Page 94 of Conflicted

Someone Heaven would allow him to accept as his partner.

The sound of wings echoed in the distance.Finally.I’dbeen on the brink of setting the pier on fire, just to try and get them here quicker.

It wouldn’t have been as dramatic as it sounds—there were no humans up there right then. Thanks to the compulsion net I’d cast over the whole area, there were none within a half mile radius. It had taken most of my power to throw it that wide, but that was okay. It wasn’t like I needed it now anyway.

I had no intention of fighting. If my fate was to die on this beach for my sins, then so be it.

I was dying for the most honourable cause imaginable.

Love.

The beats on the wind grew closer, and the hairs stood up on my arms. The pull in my chest eased the way it only ever did when Micah was here.

It can’t be.

But as I stumbled to my feet, turning my head in the direction of the approaching angel, my fears were confirmed.

It was Micah. Tension lined every magnificent inch of his body, his power surrounding him like a storm.Fuck. Did he know what I’d done?

He hit the sand at speed, sending it spraying in every direction. Agitation rolled off him, more fierce than the waves against the shore. Fierce was also an apt description for how Micah was looking at me.

Like he was torn between needing to kiss me or throttle me.

It took me right back to those first few encounters between us, when we mistook our intense chemistry for hate. How could we have been so blind?

My throat was tight as he drew near. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Me?” Micah grabbed the collar of my shirt, hauling me forwards until we were toe to toe. “You think you can lecture me aboutanythingright now?”

That answered my question about whether he knew. “I can when I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“And what about you?” Micah said between gritted teeth. “Don’t you care about your own safety?”

I shrugged. “Not really. Doesn’t seem much point sticking around if we can’t be together.”

Horror rippled over his face. “You can’t be serious.”

I wrapped my hands around his wrists, trying to calm his trembling. “I am, Micah. We both know we can’t be together. With me out of the picture, you’ll be free to pursue whoever or whatever will make you happy. Truly happy.”

Micah’s throat bobbed. “But what if that person is you?”

My breath left me in a shudder, but that was the only outward sign I gave of how my heart was breaking. “It can’t be, Micah. You know that.”

I released his wrists so I could pull back, but Micah grabbed them in his, holding firm. He blurted out the last thing I’d been expecting. “Run away with me.”

“What?”

“Run away with me,” he repeated urgently. I searched his azure eyes for any sign of uncertainty and found none. “We can leave now and find somewhere secure. Somewhere where they won’t find us.”

“Have you gone mad?” I whispered. “Micah, there’s nowhere on Earth we could hide for longer than a few days.”

“Then we’ll keep moving,” he said, his fingerstightening around my wrists to the point of pain. “We can stay ahead of them.”

I eyed him sadly. “And that’s really how you want to spend the rest of your days? Living on the run?”

“If it means I get to be with you, then yes.”

“What about the Seraphim?”

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