Page 36 of Mystique of the Fallen
“Hey, guys,” Conley called out.
Roman and Grant turned toward the Reverent Knight, who quickly stalked to where they were standing in the hall.
“What’s up?” Roman asked.
“Just wanted to let Grant know that your card is programmed for your new apartment. While we tried our damnedest to get you into the same building as Roman, there weren’t any openings. But you’re right next door.”
“It’s cool, wow,” Grant replied. “I wasn’t expecting to be that close, RK.”
“We can find another one if you want,” Roman said quietly without making eye contact with Grant.
“What? No. I was thinking that we can teleport, so it’s not like we can’t be together in seconds, right?”
Roman lifted his head, and his smile returned, but his blue eyes were wary. Grant hoped he hadn’t upset him. Although Grant hadn’t expected to meet his mate—especially before he’d officially graduated—he refused to take Roman for granted. Fate had chosen to give Grant everything he wanted, and he would squander none of her gifts.
“Good point,” Roman commented, and his grin brightened, which lifted Grant’s spirits.
“Did you want to take your stuff over and check the place out?” Conley asked.
“Uh, yeah, I guess, RK,” Grant said.
“You and I are going to work together daily for the rest of our immortal lives,” Conley stated as his gold gaze narrowed. “The title thing is going to get old if you keep using it.”
“You’re still my boss, RK.”
“Okay, then I’m ordering you to stop calling me RK.”
Grant glanced at Roman. “Do you call him RK?”
“Only when I want to piss him off.”
“Which is about never because he adores me,” Conley boasted. “Go on, you two. Check out the apartment. Are we going to see you at Redmilla’s later?”
“That’s up to Grant. We were going to grab dinner.”
“What is Redmilla’s?” Grant asked.
“Our home away from home,” Roman explained. “It’s a local bar owned by a bear shifter that is normally full of fallen knights and some sentinels. I’m there several times a week.”
“Nice, we could head there after we eat, right?” Grant asked, eager to learn about Roman’s life and visit the places he liked to frequent. While Grant refused to live in the shadow of anyone else, he’d be happy to hang out at Redmilla’s if he enjoyed the place and company.
“Be prepared. You have to deal with Arvandus if we go,” Roman warned. “He’s my best friend and, like the rest of us, hangs out there regularly.”
“He’ll bring SkeL Albrecht, right? Do you think I could talk SkeL Albrecht into helping me out with some additional dagger training? I kinda made it a personal mission to someday force the Lich Sentinel to break a sweat.”
“I come with a big extended family, which is now yours,” Roman replied. “That family includes a lot of sentinels and free access to the Daray Sentinel Complex. You can walk into any gym in that place at whatever hour of the day suits you and I promise there will always be a couple of sentinels in there training. They will spare with anyone. But yeah, Albie will be there, and I’m sure he’d be amenable to your idea. It took me months and months of training until I was finally able to push Alaric into a sweat. Like you, I was determined to prove I could.”
“I’m glad you get it,” Grant said, pleased that he was already finding little things in common with the remarkable Venerable Knight with the pretty blue eyes.
“I’ll train with you too,” Conley promised. “It’s such a great stress reliever, I love it. Let me go find Drys and drag him out of here so I can get a burger before we head to Redmilla’s. Call me if you need anything for your apartment or if you fucking hate it.”
Conley jogged off, and Grant pursed his lips. “I hope he knows deep in his soul that even if I did fucking hate it, I’d never tell him.”
Roman’s laughter filled Grant with an unexpected warmth. “It’s okay, you can complain to me, and it’ll be our little secret.”
“Thanks. Uh, I guess I should go grab my shit from my dorm.”
“Did you want to check out the apartment on your own and meet me afterward for dinner?”
