Page 5 of Custodian

“The plan? I plan to go in there and rip my best friend’s spine from his body before I beat him to death with it,” Mordecai growled out.

Madigan winced, Bastien rolled his eyes, and Tobias grinned a little evilly. They all knew their liege was more than capable of doing what he just said. And in his current mood? It was a genuine possibility. As much as Aiden wouldn’t mind seeing Garrett’s spine on the outside of his body, as Captain, he felt the need to at least try to be the voice of reason. Although, that role was routinely more Madigan’s thing than his own. Even as he had the thought, Tobias spoke first;

“Well, as fun as that sounds, how about you try something a little less murdery first, huh?” Tobias asked.

“Murdery?”Aiden mouthed silently to his friend. Tobias merely shrugged.

“Iwillbe murdering him,” Mordecai growled. “He knew. That bastard knew! He knew who Max was – knewwhatshe was.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Madigan hedged.

The filthy look their liege threw his fellow knight would be enough to flay a lesser man but Mad simply stared placidly back, saying; “Just because you told him about Dana all those years ago and you have now learned that Emmanuel may still be alive, doesn’t prove anything.”

Mordecai slammed his clenched fist against the steering wheel, “Like fuck it doesn’t! It makes so much sense. His son and my daughter? How fuckin’ poetic is that? That bitch sure does have a sick sense of humour.”

None of them needed to be told who thebitchwas. At first, Aiden and the others had believed what Mordecai had; that the stunning creature in the shithole of a tavern in the middle of Germany was certifiable. Even after they had forced their way into Mordecai’s room the following morning after feeling the bone-deep shock and horror emanating through their liege, they had not believed Mordecai when he assured them Dana had been the real deal. Aiden had just assumed Mordecai’s fragile psyche had finally collapsed under the immense weight of so much death and destruction. He would never forget the raw pain that had hit them with enough force to buckle their knees when the Great Massacre had started. But even that didn’t compare to the desolation their liege had been carrying around since that night. One quick mental jolt to their synapses through the Order link, showing them Dana in all her Goddess glory, had made them all believers. And thus, the four of them had also been burdened with the loss and guilt and rage over Mordecai’s missing child.

Sharp inhales and a prickling along his scalp returned his focus to the present. “Mordecai,” Aiden’s voice held a warning this time. “Dial it back a notch, yeah?” He fought the urge to somehow put up a shield from the frigid tendrils of energy leaking from his dearest friend. Not that it would do any good. Mordecai’s powers could pass through anything, anywhere.

Aiden saw Mordecai grit his teeth and felt him attempting to rein in his dark energy. He knew his liege would never intentionally hurt any of them. Unfortunately, the man was extremely powerful and burdened with a very dark element. Sometimes he couldn’t help himself. But that’s where he and his fellow knights came in. Momentarily, Bastien and Madigan placed comforting hands on each of Mordecai’s shoulders and Aiden saw him take a deep breath, shoulders relaxing just enough for him to know they were getting through to him.

“What do you suggest?” Mordecai asked at length, eyes finally leaving the mansion on the hill.

Madigan shrugged, “Knock on the door.”

“Knock on the door?” Mordecai gave a rather weak chuckle, shaking his head. “Fine, old friend. We do this your way. Let’s go knock on Garrett’s door.”

TWO

Mordecai stood on the threshold of his best friend’s door and prepared his heart and mind as best he could. Fifty years. Fifty years he had spent searching for his child, looking for any hint of his or her possible existence. There had been none. Well, not none, he amended. After that fateful day, he had begun to feel an inexplicable link to Australia even though his home had always been his birthplace of Scotland. Around forty years ago, there had been a definite increase in chades in the New South Wales coastline. It hadn’t been big at first and it had been rather sporadic. Almost as if pockets of chades would become agitated for a time before settling once again. After a few years monitoring their patterns, he had determined there was none – no patterns whatsoever. There were no clues as to what they were doing or why – just as it had always been. But he had begun to suspect they were being drawn to something and he had wondered – half-hoping – if it was perhaps his missing child.

It made sense; chades were drawn to power – to vitality. That life-sustaining energy that allowed wardens like himself to maintain and communicate with their elements. He couldn’t count the number of times he had witnessed chades bypassing paladins and even wardens with lesser abilities in order to get to those who were stronger. Like moths to a flame, a chade would be lured to the brightest energy source in the area. And even though he had never met his child, he knew there would be no brighter spark than a child of a Goddess – than a Custodian. It also explained why the chades were amassing again and why they seemed to linger in certain areas. But by the time he and his paladins had investigated those areas, there was no trace of wardens or paladins or even a chade. Although, there had always been the lingering echoes of pain – and of death. The feeling had left him sick to his stomach on more than one occasion. Something, or someone, had delivered death in those places. And so, he had coasted through the years with the hope that his theory would one day prove correct and he would run into a child he had helped create. A child even his paladins hadn’t believed could exist.

After crashing their way through his door the morning after meeting Dana, the four men had believed the weight of the world’s grief had finally broken him. They had listened with pity in their eyes as he had rambled and stuttered his way through an explanation before he finally became sick of their disbelief. He had blasted into their minds, showing them Dana in all her goddess glory. The truth had brought them all to their knees. As for himself, it was more guilt and remorse rather than shock that had him staring blankly at the dirty tavern wall. But in true Valhalla fashion, his paladins – his brothers – had dragged his sorry arse up and shaken the life back into him;

‘Your child will return to you, and when they do, do you really think they will be proud of the man you are in this moment? Ensure you are a man they can be proud of.’

Madigan’s words had rung in his head and from that moment on, he had done everything he could to discover the secrets of the creatures his child was created to cure. He had inserted himself into the Rangers and ensured he was the direct commanding officer of the rangers in this area. He had even gone so far as to place his very own paladin into the primary Ranger Unit. Cayson, Aiden’s older brother, had been an invaluable asset over the years and he had gained the trust and respect of some of the best rangers alive, like Nikolai. But even with direct access to the chade encampment, answers had been frustratingly elusive. There had always been something he couldn’t quite figure out – the answers he sought were always just out of his reach.

And now he knew why – Garrett. His best friend and confidant had been keeping secrets of his own. With the new information that Garrett’s son was somehow a mutated chade, Mordecai wondered if for all those years the chades weren’t following Max at all. But something else entirely. Like Emmanuel.

A hand suddenly reached from behind him, giving the heavy wooden door a sound pounding and Mordecai flinched, raising his eyebrows at Tobias;

“What? You were taking too long,” his paladin answered, completely unrepentant.

Before he could formulate a response, the door was swinging open, revealing Garrett’s Captain. Brent’s eyes narrowed a little but his words were as welcoming as always; “Lord Mordecai, a pleasure. How might I be of assistance?”

Mordecai had to clear his throat before he could speak, “I was hoping to see –”

“Mordecai! This is a nice surprise. Come in, come in,” Garrett appeared behind his paladin, promptly ushering them all inside before Mordecai could even finish his sentence.

Mordecai studied his long-time friend, seeing nothing but welcome and warmth on his features and he began to wonder if maybe he had been wrong. Maybe Garrett had no idea his son was still out there, committing horrors against their world.

“This isn’t a social call,” he managed to get out. Garrett’s four paladins promptly appeared, picking up on the tension in his voice.

Garrett frowned, looking concerned, “Oh?”

“No,” he swallowed thickly. “It’s about your son.”

---