Ten minutes into the conversation and Ryker knew Nikolai held the missing links. The ranger had looked decidedly uncomfortable when Max asked about the experiments and Emmanuel. After a few minutes back and forth trying to determine exactly what the correct questions to ask were, they had finally stumbled upon the winning word that had them all leaning forward in their chairs; Custodian.
“You enlisted the help of a custodian to cure Emmanuel?” Max asked.
Nikolai nodded, “It was Garrett’s idea. But we all believed that if anything was going to help, it would be a custodian.”
“But that’s not what happened.” Ryker guessed.
Nikolai’s sound of mirth was bitter and his lips twisted into an unpleasant parody of a smile, “No. Not by a long shot. The Custodian was none-too-thrilled to be placed with Emmanuel. In fact, it voiced its displeasure quite vocally.”
Beyden stood up straight, “Wait, you’re saying you forced him – her? What was it?”
“An it. Just an it. And don’t go getting your panties in a bunch, I mean no disrespect.” Nik quickly explained, “The Custodians were neither male nor female. They had no corporeal form – no bodies. They were simply energy. They were life. They were spirit. They were –”
Max gasped, “Souls. They were souls.”
Nikolai smiled sadly at Max, “Yes. They were souls. Vague outlines of a human form but with no real substance. Just colours. More colours than your brain can compute.”
“Fuck!” Max yelled, tugging on her loose hair. “It makes so much sense. How did I not realise it before? Custodians are pure souls!”
“Hey, cut yourself some slack, sweetheart. Nobody has figured it out. Well, almost nobody,” Ryker amended, looking at Nikolai. “You clearly know. And let me guess, Garrett knows the truth too?”
“He does. I didn’t realise it until it was too late. But I believe Garrett and his wife knew all along. I think that is why they suggested it in the first place,” Nikolai revealed.
“And you knowingly shoved a naked soul into a room with a creature who consumes life-forces?” Max’s voice was incredulous and her face looked as though she was going to be sick. Ryker felt the others rally around her and was gratified to see some colour return to her face but there was nothing he could do for her hurting psyche.
“I wish I could deny it. But I can’t. That is exactly what we did.” Nikolai’s voice shook a little and Ryker had no doubt it was in shame.
Ryker ignored all the horrified gasps and swearing around the room, pinning Nik with his dark stare, “What exactly happened?”
The ranger ran his hands over his face, “Instead of the custodian healing Emmanuel as we assumed it would, Emmanuel … consumed it. That’s when we started noticing the changes; the talking, the thirst for pain, the desire for revenge. It started after that.”
Max seemed to study Nikolai for a moment, her eyes narrowed and lips pursed. Ryker wasn’t sure what she saw, but it had her shoulders relaxing and she even reached out and laid a comforting hand on the Commander’s arm. Nikolai clenched his jaw so hard, Ryker could practically hear his teeth grinding into dust. He figured the man must have been harbouring some serious guilt over the years. With the one small gesture from Max, he had essentially been forgiven. He must have realised it too because he nodded his head and touched the circular brand on his arm with reverence.
“And the other custodians?” Max asked, presently. “Did they get fed to Emmanuel too?”
Nikolai looked genuinely shocked, “Other custodians? There was never more than one,” he promised. “We all knew the magnitude of our mistake as soon we saw Emmanuel’s gaping mouth hoover that poor soul. Unfortunately, there was no take-backs. But we could ensure it never happened again. That’s why his death was immediately ordered.”
“You think Garrett sought out others?” Ryker asked his woman.
“I do,” Max nodded. “I think he saw the effect one had on his son. I think he liked it. I think that’s why he started asking questions to everyone who knew anything about Custodians; Blu and Verity. I think he then decided to not only access the sole written information about the beings, but also made sure nobody else would ever be able to access it. He stole it all and burned down the records room.”
Nikolai shook his head, looking suddenly exhausted, “Do you think Garrett found other custodians?”
Max sighed, twirling some red strands of hair around her finger, “I can’t say for certain. It might explain why custodians stopped inhabiting the Earth; they were being captured and consumed. But I can say Garrett has been patiently waiting for a time when he could gain access to a custodian again.”
“You,” Nik stated.
Max nodded her head once, “Me. I bet he was overjoyed when Mordecai told him of my conception. No wonder I didn’t detect anything but genuine pleasure and welcome from Garrett and Autumn all this time. It’s because they were genuinely happy to meet me.” Max laughed a little, “They’re thrilled to have another all-you-can-eat buffet.”
“Don’t,” Ryker ground out. “Don’t you fucking joke about this, Max.” He wouldn’t let her make light of the situation. These evil, awful people had the power to destroy his entire world. No, he decided, it was no joke.
“I’m sorry, Ry. I wasn’t trying to make light of the situation. I know how extreme and dangerous this all is.” Max fitted herself easily against his rigid body.
Ryker pushed his face into her hair, inhaling the unique, fresh scent that made up his woman. As long as he could hold onto her like this, he knew everything would be just fine. His heart would keep beating, his lungs would keep filling with oxygen, and the world would continue to spin on its axis. Too bad Max was opposed to him being a human barnacle.
“I’ll let you be my barnacle tonight,” she whispered against his ear. “My naked barnacle.”
He grinned, pulling back enough to give her a smacking kiss on the lips, before addressing Nikolai once more, “As a Ranger, you have an affinity with the chades. Do you have any possible idea where Emmanuel is now?”
Nikolai shook his head, mutely. Ryker had expected as much but it was still frustrating.
“What about the encampment?” Axel abruptly asked. “Are there any chades left at the encampment from back then?”
Nikolai shook his head again, “None. They were all executed. Emmanuel was the only one not killed on the spot because he was Garrett’s son. I believed, genuinely believed, that Garrett had followed through and killed him. The man was a mess for almost a year before he joined the land of the living again. He was the very epitome of a grieving father.”
“Let me guess; he started to perk back up after the Massacre?” Cali asked, dryly.
Nik sighed, “Now that I think about it – yes. But I just figured he was rallying around his fellow wardens in their time of need. It didn’t cross my mind it was because he had stolen state secrets and was plotting to take over the damn world.”
“I think Axel is on the right track. I should go there,” Max announced into the silence of the room.
Max’s statement had Nikolai bolting upright in his chair, “I’m sorry, go where?”
“To the chade encampment,” Max chirped. “Who knows? I might be able to pick up on something. Feelings, echoes, premonitions. That kind of thing is happening to me all the time now.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely not!” Nikolai yelled, preventing Ryker from having to do the same.
Ryker had never been inside one of the chade prisons but he had been outside of them often enough. It was enough to make his skin crawl. He didn’t know how the rangers worked there day-in and day-out and managed to stay sane. The thought of such a sensitive being like Max with her extreme empathy and all those holes in her spirit, being in such close proximity to that wretched place made him physically ill.
“It’s not your decision to make,” Max informed Nikolai, primly.
“Like hell it isn’t! I am the Gatekeeper, the King, the Monarch and the fucking God of that place. What I say, goes. And you are definitely not going. It is not a place you will ever be welcome. I don’t give a shit how powerful you are. I’m not scared of your swirly eyes, either,” Nikolai added, obviously noting the power whirling in the coloured depths.
Max narrowed her eyes but didn’t attempt to command Nikolai again. Instead, she turned to her left; “Ivy –”
Ivy shook her head just as determinedly, “Nik is right, Max. There is no way I would allow you to step foot in that place.”
“Allow?” Max’s eyebrows rose to a startling height.
“Don’t get bitch-face with me, woman,” Ivy stabbed a finger at Max. “You heard me. It’s for your own good. Besides, Nik already told you; there aren’t any chades left from that time.”
Max pouted for a moment, before seeming to accept reason, “Maybe not, but there’s sure to be some chades currently imprisoned who have met the ones known to Emmanuel – or have even met the guy himself. They are being drawn to him just as surely as the curable chades are being drawn to me.”
Ryker wasn’t going to waste time asking Max how she knew that. The certainty in her voice was now very familiar to him. And judging by the looks on his fellow paladin’s faces, they knew it too. “You’re not going. Period,” Ryker stated firmly, cutting her off before she could argue, and offering an alternative. “But I’ll go.”
Max gasped and spun on him, “I’m not allowed to go but you are?”
He simply crossed his arms over his chest, “You bet your pretty little butt.”
“How is that fair?” Max demanded.
“Life isn’t fair, princess,” Ryker risked his head – and his balls – by saying.
“Not that your foreplay isn’t entertaining as hell,” Nikolai’s amused voice cut in. “But I can think of a better person than Ryker.”
Ryker narrowed his eyes, “Oh, really? And who do you suggest, oh great King?”
“Him,” Nikolai pointed at Lark.
Lark pointed at his chest, looking surprised, “Me?”
“Lark?” Ivy’s voice swiftly followed and she half-stepped in front of her lover.
“Yes, you,” Nikolai answered Lark first before turning to his best friend. “And yes, your boy-toy.”
“Stop calling him that,” Ivy hissed.
“Why?” Lark asked, easily ignoring the murderess next to him.
Nikolai didn’t look quite so sure or amused as he replied, “Because you’re Isaac’s son. You’re sure to be trained in advanced interrogation techniques.”
“Advanced interrogation techniques?” Lark snorted, “You mean torture.”
“Eh, tomato, tomato,” Nik shrugged.
“Ryker? What do you think?” Lark asked him.
Ryker was surprised when Ivy kept her mouth shut. But then, he supposed he shouldn’t have been. He knew Ivy loved and respected Lark and his abilities. She trusted in him the same way Ryker trusted in Max. Ryker was glad for his younger friend; Ivy really was the perfect match for him. Rather than answering, Ryker posed his own question instead;
“Do you want to do this?”
Lark scrunched up his nose in distaste, “Not especially. But if it means we get some more answers – maybe even a solution to get us out of this mess? Then you know I need to do this.”
Ryker nodded once, “Fine. But you take back-up.” He didn’t need to look in Ivy’s direction to know she would be accompanying Lark, but he was a little surprised when Dex stepped forward.
“I’ll go. I can still feel the chades and I have all those cool new abilities. Might come in handy.”
Ryker frowned, “That place is going to be just as hard for you as it would be for Max. Just for different reasons.”
Dex shrugged, looking unconcerned, “I can handle it.”
Ry grunted, “Darius will go too.” Although it was barked out like a command, Ryker had intended it to be supportive. Who better than his brother and ex-paladin to help Dex and back him up?
Ryker figured, he had been pretty subtle, but the whole room seemed to cotton-on to his intentions because he soon found himself the recipient of over a half-dozen pairs of goo-goo eyes. Ryker merely rolled his own, “Cut that shit out – the lot of you.”
“Softie.”
“Big softie.”
“Softie McSoftie,” came the influx of replies.
“I can and will hurt you all,” he assured them. “Especially you, Axel,” he pointed a finger at his blue-eyed friend. Axel just laughed, completely unfazed because he was more than used to such threats – he heard them on a daily basis. Despite the levity now in the air, Ryker still felt nervous. He hoped he had made the right decision. A warm palm against his own had him smiling … and hoping.