The Elemental Collective: Volume One: An Elemental Paladins Spin-off Series

by Montana Ash

  “Mum! You’re back,” Max cried from the doorway. A yipping bark followed a second behind.

  Dana watched as Max took the stairs carefully, staring in wonder at how much Max’s stomach had grown. “Wow,” Dana said, reaching out and touching the belly when Max was close. “You have certainly popped.”

  Max rolled her eyes. “Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m pregnant. My tummy is supposed to get bigger.”

  At twenty-six weeks along now, Max had a point, Dana thought. But the difference in the bump – as well as the strength of the kicks beneath her palm – had her feeling regret at having missed the moment when the ‘pop’ had happened. “I am sorry I was gone so long. I had things to take care of.”

  “Mum, you don’t need to explain yourself to me. I know you’re busy. I’m just grateful I get to see you at all,” Max said, causing Dana to blink rapidly. “Now, come on. We still have time before dinner for you to tell me all about that kiss.”

  Dana paused in mid-pat of Zombie who had jumped up against her hip. He was likely almost fully grown now even though his demeanour was still very much that of a puppy. “What kiss?”

  Max rolled her eyes, dragging Dana along by the arm and into the house. “I know all.”

  Dana allowed her daughter to lead her through to the kitchen and dining area, which was teeming with boisterous life. Rosa and Penelope were at the stove along with Jasminka, Beyden, and Axel. There appeared to be some kind of cooking lesson going on. “You have a son now, Axel. You need to learn to cook more than two-minute noodles,” Rosa was saying. Dana could not help but laugh at Axel’s wide-eyed look as he scanned the amount of pots and pans on the stovetop.

  Turning to Max, Dana finally replied, “You do not know all. I know all.” At least, she had certainly thought so before her trip back to Otherworld. Now, she may be just as clueless as the rest of the population – which was a scary thought. “And I know for a fact you cannot read me. So how do you know about the kiss?” Max had never been able to see Dana’s soul any more than she could see her own.

  “Kiss?” Cali’s head shot up like a bloodhound tracking a scent from where she was feeding Maxwell a bottle in the comfy chair in the corner.

  “What kiss?” Celeste asked, walking closer.

  Max grinned, “The kiss she and dad just had at the Lodge. Apparently, it was x-rated – triple x-rated – and the ground almost caught on fire where they were standing.”

  “What?” Dana sputtered. “That is not true. How?”

  “Aiden called me. We have a deal about this kind of stuff,” Max admitted. “Come on, ‘fess up before dad arrives here for dinner. He’s not technically living here anymore, you know.”

  “What do you mean not living here?” Dana asked, startled.

  “The new headquarters is practically complete,” Max informed her. “Those chadens don’t mess around. It has walls, a roof, and floors. Running water, heat, air con – all working. It has no furnishings and the rooms haven’t all been decided yet, but dad is having his suite fitted out as we speak. He has decided to stay in the area permanently and will live at the HQ at Eden with his Order.”

  “Wow. That is …” Dana trailed off.

  “Good?” Max offered, frowning in confusion from Dana’s hesitance. “It’s good, right?”

  “Yes, of course it is. I am so glad he will be staying on. I guess it just makes me –” Jealous, Dana thought. She was jealous of the ease in which Mordecai could make this place his home. Make Max and her family his home. Which was extremely unkind and very unbecoming of a benevolent goddess, she knew. But she could not help her feelings any more than any other person in the room.

  “Envious,” Jasminka filled in the blank. “You’re envious. I get it. I was jealous as hell when I first came here. And more than a little resentful when I thought I had to leave. But you know what solved that?”

  “What?” Dana asked, giving the human doctor her full attention.

  “I stayed.”

  Dana sighed, leaning back against the large island. “If only it was that simple.”

  “But you’re like a god. I mean you’re our god, or goddess, or whatever. Can’t you do whatever you want?” Axel inquired.

  Looking around, Dana saw the same looks of curiosity and confusion on most faces. Glancing at Max, Dana noted she alone had a look of resignation and understanding. Recalling how little Mordecai had known of their theology, Dana did not blame everyone for their lack of understanding. “It is not so simple. I am a part of the Triumvirate. I am one of the original three entities in the cosmos – in reality. I am bound by rules of my own making.”

  “The Triumvirate? It’s real? And you’re one of them?” Darius asked, standing up from his seat at the table. “I’ve read about the Big Three but I thought it was just a myth.”

  “The Big Three?” Dana’s lips twitched, knowing Tempus and Tanda would get a kick out of the name.

  Darius flushed, looking at his brother. “That’s what Dex used to call them when he read me stories when I was a child.”

  “It is,” Dex admitted. “I’d forgotten. Or rather, I had believed them to be bedtime fables.”

  “They are not fables,” Dana admitted.

  “Okay, for those of us who have never heard the word Triumvirate in their lives – what the hell is it?” Ryker piped up.

  “Mother Nature. Father Time. And Death,” Darius supplied.

  “Did you just say Death? And Father Time? They’re real?” Ryker asked, eyes wide.

  “They are. We three were the first of our kind,” Dana said.

  “Uncle Tempus and Uncle Tanda are cool,” Max offered into the silence of the room. “I didn’t always remember them, but I have since I regained my memory this last time.”

  “Uncle Death?” Ryker wheezed in disbelief.

  Dana was amused because they had all come such a long way in treating her more like family than a deity. But apparently learning there was a Grim Reaper and a Father Time was still a lot to take in. “Other planes have other rulers of course – other gods and goddesses – but the Triumvirate are the original. It is a huge responsibility and not one I can simply ignore in favour of just doing whatever I want.”

  Silence reigned for several moments before Beyden raised his hand. “Uh, you said other gods and other planes of existence.”

  Dana smiled and nodded at the gentle beast paladin. Dana found him endlessly endearing. “Yes, there are other Gods and Goddesses, including the God,” she said in answer to his question.

  “Greek gods? Roman gods? Wiccan gods? All real?” Lark peppered her with questions.

  Dana shrugged negligently. “Sure. They are not all involved with this world in the here and now, but yes – all real.”

  “Zeus? Zeus is real?” Lark was getting excited.

  Dana rolled her eyes, “That guy? Yes, he is real – a real prick. Truly, if you ever want a lesson in arrogance, just ask Zeus.”

  “I bet this is what a stroke feels like,” Darius commented. Diana patted him on the back in a comforting way, but even she looked shocked by the revelations.

  “Anyway,” Max said, clapping her hands and gaining everyone’s attention. “The point is, if mum stays here and crosses the line like she did before she will be subject to the same punishments as she was before.”

  “Punishment? What the fuck do you mean punishment?”

  Chapter Nine

  After cooling his jets for a while, Mordecai and his Order had driven back to Max’s home for the evening meal. He and his brothers had officially moved out just two nights prior. The HQ was by no means complete, but his set of rooms on the upper floor was set up enough to house him and his paladins. It wasn’t that he didn’t love being around Max and her family, but he was a more reserved individual and he valued his space. Something that was in short supply at Max’s home. The HQ had been designed with three storeys, the top level being reserved for a series of suites for the IDC as they travelled in and out of the countr
y. Mordecai’s wing of five bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and three bathrooms was going to be a permanent home for him and his Order. For the first time in memory, Aiden, Bastien, Tobias, and Madigan would have their own bedrooms. Everyone was very excited, even though the rooms only consisted of beds for now.

  After an aggravating drive where he was forced to endure teasing from his Order about the kiss he shared with Dana, they had arrived and been greeted by Zombie. The dog was always excited to see him and they had all delivered pats and tummy rubs before the happy dog had run off, leading the way to the kitchen. It was no surprise most of the house was congregated there. It was the heart of the house. But what was a surprise was hearing Dana talk about a Triumvirate. Such a word had been tossed about when he was a child, but as Dex said, Mordecai had believed them to be naught but tales. The only true goddess of their people was Mother Nature. His mind was reeling with the new information, wondering exactly what it meant for Dana when his ears pinged on the word punishment. That’s when he saw red and his protective instincts went into overdrive.

  “Punishment? What the fuck do you mean punishment?” He practically shouted as he stalked into the room.

  Dana’s hand flew to her chest and she gasped. “Mordecai.”

  He ignored the way his name sounded on her lips, instead focusing on what Max had just revealed. “What is Max talking about, Dana?”

  Dana sighed, looking suddenly exhausted. Still, she answered, “What I did that night with you – it broke all manner of rules. Rules I helped create. Rules I help maintain. And rules I help enforce.”

  “Are you saying you were punished for sleeping with me?” Mordecai’s voice was incredulous.

  “I …” Dana looked around at all the curious faces, snapping her mouth shut.

  Growling, Mordecai strode forward and grabbed her hand. Tugging her along with him, he pulled her from the room. He mentally told his Order to stay as he walked with Dana outside, not stopping until they were standing alone on the beach. “Talk,” he commanded.

  “I do not know where to start,” Dana admitted, looking a little lost and unsure.

  Mordecai told himself to calm down, willing his heartrate to return to normal as he reached for patience. He hadn’t meant to go all caveman, but the thought of Dana being hurt felt like a punch to the gut. It made him feel nauseated and made him want to strip her down and look for injuries. Which was utter madness. He had only just resolved not to hate the woman. Still, there was no denying his visceral reaction to the thought of her being punished. Tugging on the hand he still had a death grip on, he urged her to sit on the sand. He winced a little as the cold sand permeated his slacks. The sun was setting and the sand, as well as the air, was very cool. Looking over at Dana, he noted she was wearing a blue loose shirt over a pair of skin-tight white pants. Although the shirt had long sleeves it wasn’t very thick, and he cursed himself for not thinking of her comfort. “Come here,” he said, gesturing her forward.

  “What?” Dana squeaked as Mordecai simply plucked her up and placed her between his legs where he was sitting on the sand.

  “I can’t do much about the temperature of the sand, but at least I can keep your top-half warm,” he explained as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close so her back rested against his chest. He pulled his knees up so she was effectively cocooned, and he rested his chin on top of her head. Inhaling deeply, he felt a little lightheaded from how good she smelled. Not to mention how unbelievably soft her hair was. And then there was the softness of her breasts as they pressed against his forearms ... “Maybe this was a bad idea,” he muttered, more to himself than to Dana.

  “No,” Dana was quick to reply. “It is very cold. I am much warmer now. Thank you.”

  Mordecai tightened his arms a fraction before urging Dana to explain once more. “Start at the beginning.”

  Dana blew out a breath, her head falling back and resting on his shoulder. Her pretty eyes peered up at him as she began to talk. “The curtain you speak so forcefully about –”

  “I’m sorry about that. You were right; I had no idea what I was talking about. I was an arse,” he interrupted, still feeling fear from the word punishment and wanting so badly to make things right. For years, he had allowed his anger to lead him instead of his head. No more.

  Dana squeezed his forearm, silently acknowledging his words. “Well, the veil can act as a window, it is true. But from the time I conceived Max until the time she went supernova, it was nothing like a curtain for me. It was more like prison bars.”

  Mordecai stiffened, “You were locked up?”

  “Locked out is more accurate,” Dana admitted.

  Mordecai allowed the words to roll through his mind for a moment before they finally clicked. “You couldn’t cross the veil?”

  “No. Not at all.”

  “So, when you said you couldn’t do anything all those years Max was lost here – you meant it literally.” It was a statement rather than a question.

  “Very literally,” Dana confirmed. “I could see and I could hear, but I could not pass.”

  Mordecai felt his anger returning. “Why didn’t you say anything before?” he ground out.

  Dana peered back at him once again, her face close to his. “And why would I?”

  Mordecai opened his mouth only to snap it closed before he finally got the words out on his third attempt. “Why? Because I was horrible to you! You let me think you didn’t give a damn about Max and her wellbeing. You let your people think you were ignoring them – ignoring their prayers in their greatest time of need.”

  Dana faced the ocean once more, her eyes lingering on the sun setting in the distance. “The truth does not change anything, Mordecai. Besides, you were – are – more than entitled to your anger. My paladins and wardens are more than entitled to their pain and grief and bitterness. The why of how I was absent for so many years is irrelevant. It only matters that I was absent.”

  “But not of your own choosing,” he pointed out.

  “No. Not of my own choosing,” Dana’s voice was sure and firm. "Although, you need to understand that I did understand and accept my punishment. I had earned it. I hate the consequences of my actions and I wish more than anything I could have helped our daughter and my guardians of nature. But I broke the rules. Important rules.”

  “You’re not allowed to have sex? No, that can’t be right. It’s not like you were a virgin that night,” he quickly added. Silence met his statement and he felt his insides start to knot up and sweat form on his forehead. “Dana? You weren’t a virgin, right?”

  Dana stared resolutely ahead, saying, “It wasn’t the sex. Do not worry. Sex is allowed. I was punished for creating a new thread.”

  Mordecai blew out a breath of relief. He wasn’t sure his ego could handle it if he found out he was Dana’s first. There was no finesse and no consideration that went into his lovemaking that night. He was too raw, too angry, and too drunk to do much more than ensure Dana had orgasmed with him. Putting those thoughts to the side, he latched onto what she had revealed. “A thread?”

  Dana nodded, relaxing back against him once more. “Every life force has a thread – an origin and a destination. Now, that thread, it can take many detours on the way, get tangled up, turned around, burn out, get cut. That is free will, you see. It is free will that allows these deviations from the original path. It allows people – and all living things – to end at a different place or a different time than they were originally destined to when the thread was first created.”

  “Wait, are these the threads Max often talks about? What she can see with her weird custodian-hybrid vision? The threads of light connecting souls, people, places …?” Mordecai guessed.

  Dana nodded. “Yes. Exactly. They represent a lifetime of choices as well as our fate.”

  “Okay,” Mordecai allowed, trying to follow Dana’s information. “So, destiny is fluid?”

  “In a very literal sense; yes. But as much as
our life threads can be altered, there is one rule that is universally infinite; we all get just one thread. One thread to do with as we will in that one lifetime. I can see the threads, the same way Max can. But I cannot create them. The Sisters are responsible for that. My thread had no biological children. In any time, in any place. Custodians are entirely different – made of energy and formed from power – they have no physical bodies, even though I refer to them as my offspring.” Dana paused, stroking Mordecai’s arm in an absent way. “Somehow, when we slept together, we created a whole new thread.”

  “We created Max,” he stated.

  “Yes,” Dana smiled back at him. “We created Max. A child unforeseen by the Fates themselves. It caused a conundrum amongst the deities. Luckily, I was not the first. A precedence had been set millennia ago. I was one of the gods to bestow the punishment at the time. It was only fitting that I received the same. Balance. The scales must always be balanced.”

  “Virtual imprisonment? You weren’t hurt?” Mordecai pushed for clarification, his mind reeling.

  “For every year I harboured the new life force, I would serve double that time in isolation behind the veil. No more interference in the world I helped create. No more answering the prayers of the beings I was charged with protecting and maintaining nature. Nor those of the ones born with the birthright to guard them. I could watch, and I could listen, but I could not act. It was a prison with no walls – yet with surround sound.” She shuddered, gripping his arms tighter. “But I did hurt, Mordecai. More than you can imagine.”

  Mordecai tightened his arms and legs, practically squishing her but she didn’t protest. Instead they sat in silence and watched as the last orange glow of the sun disappeared from the sky and was replaced with a blanket of dark blue. Soon the sky would be black and millions of stars would be visible to the naked eye. He rocked the woman in his arms and held her as she cried, and he wondered how he could have ever thought her cold or unfeeling. She felt so much – too much. She was like Max, a sponge for energy everywhere, but unlike Max, who now had her large Order to share her burden with, Dana had no one. She’d had no one for several eternities. Mordecai vowed then and there to do better by her and just like that, he let go of his final feelings of resentment and angst.