Page 91 of Conflicted

Now it was solemn lilac eyes meeting mine.Nate.

He shook my shoulders. He tried to tell me something.

But just like with Ezekiel, I couldn’t hear him.

It was like I was no longer here. My body was, but my mind wasn’t. My heart wasn’t. My soul wasn’t.

They were all with Nox, wondering how many minutes I had left with him in the world.

Get up,I screamed at myself.Go and save him.

Another pair of lilac eyes joined Nate’s. The two argued about something. Theo was gesturing at me while Nate stubbornly shook his head. His twin sighed.

That was all the warning I got before Theo’s fist connected with my jaw.

My lungs filled, a painful burning. Everything came screaming back into focus.

“You okay, boss?” Nate asked anxiously.

Theo was shaking out his hand with a scowl. “If he needs another punch then someone else can do it. Fucker’s jaw is like granite.”

Rami slapped him around the back of his head. “He didn’t ask you to hit him, dickhead.”

“I’m okay,” I said, before a fight could break out. My mind was racing now, calculating how fast I could track Nox. Where I might be able to hide him. “I need to?—”

I never managed to finish the sentence. Lightning cracked through the study, making us all flinch and throw up our shields. It hit the floor harmlessly before fading away.

In its wake stood an angel. Like all of us, he was beautiful. Unlike us, his job wasn’t that of soldier.

But of messenger.

“Micah, leader of the Seraphim,” he said ominously. “Your presence is required upstairs. Immediately.”

I exchanged a panicked look with Ezekiel. He and Benji were the only ones who knew Nox was my fated mate. But I suspected all of the Seraphim now knew that he’d killed Emilio.

For me.

The higher-ups had to suspect he was connected to me somehow. Why else would they be sending for me?

They had to know. I was going to answer for Nox’s crimes the same way I did for everyone else. Strangely, I didn’t mind. If anything, I felt an enormous rush of relief.Either my punishment would absolve Nox, or we’d both leave this universe together.

It was better than the alternative. Better than having to exist in a world that no longer had Nox in it. It was funny—I’d been alive so long that I’d somehow lost count of the years, but these past few weeks with Nox…I remembered every second. They’d been imprinted on my soul, making him a part of me I knew I couldn’t live without.

The messenger reached out for my hand. I took it mutely, knowing better than to fight this. If I refused to go with him, they’d send a legion after me.

I should know. We were the legion who were often sent to recover angels who’d committed misdeeds then refused to answer for their crimes.

The Seraphim wouldn’t be sent to recover me, but another unit would. My unit might not fight for me, not wanting to go against Heaven’s rules, but I didn’t want to put them in that position.

If I was going down, I wasn’t taking any of them with me.

Ez took a step forward like he was going to say something. Before he could, I threw my free arm around his neck, drawing him close to me.

“Keep them safe,” I whispered in his ear, too low for any of the others to hear. “Protect the unit, Ez.”

He had just enough time to nod before I was pulled away from him. Light filled the room, ripping me from the home I shared with my brethren.

And landing me in the centre of Heaven’s grandest courtroom.

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