Page 22 of Conflicted

“What’s got you so pissed, anyway?” Quill asked, slurping his milk from the spoon. “Is it your angel again?”

“He’s not myanything.” I glared harder at the screen. “I’m just…bored.”

“Bored,” Quill echoed. “You’re topside and you’re bored? That’s not possible. I haven’t even left the house and I’m not bored.”

“About that, any chance we’re going to get you out of the front door soon?”

“Hmm.” Quill tapped his spoon against his bowl in an annoying rhythm as he pretended to consider it. “Nope, can’t really see that happening.”

“You’ll have to leave the house at some point, Quill.Your powers are getting weaker by the day. Like it or not, you need some sin.”

“Meh. It’s fine. It’s not like I need my powers up here or anything.”

“What if something happens? What if we’re attacked?”

Quill shrugged one shoulder. “Then you guys will do all the fighting while I cheer you on from the background. Ooh. I should make pompoms. Do you think Jeremiah will go to Hobbycraft for me again?”

My lips twitched. “Again?”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying all these new hobbies out. Cricut, crochet, scrapbooking…none of them really float my boat. Making a pair of pompoms could be cool though. Plus, we’re bound to get attacked sooner or later. House of demons and all that. To be honest, I’m surprised those angels haven’t come around threatening us already.”

I shifted in my seat. Quill wasn’t wrong—a group of higher demons living together was just asking for trouble. It was more than a bit surprising that we hadn’t been given a lecture on how to behave from our angelic neighbours.

Or itwouldhave been surprising, if I hadn’t had one from Micah already. I wasn’t sure why he was keeping the rest of his unit from our doorstep. That wasn’t what was bugging me most about Quill’s statement though. “How do you know we have angelic neighbours?”

“Please.” He rolled his eyes, speaking around a mouthful of Coco Pops. “I can feel the wards from here. And then there’s that angel who’s been flying overhead every few hours at night.”

I bolted upright. “What? When did that start?”

“Three nights ago. Do you not sense it?”

I shook my head. It had been three nights since I’d lastseen Micah. Something told me it wasn’t a coincidence. “No. My room’s in the basement and I didn’t set the wards.”

“Ah, that’s true. Your warding skills are a bit shit.”

I tutted. “Not all of us got the honour of being taught by Ferry himself.”

Quill shuddered, clearly remembering his lessons with the Grim Reaper. “You say that like he wasn’t the grumpiest twat going. It was like his mind was somewhere else the whole time, and having to teach me was taking away his precious brain space.”

“You’re probably overthinking, but your wards are better than mine, so it was worth it.”

“True.” Quill slurped the last of his milk from the bowl. “Where’s Dahlia? I’m assuming she’s out seeing as she hasn’t arrived to beat my arse yet.”

“I believe she’s met someone. She’s been staying out as much as Darius these past few days.”

“Think it’s her mate?”

I sighed. “I hope so, for her sake.”

Like me, Dahlia had felt a pull topside. For her though, that pull had only started three decades ago. And, unlike me, she’d correctly guessed that what she was feeling was an unrealised mating bond.

“What about Darius?”

Yeah, that was weird. He’d always kept to himself, but not to this extent. If it hadn’t been for the occasional text messages from him, I’d have been mildly concerned. “No idea. You never can tell with Darius.”

“And you?” Quill prompted, nudging my foot with his. “You going to abandon us for your mate in the near future?”

I fixed him with an icy stare. “I don’t have a mate, so that’s not something you need to worry about.”

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