Page 120 of Conflicted

It’s okay. Whatever happens, we’ll be together.

A single regent stepped into view. My heart sank. I didn’t know this angel, which meant the three from the jungle hadn’t been sent to get us.

Fuck, I prayed it was because they were busy with other duties, and not because they were being punished.

“Micah. You have been summoned. Please step outside the cell.”

The bars vanished like they’d never existed. As I stepped out, I flinched at the number of guards in the corridor. There were dozens of them, shields up and weapons drawn.

What are they expecting Nox and me to do?

Behind me, Nox was also released from his cell. I felt his shock at the sight ripple through the bond.

A second regent stepped forwards, his face grim. In his hands was a pair of manacles. Another angel joined him, an identical pair in his grip.

I turned to the first regent, gesturing at the manacles. “What the fuck is this?”

To his credit, the regent looked uneasy. “We’ve been ordered to restrain you.”

I stared him down. “That’s never been a requirement before.”

“We’re just following orders.” His eyes darted to Nox for a split second, revealing exactly what they were truly worried about—the demon in their midst.

That was what they were afraid of? That Nox would do something?

Why wouldn’t they be? You’ve always followed orders until recently. They think he’s the bad influence. The dangerous one.

They couldn’t have been more wrong. Nox wasn’t a bad influence, he was a freeing one. One who’d opened my eyes to the reality of my life. Who’d made me realise what was and wasn’t important.

The despondency that had been hanging over me suddenly lifted. In its place there was a calm rage.

And, as they fastened the manacles around the wrists ofmy mate, the rage deepened. It spread through me like ice, crystallising my focus. My reputation for keeping my cool on the battlefield boiled down to one simple fact: I was protecting those I loved.

There was no one I loved more than Nox.

Heaven might have been worried about Nox, but their focus was in the wrong place.

They needed to be worried aboutme.Mypowers, strength, and training outmatched each and every one of them tenfold.

Nox wasn’t the dangerous one. I was.

It was a good thing they’d sent an army. They’d need it if they hoped to subdue me. Nox’s head tilted to the side as he tried to process the change in my emotions. How I’d gone from meek to determined. From docile to defiant.

It was simple really. The sight of him like this stopped me thinking about myself. It stopped me worrying about everything else.

Nox was my mate. They had him in chains.

The reality of what we were facing had been thrown into sharp focus. We wouldn’t go quietly into the dark night.

If they were going to execute us, I’d be taking as many of them with me as possible.

I smiled as I held out my wrists to be manacled.

28

Nox

Iwasn’t sure what had got into Micah. His mood had switched so erratically that I wondered if I missed something aside from the obvious. Being chained and escorted by an army was bound to test even the most patient of souls.

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