by Montana Ash
“Will you two macho men stand down?” Lark halted them. “Beating Ryker up won’t fix anything.”
“The hell you say!” Axel growled, Darius nodding his head in agreement.
Lark rolled his eyes, “We want the best for Max, right? So just wait. Now, Max. Tell us how you felt when Dana told you the baby was going to become a part of the Triumvirate one day?”
Max shrugged, chewing her lip. “It was a surprise, but also not really at the same time. I mean, there are a lot of details I want to know and clarify. I want to speak to Tanda as soon as possible. But overall? I’m okay with it, I guess. I mean, how could I not be? I felt the truth of mum’s words as soon as she uttered them,” she revealed.
“Exactly,” Lark said, as if he had solved all of Max’s problems.
Max glared up at him, “Is that supposed to make sense to me?”
Diana patted Lark on the arm, gently pushing him aside so she could take his place in front of Max. “What Lark is trying to get at is that you feel secure in the information because you can feel your daughter and see the future. Ryker can’t do that. He doesn’t have the powers you do. He doesn’t have the innate knowledge that everything is going the way it is supposed to. All he knows is that someone is telling him his daughter is going to be extra special – to more than just him – and he has to believe them. Max, he was just told he is going to have to share his precious baby with the whole world.”
“The same information doesn’t cause you to have a nervous breakdown because you were born knowing you would belong to the world. You’re desensitised to it,” Cali pointed out.
“Oh,” Max said, finally understanding what they were saying to her. Yes, she supposed it was easy to accept that everything was going to be okay when she could already see her daughter laughing and playing in the shallow waves with her daddy. Max hadn’t ever seen her daughter’s face, but she kept having recurrent dreams about Ryker helping their toddler daughter jump over the waves, her black curly hair shining in the sun and her innocent giggles floating back to Max where she sat on the sand. When Max said she knew her daughter was going to be safe and happy, she meant it literally. It wasn’t just a mother’s hope or wish. She knew it because she felt it with her very soul. Which, now knowing her daughter was going to be like the Queen of souls, raised a whole new bunch of questions.
Max groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “What am I supposed to do?”
“First,” Darius said sternly, still looking like he wanted to punch Ryker. “Get an apology.”
“A big one,” Axel added.
“And then talk about what this all means to you both. Not just what it means to Ryker. And not just what it means to you. But what it means to both of you as parents. You’re in this together,” Beyden pointed out quietly, so unassuming in his wisdom.
Max felt her chin tremble and water flooded her eyes again. “You guys are the best,” she yelled, before bursting into tears once more. Her Order simply smiled and wiped them away.
Chapter Four
“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Ryker cursed himself as he paced back and forth along the sand. He was the first to admit he was a miserable bastard and often flippant with his words. When he had first met Max, he had made the mistake of flinging cruel words at her. But he had never consciously hurt her since then – until today. His carelessness had been born from shock and it was a defence mechanism to be sure, but that was no excuse. He had truly fucked up and if he was going to fix it, he needed the help of his entire Order. If they were still speaking to him. He knew for a fact they were all currently ensconced with Max in the nursery, no doubt cursing his name. He deserved it, and more. Still, he wasn’t ready to back down where his daughter was concerned. If Tanda thought he could swoop in and steal his baby, he had another think coming.
“I have no intentions of stealing your baby.”
Ryker spun around, his duel sickles singing as they left their harnesses. Tanda was standing before him in ripped jeans and a t-shirt, looking cool, calm, and collected. Ryker wanted to take his head off. “What the fuck do you want?”
Tanda held his hands out to the sides. “I simply want to speak with you. I was going to tell you and Max myself, but Dana thought it would be better coming from her.” Tanda’s lips twitched. “I see that it wasn’t.”
“Do you think this is funny?” Ryker asked, incredulous. His grip tightened on his weapons.
Tanda’s face fell flat, his black eyes looking straight through Ryker. “No. I do not.”
“She’s mine. Mine and Max’s. She is not a tool to be used,” Ryker gritted out.
“We are all tools to be used,” Tanda replied. “But why would you think that precludes your daughter being yours? She will always be yours, no matter what duty she has.”
Ryker pointed a sickle at the god. “Don’t play your word games with me. I refuse to accept this.”
Tanda shook his head. “Your acceptance doesn’t change the facts. Your daughter is who she is.”
“She’s a baby! Not even born yet!” Ryker yelled, furious once more.
Tanda didn’t respond to Ryker’s outburst other than to raise a dark eyebrow. “And? It’s not as if I’m going to snatch her from the birthing bed and put the Spear of Destiny into her hands or anything.”
“The Spear of what?” Ryker asked before he could stop himself. He then slashed a sickle through the air. “Stop trying to distract me. You cannot have my daughter.”
Tanda frowned now, taking a step closer to Ryker. “Why do you keep harping on about me taking your baby? I have already said that is not how it works. Dana has said it will be years before any of this comes to fruition. Even your woman has said she is okay with it. Why do you insist on being wilfully ignorant?”
“It doesn’t matter if it happens one week after she’s born or one hundred years into the future. She’s still going to have to go to Otherworld, isn’t she?” Ryker yelled, giving voice to his biggest fear.
“Ah,” Tanda said, nodding his head. “I see now. You do not want to lose your daughter to the rules of the Triumvirate.”
Ryker turned his back on Death, unable to look at him as his heart began beating furiously in his chest. Dana, Max, and Mordecai had already lost so much – and given up so much – thanks to the stupid rules of Otherworld and the veil. Dana had been virtually imprisoned, unable to take action to save her beloved daughter. Max had lost her memory – twice – crossing the veil. Mordecai had been faced with spending only captured moments of time with his woman because of the stupid visitation rules. So, yeah, Ryker was petrified his daughter would one day cross the veil – and never return.
“It is true the veil is a law of nature unto itself. And so are the Triumvirate. But with every new Triumvirate comes new rules. Gaias, for example, will be a completely different ruler of nature than Dana. As such, your daughter, will be completely different with how she handles death than me. That is already evident in what she is.”
“What is she?” Ryker asked, feeling an ember of hope as he turned back around.
“A Spirit Goddess,” Tanda dutifully answered. “Remember?”
Ryker eyed the man sceptically. “But you’re not a Spirit God?”
“No. I am a Death God.”
“But my daughter is supposed to take over your role?” Ryker was trying his best to understand.
“She is. But she will still be her own person. Just as Gaias is his own person. Together – with their third – they will form their own Triumvirate,” Tanda stated.
“So, she won’t be subject to the same restrictions as you?” Ryker wanted further clarification, even though he was beginning to lose some of the sharp razor’s edge of panic.
Tanda shrugged, “In a way she will be subject to more than me. She requires vitality, after all. I do not.”
“Spiro,” Ryker murmured. “Spiro is a Sprit Paladin and is supposed to be her knight.”
“That is true,” Tanda allowed, but said nothing further.
Ryker blew out a breath, eyeing the literal Grim Reaper. My life is so weird, he thought – not for the first time since he had met Max. Speaking of Max, he now had an urgent need to see her. “I still want to punch you in the head,” he informed Tanda.
Tanda smiled, his dark eyes swirling silver and gold for a moment. “I do not blame you. But, Ryker, do remember we are going to be spending a lot of time with one another as I mentor your daughter over the next couple of hundred years.”
“Hundreds of years?!” Ryker yelled to a now empty beach. Tanda had disappeared as quickly as he had come. Ryker could care less, he had more important things to worry about than Death itself.
Sheathing his sickles, he spun around and was brought to a hasty stop when he discovered his Order lined up in front of him on the beach, blocking his way into the house. “I’m not going to argue with you,” he told them. “Take your shot.” They stared at him in silence for a few beats before Axel pushed Darius in his direction.
“Go on, punch him,” Axel prompted.
Darius looked at Ryker askance, before glaring at Axel. “You hit him!”
Axel tsked and shook his head. “You’re all talk, my man. I knew it. That’s just sad.”
Darius growled and made a grab for Axel, who dodged and laughed. And that was when Ryker knew his Order had forgiven him. Still, he made sure they knew. “I didn’t mean it.”
Cali rolled her eyes, “We know that. But you were still a male idiot.”
“What does me being male have to do with it?” he asked, frowning at Cali.
“Trust me, being a male always has something to do with idiocy,” Cali replied dryly.
Ryker wanted very badly to defend his sex but figured it was a losing battle. Especially considering the predicament he currently found himself in. “I’m going to need your help,” he confessed.
His Order looked at each other, communicating as close friends did without the need for a telepathic link, before they all nodded at him. “What do you need?” Beyden asked.
Ryker thought of a certain object he had been concealing for months, and for the first time in an hour, he smiled.
Chapter Five
Three hours later, Ryker’s hands were sweating as he watched Max humming to their daughter on their bed. It had taken longer than he intended to get things organised and in all that time, he had not sought out Max to apologise. It had been a gamble – he knew how upset and unsure she must be. But he was counting on it being worth it. Still, he felt his eyes begin to water as he watched Max dash at a rogue tear on her cheek, even as she continued to hum, her pitch as pure as an angel’s. The last of his nerves evaporated however, when he realised what song she was singing; You Are My Sunshine. It hadn’t been much of a leap for that song to become their thing, not after Ryker decided Sunshine was the perfect nickname for their baby. A gentle nudge through the link from Diana had him remembering the time and he cleared his throat.
Max’s head swung to his and her chin quivered, “Ryker.”
“Max,” He rushed into the room, still too afraid to touch her just yet. His love was crying. And he was the reason. “Max, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.” His voice cracked but he forged ahead, “Please forgive me. I didn’t mean any of that the way it sounded. I just got so scared when Dana said –” he stopped, clearing his throat from the lump threatening to block his ability to speak. “She’s my little girl,” he finished, unsure what else there was to say. Because to him, that was all that mattered. She was his little girl and he could not care less what the gods and goddesses wanted of her – despite his little chat with Tanda.
Max let out a huge sniff before jumping up and flinging herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest, murmuring gibberish and promises and apologies over and over again until she quieted. Pushing the hair back from her face, he tipped her chin up so her red-rimmed eyes met his own, before wiping the remaining tears away with his thumbs. “I am so, so sorry,” he repeated.
Max shook her head, “It’s okay. I understand.”
Ryker blew out a breath, feeling relief, amusement, and frustration in equal portions. “Of course you understand. You’re damn perfect. But that doesn’t make it okay. I took out my fear on you and that is unacceptable.”
Max sighed, circling his neck with her arms. She pushed up onto her tippy toes to gain a little more height – even though it still only brought her to his chest. Smiling a little, he bent his head down at her urging, nearly crumbling when she bestowed a sweet, chaste kiss to his lips before whispering in his ear; “You are going to be the best father in the whole world. I love you so much.”
Groaning, Ryker captured her lips in a searing kiss that was messy in a satisfying way as they each tried to vent some of their frustrations, pain, and anger. They were both breathing hard when they came up for air, and their daughter chose that moment to give a solid kick. Ryker felt it easily given how close he was still plastered to Max. It caused him to pull back – because feeling his daughter move whenever he and Max were doing anything sexual still creeped him the hell out. He gave the bump a little pat, apologising. Max’s giggle was like music to his ears.
“How many times do I have to tell you that she doesn’t know when we’re getting jiggy with it?” Max asked.
Ryker looked at Max seriously. “I didn’t believe you when you said that when you were only three months pregnant and I certainly don’t believe you now when you’re eight months pregnant. Especially now I know she’s –” he stopped abruptly.
“The next Grim Reaper?” Max asked, archly.
Ryker grimaced, “Yeah, really sorry about that.”
Max patted his chest before taking his hand in hers and leading him to the bed to sit. “It’s okay. I honestly do understand. You hurt my feelings – not gonna lie. But I was also reminded about the advantage I have.”
Ryker winced when Max admitted he had hurt her. But still asked, “What advantage?”
“My powers. And the fact that I’m currently a mobile home for our daughter. I can feel things you can’t. I have knowledge you don’t. You have a distinct handicap,” Max informed him.
Ryker thought about that for a moment and it actually went a long way to validating his fears. It also helped him understand Max’s side of things as well. “You weren’t blasé about the information, were you? You simply knew more than I did.”
Max shook her head, “I promise you, I would never be blasé about anything that came to our daughter’s health or happiness. It was a shock to me as well. I promise. The thing is, as soon as mum said those words, I got a feeling of supreme rightness and I knew what she was saying was true – as well as right. I don’t know how to explain it. That probably sounds like a cop-out.”
“It doesn’t,” Ryker promised her. “It sounds like the appropriate response from someone born of Mother Nature, who is a goddess in her own right.” Ryker was relived to see the genuine smile light up Max’s face and he couldn’t resist kissing her once more. “Now, about the spawning comment …”
Max arched a perfectly shaped brow at him, “Yes?”
“That was me lashing out and being childish. I adore and respect everything about you. I love you. There is nothing about you I would change. Including spawning death babies.”
Max laughed, throwing her head back. “Okay, okay, I believe you. You are forgiven. But why the change of heart? You don’t have to pretend with me. You’re entitled to your feelings.”
Ryker shook his head, “I’m not pretending. I took some time to pull my head out of my arse. The conversation with Tanda helped too, not gonna lie,” he added.
Max sat up straighter. “Tanda? You spoke with Tanda?”
“I did,” Ryker said, then went on to relay the entire conversation to Max.
“Wow,” Max said, chewing on a fingernail before Ryker gently removed her finger from her mouth.
“Yeah. Wow,” Ryker agreed. “So, it sounds like we have plenty of time to f
igure all this out. And we will figure it out,” he vowed.
Max nodded, still looking a little concerned. “He hinted she wasn’t going to have to stay in Otherworld? I didn’t even think of that. No wonder you were so upset. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, no more sorries, okay? We’re all good now. And yes, I think that is what he was alluding to. In an annoying cryptic way,” Ryker then muttered.
Max snorted, “Tanda is the king of cryptic, I’ll give you that. And you’re right, no more apologies. We are most definitely good.” She pulled Ryker’s face down to hers for a deep kiss.
Ryker pulled back, sternly telling his dick to quit the dirty thoughts it was thinking. They still had a few months before Max was going to be up to any kind of hanky panky. Resolutely pushing all thoughts of how blue his balls already were, he stood up and held a hand out to Max. “I know you’ve forgiven me, but I was still hoping you’d let me make it up to you.”
“There’s nothing to make up for. You were standing up for your daughter,” Max replied, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet.
Ryker shook his head, “I made you cry. That’s a lot to make up for. Nobody gets to make you cry – even me. Especially me.”
Max smiled, eyes bright once more, even as she shook her head. “You can’t protect me from everything.” Ryker simply grunted in disgust over that comment, causing Max to laugh outright. “Fine then, ancient knight. How do you propose to make it up to me?”
Ryker felt nerves skitter along his spine before he revealed, “I’m taking you on a babymoon.”
Max stilled, eyes wide. “I’m sorry. I could have sworn you said babymoon?”
Ryker tipped Max’s face up to his, looking into her eyes. “I did. Max, this past twenty months have been insane. Insanely good because I met you and we made a baby and saved the world and the chades and all that shit. But also insanely bad, because, well, we saved the world and the chades and all that shit. You haven’t had a moment’s downtime since you stepped into this world – literally stepped into this world – decades ago. Pretty sure there’s no one out there that could use a vacation more than you.”