Page 28 of Custodian

“Then, of course. Anything you need,” Diana assured her, meaning every word. Just because she also saw Mordecai as more than just a deadbeat father, didn’t mean she wouldn’t hesitate to kick his sexy Scottish arse if he brought even a twinge of pain to her liege.

“I’ll go and get them,” Beyden volunteered.

“No. We’ll go out there,” Max rubbed her arms. “The quarters are too close in here. I need more space.”

TWELVE

They all gathered around Max as she made her way begrudgingly out of the room, down the hall, and into the large kitchen and dining space. Cali couldn’t help smiling when she entered the room and found her new brother-in-law predictably being the perfect host. He was standing politely at the kitchen counter, back military-straight and he was nodding his head to something Madigan was saying. Mordecai was looking incredibly stiff and uncomfortable as he stood off to the side. Aiden placed a hand on his liege’s arm and Cali caught the hint of a smile which accompanied Mordecai’s small nod of thanks. She assumed the Captain had just shared some words and perhaps even vitality with his liege in order to help put him at ease.

It was clear Mordecai and his knights were close and that he respected them – a respect that was mutual. Watching Mordecai’s cool green eyes warm as he looked at his knights, also spoke of a deep affection. The knowledge that Mordecai didn’t treat his paladins as mere battery packs or servants made her warm to the man a little. Although, if she was being honest, she was already thawing to the man who was her liege’s biological father. She agreed with all of Lark’s reasoning, but it was also more than that. Now that she was about to bring a child of her own into the world, she sympathised with a father not being able to know his daughter.

Her own little man chose that moment to give a healthy kick, and she soothed her hands over her swollen stomach. Not that the movement would calm the babe; her little hitchhiker was incredibly active. Sure enough, a series of pokes and jabs followed and she shook her head even as she smiled down at her stomach. She was now almost thirty weeks pregnant and despite the unique circumstances of the conception, the pregnancy had been textbook. Although the pregnancy was unplanned and had come as a very big surprise, Cali couldn’t be happier over the abrupt change her life was about to take. In no time, she would be holding a tiny person in her arms that was half of her and half the love of her life. The knowledge still tripped her out, but it also made her heart sing.

“Here, honey.”

Speak of the devil,Cali thought as Dex handed her a glass of water. She accepted it graciously, even though she wasn’t thirsty. Her man was always trying to hydrate her. It was weird.

“Thank you,” she pecked a quick kiss to his lips, loving the caressing palm he ran over their growing child.

Looking up, she caught Mordecai watching Dex’s hand with a look of such naked longing, that she felt herself tear up a little. Damn hormones were always surprising her with tears these days, but she knew it wasn’t just that. She was no mind-reader like Max but she knew exactly what Mordecai was thinking in that moment; how he had missed out on seeing his own child grow – and every wonder that came after. She knew Max was still resistant to the idea of a father – her insecure liege feared the possibility of rejection. But Cali knew that was the one thing Max would never face from Mordecai, because a man who looked at a pregnant woman that way would never turn his own child away.

Cali’s eyes met the death warden’s for a moment and he surprised her by allowing her to see the emotions he was feeling for a brief second more before his green eyes turned cool and impassive once again.

“You have information?” Cali prompted.

Mordecai turned to face Max and Ryker but focused his gaze just above their heads. “Garrett and Autumn’s son, Emmanuel, is still very much alive as you suspected. What’s more, they are both complicit in his actions. All these years they have been helping him,feedinghim.”

“Feeding him?” Cali felt her stomach roil over the disgusting images that information wrought.

Mordecai nodded, crisply, “They have been providing him with wardens to drain – paladins too, I bet. Just as we wardens become more powerful the more vitality we receive, chades become more powerful the more life they consume. Over fifty years of feeding? I shudder to think how powerful and unique Emmanuel must be by now.”

“And you’re sure Garrett and Autumn are involved?” Darius asked.

Tobias snorted, rubbing his left side, “Oh, we’re sure. Sick fucks admitted it right to our faces.”

“And yet you had no idea?” Ryker’s tone was filled with disbelief.

Mordecai looked directly into Ryker’s eyes as he answered; “None.”

Ryker shook his head, arms crossing over his chest, “You expect us to believe that? Isn’t he your best friend?”

Mordecai’s jaw was clenched so hard, Cali feared his teeth would crack. “Was. Hewasmy best friend.”

And just then that cold mask cracked once more and the man’s pain over the betrayal of his friend burst free. Cali heard Diana suck in a sharp breath from the overwhelming feeling of grief that must be radiating from Mordecai. Given she was associated with the domain of death, Diana was sensitive to those darker, pain-filled emotions. She may not be able to absorb them like Max could, but they still reached out to her like a friend seeking shelter. It was the same for Cali’s own element of water. She couldn’t command it to do her bidding, but it embraced her and comforted her and brought her peace in times of chaos.

Cali quickly looked at Max, and knew she was feeling the pain too. How could she not be? Max was the most empathetic creature on the planet. And although they had all worked hard with her to erect strong barriers to protect her from the constant bombardment of emotions, there was no blocking them completely. And definitely not such fresh, raw pain. It was a part of Max’s purpose, after all. That’s why, when Cali felt the others all rally around Max with the aim of blocking the pain, she heard herself speak up;

“Don’t,”she commanded them all silently.

Cali felt the sharp reprimand from Ryker, even though it was non-verbal. Like a zap to her brain but she didn’t back down;“Don’t shelter her from this pain. It’s her burden to feel it just as much as it is his.”She made no move to censor the comment from Max and knew Max heard her loud and clear.

Cali felt a second of indecision before Max nodded her head and surrendered herself to the emotions swirling around the room. Max had been holding herself back from feeling anything related to Mordecai and Cali couldn’t blame her. But she knew if Max kept blocking her natural instincts, it would be far more damaging to her liege.

Cali’s coat of arms came roaring to life, writhing on her skin even as her druidic symbol for water glowed a vibrant blue. She sucked in a sharp breath from the emotions she felt; pain, betrayal, anger, bitterness, grief – it was all there as Max drew the dark emotions into herself. The entire Order winced as it cycled its way through Max. Max then drew on everyone’s vitality via their heraldries, not needing to physically touch them anymore – they were well past that now. Lark’s little adventure to heal the chades had proven that once and for all, along with the question of distance.

“Stop! Don’t do that!” Mordecai’s sharp command rang out loudly in the room as incredulous eyes turned to him. Mordecai held Max’s eyes as he explained; “I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m not grateful, I am. But I don’t need your healing. I … I want to feel this –needto feel it.”

“He thinks he deserves it,”Diana volunteered.

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