoenix reached over, to grab a glass of water and bring it to Cade’s mouth, tipping it slightly as Cade lifted his head so the water hit his lips. Gemma cupped his face as soon as Phoenix moved the glass away and Cade’s head dropped back down.
“Cade,” she said tearfully. “What did it do to you?” Her hand trembled as she brushed his hair back. Cade’s eyes fluttered open, but he was struggling. He swallowed hard and tried to speak, but he couldn’t seem to manage to get a word out. His arms came around her, holding her tight to him. Gemma pressed her lips to his chest and let her tears fall. Phoenix stood there quietly, giving them their moment.
“Gem?” he finally rasped.
“I’m here.” She reached for his hand, but then she saw it. Her breath hitched, and she bit down on her trembling lip
“They aren’t as bad as they were,” Phoenix reassured her. “I have been putting the stuff on from your mum, and I wrapped them.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a tremulous smile. “He was right about you.”
He shook his head sadly. “This has all happened because of me.” His voice broke. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” She reached for his arm and pulled him down. He didn’t fight. He needed this. He needed something. She pulled him to her, resting his head against her shoulder and hers on his. She wrapped her arms around him. “Cade was saving you. This isn’t because of you.” She held him for a moment and he let her. He let himself feel the warmth from her. He stared down at Cade over her shoulder. Cade’s eyes were open, and he reached his hand out to him. Phoenix caught it carefully, allowing himself this moment of contact that he seemed to need so desperately. He wiped his eyes with both
the back of his hands and composed himself again. “Would it be okay if I lay here with him?” she asked.
Phoenix nodded. “I need to finish dressing his hand,” he said and Gemma nodded. “They take ages to heal.”
“The wounds are from silver,” she said. “It means we heal like Humans now. Slowly.”
“Thank you,” Cade whispered as Phoenix was about to leave. His eyes were trying to close again. Phoenix smiled at him, more certain than ever that meeting Trevor was the right thing to do. After Phoenix had cleaned everything up, he re-dressed Cade’s wound and got them both some dinner. The time was ticking away now. Before it hadn’t seemed to be passing at all, but suddenly, it had sped up. Before he knew it, it was quarter to nine and he had to go. He was meeting Trevor in the town. It was a better meeting place, because Cade would know something was up if he suddenly saw Trevor at the house.
Gemma and Cade were both asleep. He pulled a blanket on them and Gemma stirred. “I’m going to go to bed,” Phoenix said to her. She nodded and lifted a hand to him. He took it and held it for a second, no words between them. He was doing this for them.
Slipping out of the room, he pulled the door closed behind him before going to his own room. He walked across the room so that Gemma would hear the sounds. He put the small radio on and then walked carefully out again, pulling the door shut with as much silence as he could manage.
His heart was hammering in his chest as he got down the stairs, sure that at any moment, Cade was going to come down and catch him in the act. He left the house downstairs in darkness, waiting long enough to confirm no one was coming, before sneaking out, locking the door and racing down the side of the house. He raced down the long road, his feet pounding against the ground. His stomach twisted inside, anxiety eating at him at maybe being caught. He was doing this for them—for Cade and for Gemma, and for Stephen, too. He didn’t matter … but they did.
