Page 66 of Conflicted

From the corner of my eye, I saw Rami turn his head in our direction, as though he too was invested in the answer.

I didn’t want to hide Micah from my friends, nor did I want to deny him. The thing was, I didn’t know if he felt the same way. From what he’d said, only Benji seemed aware that something was going on between us.

Even if neither of us were sure what thatsomethingwas.

“Gossip later, help now.” I clapped Darius on the shoulder and squeezed. “I’m glad to see you, friend.”

He returned my smile. “Me too. It’s been too long.”

“It has. Did you find what you were searching for?”

His smile tightened, his eyes cutting away. “Like you said, gossip later.”

I watched him launch himself into the fray with a frown. Looked like me and Quill weren’t the only demons struggling.

The question wasn’t even if we could be honest with each other about what we were going through.

It was if we’d do anything about it.

15

Micah

Dawn was breaking by the time we finally stopped.

I’d gathered the members of the Seraphim at the edge of the cavern the crane had left behind. All of them had come except Noah—he’d asked for a few days leave to resolve something in Canada. The human death toll had been vast, but with our help, the number was lower than it might’ve been.

Because of Nox,my mind helpfully reminded me.If it weren’t for him, none of you would’ve helped at all.

Shame bit at me, the same way it had all through the night. It wasn’t that I didn’twantto help, but it was forbidden. There’d be a heavy price to pay for our interference tonight. Not that I begrudged paying it, not with all the lives we’d saved. The pain I’d be put through was worth it.

I just had to hope and pray it would be contained to me. Once again, I’d be throwing myself on the mercy of the higher-ups, pleading with them to punish me alone.

Nox hadn’t hesitated to help, and nor had the handful of demons who’d appeared as the night went on. All ofthem worked by our sides, quickly and efficiently saving as many as possible.

They were with us now, sat slightly off to the side but clearly part of our group. Exhaustion was written over their faces the same way it was ours. One of the demons, the one who’d helped Theo dismantle the crane, was flat out on the ground. Nox was talking to him quietly, his voice too low for even me to hear. His face was hard, but there was no missing the concern underlying the tension in him.

Nox was worried about him.

I didn’t think demons cared about anything.

I hated myself as soon as I had that thought. Hadn’t Nox proved that wasn’t true over and over again?

What was it going to take for me to let these stupid fucking prejudices go?

I wasn’t the only one. Ezekiel prowled to my side, openly glaring at Nox and the others. “Why are they here again?”

“Aw, are you sad that you needed our help?” The demon with long blond hair sashayed over, grinning wickedly at my second. “Don’t be bitter, hun. We can’t be good at everything.”

I winced as I realised belatedly who this was.Jeremiah. Nox and I had laughed about how he and Ezekiel shouldn’t ever be introduced, because it’d definitely end in a fight.

Taking a casual step in front of Ez, I smiled at Jeremiah. “We’re grateful that you helped, thank you.”

He eyed me suspiciously. “Why are you thanking us? We weren’t actually doing it to help you.”

Ez growled from behind me. “It’s calledmanners, dickwad. Maybe you should try learning some.”

Jeremiah’s smile sharpened into something deadly. Heopened his mouth to speak, but a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him backwards.

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