Page 50 of Conflicted

Life apparently had other ideas.

No sooner had Ezekiel and I landed at the compound than we were dragged into a meeting about new orders from Heaven. Once that was done, Grace asked for my advice regarding a new potential safe house in Mexico. Then Benji appeared with a stack of paperwork that needed my signature.

If I could have got headaches, there would’ve been one thumping at my temples as the alarm went off in the gym. Cursing, I got up from the desk with Benji at my heels. We had buttons strategically placed in various areas of the house. They weren’t for when enemies invaded, but for when idiotic members of the unit let their baser needs take over.

And, by idiotic members, I meant the twins. Sometimesit was one of the others too, but you could guarantee that any drama would have the two of them at the centre of it. They might have been closer than the rest of us combined, but at the end of the day, they were siblings.

Siblings with super speed, strength, and training.

When they got into it, whole buildings tended to fall in their wake. The alarm system was the best way to alert whoever was home so we could intervene before that happened.

Sure enough, when Benji and I burst into the gym, the twins were the culprits. Nate had a bloody nose while Theo’s shoulder was dislocated. Rami, who’d likely been the one to sound the alarm, had planted himself between them. Unfortunately, he could only wrestle one at a time, leaving the other one to go on the attack.

Running footsteps sounded behind us before Breann and Noah burst into the room.

“Fucking idiots,” Breann said before leaping for Nate. Benji joined her, leaving Rami to tackle Theo.

Noah, meanwhile, was gaping in horror at the scene before him. “Does this…does this happen often?”

“Sadly, yes.” I nodded towards Theo, who’d blasted Rami off him and was now running back towards his brother. “Come on.”

With us in the fray, we had them under control within seconds.

The bollocking I gave them both took much longer. By the time I was done reminding them of their roles, responsibilities, and the example they were supposed to be setting for Noah, they were still glaring. Now though, it was aimed at me rather than each other.

I could work with that. They’d get over it fast.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, the twins were backto being friends again. Theo had torn a strip from his shirt for Nate to use to mop up the blood covering his face. Once that was done, Nate relocated Theo’s shoulder for him.

Then they jumped on the treadmills as though nothing had happened.

“They’re fucking insane,” Noah said, his eyes fixed on them. “How can they go from beating seven bells out of each other to calmly exercising?”

“Who knows?” I smiled tightly, trying to ignore the weight of exhaustion pressing on my shoulders. “I think it’s their way of working off their aggression. Despite what you just saw, they are each other’s safe space. Sometimes I think they do that to stop themselves doing something far worse. They wouldn’t hurt each other permanently.”

“But they might hurt someone else?”

I nodded towards the exit, indicating for Noah and Rami to follow me. “I think it’s a possibility. Not us, obviously, but they both share a level of rage that’s…unusual for an angel.”

Rami snorted, wiping blood from his hands as we walked up the stairs. “Are you forgetting about Ez?”

I chuckled. “No, I’m not. But Ez has a fiery temper that’s always close to the surface. The twins though? They hate feeling it. They bury it deep, preferring instead to focus on the joy in their lives. It’s always there though, and there’s only so long they can ignore it before it makes itself known. I think that’s why they compete and fight as they do—it’s their safe way of burning it off before it can be unleashed on someone else.”

Noah hummed thoughtfully as we drifted to a halt in the entrance hall. “They certainly share a close bond. I imagine that’s useful in battle.”

“It is. If there’s a common enemy, the two of them are unstoppable.”

“And if one of them is hurt?”

Rami and I exchanged a look. I knew we were both remembering Paris, when a water mage had almost ended Theo permanently. Nate had destroyed the entire clan of them before the rest of us had had a chance to draw a breath. “If that happens, it’s best to make sure you’re outside the fallout zone.”

“Fuck knows what’ll happen if either of them finds their mate,” Rami mused. “Imagine what’d happen if one of their mates was targeted or hurt. They’d unleash enough carnage to trigger Armageddon.”

“You’re not wrong there.” I rubbed at my shoulder like the action might lessen some of the burden I carried there. “I’ll add it to my list of potential future catastrophes to worry about.”

“And none of you have found your mates yet? Except Breann and Grace, obviously.”

“No.” My answer burst from me so vehemently, so suddenly, that both Noah and Rami turned to stare at me. I backpedalled fast, smiling weakly. “I mean, no, none of us have found our mates yet. Maybe fate doesn’t have anyone planned for the rest of us.”

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