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

by Montana Ash

  “Please, everyone knows I’m the favourite. The baby is always the favourite,” Kellan pointed out.

  “You wish. The oldest is the best and favourite,” Kane quipped.

  Kai rolled his eyes, “As if. We all know I’m the favourite. I’m the only potentate, clearly I’m the superior model.”

  “You’re the middle model. You’re simply a carbon copy of both of us. We bookended you and you got all the potentate abilities by osmosis,” Kane said, nudging his brother with his shoulder.

  All three men grinned at each other and Dawn could see the very deep, very unique connection they all shared. She wasn’t surprised. Triplets were incredibly rare in their society, especially identical triplets. Had they been born wardens, they would likely have held a higher position than her, even though they were affiliated with air. “Well, today we are constructing the front door,” Dawn finally offered, gesturing to the now complete building behind her.

  It was a truly lovely piece of architecture, and now that the windows were going in, it was time to fit the exterior doors. There were still many chadens working on the project, but as one of the people put in charge of the running of the orphanage, Dawn had wanted to help with the entryway. It was symbolic. The problem was, she had no idea how to do that. There was a pile of materials and tools waiting to be put to use, as Celeste had promised. Speaking of Celeste, Dawn’s best friend was supposed to be there helping with the symbolic door raising.

  Knox walked over to the gaping hole in the entranceway before looking at the piles of lumber. “Is this for the door?” he asked.

  Dawn nodded, “Yes. Do you know how to build a door?”

  Knox grinned, “As a matter of fact I do. Dave’s motel as well as the bar required extensive renovations. It was a steep learning curve, but it gave all of us chadens something tangible to do.”

  Dawn jolted a little over the reminder of his chaden status. It was so easy to forget he was anything but whole and well. Looking between him and his sons, she felt a whole bunch of pity as well as admiration well up for them all. “Will you help me?” she asked, figuring Celeste would either show up or she wouldn’t. She knew her friend was also very busy, and Dawn didn’t begrudge her time with her son or lover either.

  “I would love to,” Knox replied. He gestured at his sons, who happily moved forward to lay the wood and tools out neatly.

  What followed was a quick yet detailed rundown of how a door was made, hinged, and hung. Dawn found the whole thing very enjoyable. Or perhaps it was the company that was so pleasant. The view sure was, she thought. She was so busy checking out Knox’s very fine arse, that she missed the nail she was attempting to hammer and hit her thumb instead. “Ow!” she cried, jumping up and shaking her hand. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!”

  “What happened? Let me see,” Knox demanded, looking concerned. He grabbed her hand in a firm yet gentle grip and winced when he saw how red the top of her thumb looked. “Ouch.”

  Dawn glared at him, “That’s what I said.”

  Knox chuckled, the laugh lines surrounding his mouth and eyes crinkling in an appealing manner. “I heard you. I think all of Eden heard you.”

  Dawn snatched her hand back. So much for him being appealing, she thought. He was a complete jerk.

  Knox held up his hands, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. I know how much that hurts. Here, let me help before all the blood rushes to your nail and it turns black.”

  Dawn was about to tell him not to bother. Life was hers to command and it had healing properties to a certain extent. Besides, a few hits of vitality from her paladins and her poor thumb would be good as new. But she became entranced as his dark grey eyes became even darker until they were almost black. The wind picked up around them and a small whirlwind of cool air brushed over her thumbnail. It tickled as much as it soothed, and Dawn smiled at the small but mighty tornado. It dissipated after a few minutes and Dawn was left staring at her now painless thumb. It still looked like it was going to bruise, but it no longer hurt.

  Looking up, she was about to thank Knox when she blurted out instead, “Your eyes.”

  Knox froze, immediately ducking his head. “Ah, sorry about that. A remnant from being a chade. I, ah, just remembered I needed to do something. I’ll see you later, Dawn. You’ve done a great job here this morning.”

  Knox fled before Dawn could so much as utter a goodbye. “Um, thank you!” she called after Knox’s retreating back. She then looked back at his sons, who seemed to share a commiserating look with her own paladins before they hurried after Knox.

  “And that had been going so well,” Willow shook her head.

  “What had? The door? Yes, I think I’ve done a great job,” Dawn agreed, looking down at the completed door. All they had to do was put the hinges on and hang it. It was a shame Knox had to leave.

  “Yes, Dawn. The door,” Willow rolled her eyes at her.

  Dawn narrowed her own eyes, “Why do I hear sarcasm in your voice?” she demanded.

  “Sarcasm? I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Willow said, eyes wide and innocent.

  “See,” Dawn pointed at her paladin. “That right there. Sarcasm.”

  Micah patted Dawn on the shoulder, “Ignore her. Come on. Let’s get this fabulous door you built hung up.”

  “Let’s,” Dawn agreed. But she spent the next hour with one eye focused on the door and one eye searching for Knox.

  Chapter Three

  Knox ignored the knowing looks of his sons as he flitted around Eden, talking with chadens and answering their questions. Yes, he had basically been assigned to Dawn for the foreseeable future, but he still had responsibilities with his fellow chadens. He, along with Dex, were their constants in this new and complex situation they found themselves in. Knox knew they were all grateful to have been made whole again, the affliction that was the chade disease was in their pasts now. But it was still a recent past and being a chade was traumatising. He’d been lucky. He had his sons to ground him, to make his new life worth living. But a lot of the chadens had no family, and no friends. They were also so new in society that not many wardens or paladins went out of their way to make friends either. Knox couldn’t really blame them. The changes wrought in their society in such a short timeframe were huge. Still, Knox knew the chadens needed something to live for, and something to ground them. Thankfully, the IDC was giving them the former by delegating them work and showing trust. And Knox was happy to be the latter for as long as it took.

  Seeing Dex talking with Celeste as well as Slate in what would be the backyard of the orphanage, Knox headed their way. “Hey. Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Knox,” Dex looked surprised to see him. “Hey. I thought you were playing personal assistant to Dawn.”

  Knox shrugged, avoiding eye contact with his good friend and fellow chaden. “I am. Just taking a break, checking on other things, you know?”

  Dex squinted at him, but it was Celeste who called bullshit. “What did she say?” Celeste asked, looking amused but sounding resigned.

  Knox looked up, “What do you mean?”

  “Dawn is my best friend, so I’m not going to talk behind her back. However, I want to give you fair warning; she is a little clueless sometimes. I know, I know, it seems crazy, right? I mean, she is mature and confident, and her domain is life. She can literally read you like an open book. Not to the same extent as Max, of course, but she can still see your aura. But, trust me when I say, Dawn can be a little oblivious. I think it’s because she’s trained her brain never to pry into people’s privacy. It kind of puts some blinders on her under certain circumstances.”

  Knox listened to Celeste keenly. He had noted Dawn’s less than stellar observational skills in some areas. But then she was more adept than Sherlock Holmes in others. Add in those astounding looks, and Knox was more than a little intrigued on a purely male level. “What kind of circumstances?”

  “The kind of circumstances that involve her accepting com
pliments for anything other than her duties. Or judging when someone likes her for more than just her status,” Celeste divulged.

  Knox thought about that for a moment, before saying, “So, basically any time it has to do with Dawn just being Dawn?”

  “Precisely.” Celeste leaned in close and whispered in his ear. “As well as around sexy men – such as yourself.”

  Knox grinned, more than a little relieved and happy to hear it. He shook a mocking finger at Celeste, “Now, don’t go flirting. You had your chance. I offered you pizza and you declined it.”

  “Pizza? Did someone say pizza?” Max’s voice reached them a moment before the short woman herself. She looked around the small group, her face falling comically. “There’s no pizza.”

  Knox bowed low, “I am so sorry to disappoint you, my lady. But we were talking about metaphorical pizza.”

  Max’s brows knit as she thought about it for a moment, before deciding, “It’s hard to choose what is better at this stage. I’m so hungry. But then, Ryker cut me off two days ago,” she revealed.

  “Cut you off from what? Pizza?” Dex asked, confused.

  Celeste giggled, “Dex, pizza is a euphemism for sex.”

  Dex’s eyes popped wide. “It is? Since when?”

  Knox laughed, enjoying the easy banter as well as the camaraderie. He watched as Ryker, Lark, and Beyden moved swiftly toward them, he and his three sons making room for Max’s three paladins in their little circle.

  “Max.” Ryker’s voice was exasperated. “Please do not disappear like that.”

  “Although, how she can be so stealthy with that stomach of hers is anyone’s guess,” Lark chimed in, softening the words with a quick smile.

  Knox looked at Max’s pregnant belly and took note of how far it extended from her body now. It was also very, very round looking. To his inexperienced eyes, she looked about ready to pop, but he knew she still had a couple of months to go. But then, she was very short and the only place for her belly to go was straight out. When Evangeline had gotten pregnant with the triplets, she had also been huge, but she had been over six-feet tall, creating the illusion of a smaller bump for the better part of the pregnancy. But then, she had done her best to hide all signs of the impending birth for the longest time as well. Shaking his head to rid it of thoughts he had not dwelled on since his return, he refocused on the ongoing conversation.

  “I was just telling everyone how you won’t have sex with me anymore,” Max stated.

  “You what? Max!” Ryker bellowed.

  “What? It’s true,” Max fired back.

  Ryker looked pained but also resigned as he took Max’s hand in his own. “Babe, we’ve talked about this. No sharing details of our sex life with the world.”

  Max shrugged, “It’s just Dex … and Celeste … and Knox … and the triplets … oh, and Slate. Hi Slate,” she added, waving to the man.

  Knox winced, having entirely forgotten the earth warden was even there. He had stepped away when Celeste began talking about Dawn, and although he wasn’t exactly within the gossiping ring, he was still close enough to hear all that was being said.

  Slate smiled small, nodding at Max. “Hello, my lady.”

  Knox found it interesting that Max didn’t correct Slate. Usually, Max hated being referred to by any formal title.

  ‘It’s because he needs to. It would make him uncomfortable to call me Max. He feels the need to make amends.’

  Max’s voice rang clear and true in his mind. It wasn’t the first time she had spoken to him directly, so it no longer surprised him. Max was powerful and full of unique abilities. He simply nodded back to show he had heard and made a mental note not to tease the other man about it. If Max felt it was important, then it was important to Knox as well. Still, he addressed him, drawing him into the conversation. “I’m sorry I interrupted earlier.”

  “It’s fine. We were just discussing the landscaping for the back area here,” Slate divulged.

  “Cool,” Max chirped, “What did you decide?”

  “Slate thought that instead of getting a bunch of earth wardens and chadens to stimulate everything with their powers, that it would be good to put out a call for everyone to come and join in a planting day,” Celeste replied, smiling widely at Slate.

  Slate looked slightly uncomfortable under everyone’s scrutiny. “It was just a thought.”

  “It’s a wonderful thought. Thank you, Slate. Let’s do it. Start spreading the word. We can have kind of like a community day where everyone can have a look through the new HQ and the orphanage – even though the latter isn’t ready yet. HQ is coming along nicely now and almost completely decorated. It will be officially opening soon.”

  They talked for a few more minutes, deciding on a date one week from now and also dividing up who would inform who.

  “Dad will tell Dawn,” Kai volunteered out of the blue.

  Max turned to Kai, eyebrows raised. “He will?”

  Kai grinned, “Yep. He needs something to break the ice. He’s hiding over here because he took something she said the wrong way and it hurt his feelings.”

  “Kai!” This time it was Knox’s turn to bellow.

  “What? It’s true,” Kane supported his brother.

  Everyone was staring at him. “I am not hiding from Dawn. And my feelings aren’t hurt,” he told them all. They all continued to stare at him until he snarled at them all and stalked off – straight in Dawn’s direction, just to prove a point.

  The closer he got to the tall beauty, the more anxious he became. Because, yes, he had been hurt. He tried very hard to forget that his body and his powers were permanently altered thanks to his chade status. But using his powers was second nature to him and he hadn’t thought twice about using them to help poor Dawn’s thumb. Which was why he practically ran away when she had mentioned his eyes. It had been a stark reminder that he was a changed man. That he was a lesser man. And for some reason, he did not want Dawn to see him that way. Which was why he took the cowards way out, relaying the information about the gardening and community day to the first of Dawn’s paladins he reached. Willow. She listened politely, but the look she gave him was full of hidden meaning. Knox nodded slightly, promising himself he would get his head back together before their next meeting. He was due to meet up with Dawn at the Training Lodge the following day and he hoped one night was enough to think on what Celeste had told him.

  Chapter Four

  Knox showed up at the Training Lodge bright and early, his sons dutifully in tow. Dawn released the breath she hadn’t been aware she had been holding. She had spent the night fretting over Knox and wondering if she should just tell him she didn’t require his aid. Just because she enjoyed his company didn’t mean he felt the same way about her. He was no doubt just doing his duty as the Great Mother had commanded him to do. Dawn was sure it had nothing to do with actually wanting to help her at all. She was opening her mouth to let Knox off the hook when he spoke first.

  “I’m sorry about leaving so abruptly yesterday. I thought you had an issue with my eyes. You know, the whole black pits of despair thing,” he stated bluntly.

  Knox’s grin was self-deprecating, but no less appealing to her as he made his statement without so much as a good morning. And then she processed what he said. She was suitably horrified and rushed to say, “Oh, no. I didn’t mean it like that, honest. They just surprised me is all – kind of mesmerised me. That’s why I commented on them.”

  “Mesmerised?” Knox looked sceptical. “They don’t bother you? I don’t bother you?”

  Dawn was genuinely perplexed. “Why would you bother me?” Other than for the fact that he was causing her to have sex dreams for the first time in her entire life, that was. Her Order, having heard her inner monologue, snickered in her head. She shushed them, not bothering to be embarrassed. Some boundaries had been torn down centuries ago.

  Knox smiled at her, looking more at ease. “Because I was a chade. Because I still have some of the t
raits of a chade.”

  “The fact that you were once unwell does not bother me in the slightest. Other than feeling sorry you had to go through that of course. And you no longer have any traits of a chade. The chade was an infection. You now have extra abilities, sure, but that is a side effect of the infection.”

  Ever since the truth had been revealed about the chades, Dawn had come to hate the term. She didn’t believe it was an accurate descriptor because it made it sound like the wardens were whole new people – less people – rather than merely sick people. If she had her way, she would call it the Chade Virus and chadens would be called wardens. That wasn’t to say Dawn didn’t approve of Max giving them a new title. She actually did. And she thought it was a clever way to give them back some of their power, as well as satisfying the wider community. Still, Dawn couldn’t change her other feelings either. She explained as much to Knox, only realising she had been lecturing him on her personal doctrine for a solid twenty minutes.

  “I’m sorry,” she chuckled uneasily. “I’m sure I’ve bored you half to death by now.”

  Knox was looking at her with shining eyes and a small smile. He shook his head, “Not at all. In fact, I could listen to you all day.”

  “You like politics?” she questioned, unsure why her Order shook their heads at her and groaned as if they were in pain.

  Knox looked at them and grinned, before turning back to Dawn. “Celeste was right. No. Idea,” he said slowly and succinctly.

  “You’ve been talking to Celeste? And what do you mean?” Dawn asked, hoping beyond hope her best friend hadn’t said anything to humiliate her.

  “When I said I could listen to you all day, it was because I love the sound of your voice. And I heartily approve of what you were saying. You are very intelligent and very eloquent,” Knox informed her.