23. Nox

23

Nox

I 'd been killed many times before, always knowing I'd wake up.

This was the first time I'd woken up when I hadn't been expecting to.

I blinked at the bright sunlight filtering through the green canopy high above. Immediately, I knew I wasn't on Brighton beach. There certainly weren't rubber trees there like the ones towering above me right now. The temperature was dramatically higher too; I could feel sweat rolling down my face. I couldn't hear the sea anymore either. There was chirping, hooting, and the rush of a nearby waterfall.

I held still as I tried to figure out what was going on. Was this the afterlife? We'd been taught there was nothing waiting for supes after execution. That our souls evaporated into dust, forming the fabric of the cosmos.

Was that all a lie?

Just then I heard a curse in a very familiar voice. A voice I knew as well as my own.

"Stupid fucking demon. What on earth was he thinking? Oh, we can't be together so I'll just sacrifice myself instead. Absolute moron, honestly. I might be in love with the fucker, but there's no denying he's an idiot."

I groaned internally as my brain used context to piece together what had happened. Micah had killed me, but not executed me. Instead he'd clearly taken us somewhere far away in an attempt to do the impossible.

Hide from Heaven.

Fuck. He called me an idiot, yet he'd put himself at risk. He'd gone and done the one thing I'd been trying to protect him from.

I sat up slowly, my mind clearing more with each second that passed. Micah was moving his arms in great arcs, setting up a myriad of wards around the clearing we were in. And, apparently, talking to himself.

About me.

"He tells me he's in love with me, then expects me to execute him? I don't fucking think so. Let's see how he likes having decisions made for him without being consulted first."

I got to my feet, brushing off the dirt clinging to my trousers. When I saw the blood splattering them, I gave it up as a bad job. My shirt was gone, likely too drenched for Micah to be able to save it.

"I can tell you it feels kinda shitty."

Micah whirled on the balls of his feet. "You're awake."

"Apparently." I raised a brow at him, folding my arms over my chest. "I was pretty fucking clear on what I needed you to do, little angel."

Micah's hands twitched at his sides. "And I'm going to be pretty fucking clear now, Nox. The only way we'll leave this world is together. Now, unless you want that to be today, you're going to help me ward the shit out of this area. I started laying false wards a hundred miles out, so that'll mask our location for a while, but?—"

"Wait," I said slowly, stuck on the first part of what he'd said. "What do you mean, together ?"

His chin lifted defiantly. "Exactly what I said, Nox. If they kill you, they kill me too."

Oh, he didn't. "You don't mean that literally, right Micah?"

"What do you think, Nox?" His sardonic tone confirmed my worst fears.

I stalked over to him, flames licking at my wrists. "You fucking marked me?"

For the first time since I'd awoken, there was a flicker of doubt in his eyes. "Yes. You can't be angry about it either. You said you'd forgive me anything, remember? Besides, we don't have to make it a full mating bond; you don't have to be stuck with me for eternity."

My jaw fell open. "You think that's what I'm worried about? Being stuck with you?"

His nose wrinkled. "Isn't it?"

"Of course not!" My roar was so loud that several birds took flight. "I'm in love with you, you fucking muppet. I did all of this to protect you, not condemn you. What the fuck were you thinking?"

Before I even clocked what was happening, I was on my back in the dirt again. Micah was pinning me to the ground, his knees on my upper arms and his dagger against my throat.

I blinked in surprise. "Um, what are you doing?"

"Proving a point." Micah's mouth was in a tight line. "Push me off."

"Why? "

"Just fucking do it, Nox. Don't hold back. Break free and put me in a position I can't get out of."

I grumbled, bracing my feet on the ground. Lifting up, I tried to flip him.

Micah didn't move an inch. What was more, neither did I.

He smiled wryly. "Having trouble, Nox?"

His challenge had something in me rising. I drew on all my strength, using every weapon in my arsenal to try and unseat him. Nothing worked. Micah just kept smirking down at me, looking completely unruffled.

I glared up at him. "Are you even having to work at keeping me here?"

"Not really," he drawled. "I've not used my powers yet either."

My irritation was replaced by awe as the full knowledge of Micah's strength settled in me. "You're magnificent."

He rolled his eyes as he slid his knees off my arms, straddling my chest. "I wouldn't go that far. My point is, Nox, I don't need you to protect me. I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself."

"But what if I like protecting you?" I slid my hands up his spread thighs. "I'm not sure that's something I can stop, to be honest, especially not now you've marked me."

I'd stopped a few inches away from his groin, but apparently his cock hadn't got the message that this wasn't supposed to be a sexual situation. It was straining against the fabric. Now I was the one wearing a smirk.

"Shut up," Micah muttered, his cheeks stained red. "I can't help it—it's a natural reaction to you touching me."

I tugged on him until his hips were flush with mine. He gave a small groan when he felt my own hardness.

"It's a problem we share," I said .

As much as I wanted to strip him down and fuck him right there on the jungle floor, we had slightly more pressing issues to deal with.

I rolled Micah over and this time he let me. Letting my weight sink against him, I stroked his beautiful face. "You called me an idiot."

"Well, you were being one."

I sighed, leaning my forehead on his. "I'm not the idiot here, Micah. We both know they aren't going to just let us walk away. All you've done is add your own death to their to-do list alongside mine."

Micah shrugged. "If that's the case, then I don't care."

"But why not? You could've been happy , Micah. Now you're just doomed."

He flipped us again, our hard cocks grinding together as he pinned me once more.

"Okay, you need to get this whole idea of me being happy without you out of your head right fucking now." His eyes were blazing as he glared down at me. Was it bad that an angry Micah was a turn-on? Because my dick certainly thought so. "There's no version of my future that includes my happiness that doesn't also include you."

"But —"

He covered my mouth. "No buts. I love you, Nox. If I can't have you, then there's no point in my continued existence."

The second he lifted his hand, I spoke. "You can't mean that, Micah. I'm nothing special."

"You're everything special to me. I've lived through enough centuries to know what's important to me, Nox, and you know what? The thing that's most important is you. Not because fate said so, but because of who you are."

Like he could sense I was going to argue again, he covered my mouth before continuing. "With you, I can just be myself. You don't expect anything of me. You don't need me to take charge or be thinking about everyone else all the time. With you, I can escape. I can be happy . No one and nothing else has ever given me that before. Not even Dimitri. You're the only one who's just wanted me for…well, me."

The look of wonder in his eyes was one I was certain I didn't deserve, but I was prepared to do whatever it took to keep it there.

"I love you, Nox," he said softly. "Even when you're a fucking idiot who expects me to execute you before merrily carrying on with my life."

He removed his hand so I could speak. "I didn't think it was that bad of an idea."

"It was terrible."

Something was niggling at the back of my mind. "Hang on, why did you kill me at all?"

"It's not like you were going to go with me willingly. It was easier to have you unconscious while I spirited you away."

My eyes narrowed. Micah was a terrible liar. Or at least he was terrible at lying to me. "What really happened, little angel?"

"I don't want to tell you. You'll just overreact and get upset."

Oh, this was bad. Heat rose in me as my demon started to surface. I fought to keep him under control, not wanting to prove Micah right before he'd even confessed the true story. "Okay, now you've got to tell me."

"Fine," he muttered. "We had a few…visitors on the beach. Either you didn't hear them approaching or you were too distracted to notice. "

Yeah, I hadn't realised anyone had been nearby. Micah must've killed me before they'd crossed my wards. "I guess my mind was on other things."

"I imagine contemplating your eternal death would do that to you."

"Hopefully you won't find out when they track us down," I said darkly, folding my arms over my chest. "Which, from what you've said, they've already done once."

Micah sighed and filled me in on what had happened on the beach. I didn't like the sound of the angels from Juniper being sent to check up on him. It suggested we were right to be worried—Heaven suspected his loyalty no longer lay with them.

It put him in as much danger as me, if not more.

When he'd finished speaking, I asked about Noah. "Do you think he knows about us?"

"I'm honestly not sure. I got the impression that the whole scene on the beach was more about him and Lyle than it was about us."

"It doesn't matter anyway, I guess." I sighed. "Everyone will know soon. Heaven no doubt has a bounty on both our heads already. Do you think the Seraphim will fight for us?"

"No." Micah shook his head sharply. "And I wouldn't want them to. This is my mess to clean up."

"It's my mess," I said. "If you'd have done as I asked, we wouldn't be in this position."

"No, you'd be dead and I'd be heartbroken." He glared at me. "I know which mess I'd rather be dealing with."

"I still think you should've just executed me."

Micah cursed and closed his eyes briefly. "Okay, let's reverse this. Imagine me on my knees. I've just told you that I'm in love with you, but I'm asking you to execute me. Not only that, but I'm telling you to go and find happiness with someone else afterwards. Could you do it?"

I flinched as I lied through my teeth. "Yes."

His lips twitched. "Really?"

"No," I huffed, wrapping my arms around him and stroking down his back. Through his shirt, I could feel the slightly raised scars. Even though it had put us both in danger, it made me happy knowing Emilio couldn't ever hurt him again. "Just the thought of it makes me want to start ripping trees from the ground."

"Just the little ones, right?" Micah said, tongue in cheek. "I can do the big ones for you."

I poked him in the ribs. "Alright, little angel, I get it. You're a big scary arch who doesn't need this meagre demon's protection."

"I don't need it," he said, almost shyly. "But is it weird that I like that you're protective over me?"

"It's not weird at all." I nuzzled into his neck, inhaling his scent. "You've spent all your immortal life protecting everyone else. You're allowed to enjoy having someone in your corner for once."

"Good," Micah said, rolling off me suddenly and getting to his feet. I pouted up at him, but he didn't come back. Instead, he gestured for me to join him. "Because I know you're being all doom and gloom about this, but if you think we're going down without a fight, then you really are a fucking moron."

T he next hour was spent casting every ward we were capable of over our clearing. Once that was done, we flew around the perimeter in expanding loops, warding different sites in the jungle. The hope was that anyone approaching wouldn't know which wards we were hiding under.

With the wards Micah had set on the way in, we were as hidden as we could hope to be.

"They'll find us eventually," I warned Micah as we landed back in the clearing. "We can't hide forever."

"We don't need forever, just long enough for help to reach us." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned at the screen. "That's if they actually come through."

"You have signal out here?"

Micah snorted. "Weird, right?"

I came up behind him, looping my arm around his waist and leaning my head on his shoulder. When I saw the name on the screen, I tensed. "Dimitri?"

"Don't worry, it's not what you think." Micah reached up to cup the back of my neck, holding me tight like he was worried I'd pull away. "I'm not about to drag the Seraphim into this, but given how many times I've had to save Dimitri and his demons? He owes me."

"That's true," I said begrudgingly. "It's a good idea, especially if he brings the sons of Lucifer with him. We might stand a fighting chance."

"Exactly." Micah leaned his weight against me, his hand still on my neck. "Would be nice if he'd actually reply though."

"Wait a minute," I said slowly. "If I die now, you die."

Micah twisted in my arms to face me. "That's how the mark works, yes. "

"But if you die, I don't die?"

"Nope."

"Okay, that settles it. I don't want to die anymore."

Micah's lips twitched. "Good to know."

I growled, my arms flexing around him. "I'm not letting them take you too, Micah. If it was just me, I wouldn't care. I'm happy to pay for my actions, but I'm not prepared to take you with me. Seeing as you've taken that decision out of my hands, I don't want to die. I'm no longer prepared to give up my immortality."

Micah was staring at me like I'd grown a second head. "I mean, I get that…but why are you saying it so pointedly?"

I smiled thinly, remembering what Dimitri had told me. "Because the deal will be enacted. If we're attacked, they'll have to come to our aid; they won't have a choice in the matter. I'm in need of their protection, so they'll have to pay up."