Page 96 of Conflicted

“Yes, Nox. Once again, I’ve given my heart to a man who can’t return my feelings.”

It was one thing suspecting he returned my feelings, but it was something else hearing it from him. “I do return them, Micah. I love you.”

He didn’t move, keeping his eyes closed like he was trying to guard himself from this moment. Selfishly, I didn’t want him to. I needed him to hear me. To understand just how much I loved him. How much hedeservedto be loved.

I grabbed him loosely by the throat, squeezing gently. His eyes flew open in surprise, fixing on mine instantly. The depth of sadness swimming there threatened to take me to my knees.

“I love you, Micah.” I repeated slowly, making sure there was no room for misinterpretation. “I won’t tell you I love you more than anything I’ve loved before because, if I’m being honest, I’ve never loved anything or anyone before.”

“You haven’t?”

I shook my head. “No, little angel. I didn’t believe I was capable of it until I met you.”

A single tear slid down his cheek.

“You are more worthy of love than anyone else,” I continued. “You’re loyal. Honest. Kind. Caring. You’re everything I never knew I needed in my life, and I’m so happy to have had a taste of it.”

He was frozen. I kept going, praying he was taking this in. “For millennia, I’ve felt this pull to the surface. It was what kept me going every day. Through the tortures, punishments, and hate, it was my tether. I didn’t know what it was, but I clung to it. It kept me alive, Micah.

“When I realised what it was, that it wasyou…well, I was pissed.” Micah’s eyes narrowed, making me laugh darkly. “Don’t pretend you were happy about it, little angel. You fought this thing as hard as I did.”

Micah rolled his eyes but didn’t disagree with me.

“All this time, I thought I’d been duped. That it was some cosmic joke being played on me. How could the thing that’d kept me alive all this time be someone I’d been raised to hate?”

Another tear fell down Micah’s face.

“Turns out it was a cosmic joke, but not in the way I thought.” My thumb stroked over his chin. “Not because we couldn’t fall in love, but because we could. We have. But it doesn’t change anything, does it, little angel? Because they won’t let us be together.”

“We could be,” Micah said hoarsely. “If you’d just give us a chance, we could —”

I covered his mouth with my hand before he could try to paint a future I knew we couldn’t have. “It’s not about giving us a chance, Micah. Even before today, they wouldn’t have allowed it. Your role as leader would’ve been at risk. Hell, your whole unit might’ve been. And now I’ve executed an arch…they’ll never stop hunting me.”

“You’re a fucking fool,” Micah muttered as I removed my hand, but he didn’t disagree with what I’d said. “How could you have been so stupid?”

I smiled, trying to ignore the sheen covering my vision. “Love, I guess. Isn’t that what they say? Love makes fools of us all.”

A shadow passed over his eyes. “Maybe I’m tired of letting love make a fool of me.”

“That’s why this is for the best. With me out of the way, you can find someone who makes you happy. Someone Heaven will let you love.”

Micah was frowning over my shoulder, staring off into the distance.

My chest threatened to cave in on itself, but I knew I had to do this. “You need to leave now, little angel. They’ll be coming for me. I don’t want you here when that happens.”

Micah’s eyes slid back to mine. “They aren’t coming.”

“What?”

His chest expanded rapidly as he elaborated. “They aren’t coming, because they’ve sent me.”

It took a few devastating moments for me to understand. “They’ve sent you to execute me?”

“Yes.” Micah wasn’t looking at me again, his eyes focused back over my shoulder. “If I had to guess, they’ve known about us for a while.”

The sand around my feet began to crackle as glass formed from the heat rolling off me. “Those bastards. Those fuckingbastards.They could’ve sent anyone else. If it’s because they know about us…” I shook my head in disbelief. “It’s evil. Pure evil.”

Micah seemed distracted, still not looking at me. “Apparently it’s a test of my loyalty and honour.”

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