Custodian (Elemental Paladins Book 5)

by Montana Ash

  “Say it. Say sac.” Axel whispered.

  Darius huffed, “You are unbelievable, you know that? After all my lectures about manners all these years, you still haven’t learned yet, have you?” Darius groused, and Axel flinched internally.

  Hadn’t he just said that he and Darius were more playful than aggressive in their banter? Perhaps he had been mistaken. But then Sir Darius opened that drunk pie-hole of his once more;

  “You forgot to say please.” Darius waggled his pointer finger, “Please, Darius, say sac again.”

  Axel chuckled along with everybody else. Oh yeah, what I wouldn’t give to be inside Darius’s head when he was under the influence of alcohol, Axel wished silently. Out loud he said; “You are absolutely right. I apologise for being rude. Please say sac again.”

  Darius sighed, bouncing his head from side to side as he sang; “Sac, sac, sac, sac. Annnnd … sac. Satisfied?”

  Axel eyed his buddy and shook his head, “To be honest, I’m not sure what I am. This shit just turned creepy. So, moving on. You man-scape so Diana won’t get sac-rash you say. Care to tell us all what sac-rash is?”

  Darius looked around, seeing all the curious faces, “What? None of you know what sac-rash is?”

  Kai raised his hand, “I do.”

  “Nobody asked you, pretty boy!” Darius snarled in the triplet’s direction.

  Luckily, Kai, as well as Kellan, Kane, and their very protective father merely laughed.

  Darius shook his head as if the whole table had failed him. “You know, when your lady friend – or man friend,” he added, tilting his head toward Caspian and Leo, “scratches up their face after showing some very appreciated attention to the boys down there. It’s only considerate to wax that shit off, man,” Darius added, eye-balling Axel sternly.

  Axel opened and closed his mouth a few times, “I got nothin’,” he finally said, causing the entire room to laugh. After a few more good-natured jibes, and Darius insisting he was winning because he only had one card left, Ivy surprised Axel by joining in the conversation;

  “Lark does it too,” she offered.

  The man in question gasped, “Ivy!”

  “What?” Ivy shrugged, looking far from sinister in an everyday outfit of jeans and a silky singlet. “They are remarkably hair-free.”

  “I’ll have you know that my balls are au naturale!” Lark looked offended. “Not all of us are born hairy you know. Nor do all of us take hot wax to said hair.”

  “Could never understand that myself,” Dave grunted, drawing everyone’s attention.

  That much was obvious, Axel thought. The guy gave hairy a whole new meaning. He was covered in it from his shoulders to his hands and that mono-brow? Max had confessed to him that she had legitimate concerns it was actually a cognizant being. Axel had to admit, the same fear had crossed his mind.

  “Are you saying you have never thought of taking a lawn mower to that body of yours? Maybe even a weed-whacker?” Max inquired of their very generous host.

  “Max!” Ryker yelled.

  “What? Like you all weren’t thinking it,” Max muttered, subsiding in a pout for about two seconds before Axel saw her eyeing Ryker critically. She opened her mouth only to have her man raise a finger;

  “Don’t even.”

  “But –” she began.

  “Nope. There’s no way, woman. My balls are staying hairy and manly. Accept it. Live it. Love it.” Ryker’s words were final.

  “Max?” Axel asked, touching her arm. His liege had gone deathly still.

  Max’s eyes became a rainbow of colours as she looked at him, “He’s here.”

  “What? Who’s here?” He asked, reaching for his scythe.

  “Emmanuel,” Max intoned.

  “Did I hear my name?”

  Chairs were thrown to the ground and tables were pushed back as everyone spun defensively in response to the smooth voice. Max was already shoved behind a wall of bodies, but Axel didn’t think it would do any good. The waves of malicious power radiating from the deceptively handsome man in front of them were astounding.

  Emmanuel cast ebony eyes around the room before pinning them on Max. “I heard there was a party, but I wasn’t invited. Be careful, little Custodian, you’re going to hurt my feelings.”

  “Don’t. Nobody go near him. Hold your positions.” Max’s command went out telepathically to every occupant in the room when they all surged forward to attack.

  Despite wanting nothing more than to kick Garrett’s son’s butt, Axel stood down. As a bonded paladin he could do no more than obey his liege.

  Max raised her chin, pushing her way through the bodies. “You’re not welcome here,” she told Emmanuel.

  Emmanuel wiped a fake tear from his eye, “Aw, like I said; my feelings are so hurt.”

  “You don’t have any feelings,” Axel spat, wanting nothing more than to wipe the floor with the chade.

  “Now, that’s just not true. Is that what she’s been telling you all? That I’m unfeeling? That I’m a monster? She lies.” Emmanuel hissed, his perfect visage wavering for a moment and a hint of the true creature underneath peeking through.

  Butt-fuck ugly, Axel thought.

  “That’s why I came; to save you from her,” Emmanuel was saying, “You are my brethren after all, my brothers. Only I can understand what you’ve been through.” His sympathetic gaze lit on all the chadens still remaining in the room, before he scowled, “But I see I may already be too late. You’re all, whole.” He spat the word out as if it tasted foul in his mouth.

  “Leave now,” Max demanded, ignoring everything that came out of their enemy’s mouth.

  Emmanuel laughed, “Or what? You’ll kill me? Do you even know how?” He taunted.

  Max didn’t say anything and Axel could feel the uncertainty through their bond. Did Max know how to destroy the super chade? Was it even possible? Axel didn’t know but if there was one person who could figure it out, it was Max. He thought he caught the whisper of a word in his mind; supernova. He had no idea what the hell that was but Axel was going to be standing right beside Max if and when it happened.

  “I hate to tell you, Max, but your party sucks,” Emmanuel stated.

  Max remained silent once more – everyone else following her lead. Axel had to admit, it was an effective plan. He could see Emmanuel’s calm veneer wearing thin.

  “I grow bored of your games, child,” Emmanuel’s voice turned deep and gravelly and he took a step forward, only to be stopped by Max’s raised hand.

  “Now is not the time – and you know it,” Max pointed out.

  Emmanuel’s black eyes looked like marbles in the artificial light as they gazed at Max with an intensity that had them all twitching. But in the end, he only shrugged, “I only came to bring these lost souls home, but it seems you have ruined them forever.”

  Axel was thinking the whole thing was way too easy when Emmanuel stopped his progression to the door, “Max … I’m done waiting.”

  “Soon.” Max’s voice rang with promise and Emmanuel’s mirrored it;

  “Very soon.”

  TWENTY-SIX

  Emmanuel had literally left in a puff of foul black smoke. When the super chade had poofed his rotten arse into their party, Ryker had wanted to take his scythes to the bastard’s throat so bad, but Max had firmly shut him down. For a split second, Ryker had considered defying her orders and launching himself at Emmanuel anyway. After all, the guy wasn’t infallible, as Ryker had proven when he’d punched the fucker in his good-looking head. But the words Max had whispered into his cerebral cortex, had him taking a defensive stance instead of an offensive one.

  ‘You won’t win. Now is not the time. There is only one time when success is possible. Two days from now. Just two more days, babe, and we’ll nail all their arses to the wall. We’ll right all the wrongs, balance all the scales.’

  Ryker shook his head, Max’s words still ringing in his mind, even now. Her words had revitalised him and given him
back the hope he had been starting to lose. Even with a new sense of purpose and optimism, he figured he shouldn’t waste a second he had with his little goddess.

  Pushing himself up onto his elbow, he had the pleasure of watching Max sleep. It wasn’t often he had the chance. Although he was disciplined to be up early, Max still usually beat him up as a result of the nightmares which plagued her. Looking at her now, with her face softened in sleep, a crease from the pillow on her soft cheek, and her dark lashes forming a sooty silhouette against her cheekbones, he realised how incredibly young she looked. And vulnerable. When she was awake, Max was a force to be reckoned with. That mouth of hers was a weapon as surely as her short-sword was. But asleep like this? She looked fragile.

  He continued his unhindered exploration of her, pulling the sheets down a little so he could feast his eyes on the curves and planes of her incredible body. Max stirred and he paused, feeling a little pervy. Maybe he should wake her.

  “I’m already awake. And yes – you are pervy.”

  Ryker looked up, peering through the pre-dawn dimness, to find eyes of the purest ocean staring back at him with lazy affection. He levered himself over the top of her, loving how she immediately spread her legs to cradle him between her thighs. “And do you like pervy men?” he asked, nibbling on her neck.

  Max sighed, tilting her head and giving him more access to her satiny skin, “It just so happens you’re in luck, Captain.”

  Ryker laced his fingers with hers, stretching her arms up above her head. He groaned in bliss when the move arched her back, bringing the hard, rosy tips of her breasts into contact with his chest. He knew the wanting of her would never cease. There was a time when such a thing would have scared him, but now he thanked whatever gods had deemed him worthy enough for his custodian.

  ***

  He was broad but not bulky and his thickly muscled torso gleamed from the soft kiss of dawn breaking over the horizon and peeking through the French doors. Max wrapped herself around Ryker more fully – legs locking around his waist, arms clinging to his back – as she pleaded with him to keep going. She was used to begging for this man – in the bedroom at least. Once, she would never have given in to the need to beg – no matter the cause. Her fierce sense of independence would never allow for it. Even when she was on the streets, she was never reduced to begging. Sure, she stole a little here and there and followed strange men into dark alleys. Some might say that was worse than simply asking for help, but to her it was the lesser of two evils. She didn’t beg for anything or anyone. Her pride was all she’d had to cling to. But now, as she lay against soft sheets and an even softer mattress with a man who could make her scream in pleasured agony, all of that seemed inconsequential. Her pride, her stubbornness, her independence? They now meant exactly nothing in the grand scheme of things.

  A few small movements a couple of minutes later, had devastating consequences, as Max gasped, savouring the feel of her man filling her and stretching her so deliciously. For all the jokes she made about Ryker’s size, she didn’t exaggerate – he really was delightfully big. She had never thought of herself as a size queen before, but Ryker had officially ruined her for all other men.

  Ryker immediately picked up speed, the bed beginning to rock underneath them and the headboard starting to make rhythmic contact with the wall. It seemed he wasn’t in the mood for slow that morning. That suited Max just fine. With the drama of the upcoming days, she was beginning to feel a little desperate and the feel of a hard body against hers was just what she needed.

  Wanting to be an active participant, Max scraped her nails down Ryker’s side. She revelled in his hiss of pleasure and opened her mouth to taste the fine layer of sweat that dampened the skin of his shoulders. She then decided to try something new. Max opened up their own private link and allowed the connection to become a thoroughfare of sensation. Ryker immediately stiffened, feeling the bombardment of not only his pleasure, but also her own.

  “Just feel,” she whispered against his lips. Max felt his acceptance in the way his body went crazy on top of hers. But then, she kind of went a little crazy too. In the few short minutes that followed, Max lost herself in the feel and sights and sounds of Ryker’s body powering into hers. She bit his shoulder; he tumbled her over the bed; she pulled his hair; he shackled her wrists in one large hand. Their orgasms hit them both at the same time and Max knew the pleasure-pain she was experiencing was being mirrored in the shuddering body above hers.

  “Holy. Shit,” Ryker panted, rolling Max and swapping their positions so she was laying on his chest. “We are so doing that again. I didn’t know you could do that with the Order bond.”

  Max gulped, sucking in air like a drowning woman. “The Order bond may be powerful and may be soul-deep,” she acknowledged. “But it pales in comparison to the bond I have with you here.” Max placed her hand over Ryker’s heart. “You are mine, Ryker. Just as I am yours.”

  Ry smiled up at her, brown eyes lit with warmth and humorous affection, “Yeah? Took you long enough to figure it out. Whereas me? I recognised you the moment I saw you,” he pointed out, looking a little smug.

  She gave the bar impaling his nipple a sharp tug, “Did you just?” He yelped, rolling her beneath him and kissing her breathless – but not senseless. She brushed his hair back from his beloved face, looking into his eyes once more, “I recognised you. I would recognise you anywhere. In every lifetime. In every world,” she vowed.

  In fact, she was counting on it.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Leaving Ryker to his post-sex haze in their bed, Max made her way down the spiral staircase, Zombie hot on her heels. Her little friend had been quite miffed to find himself on the wrong side of the bedroom door for the past hour. Ryker absolutely insisted the dog never be allowed in their room when they were having sex. His stubborn persistence of the issue always made her giggle, but she was secretly glad. If Ryker only knew just how much intelligence and knowledge resided in that little doggy brain …

  She heard the sounds of the early morning routine in the kitchen as the occupants of the house got ready for the day. But instead of following the noise as she would usually do, she moved in the opposite direction, slipping out the library door and out into the garden. She felt Beyden stir in her mind, checking in with her about her location. She sent a mental image of where she was planning to park her butt on the beach, well within spitting distance of the house. Beyden was satisfied enough with her safety, blowing her a mental kiss and leaving her to her thoughts and Zombie.

  Max sighed, rubbing Zombie’s one floppy ear that still refused to stand up straight like its counterpart. “What do you think, buddy? Am I doing the right thing? As early as tomorrow, all this could be taken away from me,” she told him.

  Zombie gave a small whine and licked the back of her hand, pressing his warmth against her shins where she now sat on the cool sand. The sun had well and truly crested now and was rising higher above the horizon, offering no answers as she debated with herself over her next actions. Emmanuel showing up the previous night had been unexpected and fraught with danger, not to mention a real party-pooper moment. But it had also been helpful in a way because all of her new allies had been able to witness the true scourge of their society. All their lost loved ones, all their pain and suffering, the time they had spent empty, hungry, and alone – it was all thanks to that man. The man with the parents who hadn’t been able to let go of their son and had mutated him into something so unnatural that even the elements shrank from him in fear.

  Emmanuel’s appearance had also achieved something else; Doomsday.

  She knew all her nightmares and all her visions had been preparing her for the final battle to come. But as the weeks went by, time spent recruiting wardens and paladins to her side, the big event seemed like a vague future notion – not reality. But no more. Reality was upon them and the soon she had promised her antithesis was now going to be tomorrow. She just wished she knew if she was heading down t
he correct path. It was so hard to tell. There were so many possibilities, so many combinations and potential outcomes. How was she supposed to know which one was the right path? She wished she could ask someone but who was there to ask? The others had assured her that the Great Mother was a real person or entity and even though she wasn’t really into that sort of thing, she had even tried praying.

  Nada, nothing, zip. Nothing but silence.

  Max sighed, “Well, Zom, I do know one thing; procrastinating is no longer an option and more time to prepare isn’t going to mean shit.” If she didn’t act the next day, Team Emmanuel were going to take their fight to the everyday humans. And that was not something she could allow.

  She felt a presence behind her but she didn’t say anything and neither did he. Eventually, he must have taken her silence for a tacit invitation, seating himself next to her but not touching her. She allowed the silence to stretch out and was surprised by how comfortable the quiet was. But then, he had been hanging around for weeks now – always in the background or on the sidelines. Without her conscious thought, she had somehow come to accept his presence.

  “I’m sorry you found out that way. All those weeks ago? It’s not what I wanted.” Mordecai finally spoke.

  Despite her more neutral thoughts just moments ago, she couldn’t stop her sharp retort, “No.”

  Mordecai frowned slightly, “No, what?”

  “No. You’re not sorry I found out that way. You’re sorry I found out at all.” She stated. Max could see the way the warden’s jaw clenched tightly from the corner of her eye.

  After a few tense moments, Mordecai finally unhinged his jaw, a loud sigh escaping as his shoulders slumped, “You’re correct. I am sorry you found out at all. If it weren’t for your paladin figuring it out then I would never have said anything.”

  “Why?” The one word was whispered but she knew Mordecai heard her.

  “I didn’t think I had a right to. I did mean something else I said back then; I’m no father, Max.”