Kayden burst out laughing and hugged her. ‘Sorry, sweetheart but you did wipe the floor with us all playing cards. We men have to stick together when our pride has been dented and you are such a delightful competitor.’
‘Fair enough, boys, this is game on.’ She started laughing. ‘You are all going down for this.’
Jason kissed the top of her head and sat beside her. After putting the rest of the plates of food in the middle of the table, Woody looked at him, screwing his lips up in a smirk, ‘Scoot over man, this is my seat. Moving to the chair opposite Jason attempted a protest only to be shutdown quickly.
Woody put his hand up. ‘Not negotiable, Jason. Don’t even try.’
Ignoring the show of pecking order, Jason passed around the bacon and they all chatted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He has clearly let them know it is Kayden, me and him, and then the others. After cleaning up Cassie joined the men and stood up on the fence with them watching Jason and Ethan break in Starburst. Cassie however was still curious about Woody and jumped down, following Kayden into the stables to discuss it.
‘How come the guys don’t backchat Woody?’
‘I wondered if you’d pick up on that,’ Kayden smirked. ‘I guess I should have explained it earlier but I’ve been overloading you with so much to get you ready for the next trip I didn’t want to confuse you with whom to take orders from.’ Kayden leaned against the stable door and rubbed his brow: the little habit she’d noticed he had when he was stalling for time while he worked out how to say something. ‘I’ll try and explain this the best I can. As a team, we power up and share the power between us, always distributing it evenly. I assess each task and only draw from each of them the power required. Drawing too much too quickly can drain our supplies.’
‘You mean like I did when I overused mine.’
He nodded. ‘Exactly. If we did that and were attacked on our way home or something else came up, we would be helpless. Therefore we share. Now, to answer your question regarding Woody: he is my second in command and is the only other one on my team who can draw power as I do, only he is even more gifted in this area than I am.’
‘Woody is like me, isn’t he?’
Kayden nodded. ‘Very much so. The way you just knew how much power to pull from Zoltan and me before your final strike on our last mission Woody can do the same, only he can use any vessel. Whereas you draw only from the light, he can also draw from the darkness, only it is dangerous and unpredictable and can’t be controlled. Innocent souls disappear within that cloud of murky malice. That’s why I was so tough on you out there. A Cloud Rider is saintly, a gift from God and whatever the cost, we must survive for the better of all humanity. My only other option out there would have been to allow Woody to draw from the most powerful source known, evil.’
‘Wow. So he’s like the coolest sorcerer ever, but a good one.’
He nodded. ‘Yet, while he is my right-hand man, you and he are equal and he was letting the boys know that. Try not to judge him too harshly for what he did in there. He meant no disrespect. It is a great honour to have Woody sit by you as an equal. In my time I have rarely seen him do this.’
Cassie was stunned. ‘That’s quite an honour then. I keep forgetting you men have come from an ancient era and many of the rules of old still apply.’
He grinned and moved from the wall he leant against, going over to her. Cassie felt his massive arms go round her and leaned into him as she listened to his voice that had gone husky and sexy. ‘That’s why I hate sharing you, sweetheart. The wait for someone like you to come into my life has taken forever and then some. That being said, I have to stop being so possessive and give Woody the time he needs to show you how to use your powers correctly. We both know your family has squashed your ability to draw on your gift naturally so I believe a session or two with him will sort it out in no time.’
Woody came in a little bit later, embarrassed that he had to interrupt them. They had been mucking around in the hay and he found them in a passionate embrace.
‘Oops! Just wondered if you had found the bridle yet.’ He coughed, amused.
Kayden stood up, pulling Cassie up with him and brushing her off. ‘We were just discussing you.’
A slight grin etched the corners of Woody’s mouth.
‘My girl here needs to start practising to use her powers without being coaxed. Maybe while we’re breaking in her horse you two could take off and get a bit of practising in.’
Woody wasted no time putting his hand out to Cassie. He had been asking for time to help her for weeks, only Kayden was being impossible about sharing her for even an hour or two. He wondered what had changed his mind. ‘At last, K man, you’ve come to your senses. Come on Cassie before he changes his mind.’