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

by Montana Ash

  Dawn’s voice, when she finally spoke, was dry. “Thank you. But I assure you, I can service myself.”

  Knox felt his eyes widen and he very deliberately did not look at any of his sons. They were notorious pranksters as well as flirts and Dawn had made that way too easy. Knox cleared his throat, “I’m happy for you. I happen to have made a career out of servicing myself too. But I think we might be talking about two different things here. The Great Mother seems to think I may be of some assistance to you. Regarding the orphanage and the clinic, and perhaps even the ill paladins.”

  Dawn’s hazel eyes were wide, and she covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head furiously. “Gods! I did not mean it like –” she snapped her mouth shut, glaring at her four paladins, who were lined up behind her. She then schooled her features and turned back to Knox. “I simply meant that I am capable of handling all the tasks I was given. But thank you.”

  ‘Hmm, that thank you sounds remarkably like fuck off,’ Kai noted, speaking to Knox directly through their very new Order link.

  ‘Yeah, no shit,’ Knox agreed. He didn’t bother turning to his three paladins who had ventured closer upon hearing the conversation. Blu, Max, and Mordecai had given Knox permission to form an official Order with his sons a couple of months before the new IDC was formed. He may not be a warden anymore, but he required vitality just the same. At first, he had been reluctant to accept the offer from his sons. He feared hurting them in any way and he wasn’t sure he could trust his newfound healing. But, after much open communication, he had learned that his reluctance to form an Order with them was hurting them anyway. After being separated from him for so long and thinking him dead or lost forever to madness, they craved closeness. Knox could safely say it was the best decision of his life, and his boys were right. Their relationship had grown by leaps and bounds, and they were all managing to straddle the line between father/son and liege/knight well within their Order of Domus.

  Refocusing on the matter at hand, Knox tried again. “I have no doubt about that, my lady. As a female life warden, you are more than qualified to handle whatever life throws at you.”

  For some reason, his compliment fell flat once more, with Dawn’s face shutting down. He looked over Dawn’s shoulder to find one of her male paladins gesturing quickly with his hand in a slashing motion near his neck. Knox wasn’t the smartest man in the room, but he knew that meant to shut the hell up. He snapped his mouth closed but couldn’t deny he was starting to feel a little frustrated. He was usually much better received by women.

  “Yes. Well. This life warden is not in need of your aid,” Dawn’s voice was clipped and cool and she spun around to leave.

  Knox reached out and grabbed her arm in a gentle loose grip. They both immediately gasped, and Knox dropped his hand with a swift apology. He had no idea why Dawn was gasping but Knox had felt something like electricity jump from her arm to his. It wasn’t altogether unpleasant, but he didn’t think it was normal either. Still, not only had his orders come from Mother Nature herself, he was also a stubborn son of a bitch, so he tried one more time to figure out what was going on with the complicated woman in front of him. “Don’t go. I apologise. I seem to have offended you in some way.”

  Dawn rubbed her arm, frown lines coming to life on her forehead as she looked down at the limb. Then she looked up and met Knox’s gaze directly. She stared at him for a moment before her shoulders slumped and she sighed, shaking her long hair back over her shoulders with the motion of her head. “No. I am the one who should be sorry. You’ve caught me at the wrong time – I’m in a poor mood. I was just the wrong audience for your word choice.”

  “My word choice?” Knox quickly replayed the conversation in his head. Sure, there had been a misunderstanding and an innuendo in the beginning of their conversation, but even then, he had been nothing but polite.

  “When you repeatedly referred to me as a life warden,” Dawn said, obviously thinking she was clarifying things, but it only served to confuse Knox more.

  “But you are a warden of the life element,” Knox pointed out, talking slowly.

  “I am,” Dawn allowed. “But that is not all I am.”

  Knox reared back, a lightbulb turning on in his head. It appeared Dawn had taken exception to him mentioning her status. Knox couldn’t say he fully understood her reasons why, but clearly it was a sensitive issue for her. He, of all people, understood what it was like to be judged on what you were, rather than who you were. First, as a chade and then as a chaden. So it was no hardship to say, “Of course not. You are also a woman and a friend – and all manner of other things I haven’t yet had the privilege to discover. But I sure would like to.”

  Dawn looked surprised. “You would?” she asked.

  He wanted to jump up and down and say hell yeah! But he remained the mature adult he was, instead replying calmly, “I would.”

  “Huh. Okay, well. That’s good … I guess.” Dawn looked at him like a puzzle she was trying to solve. “Please accept my apologies for my behaviour. Not the best first impression, huh?”

  Knox appreciated the self-deprecating humour, and he chuckled. “Trust me, I’ve certainly had worse. And yes, I accept your apology. Although, it’s hardly necessary. If this is you in a bad mood, I think you’re doing okay.”

  Dawn shook her head, “As I said, you’ve been unlucky enough to catch me at a bad time. Thank you for accepting my apology – and for being so understanding.” She paused, cocking her head to the side in thought, before barking out an appealing laugh. “I can’t believe I said I service myself.”

  Knox smiled and then felt his grin widen as he watched Dawn giggle and shake her head. Her cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink and her thick, chestnut hair swished around her shoulders with every move of her head. It seemed she wasn’t as uptight as he had been starting to believe. In fact, her sense of humour was alive and kicking and she wasn’t afraid to laugh at herself. Knox appreciated that in a person. “Should we start again? I am Knox, an air chaden. These are my sons as well as my Order,” he gestured to his three boys over his shoulder without turning. “And Dana thought I might be of some assistance to you.”

  “Assistance … would be nice,” Dawn allowed, speaking slowly as if not fully on board with the words yet.

  But Knox didn’t care. He was taking them as acceptance and running with them. Dawn had intrigued him, made him laugh, and shown she was independent. She was also astoundingly beautiful, with a statuesque body of an Amazon warrior of old. He was eager to spend more time with her any way he could. Helping her out at Dana’s request was the perfect excuse. “Excellent. Just tell me where you need me and when and I’ll be there.”

  “That … would also be nice,” Dawn said, just as slowly.

  Knox grinned. It seemed the woman didn’t quite know what to make of him. He could definitely work with that. Still, one thing was troubling him. “If I may ask, what had you in such a mood?”

  Dawn’s mouth firmed and her eyes narrowed in the direction of a male warden in the corner of the room. “I admit, I’m a little sensitive about the whole ‘female life warden’ thing as it stands. I was placed on a pedestal as a child and treated like royalty. I’m sure a lot of wardens would have loved it, but I always found it to be …” she trailed off.

  “Fucking annoying?” Knox filled in the blank.

  Dawn was startled into a laugh, her eyes lighting up happily. “Yes. Fucking annoying. Anyway, that douche nozzle over there,” she gestured to the man she had been staring at. “He is a life warden. He seemed to think I would welcome his advances to make little life warden babies. It is our duty, after all,” Dawn added, mockingly.

  Knox felt his whole body tense up and he clenched his fists. His feet began to lift off the ground and air swirled around him in a menacing fashion. Kai, Kane, and Kellan were quick to move next to him, each reaching out and placing a hand on him to soothe and calm him. Knox took a few deep breaths, feeling his feet hit the floor ag
ain. He knew his anger was over the top – he hardly knew Dawn. But the thought of some prick soliciting her for sex and/or babies made him see red.

  “I’m going to go punch him in the nutsack,” he stated. Before he could move, Dawn’s warm laugh gave him pause. And he looked over to find her smiling and happy.

  “I think we’re going to get along just fine, Knox,” she said, absolutely delighting him. “And I think you and my potentate will also become good friends. He had the same idea, though it included nose-breaking instead. I’m going to tell you what I told Micah; I can take care of myself. Percival isn’t the first to solicit me in such a way and he won’t be the last. Still, it clearly affected me more than I realised, considering I practically jumped down your throat when we first met. But Percival had just gotten through giving me a lecture about how special I am – being a female life warden and how it was my responsibility to continue on the legacy.”

  “I understand,” Knox said. And he did. He didn’t blame Dawn one bit. He looked over at Percival one last time, assuring himself he wouldn’t forget the other man’s features and hoping they would cross paths at some point in the future. He then looked at Micah, Dawn’s Captain and potentate. The other man gave him a knowing look, as well as a small nod, and Knox knew they were on the same page.

  “Well, thank you. Umm, tomorrow I will be at the orphanage with Celeste. Although the headquarters here are almost complete, there is still a lot to do and a lot to organise for the children’s home,” Dawn informed him.

  Knox nodded his head. There was still a lot of physical construction to be done, as well as the entire interior and the landscaping. His chadens had started on the HQ building first and now that they were down to the finer details, like paint colours as the IDC had just been discussing an hour before, they were now focusing their attention on the new orphanage. Knox was so proud of his fellow chadens and all they had accomplished at Eden. To say they were proving themselves to be useful as well as valued members of society was an understatement. That was not to say Knox was under any illusions. He knew how hard it was going to be for paladins and wardens to accept chadens back into their exclusive world. As chades, many of them had done terrible things. And on the flip side to that, rangers, wardens and paladins had committed atrocities to chades as well. The chade infection had a lot to answer for and it caused numerous physical as well as mental and emotional injuries. But the one thing it didn’t do was erase the memory of the time they all spent as chades. It was going to be a long road. But at least we have a road now, Knox reminded himself.

  Getting himself back on track, he nodded to Dawn and her Order. “We will meet you there. Mid-morning okay? I have some things to see to myself with the chadens in the early hours.”

  “Yes. Of course. That would be fine,” Dawn replied.

  Knox began to walk off, his boys in tow, but he paused when Dawn called his name. “Yes?”

  “Thank you,” she said simply, smiling at him.

  Knox felt like her smile hit him straight in the gut. “It’s my pleasure,” he said, immediately praying their relationship was going to be just that. A pleasure.

  Chapter Two

  “I’m nervous. Why am I nervous?” Dawn queried, pacing back and forth along the cliff’s edge of Eden.

  “Because you’re waiting for a smoking hot man to turn up and help you hammer in some nails.” All eyes turned to Piper. Dawn’s second in command shrugged, “What? That wasn’t a euphemism. You’re literally building a door today.”

  Dawn groaned, ignoring Piper as well as her other three paladins as she looked out over the cliff and at the vast ocean below. She liked to think she was in a better mood than she had been yesterday when poor Knox had first introduced himself, but the truth was she was tired. She had spent the better part of the night tossing and turning in bed, replaying her initial conversation with Knox over and over. The whole thing made her cringe and she had her doubts that the chaden would even show up. If she were him, she would boycott the meeting – no matter what the Great Mother said.

  “Oh, he’ll show up. Don’t worry,” Reid said, looking smugly male.

  “How do you know?” Dawn asked.

  Reid looked pained for a moment before glancing at his three counterparts. “You explain it,” he said to Willow, giving her a little shove in Dawn’s direction.

  Willow, not one for taking crap on any level whatsoever, shoved Reid back. “She hasn’t understood for the past five hundred years. What makes you think she will now? I’m not explaining crap. I’m just going to sit back and watch the show.”

  Dawn frowned at her Order, completely clueless as to what they were talking about. It was true, she didn’t have the best track record when it came to men. And she was absolutely terrible at picking up on signals. Did her Order know something about Knox she did not? The thought caused her belly to jitter, though she did not understand why. She had never spoken to Knox before yesterday, although, she had talked with his sons on a few occasions. They were very handsome young men, as well as charismatic and too charming for their own good. She had no trouble deciphering their flirtatious behaviour at all. Besides, she happened to know their bark was worse than their bite, so to speak. Sure, they were ladies’ men, but they weren’t as prolific as their reputations suggested.

  “So, you think he will come? Even though I embarrassed myself yesterday?” she asked her Order. She had no idea why it was so important to her that Knox come. Nor why the thought of him thinking ill of her bothered her so much.

  “Dawn, you did not embarrass yourself. Nothing about you is embarrassing, and I guarantee Knox feels the same way. It was just bad timing and poor word choice on his part. Although, it is normal and expected to be shown respect, Dawn,” Micah pointed out.

  Dawn sighed, turning from her paladins once more. She knew it was expected. She knew it was normal. But that didn’t change her feelings. By the time she had reached one-hundred and had already gone through two council mandated Orders, she had been sick of the title of ‘Life Warden’. At the time, her local council in London had taken it upon themselves to place the strongest life paladins with her – no matter that she didn’t like any of the men chosen. But after breaking two Orders within eighty years, the local council had thrown their hands up in the air and finally called in the IDC. Garret, Mordecai and Blu had attended her personally and did what they could to diffuse the situation. Even back then, she had been one of only a handful of female wardens attuned to life. Nobody had wanted to upset her further. In the end, it was Mordecai and Blu who had thankfully given her permission to create an Order of her choosing.

  It had taken her less than a week to choose her childhood friend, Micah, as her Captain. He was a life paladin as well as a potentate. Piper, a paladin affiliated with death came next, followed by Willow and Reid. She caused a bit of a stir with those two because they were neither life nor death paladins – the typical balancing factors for life and death wardens. But Dawn had felt a natural and instinctive draw to the siblings and had asked them personally to join her Order. Willow as an earth paladin, and Reid as a water paladin, had been suitably shocked at the offer, but after a mere day they had agreed, both feeling the connection as well. It had been smooth sailing since then, and even though they respected her and her position, they did not fawn over her or smother her. Still, they were rather strict in making sure others showed her due respect. The way Knox had introduced himself had no doubt gone a long way with her Order.

  “Look, here he comes. No need to worry yourself sick over something so silly,” Micah pointed out from behind her.

  Turning, Dawn was struck by the loose-limbed gait of the chaden. He moved as if the air itself parted for him – which, it could very well do. Chadens were still very much enigmas. His dark hair was kind of long, waving behind him like a soft flag, and his grey eyes were lit up with merriment at something one of his sons said. Dawn took her time to study him some more as the four men made their way to them. Knox had a
square jaw and a straight nose. He had more lines on his face than most wardens, but Dawn could not fault him for those. The last few decades of his life had been pure hell. Comparing his face to that of his identical sons, Dawn could easily see the resemblance, although his sons had none of the harshness in their visage nor countenance. Their lives had known grief but not the physical hardship of their father. They still looked young and baby-faced, gorgeous enough to be on a cover of a magazine. But, to her, their father was far more alluring.

  Aiming for casual but in charge, Dawn stood up straight and plastered a smile on her face. “Good morning.”

  Knox’s face froze for a moment, his eyes travelling over her features before he grinned, offering a wave to everyone assembled on the cliff. “Morning.”

  Dawn stood in silence for a moment, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do with him. She knew Dana had thought he may be useful, but Dawn was yet to speak with the woman and question her. It was true, Dawn had a long list of things to see to. But she revelled in finally being useful to her people in a hands-on way. The idea of requiring aid for her responsibilities stung a little, but as she peeked at Knox’s aura, she saw a man who desperately wanted the same thing. He yearned for purpose and the chance to prove himself. Dawn felt he had already achieved both of those things, but as a perfectionist and an overachiever herself, she couldn’t fault him. So, it was with much greater enthusiasm that she welcomed him and formally introduced her paladins.

  “Thank you for coming. I’m not sure if you have officially met my Order? This is Micah, my potentate, Piper, my second in command, Willow, and her brother Reid. We are the Order of Adalla.”

  Knox’s smile was genuine as he said hello to everyone before introducing his own paladins. “Kai, Kane, and Kellan – my sons and paladins. Kai is a potentate and we don’t really have a second in command. We don’t really have a first in command either,” Knox added, rolling his eyes before whispering to Dawn in a conspiratorial way, “I’m not allowed to play favourites.”