Page 22 of Mystique of the Fallen
“Thanks,” Grant replied, touched by the offer, which did nothing to smooth out his suddenly turbulent emotions. “Hopefully, I’ll talk to you in a few months.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
Grant disconnected the call and sucked in a deep breath. One task in his evening was complete.
Now he had to deal with Reginald.
∞∞∞
Roman walked into Redmilla’s and wasn’t surprised to find the Reverent Knights, Arvandus, and Albrecht already seated in the back.
“Hey,” Redmilla called out. The bear shifter flashed him a smile and pulled a beer for him. “How are you?”
“Hanging in there,” Roman replied. There was no need to ask if he wanted a tab started. She had the number of his identification card in her system and automatically added his drinks to it. The card served as a method of payment and the key to everywhere he needed to go. At the end of the night, Roman would add a healthy tip. “How’s your mate?”
“You guys put her on call tonight,” Redmilla complained with a narrowing of her brown eyes. “I better get some sleep.”
Roman grinned. “I’ll see what I can do to ensure no crime happens until morning.”
“If it were that easy, we wouldn’t need fallen knights. Dude, what would I do without Ramona?”
“I’m glad you have her,” Roman replied as he saluted her with his drink and weaved his way toward the table where his friends sat. It wasn’t public knowledge that Roman had met his mate, and that was a relief. The last thing he wanted was to be constantly reminded by everyone he bumped into how tricky his relationship was starting off, and he didn’t want anyone’s pity either. Although it hadn’t been love at first sight, there was nothing yet to suggest it was hopeless.
“Roman,” Arvandus said when he spotted him. His best friend grabbed another chair, and Roman took a seat gratefully. “What’s up? I wasn’t sure if you’d be here tonight.”
“My plan was to work, but Grant called.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?” Drystan asked.
Roman shrugged. “I guess that depends on how you look at it. He asked me for space. Apparently, he’s decided to change his life. Disappear for a while, he said. He’s leaving the boyfriend and moving. With so much upheaval, he doesn’t want any distractions, I suppose. I can understand it, and I appreciate that he warned me I wouldn’t hear from him for a bit.”
“We’ll call it progress,” Conley replied, understanding and compassion bright in his gold eyes.
“Yeah,” Roman said. “Grant hasn’t had much time lately to read the stuff I gave him, but he found the section about you guys and your past. He also did some of his own research and discovered that there are humans proud of your deaths. It didn’t sound like that sat well with him. To me, that’s encouraging.”
“I am sorry your matebond is full of conflict right now,” Albrecht stated. “But I cannot be mad at Fate for bringing your other half into your life.”
“Thanks, Albie. I don’t know how things are going to work out yet. We’ve learned very little about each other. I’m not sure if he still believes I’m a zombie or that our world is inherently evil or whatever else humans try to say about us.”
“Being in limbo isn’t great either,” Arvandus pointed out. “How’re you feeling?”
“I don’t know,” Roman said after a healthy swallow of beer. “Obviously, I’m grateful Fate didn’t forget me, but as for the man himself…I can’t decide if I like him. I’m trying not to hold it against him that, except for today, our few phone conversations have been in the middle of the night when he’s inebriated. It’s hard to figure out how I’m supposed to feel. Confused, I guess, is the main thing, and startled that he’s human. I can’t seem to get past that hurdle yet. Maybe this space is good for both of us. I need to deal with my own shit too.”
“Fate fucked up with the timing,” Drystan remarked with a frown.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Roman responded. No matter how he tried, there was no easy road ahead for him and Grant. But he had to believe that Fate hadn’t completely erred. Or at least that was what he hoped. “Also, what does the future look like? Is he willing to give up his life to join the Council?”
“Technically, he has no choice,” Drystan stated. “The treaty we have with humans means that he’s right now living outside the law. But you know that, and we aren’t going to alert any fucking cops.”
“He used to be one,” Roman revealed.
That startling admission hadn’t helped Roman’s adjustment to having a human mate. Cops were a daily headache for Roman and every fallen knight. How many cases had Grant obscured? They’d met because Grant had been trying to get a horrible criminal out of trouble—a simple picture would’ve meant that the victim would be hauled off human land and forced to start anew within the Council whether she was ready or not.
Grant clearly took no issue with how problematic his job was, and that made Roman uneasy. To Roman, the treaty shouldn’t matter. The human police and fallen knights should be united in keeping the peace and ensuring criminals faced justice. But it had never worked that way. And that pissed Roman off.
Roman realized he had some deep-seated issues with Grant, and he needed to explore them in depth. Could he forget the way they’d met? Did Grant understand how awful the job he’d taken was? What would happen if Grant wanted to continue being a private investigator tracking people connected to the Council in some way?
