Page 49 of Custodian

Max looked around her, seeing nothing but the black abyss staring back at her and feeling the frigid cold seeping into her bones. “That’s what you do? Get inside people’s heads and trap them in their own nightmares? Is that how you achieve loyalty?”

“At first,” he shrugged. “It’s a good way of gaining their attention. Then, after I have consumed their energy, I drop them in the abyss.” He smiled at her, his handsome, smooth features morphing into a grotesque parody in a blink of an eye. His smile split and his mouth oozed foul, black fluid. “Everyone fears the dark. Even those who don’t know it. Leave them alone in the cold long enough, with nothing but blackness, and fear always takes root.”

Max shook her head, “No. Not always.”

That seemed to give him pause. “No. Not always. Some are stubborn and cling to their light. No matter how long they are deprived of everything; food, water, sleep, their elements, they still refuse to take that final step that would snuff their light out.”

“You mean draining a warden of their vitality to the point of death,” Max offered.

“Correct,” he gave her a small applause.

“How did you figure it out? What the final step to damnation was?” Emmanuel seemed to be in the mood for talking rather than maiming and Max was more than happy to facilitate that mood. The longer she kept him talking, the longer she had to come up with a plan. After all, she had rescued a hundred chades from this exact same place. Surely she would be able to save herself too.

“It wasn’t that hard, really,” Emmanuel admitted, “When I first started needing more and more energy to function, I knew what was happening to me. Chades were nowhere near as prolific back then, but a pattern had already been made. I kept it to myself for a long time, but my own paladins betrayed me. They went to my father and told him what was happening. And what do you suppose dear old dad did then, hmm?”

Max swallowed hard, “Locked you up in the chade prison.”

“That’s right,” Emmanuel hissed, showing true anger for the first time. “He and my mother locked me up and allowed those barbaric rangers to torture me.”

“They were trying to help you,” Max defended, even though she didn’t approve of the techniques utilised to try and find a cure.

“Help me?” Emmanuel cackled, “That’s just what mummy said;‘I love you, son. We’re trying to help you. Take your torture like a good little boy and I’ll give you a lollipop’.” Emmanuel’s voice rose in a parody of his mother’s. “Like I was a child visiting the doctor for his shots.”

“What else would you have them do?” Max asked, steeling herself against the flash of empathy she felt for the poor, lost warden he once was.

“They should have had the balls to kill me!” Emmanuel raged, “They should have shown me the same courtesy they would have shown a sick dog and put me down. But they couldn’t bear to lose their only son. And well,” Emmanuel shrugged, his ordered appearance returning once more, “by the time they realised that, it was too late.”

Max nodded pleasantly as if she were following the conversation and enjoying it. “Because of the custodian your father found for you.”

Emmanuel’s gaze turned dreamy, “Ah yes, the custodian. You always remember your first. So much energy, so much power! It was scared you know – still is.”

Max felt her breath catch in her throat, “What do you mean, ‘still is’.”

“Well, it’s still inside of me, still aware. I wasn’t lying to my old friend Dex when I said all my victims live on inside of me. I think it has something to do with me being a Life Warden. Or it could be because of the delicious custodian. In any event, it is the custodian inside me that gives me such unique abilities.”

Max closed her eyes for a moment, unable to continue looking at the horrible being in front of her. The thought of such a pure, naked soul trapped inside such evil, made her physically ill and she knew she would do just about anything to save the poor thing. Max jolted when cool palms cupped her face.

“Look at you, so sympathetic to the plight of others. You have such a sensitive soul.” Emmanuel licked his lips, “I love those – they are extra tasty.”

Max tried to pull her face from Emmanuel’s grip but it had turned to steel, “You can’t infect me,” she gritted, between clenched teeth.

“Alas, I’m afraid that is probably true. It’s a shame. You would have been a nice addition to my ranks. But never mind, I’d rather eat you, anyway.”

Emmanuel then plastered his mouth against hers and before she could so much as blink, Max felt herself starting to fall. Cold seeped into her bones until they felt so brittle they would snap from the gentlest touch. She felt everything and nothing at the same, and she gave a fleeting thought to her man and her Order before her ability to think was taken away forever.

As if her thoughts had conjured him, Ryker appeared behind Emmanuel, his dark eyes were intense and furious but they were the bitter chocolate colour she loved. He spared her a concerned glance before he yanked her attacker off by the scruff of his neck. He then grabbed Emmanuel by his collar, and before she could even fully process his presence, Ryker punched the master chade right in the head!

TWENTY-FOUR

Max gasped, feeling the betrayal like a literal slice to the gut.

“No!” she whispered. Spinning on her heel, she tried to flee but wasn’t fast enough. Strong hands grabbed her and she felt herself being lifted off her feet.

“Now, now, where do you think you’re going, hmm?” The silky voice in her ear should have been sexy. It should have sent shivers down her spine for an entirely different reason. But as it was, it sent her heart pounding in alarm. If her man was in on this horror, then all hope was truly lost.

Ryker had been a frantic mess when they had appeared back in the guest bedroom as if nothing had ever happened. Her entire Order had been there, talking out loud as well as in her head and she realised they must have been trying to communicate with her for some time. They had explained that she had just gone blank, like she was under hypnosis or something the moment she touched the tarnished brand on Caspian’s arm. No matter what they did, they were unable to snap her out of it. But when she had started to gasp for breath, Ryker had planted his lips directly on hers and forced his own breath into her body. Somehow, Ryker had unknowingly mirrored what Emmanuel was doing to her in the abyss and had merged his soul with hers, just long enough to ride to the rescue. Cali had deemed the entire episode incredibly romantic.

Hours of swearing, hugs, tears, and arguments had followed. But in the end, Max had got her way; the party at Dave’s hotel was still going ahead. The strategists of the group had proposed that the ruined brand on Caspian’s arm was some kind of Trojan horse. The moment she touched it, it had acted as a conduit directly to Emmanuel. Everybody was pissed and scared that such a thing was possible, but Max had calmly told them all that she simply wouldn’t go around touching scorched brands anymore. Problem solved. Her Order hadn’t been quite as practically-minded but had eventually acquiesced to her demands of the party continuing.

---