Page 100 of Mystique of the Fallen
Grant was so shocked at the near refusal, Roman nearly laughed at the way his eyes bugged out. “What condition is that?”
“Come cuddle with me.”
With a chuckle, Grant shuffled around on the sofa and rested his back against Roman’s chest. Grant snagged the half-eaten bowl of popcorn off the table and set it on his lap. “My life is so tough.”
“Yep, completely coerced into showing your poor mate some affection.”
“Like I’m not going to be face down while you’re balls deep in my ass later.”
“Don’t get me hard, I want cuddles.”
“Roman?”
Roman dropped a kiss on Grant’s tangled hair. “Yeah, baby?”
“I’m really fucking nervous about this parade.”
“I know, but you’re going to be fantastic. No one in the Order of the Fallen Knights could do a better job than you on this event.”
“Thanks, VK Calixtus.”
“You’re welcome, VK Valerius.”
Chapter 34
Death summoned a lacy ottoman and rested her feet on it. Settling her head on the thick pillows behind her, Death allowed herself a few precious moments of relaxation. In a cozy room in her castle, the sisters who’d grown into friends were gathered to watch their beloved Council put on a parade. To ensure they missed nothing, Death had enlarged a viewing mirror to take up an entire stone wall.
As much as Death enjoyed having her sisters visit, squabbles inevitably broke out between them, and today was no exception.
“I don’t see how it can be avoided,” Fate insisted, irritation ripe in her tone. “The D’Vaires have followed Kaedan’s Council to North America. How can we possibly expect Brogan not to meet his mate?”
Fond of the twists of life, Death and her sisters had carefully orchestrated a realm far from the planet earth to discover what would happen if their favored creations were granted different circumstances. Since couples were the focus, they’d selected Killian and Dravyn to be the first mates to find each other. The sisters had altered the day they met. Their journey started in 1369 instead of in the modern day.
There were other variations the sisters had agreed upon, and to their surprise, it had radically transformed the Council and the people involved. It was such an engrossing project; the sisters had halted it the moment Killian and Dravyn had combined their lives in order to attend to their duties. To start it again, they needed to agree upon which of these twisted couples would be together next, and if they wanted any further switches to their realm.
Given how different their personalities were, it came as no shock to Death that they had yet to decide on a plan to move forward. Death had recused herself from the argument since she had been the one to pick Killian and Dravyn. It was reasonable for her sisters to get the chance to have a say, and Death played fair when it suited her.
“Disagree,” Life stated emphatically. “Kaedan has no use for dragons, and as Grand Warlock, he doesn’t have to get anywhere near some dragon Duke. Poor Aleksander endured far too much. I know we thought nothing would happen to him, but it did. Let’s get him and Rafe together.”
“Absolutely not,” Justice argued. “Certain titles were handed out in a different order. I have a terrific idea for how it could affect Rafe’s life. That must happen before he meets Aleksander.”
“Aleksander is already King,” Eternity remarked. “He can’t be given that title first.”
“I know that,” Justice replied. “What I want to do is have someone else get their title first. Essentially an adopted son for Molly. Another brother for Rafe. That is how it alters Rafe’s journey.”
“That is annoyingly vague,” Fate retorted.
“And you’ve already told us countless times that you want Kaedan and Brogan,” Death said, opening her eyes and glaring at Fate. “It doesn’t matter what argument Justice gives or what information she hands out. You’ve dug your heels in and refuse to be swayed.”
“That is true, Fate,” Eternity said. “You must be more flexible. There are plenty of options, and we agreed that this was a group project.”
“When someone offers me a believable argument that another couple would be better at this point than Brogan and Kaedan, I will be flexible,” Fate insisted haughtily. “No one has brought forth a couple that someone else isn’t against.”
“Nor have we agreed on any other twists,” Justice commented. “If we don’t find a way to compromise, our project will remain forever locked in the 1500s.”
“I think it’s best if we each pick a couple and put together a cohesive argument to present to the group,” Eternity suggested. “Additionally, we should each provide a list of proposed twists we can vote on. Majority rules.”
“Eternity’s plan has merit,” Death said.
