Chapter 5

E ternity pursed her lips and flicked her ice blond hair out of her face. The Order of the Fallen Knights wasn't her creation, but they were immortal, so their happiness was immensely important to her. There were specific rules created for each race added to the planet, and fallen knights weren't allowed to have human mates. They didn't need them. Vampires did, which was why they had them.

There were no exceptions.

So, what was her sister thinking to link Roman and Grant? Eternity shoved her voluminous silver dress out of the way to march through the gilded palace she shared with many members of her family. Their home went on forever, and rooms were added regularly with magic. It was never easy to find Fate, but Eternity could not rest until she had answers.

Leaving the garden where she often slept, Eternity waved a hand to clear the viewing mirror where she'd watched Roman sit with his dearest friends trying to understand his afternoon. She found herself in a long hallway, and a motion out of the corner of her eye had her turning her head.

Through a magical portal linking the ebirlloba —the realm of the dead—emerged the goddess charged with caring for deceased souls. Death's red hair flowed behind her as she charged forward, and Eternity wasn't surprised by the anger in her dark gaze.

"Where is Fate?" Death demanded.

Eternity shook her head and linked her arm through her best friend's. "I don't know, but we need to find her."

"You saw what she did to Roman, then?"

Before Eternity could reply, a blonde charged into the hallway with her sword in hand.

"Fate!" Justice yelled.

"News is traveling fast today," Death mused.

"Did you see what she did?" Justice demanded, her lip curled in disgust.

"We did," Eternity responded.

"They are mine, you know," Death said. "I get to confront her first."

"Courage and I imbued them with everything they needed to do their jobs," Justice retorted. "Your idea, yes, but it was a group effort. It had to be. You know what they face. You know how long Roman has waited. He is the last of the leadership waiting for his other half. How long have we begged Fate to do something about his loneliness? But never in my wildest dreams did I expect he'd be with a human. They murdered his bosses. The men he loves."

"You don't have to educate me on the particulars, Justice," Death stated calmly. "I know exactly how lonely Roman has been, and I've dearly wanted him to find happiness. And this human? Have you looked through his life? He is a mess. His issues are far too large for him to be at a point where he can be the partner Roman needs."

"I fear the bond will never be strong enough," Eternity lamented. "Vampires rely upon their humans. Cherish them. For them, there is no greater gift. Fallen knights are confronted daily by humans unwilling to deal with them cordially. Humans who'd rather destroy evidence and prevent crimes being solved because of their hatred of fallen knights and sentinels. While I can applaud a good enemies-to-lovers matebond, this is…"

"A disaster," Death finished for her.

Courage shimmered into the hallway, dressed in armor from head to toe with her brown hair tied away from her face. Her green eyes were militant. Like Justice, she had a weapon in her hand, and the mace glowed with bright light.

"No need to ask if our dear sister has been using a viewing mirror today," Death drawled.

Eternity opened her mouth to greet Courage, but a shout distracted her.

Another goddess—this one dressed more peacefully in a shimmery white gown—ran toward them and stopped so fast she had to grab one of Justice's arms to prevent herself from falling on her magnificent face.

"Should we wait for anyone else before we begin our hunt?" Death mused as Life righted herself.

"We have to find Fate," Life huffed out as she released her hold on Justice.

"We know that," Courage retorted. "Let's get moving. We're not going to find her in this hallway. If she has an ounce of intelligence, she's likely hiding."

"If we can't find her, we summon her to the Tier'llomen ," Justice replied. "As far as I'm concerned, she broke the rules. There should be consequences."

The Tier'llomen was created by their mother to settle disputes between the many goddesses in charge of different aspects of life. It was impossible to resist the summoning, and it randomly picked ten among them to listen to the issue. Punishment was then dispensed and enforced immediately. Eternity had spent her fair share of time in the Tier'llomen both as a party with a problem and as a goddess charged with resolving them.

To Eternity's shock, Fate appeared out of nowhere, and her blue gaze was a mixture of concern and fear. She held up her hands as if to ward off her sisters, and Eternity glared at her.

"Let me explain," Fate rushed out.

"Get started," Justice demanded. "Leave out nothing, Fate, or the Tier'llomen awaits you."

"You know I don't like discussing my matches, especially in more recent times, but this couple is not new," Fate explained. "Come, I don't want the entire palace listening to my business. If they have concern for Roman, they will find me."

"Move into the garden," Justice ordered with a wave of her sword.

Fate didn't argue, and she nearly sprinted to the garden Eternity had left moments ago. With a half smile, Death filled the doorway with a spiderweb of bones to keep nosy sisters from entering until their discussion was over. It would irritate any goddess that passed it, and Death prided herself on annoying the sisters who constantly unfairly judged her.

"Explain," Justice prompted Fate.

"The Order of the Fallen Knights was imperative to the survival of the Council of Sorcery," Fate said. "We had to take care of the leaders. The Reverent Knights weren't an issue, and neither was Arvandus. Life pulled him through, and he already had his soul connected to Albrecht's."

"Chander's magic was strong enough to demand a soul already resurrected permanently," Life replied. "Arvandus deserved a second chance. He made a promise to Albrecht, and I wanted him to keep it. Since he is a former sentinel, I couldn't imagine anyone more well suited to the role of Venerable Knight."

"Roman was just as worthy as Arvandus," Fate continued. "As soon as his resurrection was carried out, I looked back upon his life. It was horrid. In the end, he was condemned for a crime he didn't commit, and his execution was brutal. He'd been a soldier since he was a boy and served the Roman Empire faithfully. He lacked any happiness."

"We know his life," Justice retorted. "I'm sure all of us had your same instinct when Life chose his soul. You don't have to recap it fully, and it doesn't matter; Roman has no recollection of it nor will he ever."

"I'm trying to explain my thought process," Fate argued, her blue eyes narrowing.

"Then get on with it," Justice said.

"You interrupted me," Fate responded, but she gulped at the murderous glare Justice gave her. "Okay, I wanted him to be happy. His matebond was a priority. There were issues already in the Council. We know that. Arch Wizard Egidius was jealous of Chander. Egidius wanted power. I thought a good way to mend some of that would be to find a wizard mate for Roman. It took me a long time to consider the options. I had to find his perfect complement."

"So, how did you go from a wizard to a human?" Courage asked.

"I think all that plate mail is keeping the blood from properly reaching your brain," Fate retorted. "Clearly, I didn't pick a human. Tell me how a human would still be alive if he was an adult in 1369 at Roman's resurrection."

"You don't have to be nasty about it," Courage said. "I assumed he died and has been reborn…perhaps many times through the centuries."

"No, I couldn't pick a human. Although at that point Roman didn't know about Drystan's true past and Conley was in stasis, so they didn't know of his existence, everything would eventually be revealed. As we know, Roman took the news that humans had murdered Drystan and Conley harder than anyone else."

"Because he loves the men and women that work for him," Death replied. "He knows what they face each day as they try to do their jobs. Discovering the truth about Drystan and Conley reinforced his poor opinion of humans."

"Exactly," Justice added. "Injustice is not tolerated well by any fallen knight, but the soul remembers. Roman doesn't know he was killed for no reason, but it shapes him nonetheless. Humans were his downfall, as he was a human himself. Which is why a human mate will never work, Fate."

"Grente the Green was a powerful wizard," Fate said. "A High Arcanist. A man of great magical means. He was a scholar, a teacher, and a man far removed from Egidius's inner circle. I knew it would be difficult for Roman to meet him straight away, but that was okay. Arvandus wouldn't meet Albrecht for what turned out to be two millennia. Conley and Drystan weren't reunited for centuries. And the fallen knights were busy. Roman was one of the first. It took decades to build a structure."

"What was Grente the Green doing in those years?" Eternity asked.

"Grente was, unfortunately, growing more isolated," Fate confided. She sighed loudly and dropped heavily on a wooden seat that hung from an oversized fruit tree. "Without the trust of Egidius, students were no longer sent to Grente. He was all but forgotten by the Circle of Wizards. Grente became a recluse, consumed with his studies. Dedicated to his magic and creating potions."

"If you tell me right now that he has any part of this group bent on destroying the Council, I will lift this sword and add you to Death's ebirlloba ," Justice warned.

Fate's mouth fell open. "Why would I pick a wizard with nefarious intentions? No. Do not be ridiculous. Grente was kind. Sweet. A beautiful soul. One worthy of Roman. But their lives veered farther and farther apart."

"Tell us about the end of Grente's life. What happened?" Eternity asked.

"You're rushing things. I'd already feared I had erred. Roman and the Council left, and Grente didn't follow. He stayed with the Consilium. Like Morgen the Moonbow, Grente had his head in the sand and gave no thought to politics. A continent separated them now. I was pissed. This free will thing has ruined more lives than I can ever explain."

"We aren't taking it from them," Death drawled. "Let it go."

"Of course not; who benefits from their foibles and idiot decisions?" Fate asked. "The woman who reaps the rewards of their stupid deaths."

"None of this is Death's fault," Justice stated implicitly. "Do not blame her; she is dedicated to her tasks, and her commitment to her souls is enviable."

Eternity glanced at Death and liked the blush creeping up her fair cheeks. For so long, Death had separated herself like this Grente the Green, but Eternity and her sisters had finally realized the error of their ways. Death was a wonderful friend, sister, and goddess. She deserved praise daily.

"I know, I'm just pissed," Fate retorted as she stood to pace. "Grente died."

"How?"

"That's the thing," Fate said. She turned to the viewing mirror, and a photo of sorts popped up. Instead of the modern human Grant, it featured a brunet missing the blond highlights he added at a salon, but his eyes were the same vivid green. Fate put the image into motion, and Eternity cocked her head as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. A group of strangers entered a quaint home overrun with books.

"Why can't we hear anything?" Justice asked as the group spoke with Grente.

"I don't know," Fate said. "No matter what I try, nothing works to hear the conversation. Do you see how their faces are also blurred?"

"What the—?" Courage asked as Grente disappeared in a flash of light.

Justice bared her teeth. "A goddess did that."

Fate nodded. "That is what I was afraid of. This is so reminiscent of how Rafe and Aleksander met too early. I think someone knew about Grente. That he was Roman's mate, so they killed him."

"I rebirthed him as a human," Life said, squeezing her eyes shut. "Why didn't you tell me he was Roman's mate? I would've ensured he was brought back as magickind. As the wizard he was meant to be."

"I didn't know he was dead," Fate retorted. "I have so many couples to care for. I assumed Grente was still moldering in some crappy house while Roman was pissed that he was single. It wasn't until Roman met the human Grant that I realized Grente wasn't alive."

"Okay, okay," Justice commented. "It doesn't matter. We can't figure out which goddess it is from this image. Let's focus on the future. Is this relationship going to work?"

Death stepped away from Eternity and walked close to the viewing mirror. She swept through Grant's life. "There is trouble here."

"You mean because Roman is now tied to a human? A human who has committed crimes. Ones he did for the sole purpose of keeping that rat of a boyfriend of his happy," Courage said.

"Frankly, I'm scared," Fate confided, worry dominating her blue gaze. "This Reginald has asked much of Grant. Things he can't let be known. It would ruin Reginald's life. And even before Grant met Roman, he was making plans to leave."

"Reginald cannot let Grant live," Death stated quietly. "His soul will be in my ebirlloba . I guarantee it. I have seen the same scenario too many times. Reginald loves himself only and will sacrifice whatever is necessary to continue to live as he wants."

Eternity closed her eyes. "Should we intervene?"

"The decisions we make are not always easy," Justice said, finally putting away her sword.

"You think his life should play out on its current course?" Life asked.

"Yes," Courage answered for Justice.

"That will mean another wait for Roman," Life replied.

Justice shook her head. "He has waited too long. Rebirth is not an option."

"Fallen knight, reaper, or sentinel?" Death asked.

Eternity found a smile. "I believe our Order of the Fallen Knights could use another worthy soul. A fitting life for a former wizard who wished to educate and experiment. This way, he will help others for eternity and do it alongside Roman."

" Our fallen knights?" Death asked with a red eyebrow cocked. "They are mine."

"Ugh, she is so territorial," Fate complained.

"I'll watch his soul carefully, and it will be ready to be resurrected the next time Chander adds more fallen knights," Life said. "Death, I assume you believe his end will happen that quick."

"I fear the drive of being close to his mate will hurry his plans to leave Reginald," Death answered, pity stirring in her dark gaze. "As soon as his soul enters the ebirlloba , I will care for him until he is ready to start life anew."

"Can we meddle enough to keep Roman and Grant from uniting their souls?" Courage asked. "Grant needs no memory of being human."

"I doubt we will have to intervene," Fate replied. "Too much separates them."

"We will do what we must, but let us hope it is unnecessary. A price will have to be paid for interfering with free will, and I am not fond of punishments. I do not care how desperate you grow, Fate. If you need to confide in someone about a matebond, go to the ebirlloba ," Justice ordered. "Use Death as a confidante, or bring a sister with you to share your news with them both, but never speak of a couple in this palace."

"Hello, I already decided that years ago," Fate said. Then she glanced at Death. "Sometimes I'm so damn good I need a brag a bit. I might show up to tell you about stuff."

Death rolled her eyes. "I guess I have no choice but to listen."

"There are other fun things to do in the ebirlloba ," Fate said, waggling her brows. Eternity knew Fate was speaking of their parallel universe project, but that was a secret, and none of them would discuss it in the palace. The realm was currently paused to allow them to attend to their duties and decide which couple would be next. Courage was also not part of their experiment, and none of them had agreed to bring on another goddess, so Eternity ignored her sister. But she made a mental note to settle her mind on who she thought would be best for the next pairing. She was eager to find out how their lives would twist.

However, Eternity knew no one would step away for a parallel world until Roman was happily mated.