Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1) (3 page)

It appeared her worries were unnecessary. They weren’t poised to pounce or attack. The three of them were, well
gawking,
with identical expressions of stunned disbelief. They looked like they had never seen a girl kick arse before! Typical macho men. Probably thought women spent all day picking out tampons or something! Although she was in a great position to rectify such misguided beliefs, perhaps now was the perfect time to amscray.

“Well, this has been
super
fun! But I need to be on my way now.” Keeping her eyes on the stunned mullets, she retrieved her bag and maintained her grip on her blade. That seemed to snap them out of their dazed bemusement.

“You’re coming with us.” The decree was all drill sergeant and the tone brooked no argument. She hated it.

“Oh am I now? And why would I do that?” She asked sweetly, “No, let me guess. It’s because you said it in that deep, serious baritone isn’t it?” She fluttered her lashes. That finally brought out a genuine reaction as three sets of sensuous lips curved into grins of varying degrees. The one with the blondy-brown hair even barked out a quick laugh.

“I like you.” He stated, then turned to his companions before stating again, “I like her.”

“Yeah, well. Like her in the car. We need to get out of here. And you
are
coming with us.”

She shook her head, “Ah, no thanks. Not really into the whole orgy thing.”
Although I’m seriously tempted!

“Look, we don’t have time for this. More will be on their way.” Looks like Mr Serious was back. Well, she didn’t need him to tell her what she already knew.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock. There’s always more of them. They’re like fucking cockroaches.”

His eyes narrowed but it was the red head that spoke up this time, “Sounds like this is a common thing for you.”

She snorted, “You could say that.”

“Well, as you just saw it’s not exactly new to us either. So why don’t you let us help you out? Come with us and we’ll talk. Seems like you could use some information.” His sympathetic green eyes softened further as they looked down at her from his impressive height. “And some help.”

She could tell the offer was genuine and she found herself having to swallow past the lump in her throat. Hadn’t she just been wishing for someone to help her? Did she dare trust these men? Her body chose that moment to spasm ever so minutely and she knew the decision had been made for her. She couldn’t continue on as she had been and these men obviously had answers. Maybe she could finally begin to understand. Praying she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life, she relented.

FOUR

The atmosphere in the Dodge was extremely awkward, Darius thought as he kept a watchful eye on their unexpected guest. The air was thick with tension, confusion and distrust and it wasn’t all stemming from the little warden either. Darius could sense the same whirlwind of emotions from his fellow comrades as well. It seemed they were all on the same page, and that page was
FUBAR
to put it kindly. He and the boys had been heading back to camp after a particularly maddening day at the Lodge when he had felt a slight disturbance in the air. It was nothing major and didn’t have the taste of danger that usually accompanied trouble, but it was odd nonetheless. Because he had long ago learned to trust his instincts they had pulled into Dave’s to investigate. At first, nothing seemed amiss but then the wind had greeted the solo female occupant at the bar like an old friend and he had begun to understand. Well, sort of understand, he amended silently. The woman was slight in frame and in stature – her feet hadn’t even touched the bottom rungs of the bar stool she was perched on. She had dark hair, which he had mistaken as brown or even black, but when she had stepped into the fading light he had seen it was actually red. A deep, rich burgundy that fell in wild waves around her heart-shaped face. And those eyes! In all his years, Darius had never seen eyes like that before. If all that wasn’t compelling enough, she was also pumping out Vitality in waves. It was a completely rooky and extremely dangerous thing to do. The distinct energy she had been emitting was like a beacon not only to paladins like himself but also to some truly wretched creatures. She was like a walking magnet and he had zero doubt that she was a warden. But where were her knights?

That seemed to be the question of the day. He hadn’t felt any other paladins in the vicinity which should have been impossible. A warden was never without a paladin. The level of bizarre had increased exponentially as he watched in a kind of fascinated disbelief when the tiny warden crippled and decapitated their enemy. Darius had never seen anything like it from a warden in all his years. She had been confident and exacting in her skills, clearly having engaged in battle with the chades before. She knew just where to strike in order to dispatch her opponent with a smooth economy that would have half his brethren envious. She was clearly very well trained. The question was why. Why would a guardian of nature need, or want, to engage in any form of violence? It was absolutely unheard of. Wardens were passive, sacred beings and were protected at all times, at any cost. Hence, the existence of the paladins.

“It’s okay. You’re safe with us.” Lark’s voice was soft and friendly. He was obviously trying to put the odd little warden at ease. Apparently, it wasn’t working for she gave a rather undignified snort of disbelief and clutched that damn sword of hers tighter.

“It’s true. No one here would ever hurt you.” He nodded towards the well-kept blade. “You don’t need that.” Her eyes never stopped their constant wandering, taking in the sites. He was positive she was cataloguing everything and committing it all to memory. She also didn’t let up on her weapon as she replied sardonically;

“Like I haven’t heard that before!” Those peculiar eyes of hers focused on each of them briefly before she muttered, “But somehow I almost believe you. Why do I believe you?”

“It’s instinctual. The relationship between wardens and paladins is built into their DNA. You recognise us, just as we recognised you back at the bar.” Darius explained.

She shook her head, sending all that thick red hair flying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never seen you before in my life. And what do you mean warden? I’ve never worked in a jail.”

Axel raised his eyebrows in a classic ‘what the fuck?’ gesture. What the fuck indeed, Darius thought.

“How about we leave all the explanations for when we get back to camp?” Darius knew the others were there and he had a feeling they were going to need all of them to get to the bottom of this. He only wished he could predict how Ry was going to react. Despite his high paladin status, he really wasn’t a fan of wardens in general.

“Camp?” She still sounded unsure.

Axel spoke up, “Yeah, camp. It’s what we call our base – where we live and sleep when we’re not needed at the Lodge.”

She looked sceptical, “Um, camp? Base? Do you actually mean
home
? Because that’s what it sounds like. You live and sleep at
home.
”

Yes, it did sound a lot like home, but it wasn’t really – not for any of them. It was a temporary place to stay where they could rest and relax and figure out what the hell they were going to do with their lives. They were lucky Ry was so generous.

Lark chuckled and answered in direct opposition to Darius’s thoughts, “Yes. He means home.” He winked. “But He-men like us aren’t really big on flowery prose.”

That made her smile even as her shoulders relaxed another degree. Thank heavens for Lark, Darius thought.

“I’m Lark by the way. This is Axel and our fearless driver here is Darius.”

Darius groaned and slapped his own forehead internally where no one could see his stupidity. They had practically kidnapped this poor woman who was somehow ignorant of her own society and were driving her into the depths of the Australian bush … and he hadn’t even introduced himself. He was a moron. No wonder she was so nervous and still gripping that freaking short sword like a life line. Again, thank heavens for Lark!

“I wish I could say it was nice to meet you …” she paused, “… but I don’t know if it is.” Her eyes lit up with mischief and her slightly rounded cheeks dimpled as she smiled. Had Darius been a weaker man, he’d be half in love with her by now. She spun to face the road, giving them her shoulder and back in the beginnings of trust, and stated simply;

“I’m Max.”

FIVE

Max stood open-mouthed and gaping up at the ‘camp’. Their ‘camp’ was a barn, Max thought, and not at all what she had been expecting. They had been driving for approximately thirty minutes, following the coastline south when Darius – as she had finally learned – had turned onto a well-used gravel road. At first Max thought that maybe they were taking her into the wilderness to use and abuse her in dirty and despicable ways. She was only half tempted to jump from the moving vehicle and make a run for it. The other half of her figured it wasn’t such a bad way to go, so she had observed and memorised the journey and was confident she could retrace the route with her eyes closed if need be. She didn’t exactly have a photographic memory but she was pretty darn observant and had a great sense of direction.

Although the road was gravel, it was obvious it was well maintained and used frequently. It was lined with tall native trees and short local shrubs that also appeared to be well conserved and it had suddenly clicked that it wasn’t actually a road but a private driveway. The driveway continued straight for another couple of minutes before a gentle bend had revealed the most magnificent, the most beautiful stone and cedar barn she had ever seen. When they had said camp, Max had been expecting a couple of tents or maybe a shack with a fire pit or something. But this, Max thought, this by no means resembled any camp she had ever been to.

The barn stretched high into the sky for a full three stories with a curved roof arching gracefully against the horizon. She could make out the three distinct levels from the positioning of the domed windows that lined the east facing front of the home. It was clearly made from Australian red cedar given the rich reddish brown colour and the roughness of its texture. The logs had been kept in their natural state rather than polished and stained, displaying a genuine respect for the wood. From where she stood at the beginning of a forked stone path, she could make out the heavy brass knocker against the tall double doors. She allowed her eyes to follow the fork to the right and what do you know? Even the fricking shed was a thing of beauty. What she assumed was the garage, must have been two stories high itself and was fashioned from uneven stone and brick in various shades of grey. The sound of crashing waves in the distance was the perfect soundtrack to such architectural splendour. They must have been driving directly parallel to the coastline in order for them to be so close to the ocean, Max mused.

“Camp? Really?” She raised her eyebrows at the three men. She watched as Darius ran a critical eye over the building before turning back to her.

“Yeah. Camp. This is where we live. Come on, it’s time to meet the others and get this all sorted out.” He gestured for her to precede him down the path.

“Whoa, big fella. Others? What others?” Suddenly the impressive home no longer seemed quite so fairytale but more like a potential prison.

“Yes. We live here with a couple of other guys.” Darius said. “But you don’t need to worry. They’re like us. No harm will come to you.”

There he goes again with that baritone, no nonsense voice of his. She bet it usually worked wonders on the poor unsuspecting females of the world. Well, she wasn’t unsuspecting, so although she would love to hear him whispering naughty words into her ear, she wasn’t going to submit that easily. “Uh huh. Whatever you say … stranger.”

He released a huff of frustration and glanced toward his colleagues. Lark, the red head simply shook his head, while Axel appeared to be enjoying Darius’s discomfort immensely if the grin was any indication. “Look …” He turned to her and gripped his left forearm with his right hand, raising it over his heart, “I give you my solemn oath that you shall not be harmed in any way. You are an honoured guest at our camp.”

“Dude! Are you really still going to stand there and call this place a camp?” She threw the retort back because a) she truly couldn’t fathom anyone calling this place a camp, and b) she wanted to buy some more time. The weird gesture and the promise had tickled something inside her that she didn’t understand. Back in the car when they had told her she was safe, she had believed them. She felt that same belief and trust now, she just didn’t understand why.

They had said something about DNA and instincts. Max was all for instincts – they had saved her life more times than she could count. So should she trust them now? She could be wrong, stranger things had happened.

“Yes! It’s a camp. That’s what it is! But that is not the point. You –”

“Okay, okay. Chill. I kind of believe you.” Max cut in. She was afraid the poor hunk was going to blow a blood vessel.

“Um, are we all just going to pretend we didn’t hear her call Sir Darius here, ‘Dude’?” Axel of the surfer-boy looks asked with a raised hand.

“Axel …” Darius’s voice held a note of dangerous warning that Axel was clearly unconcerned with. Lark managed to smother what she was certain was a laugh behind his hand and a hasty cough. “Enough of this foolishness. Max, please …” He gestured once more.

Max finally nodded in agreement and switched Joy to her more dominant hand. She was yet to let go of her. She saw Darius eye the blade with caution and knew he was about to tell her she didn’t need it.

“You can –”

“Keep a tight grip on my only weapon as I venture into a secluded mansion with a bunch of males big enough to snuff me when they sneeze?” Max cut in, “Thanks! I’ll do that!”

Lark gave a low chuckle that had a pleasant tingle spreading through Max’s stomach. Oh boy. And apparently there was more inside.

****

Max’s reservations fled completely the moment she stepped inside. Those heavy double doors opened directly into a combined kitchen and dining room. Max stood frozen to the spot as she tried to take everything in. The northern wall was comprised entirely of stone from the hard wood floors to the two storey open ceilings. An arched recess was cut perfectly into the stone, housing a double burner gas stove top and oven that would have professional chefs drooling. A row of dark, glossy cabinets ran the length of the eastern wall below the row of windows looking out onto the backyard and the ocean in the distance. They were broken up only by the stainless steel dishwasher, toaster, kettle, and the deep double sinks positioned strategically for efficiency.