Page 5 of Mystique of the Fallen
“Of course I’m in for James, put him through,” Roman said, though truth be told even if Roman wasn’t family, he’d have no choice but to speak to anyone in the ruler of the Vampyr Clutch’s immediate circle.
“Okeydokey,” Kyle replied. A few seconds later, Roman greeted the gray-eyed former human who’d mated the eldest son of the Vampyress.
“What’s up, James?” Roman asked.
“I wasn’t sure who to call about this or what can be done, but Kyle assured me you could handle it,” James remarked. “He also mentioned he chose you because you’re nicer than Arvandus and Samson is busy this morning.”
“I’m definitely not nicer than Arvandus, but he and Kyle have this whole thing,” Roman replied with a chuckle. Kyle and Arvandus loved to swap insults for fun. Unfortunately, Kyle was terrible at it and insisted he was improving by having fake grudges against Arvandus. The easy-going Arvandus wasn’t offended and kept his complaints about Kyle’s terrible comebacks far from their respected office manager.
“I won’t ask,” James said. “You sure I can bother you?”
“D’Vaire rules: Don’t ever ask that. Just tell me, otherwise you’re going to get snide remarks.”
“Kyle was wrong; you’re definitely not nicer than Arvandus,” James joked. “As you know, we’re doing everything we can to build stronger ties to the human population since vampires regularly find mates among them.”
“Right, with you so far.”
Roman had little respect for humans. Not only had they killed his bosses in their former lives as dragon Emperors, but they routinely treated any fallen knights or sentinels they encountered with contempt. A human cop would rather muddy a crime scene—including the one where James himself had been shot and nearly died—than allow anything to be processed so the perpetuators could be detected and apprehended.
“Well, we have a human woman who recently discovered her mate is a vampire. The problem is she was assaulted last year by her former husband. It was bad. She nearly died. The case is eventually going to trial.”
“So, she is staying in the human world so they’ll keep the court date,” Roman said. “Smart woman. This fucker deserves to pay.”
“Agreed. The problem is she believes someone is watching her. For the last few days, she thinks she’s been tailed. I wondered if there was anything we could do to catch this person. I’ve met with her. She’s frightened. I believe her.”
“Sounds like a scary situation. Maybe he’s hired someone to intimidate her, or it could be a private investigator. One photo of her with a vampire and the case is history.”
“Exactly. She’s trying to avoid her mate, but that doesn’t feel right.”
The thought of two mates being separated irritated Roman immediately. “No, it’s horrible. She shouldn’t have to make that choice. Give me her name and address. I’ll figure out what’s going on.”
“I’d be happy to take you to her place and introduce you.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you at the Dérive station closest to your office. I assume that’s where you are.”
Dérive was a company run by the druids, and they offered the service of teleporting anyone where they needed to go within Council boundaries. Roman had the ability to teleport himself to any destination, but James would need a druid. Thankfully, the fallen knights kept vehicles at every office in North America, so Roman could drive them to wherever this woman lived. If someone was harassing her, Roman was happy to use his reputation as an undead soldier to run them off. He didn’t give a shit if it was illegal to step on human land. He’d break that law without a second thought. No one was going to mess with someone’s mate on his watch.
Roman ended his call with James, shut his computer off, and waved to Arvandus as he sailed out of the office. While it wasn’t necessarily usual for a Venerable Knight to tackle something any fallen knight could handle, Roman would do anything for his extended D’Vaire family.
Chapter 3
Grant was sick of sitting in his car. It was dirty and smelled weird from all the food wrappers he’d thrown in the backseat. His ass was sore despite it being a relatively expensive vehicle thanks to Reginald’s generosity. It was too bad Reginald believed that because he’d purchased it he had a right to keep a tracker on the damn thing. What Reginald didn’t know was that Grant had a second vehicle he kept garaged close to his condo.
But if Grant wasn’t in front of this poor woman’s house trying to use his dashcam to get a video of her with a vampire, Reginald would question him. Grant was sick of being interrogated, so he did what he was told. Unfortunately, he’d been following the woman for several days and had yet to see a vampire. Which was normally fine with Grant—he didn’t want shit to do with a blood-sucking vampire or any of the other weird races roaming about.
Since Grant was being paid to do his job as a personal lackey to Reginald, he had no choice but to wait for the right opportunity to present itself. Grant’s nose wrinkled, and he wondered if he should garner some energy to clean his car. It was getting funky, but he’d long ago grown immune to most of his messes. He hadn’t always been that way.
Once, Grant had taken great pride in his surroundings and his appearance. Glancing down at his stained jeans and faded T-shirt, which was a size too small, Grant couldn’t work up enough energy to be embarrassed at how he’d changed. Any spark he’d had to improve himself had died. Grant had sold his soul to Reginald, and the saddest part was he still cared for the asshole.
It wasn’t love. Grant didn’t believe in that emotion anymore. No one had ever loved him. Sure, Aunt Florrie cared for him in her way, but she was the single bright spot in his life. At thirteen, Grant had convinced himself he adored Reginald and that his affection was returned. It was why he’d so eagerly allowed Reginald to claim his virginity. For years, Grant had floated in a cloud of insufferable ignorance. Reginald had almost granted him a gift by showing his true colors and getting engaged.
That single action had ripped the blinders from Grant’s eyes, and the world had changed for him. His illusions had been shattered, and Grant finally understood that people were inherently selfish. Even Grant himself had wanted security and safety after his tumultuous childhood. He’d unconsciously used Reginald for his money and the stability it offered.
Sitting in a car waiting for some poor unsuspecting woman to walk out with someone flashing big fangs was yet another way Grant was exploiting Reginald. The new life Grant was preparing for himself was funded by all the gifts Reginald dumped on him. Grant wanted something different. Once he was rid of Reginald, he’d embrace solitude. He wasn’t giving up sex, but he was for damn sure staying far away from any emotional entanglements.
With a scowl, Grant lifted his head and begged the damn woman to walk out with her vampire so he could go home. He had things to do, and each day he sat there kept him tied to Reginald for that much longer.
A smirk crossed Grant’s face as the door to her townhouse opened. Grant had spent so much time reflecting on his own chaos he’d missed the black SUV pulling in. It had distracted him from his purpose.
