Page 63 of Conflicted

Micah seemed inclined to agree with me, but that didn’t mean he could say no to the higher-ups. Personally, I thought it was a complete waste of his time. From what he’d told me, the angels were strictly forbidden to interfere in human events and lives…even if it was to save them. They were required to be at conferences such as these to make sure the events played out as intended, without any undue influence from Hell or Heaven.

Honestly, it was bonkers. What was the point in creating Earth and giving it to humans, only to sit back and watch it burn?

Like I said—bonkers.

Micah had messaged me as soon as they got back to the compound, asking to meet. Suspecting what a toll it had taken on him to be in his leader role all day, I’d been sat outside waiting when his text came through.

Now, driving through the streets of London, I could feel the exhaustion coming off Micah like it was a palpable thing. Not physical exhaustion—that wasn’t something supes experienced unless pushed past their limits.

No, Micah’s exhaustion was mental.

He needed to let loose for a few hours, I decided, turning my bike in the direction of the city centre, home to some of the best wine bars in London. Micah and I wouldn’t be able to get drunk on the human alcohol they served, but we could relax there before hitting up a club.

Micah followed me silently as we got off the bike. He never asked me where we were going anymore, just willingly followed me.

His trust and faith in me was the most dangerous thingof all. I’d never experienced that before. I was sure my demonic friends trusted me to a certain degree, but not completely. It wasn’t in our natures.

Micah though? He seemed happy to put his well-being in my hands.

It made me want to cherish it all the more. To cherishhim.

It gave me the confidence to broach something I’d wanted to bring up for a while. Something that had been concerning me. On the one hand, I was thrilled that Micah was reaching out to me with increasing regularity.

But on the other, it worried me. Micah only messaged when he was stressed. When the pressure he carried was threatening to crush him. When he needed me to distract him so he could go back to his job with a smile on his face.

Given our meet-ups were now almost daily…yeah. I was fucking concerned.

I waited until we were seated, a beer in front of me and a glass of red before Micah. We were in the cocktail bar on the fifty-second floor of The Shard. The view it gave of London was spectacular…unless, like me and Micah, you were used to seeing it from much higher.

“You seem…busy. Like, all the time. Is that normal for you?”

Micah nodded, sipping his wine. “Yes, this is pretty much how it goes. To be honest, these little outings we’ve been taking have been the first break I’ve taken in…well, ever.”

My chest squeezed. “Is it like that for the rest of the unit?”

“No.” Micah swished his wine in his glass before taking another sip. “I make sure they all take two days off every week and encourage them to go abroad for a few weeksevery year. It took a lot of…fighting with Heaven to get that for them.”

I wasn’t sure if it was Micah’s word choice or the way he flinched as he said it, but something about that phrase had goosebumps rising on my arms. “What do you meanfightingwith Heaven?”

The smile he gave me was forced. “Oh, it’s just a turn of phrase. The bureaucracy in Heaven is something to behold. But I was able to negotiate time off for the rest of the unit.”

He was lying to me. Not entirely, but there was definitely something he was hiding from me. “For the rest of them, but not for you?”

Micah gave a half shrug. “They’re what’s important, not me.”

“That’s not true and you fucking know it.”

His topaz blue eyes were steady as they met mine. “It is. Everything I do is for my unit, Nox. And what’s more, I’m happy to do it.”

My little angel was slipping away before my very eyes. I grabbed his hand, like it might keep him here a little longer. “Why are you lying, Micah? I know that’s not how you feel. If that were true, you wouldn’t be running off to find an escape with me.”

Micah flinched. “That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Really?”

He didn’t answer me. I pushed on. “You need to tell the others how you’re feeling, Micah. If not the higher-ups, then at least the other Seraphim. I’m willing to bet that they’d happily take on more if they knew how it was affecting you. In fact, they’d probably be pissed if they knew how much you’re hiding from them.”

Micah pulled his hand from mine under the guise oflifting his glass. My stomach twisted all the same, knowing he didn’t want to touch me right now.

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