Free Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1) by Montana Ash Page B

impressive height of six foot four. “Look, we don’t need some stray warden hanging around, bringing trouble to our doorstep. We’ve all had enough of it to last a lifetime!” Ryker gave them all one last stern look. “She goes. This is not up for debate.”

 
    NINE
    Ryker hadn’t even bothered with a shower before seeking the miniature warden out. He had pulled his long sleeve grey tee shirt back on though, more to conceal the faded coat of arms on his forearm than from any sense of modesty. It was his turn to ask the questions and he wasn’t giving the woman any new ammunition to turn the tables. He was just about to follow her grand exit through the door off the kitchen when he caught sight of her through the windows behind the sink. She sure was stunning in a short, pixie kind of a way. She wouldn’t be gracing any catwalks in Milan given the length of her legs but the whole package still worked for him. That hair of hers was now shining brightly in the early morning sun and Ryker could make out the red tones easily unlike the night before. She was slender but curvy in all the places a man wanted a woman to be curvy. Although her face was marred with lines of exhaustion and smudges of illness, it was still arresting. Some of that was due to those blue-green eyes of hers, but most of it was that crooked smile and the vibrancy she exuded. She certainly had a way about her.
    Ryker frowned as he studied her face more closely. Was she beginning to look better? She didn’t look quite so pale anymore and had some colour in her cheeks. The dark circles under her eyes appeared to lighten and the slight tremors he had seen in her hands were now practically undetectable. Even as he continued to watch her the answer seemed to unfold in front of him, although he didn’t know if he could trust what he was seeing. She was walking around the garden at a leisurely pace touching a tree here and stroking a flower there. She bent down to pick up fallen leaves and gave a dandelion husk freedom by blowing it off a fingertip. She even picked up a spider and let it crawl over the back of her hand before returning it to its web. He could see her lips moving and although he couldn’t make out the words he knew she was talking to the nature all around her.
    She was actively communicating with her domain ... Amazing!
    She appeared to be unwaveringly focused in her task and although her power was a thing of beauty to behold, it was also a danger. It was like she had no real concept of the power she was exuding or even what she was receiving in return. He had no doubt she was acting on pure instinct given the naiveté inherent in her actions. In the past, before the Great Massacre fifty years ago, such displays of power were quite common. But now wardens were more passive in their roles, preferring to act as conduits and guardians rather than catalysts. Ryker knew some of them still participated directly with their domains – some of them couldn’t seem to help it, especially those very few powered by life itself. It was a little hard to ignore the whole world, after all. Still, he was pretty sure that what Max was doing was something altogether different.
    “Stalking?”
    Ryker jumped. He was so absorbed by the spectacle in front of him he had been completely unaware of his surroundings and Darius had managed to get the jump on him, “What?” He asked.
    “You’ve been standing here staring out the window for ten minutes. I was just wondering if you had decided to stalk our new guest.”
    “Of course not! No.” Ryker gestured with his chin in Max’s direction. “What do you make of that?”
    Darius frowned, “What am I looking at?”
    “The warden!” Ryker gestured impatiently.
    “She’s playing with a ladybug. So what?” Darius answered before stilling and leaning closer to the window, “Wait a minute … what is she doing?”
    “Recharging.”
    There was a heartbeat of silence before Darius replied dubiously,