Present Day
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Aiden asked, eyeing his liege who had been sitting as still as a statue for the past fifteen minutes. Given the way Mordecai had driven like a manic rally driver to get to the historical house perched on the cliff, Aiden had figured he and his fellow paladins would have been wrestling their liege to the ground in order to talk some sense into him. But Mordecai had simply stopped in front of the house Garrett was staying in and proceeded to ... glare. Nothing but glare. The frigid silence and unnatural stillness from his liege scared him far more than his temper did. Mordecai wasn’t really a cold man as most in their society thought. Aiden knew he looked indomitable with his fair complexion, ink-black hair, large six-foot-five frame, and unwavering cool green eyes. But at his core, he was a man filled with warmth and humour and a steadfast sense of duty and loyalty.
Aiden was a life paladin along with Tobias, whilst Madigan and Bastien were both death paladins. They had been bound to Mordecai since graduating the Paladin Trials when they had been little more than thirty years old. Mordecai had been even younger, at barely twenty. Sixteen hundred years sharing each other’s brainwaves had made them all something closer and stronger than even family. But then, that’s what a bond between a paladin and a warden was supposed to be. At least, it used to be when their population had the numbers to allow natural bonds to take place, and relationships were permitted for more than just procreation or duty.
The bond forged between the five of them had certainly been a natural one. Aiden had felt the instant connection to the Scottish Warden of Death the moment he laid eyes on him. It had been the same with his fellow knights. When Aiden had arrived at his very first training centre, he’d been a cocky little shit. Although he hadn’t been born a warden, he had been gifted with the element of life. The highest-ranking domain there was for a paladin. When you threw in the fact that he was also born a potentate, well, he was the first to admit he had tickets on himself. He had not been too impressed to learn he would be rooming with five other young men in the most rudimentary of accommodations; nothing but a piece of material over some sticks as shelter and makeshift pallets on the unforgiving ground. As such, he had blustered, ranted and raved, demanding the best sleeping plot and the best blankets.
He hadn’t been all that big at the time, and his muscles were non-existent, unlike – and unfortunately for him – most of the other trainee paladins he was sharing space with. A few of them took exception to his piss-poor attitude and because he didn’t have his older brother with him to help fight his battles like he usually did, he had soon found himself flat on his back. But, instead of letting the other two paladins rightfully kick his butt, Tobias, Madigan, and Bastien had stepped in and saved it. They had been inseparable ever since.
“Aid?”
The softly spoken voice in his head returned him to the present and he turned to see Madigan watching him with a raised brow. Right; liege quite possibly having a silent aneurysm right this moment. Time to focus.
“Mordecai?” Aiden questioned for a second time.
Nothing. Nada. Zippo.
Looked like Aiden was going to have to poke the bear to get an honest reaction out of him, “My Lord ... Sir?”
Mordecai finally threw him a disgusted look, “Cut that shit out. You know I hate it when you call me that.”
Aiden did know. They all knew. For all his apparent primp and pomp, Mordecai was nothing of the sort. He despised the airs he felt he was forced to wear in public and it had been many years since he had demanded they call him Sir or Lord or any other such titles of dignitary.
“What’s the plan?” Aiden asked.
“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.
“I will be murdering him,” Mordecai growled. “He knew. That bastard knew! He knew who Max was – knew what she 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 the bitch was. 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.”