Page 3 of Conflicted

“Thank you.” Dagon’s voice was a whisper in my ear. “I know what it must’ve cost you to come here. Again. You knew I’d be here, but you came anyway. For him. For what it’s worth…I’m sorry. I hope you find happiness.”

Well that’ll never happen now Dimitri has you, now will it?

“Thanks,” I said stiffly, trying to remove myself from his embrace. But to my frustration, he wasn’t releasing me. “Can you let me go now?”

“In a moment,” he said with that charm he’d always had. “One more message. If you ever touch Dimitri in a sexual way again, I’ll tear out your tongue before siccing Harlow on you.”

The reminder of my past mistake was almost too much to bear. Dagon didn’t need to threaten me with his psychotic brother though. I’d already vowed never to touch Dimitri again.

It might have taken me a few centuries to wake up to the fact he’d never been mine, but now I had, there was no going back.

“Understood?” Dagon asked, not bothering to hide the threat in his tone.

“Perfectly,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Excellent.” Dagon finally released me. “Now, any ideas on what we shoulddo about this?”

I surveyed the demons and ghasts surrounding us, their bloodthirsty faces pushed up against my shield. It wouldn’t be long before one of them broke through. “You said your brothers’ mates are here?”

“Yes,” Dimitri said slowly. “Oscar, Bailey, and our mate, Lucky, are all inside somewhere.”

The already bleeding gash in my heart was cut deeper. I swallowed hard, forcing down the emotion screaming to be released. “Your mate? As in, he’s the mate tobothof you?”

“Yes.” Dimitri didn’t shy away in his response. “Lucky is mated to both of us.”

“Fucking peachy,” I muttered, glaring up at the sky as though I could personally see fate or whoever the fuck decided these things. I would have loved to have a one-on-one chat with them, to ask what I had done to justify me having to witness the man who owned my heart mated to not one buttwoothers. There’d been room for another in their relationship, just not for me.

Never for me.

“Okay, so we need to break them free while also winning this battle,” I said.

“That’s right. Did you say your unit is here?”

I didn’t glance at Dagon as I answered him. I couldn’t. It was taking all my willpower to just hold myself together. “Yes…plus a couple of others.”

Dimitri’s jaw fell open. “Was that sanctioned?”

“No.”

“I don’t understand.” Dimitri’s shock was understandable. It was one thing for the Seraphim to fight for Hell, but it was unheard of for other units to intervene too. “Why?”

His question sank its claws into the wound on my heart and tore it in two. How could he ask me that? Didn’t he know there wasn’tanythingI wouldn’t do for him?

This was too much. I needed to get away from him. From Dagon. From the happiness the two of them had waiting with their third.

“I persuaded them.” I stepped back, opening my wings. My attention caught on the small audience behind us. Two of Dagon’s brothers, Cal and Harlow, were there along with Ferry—better known as the Grim Reaper. Like us, he’d obviously chosen to fight on the side of Lucifer. “I assume your power reserves are running too low for substantial shields.”

Dagon nodded curtly. “Yes. That’s why we’re still here. We can’t fly out.”

I gave a high-pitched whistle, summoning Ezekiel and Rami. They landed at my side almost immediately, both embracing Dimitri. While Rami looked at ease in present company, Ezekiel’s jaw was tense. Fire glimmered off his hair, making the red shine brighter than ever, but it had nothing on the heat in his eyes. Ezekiel hated being here as much as I did.

It was hard, having to fight for those you’d been raised to hate.

He’d have to suck up his prejudices though. I couldn’t fly them all out of here alone.

“We’ll fly you all to the front lines,” I said gruffly. “We can shield you and come up with a new plan from there.”

Dimitri stepped close to me, and the miniscule grip I had on my control threatened to slip. “Thank you.”

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