Page 21 of Conflicted

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but there was something in that final sentence that had me pausing. His jaw was tense and his mind seemingly miles away.

It was obvious who he was talking about. Dimitri was the only arch I knew of whose fated mates had included a demon. I remembered belatedly that he’d been Micah’s second. “You’re saying Dimitri deserves better than Dagon and Lucky? I didn’t meet them for long in Hell, but I don’t think any of them would agree with you.”

Micah flinched, his skin paling. Something tugged on my heart at his reaction. Suddenly I knew exactly why Micah hated Dimitri being with Dagon.

And it had fuck all to do with the fact that Dagon was a demon.

“Ah, I see. Is that why you hate me so much? Because I resemble Dimitri? Did he break your heart, little angel?”

Our similarities hadn’t been lost on me, but I hadn’t thought on it much until right now. Our colouring, height, and build were all alike. Both of us were tattooed and pierced, with dark hair. The main difference between us was the short length I kept mine at.

Micah’s expression turned cold, shutters going up behind his topaz blue eyes. “No. I hate you because you’re a demon. You’re the personification of everything that’s wrong in the world. You thrive on causing chaos with little thought or consideration as to how it affects others. You don’t know what it’s like to have others you need to protect. Others you want to look after. You care about nothing other than yourself. That’s why I hate you. You’re my enemy, and nothing will ever change that.”

Anger churned in my gut at all the assumptions he was making. Micah was wrong on so many counts, but I wasn’t about to correct him. Why bother? His prejudice ran deep, not only because he was an angel, but because he was heartbroken. I didn’t know what had gone down between him and Dimitri, but it was obvious Micah was still cut up over it.

The only outward reaction I gave him was a slight smirk. “Say it like it is, why don’t you.”

His lip curled. “Oh, I will. And this is my final warning. Stop your demonic activities in this area, or I’ll end you.”

If Micah thought he could scare me, he reallydidn’tknow me. Closing the distance between us, I lightly grabbed his chin. Micah’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t shove me off. “You’re right, little angel. Lust is a much better way to get my fill of sin. Guess I’ll go find someone to bend over for me.”

His eyes fell to my mouth. “I think that’s for the best, Nox.”

“Indeed.” I flicked my tongue out over my lip, toying with the piercing. Micah swallowed hard, not looking away for a second. “By the way, I like the way you say my name. I’ll think of it when I come.”

His eyes widened as colour flooded his face. I didn’t give him a chance to respond.

My wings burst through my shirt, ripping it into pieces. The scraps of material floated to the ground as I launched myself into the air, leaving Micah behind.

I felt his hungry gaze track me until I was out of sight.

Ididn’t go out and have sex with someone. No, I did something I was completely ashamed of.

I got Quill to teach me how to use my phone properly and used that knowledge to stalk Dimitri.

I couldn’t even tell you why I was bothering. I didn’t want to be with Micah. Fate could tell us we were mates all it liked—it didn’t mean anything. It was forbidden, for fuck’s sake.

Still, it didn’t stop me finding whatever I could online about the former angel Micah loved.Or should that be ‘loves’?From how he’d looked when I’d mentioned him, I was willing to bet that there were still feelings there.

On Micah’s side, at least.

Not, however, on Dimitri’s. If I hadn’t already known he had two mates from seeing him that day in Hell, his human boyfriend’s insta would have cleared up any confusion on that front. There were countless photos of the triad, sometimes in pairs, other times all together. Regardless of who was in the photo, they all had one obvious thing in common.

The love they shared.

It was in their eyes as they looked at each other. The possessive way they touched. The smiles beaming out of the picture.

Whatever feelings Micah had, they weren’t returned by Dimitri. He was clearly capable of loving more than one person at a time, but Micah wasn’t one of those who’d captured his heart.

The other thing emphasised during my online stalking was the extent of the similarities between Dimitri and me. There were some notable differences—I was bulkier, my hair shorter. But there was no denying that we could have passed for brothers.

It made me hate Micah even more. Anything in him that wanted me was down to fate or the fact that I resembled the man who held his heart. My feelings on the matter were, quite frankly, ridiculous. It wasn’t as though I wanted Micah. I certainly didn’t fucking like him—just the opposite, in fact.

So why did this knowledge make me want to break something?

“Stop squeezing your phone like that, you’re going to crack the screen,” Quill scolded me as he came into the room, yet another bowl of cereal in his hands.

I grunted, relaxing my hold. I didn’t apologise—that wasn’t something we did. ‘Sorry’and ‘thanks’weren’t in our vocabulary. Well, not unless used ironically, of course.

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