by Montana Ash
“I assure you, the fact that I’m having sex with Dex is by no means impacting on my duties.” She informed them primly.
Beyden’s amber eyes widened, even as he blushed. “You’re not even going to deny it?”
Her own eyes narrowed at that. “And why should I? Do you think I’m ashamed to be sleeping with a renowned knight in our history? Or should I be ashamed to be sleeping with a man who fought against a terrible disease for decades alone and still managed to come through the other side intact and whole? Maybe he should just be my dirty little secret.” She suggested. Okay, so she was getting a little riled. But like she said; when she made a decision she stood by it. She was not going to be embarrassed over her sexual choices. Not ever again.
“It’s not any of that. It’s just …” Axel trailed off.
“It’s just what? Okay, I know this is probably really weird. It was weird to me too. But he’s not anything other than a man who’s been dealt a bum hand. And I’m sorry Darius. I know this must be extra strange for you. But … I kind of like him.” She admitted.
The one blight on Dex’s continued recovery was his brother’s continued ignorance to the fact. There were only two topics of discussion that Dex had declared off limits; his time as a chade and his brother. Darius had not once approached Dex or tried to speak to him. He barely even looked in his direction. It was breaking Dex’s newly beating heart. But the man had no intention to do anything about it. It was almost as if he didn’t want to talk to Darius either. Although, the covert looks of pride and longing whenever Dex looked at Darius told another story. Cali could understand where both men were coming from but it was hard seeing them both struggle.
“I’m glad he seems to be making progress. But I don’t think it is wise to form any sort of attachment to Dex.” Darius’s words were spoken with no emotion.
“In case he leaves, you mean?”
They all spun as Max and Ryker entered the room. Clearly both had been listening in, either through the Order or from the other room. Cali ignored Max’s comment in favour of assessing her Captain. His eyes were wary and concerned but he gave her a small nod, holding his tongue. She breathed out. It seemed he wasn’t going to kick her off the team … yet.
“Dex won’t be going anywhere. The IDC are going to be shown the error of their ways, Dex is going to allow me to cure him completely, and he is going to find a home here with us – his family.” Max informed the room at large.
To others, her speech may have sounded immature and wishful thinking but it sounded just about perfect to Cali. She only wished it was a premonition of things to come rather than a hope.
“You all don’t believe me. That’s okay.” Max said. “Dex doesn’t believe it either yet, and until he does, it will remain out of reach.”
Okay. That sounded much more like a premonition, Cali thought.
Max gave Cali a warm smile. “I also wouldn’t tell him that other news yet. I’m thinking he’s undergone a very large and very quick lifestyle change. He needs a bit longer to adjust, otherwise he’s just going to cock the whole thing up – just like a man.”
And now everyone was looking at her once again. She cleared her throat, “Ryker? What do you have to say about me sleeping with Dex?”
“Me? Seems what I think in this Order doesn’t matter.” He replied sulkily and grunted as Max elbowed him. “But if I did get a say, I would reinforce that everyone has pledged themselves to serve as Max’s paladins. Emerging feelings and relationships aside, I would hope you all remember that. Whatever doesn’t get in the way of your duties, will be a non-issue.”
And that was as close to approval as she was likely going to get from her Captain. She knew Diana had received a great deal more sentimentality in his support of her relationship with Darius. But Cali was going to take what she could get.
The only other issue to discuss now was the small matter of a eight and a half week old fetus …
TWENTY-FIVE
Ivy arrived right on time, less than an hour later and was greeted with hugs from her brother and Max. Cali knew the latter perplexed the ranger. It didn’t perplex her. Max had well and truly adopted the slight female. Zombie bounded over to her and Cali saw her reach down and give him a scratch between the ears. All hope was not lost, if a woman could pat a dog. They congregated in the dining room, as was their usual place for a pow-wow. They had decided to be as honest with Ivy as possible, given Max seemed to have hired her on as a spy or something. But they had also agreed that Dex would remain hidden. No sense in dangling temptation in front of the ranger’s face.
“Let’s begin, shall we? The chade population is growing once more and they seem to be taking on specific missions. We think they are amassing for something once again and that they may be headed in this direction specifically. Oh, and they can be cured.” When Max laid her cards on the table, she didn’t mess around.
Ivy’s exotic features remained impassive. “And where exactly are you getting this information from?”
“Directly from the source.” Was Max’s prompt response.
“From the source …” Ivy repeated, glancing at her brother. “The source, as in a chade?”
“Sort of.” Max hedged.
“You’re sort of getting your information from a chade?” Ivy queried.
“No. We’re getting our information from a sort of chade. There’s a difference.” Max assured the ranger.
Ivy’s eyes narrowed, searching the room. Although not all fully on board the Dex-train yet, nobody moved an inch. Their loyalty and their alliance was with their liege.
“I see. And just how did you attain this information from a ‘sort of’ chade?”
Max raised her chin. “Torture.”
“Full body torture.” Axel added with a wicked grin in Cali’s direction. She wished she was closer so she could kick him.
Ivy’s eyes narrowed for a few seconds before she actually snorted and smirked in amusement. “Even if I believed that – which I do not – there is no way the council will.”
“You sound very sure of that.” Darius intoned from his place by the kitchen door.
“I am.”
“And why is that I wonder?” Lark asked, sounding mighty suspicious of the earth ranger.
Cali watched as Ivy glanced towards him briefly before clearly dismissing him. She didn’t miss the way Lark’s green eyes narrowed and his shoulders seemed to stiffen at the noticeable dismissal. Interesting.
“Because you’re being spied upon.” Ivy admitted, calmly.
Ryker narrowed his eyes dangerously, “And just how do you know we’re being spied upon?”
“Because I’m one of the ones doing the spying.” She answered casually before smirking at him, “I’d suggest moving some of your more extracurricular activities back indoors for the time being.” She raised a hand for silence, before continuing, “Unfortunately, I’m not the only one watching. I can omit a few things in my reports, overlook a few details here and there. But the two others assigned to watch over you? They won’t be doing that.”
“You’re saying you’ve been watching us and reporting back to the council? And you’ve been deliberately omitting some details?” Beyden asked of his sister.
“That’s right.”
“Ivy – that is so dangerous.” He picked up her hand and Cali watched as Ivy patted it in comfort but remained silent.
“And what have you been omitting?” Cali asked. She needed to know exactly how much Ivy had seen.
“I’ve been a ranger for fifty years. I know a chade when I see one – when I feel one.” She answered bluntly, looking at the doorway into the living room as if she knew Dex was just beyond the door listening. “And I’ve seen one walking around freely here.”
“He isn’t a chade.” Cali’s retort was instantaneous and firm.
Ivy snorted rudely at that. “Sure he is. He may not be a typical one, killing and maiming and wreaking havoc on the elements, but he’s a chade.”
&nb
sp; Dex chose that moment to walk in with Zombie in his arms – Zombie had well and truly taken a liking to the reformed Dex. If he wasn’t with Max or Bey, you could bet he was yipping after Dex somewhere. Still, Cali had no idea what he thought he was doing. They had agreed he would stay hidden.
Ivy barely glanced at him, before looking at Max, “Yes. His torture has obviously been extensive.” She intoned, drolly.
Zombie yipped, giving Dex a lick to the neck and receiving an absent pat before he was placed on the floor. “I’m Dex. And you are half right about me.” He said.
“Which half?”
“The chade part. But –” He held up a placating hand to the crowd, “you were wrong about the tense. I was a chade; past tense. I was a chade for a very long time, perhaps on the cusp of no return. I admit this freely.”
“But you’re not anymore?” Ivy tilted her head, eyeing him from head to foot. Cali was very glad the ranger had left her weapon on the kitchen counter. The full length sickles of the rangers were a nasty and lethal weapon. They were also creepy as fuck.
“No. I’m not anymore.” He answered. And damn if Cali didn’t like hearing those words. It was good to hear him say them for she knew he had reservations – big ones – but it was time he started believing in himself.
Ivy sighed, “Clearly, there is more going on here than I know or understand. And you definitely don’t act like a chade. But it’s not enough. Not only do you look like a chade with that dark hair and those dark eyes, but you also look remarkably like a fabled warden who was officially reported by his brother as converting to a chade about forty years ago.”
Cali sucked in a breath over that news as Dex looked closer at the Asian ranger, “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
“We haven’t.” Ivy assured him. “But we spend a whole week studying you during our ranger training. Your battle strategies have saved my life more than once.”
He looked completely embarrassed and horrified by that revelation. Clearly he’d had no idea he was a scholarly topic. Surely Cali couldn’t add humble to his list of growing assets, could she? The man really didn’t need to be any more appealing.
“Wait. Why would you be studying Dex?” Max asked, in total confusion.
“We don’t study Dex.” Ivy asserted. “We study the warden he used to be; Charlemagne.”
“Charlemagne?” Max screeched. “Wait. The Charlemagne? The Charlemagne who united Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire? The Charlemagne from the Twelve Peers?”
Dex winced, blushing adorably. “Many of those accounts have been greatly exaggerated in the history books. But … yes. I was once known as Charlemagne.”
“Dude, you’re a freaking legend!” Max crowed. “That is so awesome. I can’t believe you never told me. All these years, I was hanging with royalty and I didn’t even know it.”
Dex just shrugged, notably avoiding looking at Darius. Darius had fought alongside him in all those battles and was also in the history books, albeit under a different name. Roland was the name the humans had given him. It was their many shared and noble victories that had engendered Darius with the title of Sir.
“Look, I’m not going to pretend I know what’s going on here.” Ivy said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “And it’s true you sure don’t act like the reputed chade that you are – or were. But the fact is, you still look enough like one on the precipice that the others have noticed and reported it to the council.” Her eyes were serious as they travelled around the room;
“There’s a hunting party coming.”
TWENTY-SIX
Max crept soundlessly through the house as she left a thoroughly satisfied and debauched Ryker in their bedroom upstairs. She had plied the man with enough sex to leave him comatose for days. The underhandedness of the act didn’t bother her in the slightest as she made her way down the spiral staircase, using nothing but her familiarity with their home to guide her. She had a meeting to attend – one Ryker wasn’t invited to. In fact, none of her paladins were invited – not because they weren’t an asset in every occasion – but because they wouldn’t approve.
No, Max thought, Darius would lecture; Ryker would cross his arms over his nipple-pierced chest and glower; Lark would try to think of an alternative; Beyden would suggest anything but violence; Cali would narrow her eyes and be all practical; Diana would follow up Darius’s lecture with one of her own; and Axel, well, Axel would likely hold the door open for her she admitted. But that didn’t matter. She wasn’t involving any of them, no matter what. This was her choice, her business, and her right. After all, wasn’t she entitled to protect them just as much as they protected her? They were hers after all, every last one of them and she loved them all dearly, including the newest addition to their eclectic family.
Although a strange friend to have, Dex had still been a good one over the years and she valued everything he was from that time when they had both had no-one and nothing to rely on. She valued him even more now, knowing the strength and courage he had shown in order to turn his life around and to have a future with her best friend. Eyes hard, Max vowed that Dex and Cali would get that future, the council be dammed. And so here she was, creeping through the quiet log house in the dead of night like a ninja. A freaking good ninja, Max thought a little cockily as she reached for the doorknob. She was a ninja … she was a shadow … she was stealth incarnate … she was –
“Busted.”
Max squeezed out a thin scream as the deep, slightly accented voice behind her startled the ever-loving shit out of her. She clutched her chest as the kitchen light was flipped on, illuminating a deceptively casual looking Beyden in the doorway.
“Going somewhere?” His amber eyes seemed to glow momentarily as her own eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. He was dressed in comfortable-looking faded jeans and a pale blue tee shirt that stretched deliciously over his delicious chest. The Spaniard was damn potent to the senses – even to a woman madly in love and still feeling the twinges from a recent sex marathon.
Quickly trying to regain some dignity, she stood up straight and looked him in the eye, “Yes, actually. I’m having trouble sleeping so I thought I would just take a stroll outside – get some fresh air.”
Those cat eyes of his narrowed as he pushed himself away from the wall and all but stalked over to her. Leaning in, his eyes roamed her features for a full ten seconds before he gave up with a frustrated grunt. “You know, even though I know you’re lying, I still can’t pick it. You have one hell of a poker face … I’m not sure a Goddess should really be that adept at lying.” He added, almost as if it was an afterthought.
She smiled a little thinly but it was still in satisfaction. When she had first arrived they had all thought her face was an open book – that her face held all her thoughts and feelings. It was one of the reasons why most of them had trusted her so readily, she knew. It was also exactly what she had intended. She knew people underestimated her because of her size and her youthful appearance. She was good at looking innocent – even though she was anything but. It had taken them a bit of time but they had all pretty much figured that out by now. Still, she felt a sliver of guilt lying to Beyden. The man was so sweet he could make your teeth ache. But she was a woman on a mission, so she raised her chin;
“I’m adept at a lot of things – you should know that by now. So if I am lying to you then you should trust that it is for a good reason.”
“I trust that you think it’s for a good reason. Too bad for you I don’t happen to feel the same.” He shrugged broad shoulders.
Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes; Beyden was serious. Sweet as sugar he may be, but he was also a warrior to the bone and had a protective streak that could rival even Ryker’s. There was no way he would let her out of the house on her own without an explanation. “Okay, okay, you got me. I lied. I have a meeting I need to attend.”
He cast his eyes to the left and the wall that held a lovely old cuckoo clock, “At one in th
e morning?”
“Yes. I really can’t miss it, Beyden.”
“Why don’t you tell me who you’re meeting and why? That way I can decide whether or not I can take you or if I need to wake up everyone else.” He said, quite reasonably.
It was the reasonable part that made Max twitchy. “How did you hear me anyway? I was in stealth mode.”
He smiled at that. “Stealth mode? Honey, I’m a paladin. I’m just that good.”
He did look cocky, Max thought, not a usual look on the man. Too bad the moment was ruined when she spotted a mottled, furry paw behind Beyden’s denim-cladded leg. “You little traitor!” She hissed at the bedraggled pup as he popped out from behind his hiding spot, tongue lolling and a happy doggy grin on his face.
Beyden bent and picked up the little offender, “Now, don’t blame Zombie. He did the right thing, coming to me like he did. He loves you too.” Bey pointed out.
She rolled her eyes but felt her heart melt; man and dog were just too adorable in their sincerity to maintain any semblance of anger. “I’m not mad. But I really do need to go, Bey. It’s important.”
Beyden studied her for a moment, his strong fingers idly stroking Zombie into a light slumber. She was unsure if it was the wonder of his touch or his affinity with animals that made it so easy for Zombie to relax and trust – probably a little of both. She couldn’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t be reduced to purring under those deft fingers.
“This is about Dex.”
It wasn’t a question but Max answered anyway. “Yes. It’s about Dex.”
“Fair enough.” He bent down and placed a now slumbering Zombie in his bed by the table. “I’ll drive and Axel can ride shotgun.”
“Axel?” She cringed at how shrill her voice sounded.
The tall, lean, muscled mass of Axel strolled from the dark hallway into the light-filled kitchen, dimples flashing merrily; “You called my name, m’lady?”
She barely resisted the urge to yank on her own hair. “How long have you been there?”