25. Micah

25

Micah

T hanks to the work Nox and I had put in, they didn't find us immediately. Various wards were tripped as they tore through the jungle, uncovering each red herring we'd laid. It was taking them time to remove each set of wards before searching the area to discover we weren't there.

They were getting closer though, bound to find us eventually. We used the precious time we had to come up with a plan, quietly whispering as though they might hear us.

Or maybe we were too scared to shatter the final moments of peace. Whatever it was, it had us keeping our voice low and movements small.

My phone had remained resolutely silent. Nox seemed unconcerned about it, insisting that the deal would've kicked in already. He'd reminded me several times that, even flying at full speed, it'd take the demons a while to get here.

I knew he was right—after all, it had taken me over twelve hours. I knew from previous battles that Lucifer's sons were marginally slower, something that used to give us a tiny edge over them.

It was funny when I considered how many times I'd stood on the same battlefield as them. In millennia long past, it was always in opposition. It had only been this last century that our allegiance had been switched, and then only because of Dimitri. Because I'd risked it all to save him and those he loved.

Now I just had to hope he would do the same for me. I didn't deserve it, not after how I'd treated him and his mates over the years, but I still hoped for it.

As they tripped the ward half a mile to the south, I stiffened my spine before turning to my mate. "They're close. It's time."

"I don't like this." Nox scowled, kicking a branch on the ground. "We should face them together."

"And we will," I said for the thousandth time, my annoyance swirling around Nox's frustration. "You being out of sight might throw them off, maybe give us a much-needed edge. When it's the right moment, you can reveal yourself."

"And remind me, how will I know when that is?"

Apparently being mated hadn't removed Nox's ability to occasionally irritate the shit out of me. "You'll just know. Can you trust me on this? Please?"

"Fine," Nox grumbled. He pulled me into a tight embrace, his breath tickling my ear. "But only because I love you."

I kissed his cheek. "Go. Now."

He shot me one more smouldering look before crouching down inside the crude den we'd constructed. It wouldn't conceal him for long, but it might just be long enough. With him inside, I added another layer of wards, ensuring he was hidden as well as possible.

I'd just finished the final touches when I heard the wings on the wind. Pulling my sword from my sheath, I released my power. Not fully, just enough to remind the approaching angels who they were dealing with. I wasn't a minor supe. I wasn't about to be cowed or frightened into obeying.

Not anymore.

I was the most powerful arch in several millennia. The leader of the Seraphim.

And I was in love with a demon, my mate, who had taught me to recognise my worth, to appreciate the skills I had and use them for what I thought was right, not what I was ordered to do.

Nothing was more worth fighting for than him. Nothing more worth disobeying orders for than our love.

I'd prove it to all of them. To God herself, if necessary.

I wasn't going to give Nox up. Not for anyone.

The final wards pinged a split second before the first angel appeared. Lyle.

What joy.

Surprisingly, he wasn't accompanied by anyone I recognised from Juniper. Instead, three regency angels landed alongside him. Not assigned to a specific unit, regents rarely left Heaven. Their role was to protect the borders of Heaven itself, the final bastion standing between Earth and the pearly gates. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Pearl isn't a good material from a defence standpoint. They were made from a material undiscovered by humans; stronger than diamond and graphene combined.

That they'd been sent to recover me was…disturbing. Then again, missions such as these were usually fulfilled by the Seraphim. Had they not been asked? Or had they refused?

I wasn't sure which was worse. The first suggested the higher-ups had as much faith in them as they did in me. It would put them in a precarious position. A position I'd have to pray Ezekiel would be able to successfully negotiate them out of without losing his temper.

The second though…that was more dangerous. As much as I didn't want them to have to be the ones I fought against, their refusal wouldn't go unpunished. What would happen without me there to take their punishment?

I forced it out of my mind as I smiled at the other angels. "Good evening. I'd say it's nice to see you, but lying is a sin."

"So is fucking a demon," Lyle snarled. "You don't seem to have an issue with that though."

If he was hoping to spark my temper, Lyle was barking up the wrong tree. I wasn't ashamed of my love for Nox. "Fucking someone you shouldn't seems to be a you issue. Not a me issue."

Lyle's face turned an ugly shade of purple. He lunged towards me, his sword raised high as an inarticulate cry gurgled from his throat.

Alarm pulsed through the bond but my calmness kept Nox at bay. Which was good, because I definitely didn't need him.

Not for this, anyway.

Lifting my sword, I met Lyle's strike with ease. And the second. Then the third.

He let out a huff of frustration before letting loose a barrage of power. I watched, my face impassive, as it bounced harmlessly off my shields.

The regents exchanged uncertain looks but didn't move. I imagined they'd been ordered to let Lyle take the lead but hadn't been aware of how…poorly, he'd do.

It was only when Lyle paused, his powers flickering out and chest heaving, that I finally spoke. "My, my. Juniper really needs to raise its standards. If this is the best you can do as their leader, then there's no way you could ever hope to compete with the Seraphim. At this level, you're not fit to be in the same league, let alone go toe to toe with them."

"You're nothing without your unit," Lyle said, spittle flying everywhere. "Nothing but another washed-up arch."

I could practically hear Nox's eye-roll. "Mm-hmm. A washed-up arch that you can't land a single hit on. That's the one."

The veins in Lyle's neck were so swollen they looked like they were about to blow. One of the regents stepped forward, either out of pity or because she'd realised Lyle's ineptitude was getting them nowhere. "Micah, leader of the Seraphim, your presence is required upstairs."

I inclined my head politely, knowing I needed to buy us as much time as possible. While I didn't have the same faith in the imminent arrival of Dimitri and the sons of Lucifer as Nox did, I wasn't giving up entirely. "May I ask why?"

The angel gave me a tight smile. Her kind blue eyes reminded me of Grace. Fuck, I hoped this angel wasn't a tenth as lethal as she was. "I'm not at liberty to say. Nor are you at liberty to refuse us."

The threat in her words was emphasised by the two angels behind her, who pulled their swords from their scabbards.

"Am I correct in assuming this is because of Nox?"

"For fuck's sake, Amelia." Lyle tried to shove past her, but Amelia didn't move an inch. He resorted to hissing at me over her shoulder. "You were supposed to execute the fucker, not run away with him."

"I did execute him," I lied, keeping my tone bored. "Then I came here to recover from having my mate betray me. Surely that's understandable?"

Clearly that wasn't what any of them had been expecting me to say. The two regents at the back exchanged a confused look while Amelia's brows rose slightly.

"Your mate?" Amelia said.

"Well, not bonded." Technically that wasn't a lie, he hadn't been my bonded mate back on the beach. "But yes, Nox was my fated mate. Did the higher-ups neglect to tell you that fact?"

One of the other regents sheathed his sword and shouldered past Lyle. "Hang on, are you seriously accusing the higher-ups of ordering you to execute your fated mate ?"

The angel's ruddy features were familiar. I searched my memory before my brain landed on a name. "Damon, right? You tried out for the Seraphim back in 1267."

Damon startled, obviously not thinking I'd remember. "That's right."

"You've got a killer right hook," I said with a grin. "Stopped Rami talking for a solid hour after you punched him. Quietest sixty minutes I've had in decades."

The angel grinned. "Thanks. Choosing between the Seraphim and the Regency was tough but…"

"Hey, I get it." I gave a careless shrug. "You get to stay in Heaven and don't have any paperwork. I'd take that option too."

That was the biggest lie I'd told so far. I wouldn't choose any job over leading the Seraphim. Aside from loving Nox, it was the biggest honour of my immortality.

"I just don't understand. Arthur, did you know about this?" Damon gestured at the other male regent, who shook his head, looking equally appalled. "The mating bond is sacred. Why would they ask you to do that? Do they know he's your mate?"

"I think so." I shrugged. "It was hidden under layers of pretty words, but the implication was there."

"Fuck," Amelia said. "And you really executed him?"

I didn't get to answer them. Lyle spoke first.

"Of course he fucking didn't," he practically screamed. "He's here. I know he is."

"Thank fuck for that," Damon muttered. "Okay, so what do we do now?"

Lyle rounded on him, teeth bared. "What do you mean, what do we do ? We follow orders. Micah's mate is to be executed, and he is to be escorted upstairs."

That wasn't going to happen now we were bonded. I didn't let anything show on my face, not wanting to reveal that fact just yet.

Damon and Arthur exchanged a loaded look. The latter spoke slowly, like he was measuring his words carefully. "According to Micah, Nox has been executed. Therefore, the mission has been completed. I say we take that report upstairs and go from there. If Micah has carried out their orders, then there's no need for him to appear before the court."

Hope leapt in my chest. Holy fuck, were we really going to pull this off? It wouldn't buy us much time, but maybe enough to come up with a more solid plan than the one we were currently winging.

"I agree." Amelia gave a curt nod.

"Have you lost your minds?" Lyle bellowed. To their credit, not one of the regents so much as blinked at his hysterics. "Micah is lying . He's lying to your faces. His mate is alive. Are you really going to disobey orders?"

Damon stepped up to Lyle, a quiet fury radiating beneath his smile. "Let me remind you, Lyle, that every arch in this clearing currently outranks you. What we say here, goes."

"But Nox is alive," Lyle said, refusing to back down. "He's here somewhere, I know it."

Amusement pinged through the bond. Nox was loving this turn of events as much as I was.

Damon didn't look away from Lyle as he addressed his fellow regents. "Either of you prepared to take this further right now?"

"No," Arthur said, running a hand through his dark hair and smirking at Lyle. I decided instantly that I liked him. "I'm with you."

"Same," Amelia said, her eyes narrowed. "Everything about this mission has seemed fishy since the start. Us being summoned instead of the Seraphim. Only Lyle being present from Juniper. An arch asked to execute his mate. The other orders we've been given. Leaves a lot of questions, if you ask me."

Her mention of "other orders" had me tensing, but I held my tongue. I couldn't draw attention to myself, not when we were so close.

"I'm not asking you," Lyle snarled. "You might outrank me, but that won't matter when we get back upstairs. When they find out I followed orders and you didn't, I won't be the one being punished."

He shoved past Damon, and for the first time, alarm bells began to sound. His powers were swarming him erratically. The controlled hold he'd had on them before was gone now as he stormed towards me .

Shit. This phenomenon was one I'd only seen a handful of times during my long immortality. When an arch was pushed too far, their powers became volatile. Uncontrolled. It could be catastrophic for anyone in the vicinity.

It was something we had trained out of us early. Archs who showed anything other than ironclad control under even the most stressful of situations were forbidden from entering the field. And for good reason. The few times I'd been witness to it on a battlefield, the casualties had been immense.

On both sides.

It was how Theo and Nate had come to join the Seraphim. An angel from another unit had accidentally lost control, taking half their members and two of ours with them. The loss of Tate and Cora had occurred several millennia ago, but still we remembered them.

I doubled down on my shields as the regents did the same. Knowing it would be useless in this situation, I threw my sword to the side and held my hands up placatingly. "Calm down, Lyle. You don't want to do this."

"Don't tell me what to do." Lyle's pupils were huge, his voice distorting as his powers overtook him. "I'm fucking sick of people telling me what to do."

Light surrounded him as he tunnelled down into his powers. I didn't dare glance sideways at the den where Nox remained hidden. Do not come out. This is definitely not the right moment.

While the bond worked very well at conveying emotions, apparently it didn't do the same for thoughts. As Lyle's power was unleashed, Nox burst from his hiding place. His shields were up, flames as hot as the river Styx encasing him.

Lyle turned, his powers switching direction at the last moment. Nox's eyes were as unhinged as the angel attacking him, his demon fully in control.

But it wasn't enough. Nox wasn't strong enough to weather the storm being unleashed in his direction.

Everything happened in slow motion.

Me, pushing forward, trying desperately to get to my mate. My voice roaring in my ears as I screamed his name.

Nox.

Fear flashed through the bond the same second it did over Nox's eyes. They moved away from Lyle, meeting my own.

I felt his fear. His horror. His sorrow. His grief.

We both knew this was the end.

Suddenly a dark figure dropped from the sky above.

A figure I knew all too well.

Fire burned so bright that even I raised a hand to shield my eyes.

When it cleared, Nox was alive, the angel who'd been about to end him forever now a heap on the floor.

And between them stood the demon I'd once considered my friend.

A demon I'd mistakenly believed myself in love with.

A demon who'd risked it all to save my mate.

Dimitri.