Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1) (29 page)
“Wait.” Ryker halted her movement, “I want you all to look at Max’s tattoo.”
“Her tattoo? Why? We’ve seen it. It’s Sabre from her
Reluctant Royals
series.” Lark the geek answered.
Ryker gestured impatiently with his hands, “I know that. Look closer. Max, lift up your shirt.” He commanded.
She merely raised her eyebrows.
“
Please
lift up your shirt.” He amended.
“Better.”
And they all think they can’t be trained
, Max thought. “But I think you’re acting very strange.” She turned around and lifted the hem of her shirt as all seven paladins hovered and oohed and aahed appropriately over her design, clearly not understanding where Ryker was going any more than she did. After a couple of minutes, Axel suddenly stilled and she felt him trace her symbol for fire.
“This is fire.”
Max rolled her eyes, “Yes, it’s fire.” Were they really going to have the same conversation as she and Ryker had?
“And this is earth.”
Apparently so
, she sighed. “Air, water, beast, death … and life.” She felt his finger move as he traced each element.
“Uh huh.” Max yawned. She was bored. Everyone around her was silent so she pulled her shirt down and faced them, more confused than ever. They were all staring at her in horrified disbelief except for Darius who was staring intently at Ryker. Apparently they were having some kind of silent man-communication because Ryker was staring right back.
“You think this is her Heraldry.” Darius finally spoke.
Ryker nodded solemnly, “I do.”
“That’s not possible.” Darius’s voice was stern.
“What’s not possible?” She thought they were over the whole cryptic thing.
“Never mind them, Max.” Diana interjected. “Tell me, what exactly do you see when you see auras?”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “I don’t know. Colours. Threads.”
“Threads?” Was it her imagination or was Darius’s voice an octave higher than normal? She nodded warily.
“Do you mean like waves? Like the colours radiate outwards from a person?” Beyden asked.
“No.” She was beginning to feel a little defensive and their intensity was making her very uncomfortable.
“But you said you could. That’s how you knew which domain we were linked with.” Axel pointed out.
She shook her head aggressively, “Actually
you
said I could see auras.
I
said I could see colours.”
“I don’t believe this!”
The shouted comment from Darius startled her so much she found herself slinking closer to Ryker. He immediately wrapped his arms around her from behind, enveloping her in his strength and his scent. Man, she was such a goner! Already he was the first thing she sought out when she was feeling unsure or afraid. It was a new thing for her – to feel like she could lean on someone. It was different and would likely take some getting used to but she figured she would grow to like it, love it even, just like the man himself. She felt a little guilty for not reciprocating when he had said those three magic words to her earlier. She had every intention of confessing her own unexpected but absolute love and devotion but she was going to make him squirm a little first. That little comment at day two,
‘you look like shit’
, still resonated in her brain. So she was a little vindictive … sue her!
Feeling the waves of distress, uncertainty and disbelief pounding at her from all directions, she gripped Ryker’s arms and tilted her head back so she could anchor herself in his cocoa eyes. “Am I in trouble?”
His calloused hands moved soothingly up her arms, “No, babe.” He leaned down to peck a chaste kiss to her lips. “You’re not in trouble. You’re just a puzzle we’re trying to figure out.”
She perked up a little at that; she liked being complicated.
“Boss-man is right. You’re not in any trouble, Max. We’re just trying to understand. Tell me exactly what you see when you look at me right now.”
She leaned more heavily into Ry’s solid frame, “Do I have to? It makes my eyes cross.”
Gunmetal grey eyes narrowed, “You can turn it on and off.”
“Of course! I’d go nuts if I went around seeing double all the time!” She paused considering, “In fact, I did go kind of nuts – spent sixteen weeks in a psychiatric ward. That’s how long it took me to find the on/off switch.”
“Seeing double?” Darius’s voice was high-pitch again.
She rolled her eyes, beginning to feel impatient. “Yes, seeing double. I see a life-sized, coloured yet transparent shadow. Then I see threads branching out from people to places, things or others.” She left unsaid that right now she could see a luminescent grey thread streaking confidently to Darius from Diana. Now the strong gold thread attached to Darius made sense.
Very interesting …
“Holy shit!” The curse was sort of wheezed out of Beyden. “You’re not seeing auras.”
“I’m not?”
Diana shook her head, springy hair flying. “No you’re not … You’re seeing souls.”
“Souls?” She scrunched her nose in thought. That was pretty cool actually considering Ryker’s practically leaped out as if to embrace her right from their very first meeting.
Aww,
she thought,
his soul likes me!
“So cute!”
“What’s cute?” The man asked.
She spun around, “Your soul has a crush on mine.”
“A crush?”
“Yep. It reaches out to me constantly, wraps itself around me. I’ve never seen a brighter one.” She ran her hands under his scruffy dark locks – she
loved
having the right to touch him like this. “Your soul is beautiful.”
His eyes appeared to melt as his full lips quirked softly, “I’m glad you think so.” He captured her mouth in a lazy play of tongues and she felt herself relax, trusting his strength to hold them both up.
“No. No way. Absolutely not!” The rude interruption was Darius … again! For a normally controlled and reserved man he sure was being very loud tonight.
“What is your damage, Darius?” She asked in frustration.
“You are! You are my damage, Max!” He yelled, tugging his short curls in clear distress. Abruptly, he marched over, picked her up and proceeded to squeeze the ever-lovin’ shit out of her! He returned her to the ground just as sharply, stepped back and lowered to one knee.
What. The. Fuck?!
The remaining six paladins mimicked the bizarre actions of the paladin of air, taking a knee. The bowing thing with the arm grip before had made her feel uncomfortable but this kneeling thing was even more alarming. What was the BFD?
“Oh, sweet Goddess.” Darius whispered reverently, “You are not a Warden ... you are a Custodian!”
****
From the ground, Ryker glanced at his fellow knights and noticed the fine shaking of limbs he himself was experiencing over the enormity of their discovery. He then looked up at the miracle standing before him – the wholly unexpected, beautiful miracle that was his woman – and saw her head tilt to the side like a curious puppy. A deep vee formed between her brows as she scrunched her nose adorably.
“Huh?”
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First published 2015 © Montana Ash
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Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia:
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/
Title
:
Warden
Author
:
Ash, Montana (1984)
ISBNS
:
978-1-925353-79-2 (paperback)
978-1-925353-80-8 (ebook – epub)
978-1-925353-81-5 (ebook – mobi)
Cover design by Montana Ash, author, and Ally Mosher, IndieMosh.
Stock photography from DollarPhotoClub.com