Page 56 of Mystique of the Fallen
Grant laughed. “Can you call Grymmie and tell him I’ll be like an hour late for our meeting so I can give you a complete list?”
“Ugh, work is so annoying. I’ll call you. You can give me all the juicy details.”
Unsure if was serious or not, Grant nodded. “Uh, okay.”
“Go on up; Grymmie and the other reapers are waiting for you.”
“Thanks,” Grant said, giving the pair a second awkward wave. Dudley gave him a quick bob of his head, and Evergreen settled back into his chair with an aggrieved expression.
“No one ever tells me the good stuff,” Evergreen muttered as Grant stalked to a staircase.
At the top, he found the offices of the Skeleton Seven, Lich Sentinel, and Lich Reaper. Grymmie’s door was wide open, but that didn’t stop Grant from rapping the textured glass engraved with a scythe bearing the Lich Reaper’s name.
“Hey, Grant, come on in,” Scythe Lord Orpheus Daray invited. He was parked on a couch at the end of the room with his resurrected dog, Libitina, at his feet. Each of the reapers had a faithful Siberian Husky that went everywhere with them.
“Grab a seat,” Scythe Lord Masse Daray encouraged as he brushed a few stray brown curls out of his yellow eyes.
“Anywhere is fine,” Grymington added as he rose from behind his desk and joined Orpheus on the sofa. Masse was on a chair opposite them, and there was a single guest seat available, making Grant’s choice easy.
The second he was settled on a black cushion, he took a deep breath. “Thanks for meeting with me this morning. I’ve read the case file, and it’s not something I’m involved in directly, but I’m eager to learn everything I can about major unsolved crimes. I’m incredibly sorry that this one is so personal and want to offer my deepest condolences to you guys, along with the entire Daray family.”
“Thank you,” Grymington said with a small smile. “I’m glad you called. There is nothing we want more than to solve this case, but the culprits are mysterious. It isn’t even known how well organized they are or how many terrorists are in on this plan to wreak havoc on the Council.”
“This has been going on for years now, correct? The biggest incident was, of course, here in the garage. I read the report; I don’t need specifics about that day. You found the bomber. He was executed for his crimes.”
“Yes, and we have another wizard involved with the group in prison. He remains uncooperative despite being handed a lengthy sentence for his part in connection with the executed bomber and the potion he used on the home of his now-ex-girlfriend. Every week, two members of our task force visit him in prison. They discuss shit like the weather, but Darryl Martel remains mute about anything else,” Orpheus said.
“Only definitive connection to our rival government is a single statement by Theirry Vioric, right?” Grant asked.
Across the ocean in Europe, the Consilium Veneficus ruled over most wizards, along with a smattering of shifters. The European wizards who were already alive two centuries ago had originally been part of the Council, but they had wished their brethren a fond farewell when the rulers of the Council had departed Europe for North America. It was the now-deceased Arch Wizard Egidius who’d wanted the split from then-ruler of the Council, Chander. For his part, Chander would’ve done anything to get Conley’s body, including moving tens of thousands of people from their ancestral homes to please Egidius.
Nothing had worked, and Chander had recovered the box he’d placed Conley in years after Egidius’s death.
“Exactly,” Masse answered. “What we know is that the group consists of wizards loyal to the Consilium. Or at least they hate the Council. If there are more than wizards involved, we have no evidence of that. A Tristis elf masquerading online and on the phone as a shifter rented a building to one of the wizards, but that was a monetary thing. He didn’t bother with background checks or do any digging, so he didn’t realize his renter was a terrorist. All he was interested in was getting the man’s rent money.
“We also don’t know how extensively their plans stretch or what the ultimate goal is other than creating chaos within the Council,” Grymington said, annoyance settling into his gently glowing yellow gaze. “Most of the events are mishaps instead of massive attacks. An earthquake causing a potion to fall off a shelf to level a building. Martel bombing the home of his now-former girlfriend when no one was inside. Another strip mall selected to be blown up for reasons we still can’t fathom. People died and were hurt that day. It’s almost foolish stuff, or it would be if there wasn’t so much devastation. We’ve tracked this fucking group for years. We are no closer to unraveling this mystery. Frustration settled into my team a long time ago.”
“What a clusterfuck,” Grant muttered.
“Yep,” Orpheus replied. “It was your man who recommended the fallen knights in our group. He knows your people. They’re fantastic, and despite how long it’s been, they remain determined to aid the Council in finding this group. We don’t know how long it’ll take, but itwillhappen. Our team will make sure of it.”
Grant couldn’t help his smile despite the seriousness of their current subject. “Roman is pretty great.”
“I know it’s early days yet, but it looked like you two were friendly this past weekend,” Masse teased.
“You probably saw nothing but a couple of kisses and maybe some hand holding,” Grant replied.
Orpheus’s black brows flew up. “I guess that means a lot more was happening behind closed doors. You can totally keep those details to yourself. I don’t want to know about anyone’s sex life.”
Grant laughed. “I wasn’t going to share anything. No worries.”
“Do you have any other questions for us?” Grymington asked. Then he grinned. “Work-related questions. I’m no expert at relationships. You’re on your own there.”
“Really? You’re not? Were you ever not in Devlin’s lap this weekend?” Grant asked. Grymington’s other half, Devlin, had barely been a few feet away from the reaper the entire weekend. They were clearly one of the many loving couples in the extended D’Vaire clan that Grant was somehow now included in.
“I know everything about my relationship. About my mate. But it’s unique to me and Devlin. I don’t think that makes me an expert on other people’s relationships,” Grymington insisted.
“Okay, that makes sense. I think I’m good with what I know about this case now.”
