Page 79 of Cultivating Caden

“Dad, he’s alone and scared. I can’t let him be afraid.”

He reached out and cupped Ten’s cheek. “You’re a good kid. So tell me about your friend.”

That seemed to surprise Ten. “What do you want to know?”

“What does he do for fun?”

Ten’s brow furrowed. “They don’t really have fun like we do. Their whole society is hive-based, which means they pretty much work from the time they wake up until they return to their sleep pods.”

Caden could see the guilt plain as day on Quade’s face. He wanted to reach out to him, but instead sat quietly and studied him and Ten. He marveled at how well they were navigating the whole family thing

“Let’s bring him here to watch a movie.”

Ten leaped up and threw his arms around Quade. “You’re the best.”

“Until you get mad at me again.” He chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go get our guest.”

“I’ll clean up and make some popcorn.”

Leaning over, Quade placed a soft kiss on Caden’s lips. “Thank you.”

After they’d left, Caden took the dishes and placed them in the washer, then pulled out a big pot, which he added oil and unpopped corn to. His mind drifted to the conversation that Quade and Ten were having. This was his life now? He was the human incarnation of the Tree of Life. He had a mate and a child, and now a real extradimensional creature was about to come into their house. Oh, and they still had the apocalypse looming overhead.

Caden snickered. “Doubt I could ever go back to boring.”

* * *

“You’resurethis is going to work?”

They’d explained to Caden many times that crossing the dimensional pathways was easy for A’kosh, and that taking Quade with him was a walk in the park. One moment you were here—the next you were there. Caden wasn’t convinced.

“Don’t worry, Poppa. Everything is going to be fine.”

Caden wished he had a tenth of Ten’s trust. Still, A’kosh seemed trustworthy, but with no clue what he was about to face, Caden still worried about Quade.

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not.” Quade turned and put a hand on Caden’s cheek. “It’ll be fine.”

“I’ll keep us linked, so we can talk with one another.”

“You’re not coming either.”

“But, Dad….”

“No ‘buts.’ You’re going to stay out of my head.”

Ten gave a smug smile. “Then how will you know what A’kosh is saying?”

Quade’s scowl was legendary. The depth of the lines in his forehead probably could have been used to plant crops.

“Does your ability even work across dimensions?”

A teenager’s eye roll couldn’t have been as dramatic as Ten’s. “Duh.” Ten’s voice softened. “And you really should use me now, because later it might not be an option.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Blowing out a breath, Ten met Quade’s gaze. “Whatever you do today will have repercussions in the future. All the pathways that were closed off are suddenly wide open again. The problem is, they’re in a state of flux. It’s like reality is struggling to not collapse in on itself.”