Chapter 6

P hone calls in the middle of the night weren't foreign to Roman. Crime didn't rest because he went to bed, and there were only three Venerable Knights, so he was regularly on call. But as Roman rolled over and grabbed his phone, he was annoyed. It was one of his nights off. However, he accepted the call because it finally registered that it was the unique ringtone he'd assigned to his mate.

"Hello?" Roman said, flipping on the light and trying not to be frustrated that it'd been a week since their meeting and Grant had decided that three-thirty in the morning was an appropriate time to reconnect.

"What did you do to me?" Grant demanded, his words slurring slightly together.

"Excuse me?"

"Is this some sort of weird zombie curse?"

Irritated that Grant was still referring to him as a zombie, Roman sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "I'm not a fucking zombie."

"You're an undead creature. Isn't that the definition of a zombie?"

"I'm not mindless," Roman replied calmly. "I'm a fallen knight. Yes, I was resurrected, but I'm not a creature."

"Whatever, why am I like this?"

Roman's brows furrowed. "Like what?"

"I keep throwing up on my boyfriend," Grant exclaimed, and Roman's heart sank. Even though Grant referred to him as a zombie and Roman had his own issues with his other half being human, it was devastating to know he was with someone else. "Do you have any idea how pissed he is at me? We can't touch or I puke."

"I'm afraid you'll have to take that up with Fate."

"Huh?"

"Fate," Roman repeated with a heavy sigh. "She's the goddess tasked with pairing people like me who are resurrected by magickind. Due to that sorcery, as soon as a couple meets, a human is no longer able to be romantically or sexually linked with anyone else but their mate."

Grant laughed. It was a discordant, hollow sound that grated on Roman's nerves. After waiting for so long to find his other half, Roman had never expected to find himself paired with someone so uninterested in exploring that relationship. Roman had often imagined himself with a fallen knight. Although he would've easily adored a sentinel or reaper too.

His job was a difficult one, and Roman had always believed it'd be easiest to be paired with someone also tasked with defending and protecting the Council. Instead, he was with a man whose race worked their hardest to defy and piss off fallen knights daily.

"Why is that funny?" Roman asked.

"You actually believe there is some goddess running around matching people? That's not how life works, dude. We meet people. Sometimes we want to fuck them. If we want to do that more than once, bam, you get a relationship."

"You have a boyfriend, right?" Roman inquired. He was proud that he managed the question without gritting his teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was picture the other half of his soul with another man.

"Yeah."

"You're only with him because of the sex, then? You have no feelings for him? Your relationship is solely based on getting off?"

Grant was silent for so long Roman pulled the phone away from his face to ensure he hadn't disconnected. Talking about Grant with another person was distasteful, and Roman was trying to ignore the images his way-too-helpful brain was supplying, but he wasn't one to hide from reality. They needed to find some common ground, and Roman wanted Grant to understand Fate and their connection.

"I used to love him," Grant mumbled. "Maybe I still do. I don't know anymore. Hang on, I gotta get another beer."

The misery in Grant's voice twisted Roman in two different directions. On the one hand, he felt for Grant—it didn't sound as if his relationship was a happy one, and that couldn't be easy. But Roman was also hurt and furious to know that the man Fate had given him might love another.

Where did that leave Roman?

A loud belch filtered through the line, and Roman shook his head. His life was suddenly so weird. Here he was in the middle of the night, having a peculiar conversation with a stranger. A human. Someone he was supposed to cherish forever. The same man who freely admitted another man held his heart.

Oh, and he thought Roman was a zombie who'd cursed him.

"What was I saying?" Grant asked suddenly.

"You were talking about your boyfriend," Roman answered dryly.

"Oh. Yeah, Reg can be a real prick sometimes. Tell me how I can stop puking on him."

"Don't touch him or let him touch you."

Grant snorted. "Clearly, you don't know Reginald."

The last thing Roman wanted was to know Reginald. "No, I don't."

"Sometimes I wish I didn't know him either."

"I can't help you with your problem," Roman said. It was his duty to care for his mate, but he wasn't willing to be his therapist and get into all the issues Grant clearly had with Reginald. "If you want to learn more about me, Fate, and my world, I have some information I can send you. Books, pamphlets…that kind of thing. Vampires routinely get human mates, and the adjustment can be problematic. The Vampyr Clutch does everything it can to educate humans, but it's difficult. Your world doesn't look kindly upon us."

"Man, I feel sorry for anyone who gets in bed with a bloodsucker."

Roman rubbed his forehead and swore that if he could get a headache, he'd have a raging migraine from this conversation. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't call them that. They are vampires."

"I guess all you soulless people have to stick together."

"If my soul wasn't tied to a human's, I'd swear humans lacked them," Roman muttered.

"You have a soul?"

"Yes."

"Wow. Weird."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't know," Grant replied.

"Would you like to learn more?"

"I'm not sure."

"Give me your address. I'll get the stuff to you, and you can decide at any point to read it."

"I have an aunt. Well, she's not really my aunt. But she practically raised me. You could send it to her apartment. But don't, like, advertise that it's from someone undead. She's intolerant of pretty much everything."

"Hmm, someone would have to go to the house to drop it off. I don't want to offend her. How about this…can you go to a Dérive station and pick up a box? I can give you an address close to her place or yours."

"I've seen those stations around, but I've never been in one. I'm not even sure what you Council people use them for. It'd have to be close to hers. I can do that. I think. Is it walking distance?"

Roman took the address Grant gave him and switched his mate to speaker so he could search. "It's a couple of miles away; you'd need to drive."

"Okay. Tell me where it is, maybe I can park at a restaurant or some shit."

"Fine," Roman replied. "I'll teleport the box to the station before I leave for work; you can pick it up whenever it's convenient."

"That's how you disappeared the day we met, isn't it? You can actually fucking teleport?"

Roman managed a smile at the awe in Grant's voice. It was a pleasant change from the usual belligerence and disdain. "Yep. I do it every day. That's what the Dérive stations are for, so people can hop around easily."

"I'd love that. My life would be so much easier if I could disappear."

"Everything okay with you?" Roman asked, wondering again what exactly was going on in Grant's life.

"Things are complicated. I should go."

"Call me anytime."

"I probably shouldn't," Grant said.

Without another word, Grant hung up.

Roman sat in his silent bedroom as he gathered his thoughts. Curiosity was a large part of his personality and suited his job perfectly, so it wasn't easy for him to walk away from a mystery. Although he'd learned little about Grant, the things he knew both saddened and alarmed him. But he had no other choice but to wait for Grant to make the next move.

Nothing about their two brief interactions told Roman his presence was welcome. All Roman could hope was that Grant would read the things James had gathered and shed his disagreeable views on magickind. Roman flicked his covers out of the way and headed for the shower. With so much on his mind and his soul contorted by the strange matebond Fate had given him, sleep wasn't happening. He might as well get some work done.

∞∞∞

Two days after his conversation with Roman, Grant was huddled in his car, reading through one of the books Roman had arranged for him to pick up. It'd been so odd to walk into a station full of people who had magic or were undead, like the fallen knight who'd suddenly popped into his life.

Thankfully, Grant had some space to absorb the material. He'd convinced Reginald he had a stomach bug. Reginald hated being ill and was avoiding Grant. To keep the shit Roman had left for him far from any prying eyes, Grant was pretending to be so devoted to his job that even sick, he was parked outside the townhouse of the poor woman who was supposedly fraternizing with a vampire.

Grant didn't give a shit if she was, and although he had the dash cam on, he wasn't paying it any attention. There was too much going on in his own world to bother trying to gain evidence that would enable some violent asshole to miss his day in court. The book he'd started with was a general overview of the Council.

Although Grant had been taught his entire life to trust nothing about it, he had to admit the things he was reading were fascinating…and scary. With so many magical abilities and people shifting into beasts, it was impossible not to feel inferior as a lowly human with a belly pooch and a growing drinking habit.

Since Grant had flipped to the information about the Order of the Fallen Knights first, he'd already learned Roman was no ordinary undead. He was part of their leadership and had been resurrected fourth. The idea of another powerful man charging into his life and telling him what to do made Grant scowl.

Why was it impossible for Grant to get a break? All he wanted was some peace so he could get his shit together and discover what he liked. But according to the book, Grant had somehow been picked to be the other half of Roman's soul. If that were true and Grant followed that path, he'd be going from one controlling asshole to another.

That was the opposite of what Grant wanted, no matter how great Roman's ass filled out his uniform pants or the incredible symmetry of his face. Why was he thinking about how attractive Roman was? Grant didn't believe in Roman's Fate, which meant he didn't have to honor the supposed matebond between them.

But the vomiting and nausea were real.

According to what he was reading, there was no way out except through some demonic spell that came with a two-year process—and for the first twelve months, they'd have to live together. The idea of a demon made Grant shudder. He wasn't sure where a demon ranked between a bloodsucker and an undead, and he didn't want to find out.

If Grant couldn't fix his visceral reaction to Reginald, he was fucked. Grant slammed the book shut and laid his head against the back of his seat. Squeezing his eyes shut, Grant wondered what he'd done in some past life to go from one impossible scenario to the next. Although Grant had been planning for months to leave Reginald, he wasn't ready.

He needed to quietly sell more things to have cash so he could get a roof over his head. But if too much in his apartment disappeared, Reginald would notice despite his innate self-absorption. Grant also hadn't decided where to go yet. That required research, and Grant wasn't sure what his requirements should be, other than it being far from Reginald's domineering ass.

The book casually spoke of immortal love, which amused and saddened Grant. While it would be wonderful if such a thing existed, it was a fantasy. An entire government based their laws around the concept. They were fools.

It wasn't a terrible dream though. Too bad they were wrong. A younger Grant would've jumped at the chance to give his heart to another and have it cherished. Once, he'd believed Reginald was the other half of him. Roman believed Grant was that person to him.

Grant's eyes popped open as it occurred to him that he now had to hide from two different people. One obsessed with control who'd stalk Grant until he agreed to climb back into his bed to be a ready hole whenever Reginald needed to fuck. As for the other, Roman wanted eternity. Would he really live forever?

Did fallen knights have tracking abilities? Would there be any spot on the planet Grant could live without Roman finding him? Grant laid his head on the steering wheel and wished he'd moved faster to rid himself of Reginald. If he wasn't such a spineless wimp who'd procrastinated for months after years of believing the best of a complete jerk, he would have never been in the parking lot and met Roman.

His problems were mounting, and Grant realized he had no choice. While it'd be nice to have additional funds, he needed to get away. Reginald would have to be told it was over soon. An icy chill of dread slid down his spine.

Maybe I should disappear without a trace instead.

Grant immediately decided that wasn't the route for him. Reginald was no longer kind, but he'd supported Grant and stuck by him for the past two decades. The least Grant owed him was to be honest about his departure. Right after that horrible conversation, Grant would walk out of his life and never look back.

As for Roman, that was a problem without a solution yet. Grant would have to be far cleverer if he wished to hide from a man who could teleport and had an entire army of fallen knights at his disposal. Telling himself he needed more information to aid in his plans, but knowing it was a lie to hide his fascination with Roman's world, Grant picked up the book again and wished his younger self had laid eyes on the Venerable Knight.

Thankfully, Grant required further study of the man, and the best way to learn about Roman was to call him. It was probably unwise, but Grant would do it anyway.