Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1) (17 page)

Max eyed his hand warily. She really didn’t want to shake it but good manners demanded it, “Hi, I’m Max.”
Eww
, she thought. His hand was hot and sweaty and his grip was like a cooked noodle! You could always tell a lot about a person by their handshake and his weak grip spoke of a weak character to Max.

His smile dimmed somewhat at her curt response. “Just Max? Surely that is a nickname of a sort. What is your true name and Order?”

Darius responded before Max could formulate a half way decent one of her own, “Max is staying with us temporarily until her formal introduction to the Local Council. She comes seeking a new Order.”

Ignatius raised his dark eyebrows and Max could swear they had been plucked as he said, “You’re staying with
them
? Max, my dear, these paladins can barely call themselves knights. Although they are quite adept at beating newer paladins into submission, they are not very skilled at protection. If you are seeking a new Order, then you have clearly experienced failure in the past. If you don’t want to repeat those mistakes, I suggest you make alternate living arrangements quickly. I can suggest some suitable replacements.”

He smiled cockily and continued to fawn over her as if he were doing her a big favour instead of insulting the only people she knew and liked. There was no way she would trust one word out of this moron’s mouth and she would sooner go back to living on the streets than take his advice for accommodation. She had a moment of fear though as she recalled the whole point of her coming here was to meet other wardens and paladins and find someone she could potentially bond with. That would of course mean she would need to stay somewhere else eventually but she just wasn’t ready for it to be right now. And she definitely didn’t want it to be with anyone like Sir Ignatius here. She cast a glance toward her group of paladins and was relieved to see the dark looks on their faces. Seemed Ignatius and his knights weren’t popular.

“Thank you very much for your concern. I know they’re hard on the eyes but I’m getting used to looking at them.” The fake smile on the other warden’s face didn’t falter but Max could practically see the wheels turning in his head. What did she mean? Was she agreeing with him? Did she disagree? Was she insulting the paladins? Or was she complimenting them?
Sheesh, what a moron!
She was glad she had met Caspian first so she could use him as a standard for a warden instead of this guy. Caspian chose that moment to let out a small chuckle that unfortunately drew the attention of the new warden.

“I see you’ve been introduced to the resident fag. I must say Max, you need to start keeping better company. First the Rejects and now the only known arse-fucking poofter in our society. It’s shameful.”

Ignatius spouted his hateful words with a sneer and it was all Max could do not to reach over and bitch slap the mother fucker! Looking to her right, she saw Caspian hunch in on himself as if to make himself a smaller target. But it didn’t matter how small the target was when the weapons used were words; they always hit home. Well, as luck would have it Max just happened to have an arsenal in her vocabulary. She leaned forward enthusiastically;

“Thank God! Finally someone who understands!” She exclaimed sincerely.

Ignatius’s eyes lit with satisfaction and he smirked in the direction of said ‘
fag’
before leaning in even closer, “You don’t say?”

Rage boiling internally, Max nodded her head eagerly, “Oh yes. I’m just like you are, you see,” She began drawing small circles over the back of his damp hand, voice sweet as sugar. She felt Caspian shift uncomfortably in his seat as his paladins stood straight and ready but gave no signs of immediate action. Max could tell they wanted to jump to their charge’s defence but they held themselves back. Those stupid politics Darius had warned her about, no doubt. Oily Ignatius of the Order Vulcan was looking smug and proud and … well, oily at the added attention. This was almost too easy! She smiled seductively;

“I’m also a homophobic, ignorant, self-righteous, disgusting excuse for a human being – just like you!” She announced jubilantly. Max had the pleasure of seeing his smile replaced with a ferocious scowl before he yanked his hand away and jumped to his feet.

“You have no idea who I am! You just made the biggest mistake of your life.” He threatened, bending down and invading her personal space once again. Max didn’t even try to hide her cringe from the SOB’s nasty breath.

“Somehow, I don’t think so …” she paused dramatically, pointedly ignoring the fact that nearly every person in the room was now focused on the action playing out in front of them “… Biatch!”

The lousy excuse for a warden actually raised a fist in warning before obviously thinking better given the amount of eyes trained on them. Instead, he lowered his hand and stalked from the room, all five of the still silent paladins following behind him like good little ducklings.

“Oh, don’t go! This is the first intelligent conversation I’ve had in years! Don’t you want to know what I think about the Chinese or women in the workplace?” Max kept shouting at the other warden’s swiftly retreating back until he was out of sight. She turned to Caspian and his two paladins with a cheeky grin, “Guess not.”

****

Ryker gritted his teeth in a supreme effort to not grab Max by the arms and shake some sense into her. She was trouble with a capital ‘T’; a walking, talking incendiary device that could blow at any second! It didn’t matter that Ignatius was a complete tool. In fact, Ryker daydreamed about punching him in his fat head every time they crossed paths. Ignatius was still a warden, and a very strong one at that. He had five paladins bonded to him, four of them sharing a link to the fire domain just like Ignatius. Max had just made a very powerful enemy. And to add icing to this already fucked up cake, watching her put that greasy jerk-off in his place had left him with a massive boner. He was so hard he was afraid the metal zipper of his jeans would leave permanent teeth marks on his cock!

Their little escapade the night before had left him even more volatile than usual. It was like no matter what he said to her, it was always the wrong thing. But she just turned him inside out and he had no clue why. Like take outside for instance, when Max had been about to enter the Lodge for the first time, she had hesitated and he had been taken aback by the fear in those blue-green eyes. So how had he dealt with his feelings of helplessness? Oh, that’s right; he called her a pussy! His damn shin was still throbbing. The spunky little wench sure had a good kick on her. You’d think a bruised shin as well as a bruised ego would be enough to deflate his …
interest
. But nooooo!

Stupid dick!

“She’s …”

Ryker jumped at the interruption from his inner diatribe, both hands reaching for his absent sickles out of habit. He felt naked without the twin blades and hated the fact that no weapons were permitted in the main hall of the Lodge. Having said that, it was Ryker who had actually instigated that little rule after one too many mishaps so he had no right to bitch. He had pointedly not asked Max if she was carrying that damn sword of hers in her boot. He didn’t want to know. Forcing himself to relax, Ryker turned to the speaker. It was Kane, one of the famed triplet paladins currently unbound to a warden. Ryker didn’t know him or his brothers well – they had arrived only one week earlier to complete their final round of training before graduating to full knight status. But they had a reputation as fierce fighters, in and out, of the bedroom. They were highly famous for their sexcapades in the paladin community all over the globe. Personally, Ryker didn’t see the appeal. He decided to finish the half spoken statement;

“Insane? A menace? A walking disaster zone?”

Kane gave a small chuckle as he shook his head. His eyes roamed Max’s profile appreciatively as he said, “I was going to say amazing.”

Ryker felt the scar on his face pull tight as he scowled. He had the sudden urge to pluck out Kane’s eyeballs with a rusty spoon. Because he wasn’t exactly renowned for his garrulous ways, he simply grunted and continued to scowl in Max’s general direction. She was now involved in an animated discussion with Cas, the other warden no longer pale or dejected. Even as he watched, Max placed a gentle hand on Cas’s arm as she whispered something in his ear. He had to shake his head at her astuteness. She was essentially staking a claim on the young outcast, touching and sharing secrets, declaring him to be a confidant. She was proving to the rest of the room that she wasn’t afraid or disgusted to be associated with him and he wasn’t going to ‘contaminate’ her. It was exactly what the other paladins in the room needed to see. There were no other wardens present now that Ignatius had left and Max and Caspian were now the highest ranking people in the room, not that Max understood that.

Caspian laughed in response and Ryker couldn’t help but notice the way the blond leaned into the touch of the older paladin next to him, nor the warm look Lawson sent Max in thanks. There was an intimacy between Cas and his paladin that couldn’t be denied. Well, if you were going to buck a trend, you may as well do it right, Ryker thought. Not only was homosexuality forbidden amongst the upper cast but relationships between wardens and paladins was severely frowned upon. Oh, sexual relations where a warden used their paladin for the express purpose of a vitality exchange was entirely acceptable. But throw some feelings in there, some respect, some genuine affection and that was taboo.
Fucking hypocritical bastards!
Ryker thought in disgust.

Caspian was a relatively young warden and not a physically strong one, but he was one of the most courageous men Ryker had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He stood up for what he believed in and was true to himself and those he loved. Ryker respected the hell out of the guy. So when Leo had contacted him on his brother’s behalf and told him they were having issues in their hometown in the US, Ryker had told them about the land for sale just down the road. The fact that it was Ryker’s land and he hadn’t intended to put in on the market at the time was his business. Ryker had trained Leo and his older brother Lawson here at the Lodge years ago and had been impressed with their fighting skills and good natures. It hadn’t been a hardship to sell the land to Caspian. They were good neighbours.

“So, what’s her story? I hear she’s staying with you guys. You thinking of taking on another warden?”

Shit! Was Kane still there? Ryker moved his eyes in the direction of the other paladin but gave no other sign he had heard him. No way was he explaining himself to this young buck.

Entirely unfazed, Kane chuckled. “Alrighty then. I assume she’s free game.” He rubbed his hands together, “Excellent.”

Now he did turn to Kane and pinned him with a hard stare. “She’s not free game. You remember who you’re talking about soldier. She is a warden of the highest cast and you will afford her the respect of her station. Am I understood?”

His stern voice brooked no reply other than the ‘Yes, Sir’ he received. That was more like it, Ryker thought.

“I think my ears are bleeding. Did you just lecture someone about respecting me?”

Ryker closed his eyes and groaned. The woman was so tiny she had managed to sneak up behind him. Naturally, her timing was perfect and she just had to hear his mini rant to Kane. How was he supposed to live with her after this?

****

“Are you going to introduce me?” Max asked Ryker. Although his eyes spoke volumes, his mouth did not. “I’ll take that as a no. Hi, I’m Max.” She smiled widely at the newest primo specimen in front of her as she held out her hand for him to shake.

“My name is Kane. It is a great pleasure to meet you, Max.” Kane practically purred as he took her hand and skimmed his lips over the top gallantly. The way he said the word ‘pleasure’ had Max believing that he would indeed be a pleasure … multiple pleasures in fact!

“Oh, my!” She twittered as she batted her lashes. Ordinarily, Max would think such flirtations were an insult to her feministic side but after the mass rejection of the paladins that morning, she was willing to go with the flow. She heard a low sound, oddly like a rumble or a growl and was just turning to place it when Kane’s brilliant white smile widened and revealed a matching set of dimples. Now that was just plain wrong! That such a masculine, mountain of a man, so rugged and virile would have those boyish little dimples …
sigh!
Looking around she noticed the band of merry misfits watching the exchange with varying degrees of amusement, shock, censure and approval. The approval, of course, coming from her fellow
chica
Cali.

Max tried to return her attention to Kane only to be distracted by that grumbling sound again. She pivoted and narrowed her eyes at Ryker. “Are you growling?”

“No!” Ryker growled.

Shrugging off the antisocial, perpetually premenstrual paladin, Max opened her mouth to ask Kane if he wanted to join her for a drink when her brain decided to have a seizure or something. Standing in front of her was not one, but three Kanes! They wore identical expressions of lust and had identical gleams in their eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised, “but I think I may have just had a stroke. You seem to have multiplied.”

The three Kanes laughed in tandem. “No stroke.” Kane the Second assured her. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with your fine self. I’m Kai, and this is our baby brother Kellan.” Kai bowed graciously and indicated the remaining look alike to his left.

Kane the Third tilted his head and flashed his own set of killer dimples. “By baby, he means by two minutes. I promise you, there is nothing babyish about me.”

Max held up hands. “Wait a minute. There are three of you?”

The three K’s grinned devilishly whilst nodding their heads. Not one to believe in such luck immediately, after all, some hallucinations could be very vivid, Max turned to Cali for confirmation, “There are three of them?”

Cali widened her eyes comically and mouthed silently but distinctly, “There are three of them!” Her words held more power because of their silence and just like that, Max believed in Santa Claus again!