3. Micah

3

Micah

A t first, I didn't know what had led me to the casino. I'd been on my way back to the compound when my instincts started tugging at me. As I'd drawn closer, the wave of sin had almost knocked me off my feet.

There was only one thing that could make humans sin to this degree.

A demon.

Not just any demon, but a higher one. My hackles rose instantly. The only demons I could tolerate were, ironically, the sons of Lucifer. Not because I actually cared for any of them, but because their morals seemed to align more closely with ours. They despised their background and upbringing. Going into a casino just to raise a little Hell was beneath them.

Which meant whoever was in there, it was someone I was going to have to… deal with.

Stalking inside, I made sure to smile genially at the coat check girl. Poor thing was having to deal with a queue of irate humans who were snapping at both her and each other. I bit back a sigh. Tonight's resident demon was having a less than pleasing effect on all of the customers.

It wasn't hard to track them down, I just followed the trail to where sin hung thickest in the air. My feet skidded to a stop when I realised who the demon was.

Oh fuck. It was my demon.

No, not my demon. He wasn't my anything. I didn't even know his name, nor had I bothered to seek it out. He was nothing to me. Nothing other than an inconvenience. One I'd deal with efficiently, just as I would with any other demon wreaking havoc on unsuspecting humans.

My eyes narrowed at the scene before me. Several smartly dressed humans were having a full-blown argument, two of them going so far as to stand and scream obscenities over the table.

I didn't need three guesses to figure out who'd riled them into this state.

The demon didn't seem to be done, either. Throwing a chip into the centre of the table, he said, "How about a final game? Winner takes all."

I bristled. Fuck no. He'd done enough damage tonight.

Prowling closer, I fought to ignore the burning urge to touch him. It was like my soul was reaching out, begging me to make that connection.

Don't touch him. Don't touch him.

My hands came down on his shoulders. Everything in me settled instantly, the chaotic yearning that had dogged me for centuries falling silent.

What the fuck is happening?

All of this happened in under a second. It took every drop of self-control I had to speak. To steady my voice. To be the stern leader of the Seraphim that I needed to be in this moment. "Actually, I think you're done for the night. "

The demon stiffened but didn't turn. "Hmm. Don't think you get a say in that, actually. "

My hackles rose. Just who did he think he was? "You can either walk out of here, or I can drag you out by your feet. It's your call."

He shrugged my hands off. I flushed. Shit. I hadn't even realised I'd still been touching him. Getting to his feet, he turned slowly.

I swallowed hard, trying to school my expression as the full force of his gaze met mine. That day in Hell, I'd been too distracted to really appreciate him. I'd noted his physicality—his stocky build. His height. His amber eyes. The tattoos and piercings. But I hadn't taken into account the sensuality behind all of those things. The muscles that would have no issue holding me up as he fucked me. The way he towered over me, despite there only being a few inches between our heights. The flames that seemed to dance in his eyes. The beautiful artwork that adorned his skin, like he'd used his own body as a canvas. The silver glinting in his lip, making me wonder what it would feel like on my cock.

All in all, this demon was a dangerous package.

His full lips twisted into a sardonic smirk as he noted my open perusal of him. "See something you like?"

The words jolted me back to reality. What was I doing ? I forced myself to snap into work mode, reminding myself that I was here because I had a job to do. Namely, protecting humans from demon scum like this fucker. I threw up a compulsion net, making sure our conversation didn't draw any unwanted attention.

"You wish," I hissed, taking a step back. Not because he intimidated me, but because I couldn't seem to breathe deep enough to fill my lungs with him so close.

"I don't, actually." Actually seemed to be our word of the day. He cast his gaze up and down my body before dismissing me with a sneer. "You're not my type. Far too buttoned up and tidy. I bet you make the bed right after sex, don't you? Hmm, no. That's not right. That'd mean you're interesting enough to disturb the sheets. You probably leave the bedding without so much as a crinkle on it. Nothing about you suggests you like to get down and dirty when you fuck."

I flinched, his barb hitting too close to home for my liking. It wasn't my fault that all the men I'd been with expected me to be in control and, more often than not, to top. Okay, so maybe the fact that I couldn't let myself go with any of my previous partners was on me, but it was hard. How could I relax while also paying attention to my surroundings? How could I let my guard down knowing that at any moment I might be attacked?

Being leader of the Seraphim was a huge honour, but it also meant living with a huge target on my back. I didn't ever let myself forget it.

Not even during sex.

The demon misinterpreted my flinch. "Oops, is bad language not allowed around archs? Do you need to wash my mouth out with soap? Sit me on the naughty step for a few hours? That's what counts as a punishment for you angels, right?"

My mind flashed to the cell. The whip. "You know nothing about our kind."

He stepped closer, dropping his voice down low. I hated how it sent goosebumps over my skin. "Ah, but I know enough. I know you don't understand what it's like to truly struggle. To worry whether you're going to survive another day. You don't know what it's like living in fear of being tortured daily. Of taking punishments because someone you care about has fucked up. I might not know much, but you know nothing, Micah. So tell me…what gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

My temper, so rarely riled, hit flash point. "I have the right because I'm the leader of the Seraphim. You're not downstairs now, demon. Up here, my word is law, and if you want to live a quiet life, you better get on board with that. Fast."

He picked a piece of lint off my collar. "Shame, I was hoping we'd never run into each other again."

His words caught me off guard, making me falter. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I have no intention of living a…what did you call it?" He snapped his fingers. "Oh yes, a quiet life. That's not how I roll, I'm afraid."

"How does that lead to us running into each other again?"

The demon smiled patronisingly. "Oh, I'm assuming you're going to have an issue with how I'm about to live my life, despite it having nothing to do with you. Therefore, I imagine I'm going to be blessed with your charming presence again, whether I like it or not."

I moved toe to toe with him. "You're topside now, demon. You need to play by my rules."

"Or you'll what?" Arrogance dripped from him, and he flicked his tongue out over his lip. My eyes tracked the movement automatically. "You'll keep wondering what I might taste like?"

I stumbled backwards, unable to stop the flush working up my face. "That'll never happen, demon. I don't care what fate thinks—you're nothing to me, and you never will be."

Something flickered through the demon' s eyes. "Nox."

"What?"

"Not demon. Nox ." He stepped closer. I clenched my hands into fists at my sides as I willed myself to stand my ground. "Thought you might like to know what name to scream later when you're jerking off over me."

He strolled away through the casino, hands shoved in his pockets, not a care in the world.

I stood there for fuck knows how long, gaping in the direction he'd left in. I was furious. Flustered. Confused.

And worst of all, a little turned on.

Now there was another word joining my heartbeat, echoing through me despite how much I wanted to run from it.

Nox. Nox. Nox.

I managed to make it a whole seven days without seeing Nox again.

Face to face, at least. Fucker wasn't making it easy to escape him otherwise though. He kept cropping up in my life in ways that were getting harder and harder to ignore. The pull that I was also trying to deny was becoming more insistent.

But I was going to continue ignoring both. I'd be damned before I'd let a demon or fate dictate my behaviour.

Needless to say, my frustration levels were high. Normally I would have worked it off by patrolling the local area or visiting a clan that lived so far away that it required a nice long flight, but with Nox fucking around nearby I was reluctant to leave the compound. It was easier to bury my instincts here with all the reminders of my nature and role. I was surrounded by my unit and the paperwork that went with it. We were also deep into training Noah, making sure he understood the minutiae that went into our fighting and communication. Fortunately, my job didn't require me to engage in the simulations, just to oversee and critique them.

Which was a blessing, considering the state my back was in. The ointment Emilio had used was fucking effective. I could barely move without pain rippling through me.

I was healing…just slowly.

The paperwork alone was enough to keep me occupied. If you thought modern day government was tied up in red tape, it had nothing on the bureaucracy of Heaven. Every blessing had to be documented. Every good deed categorised.

Every run-in with a demon reported.

I was heading into my third hour of mind-numbing form filling when there was a rap on my office door. Benji, who was sat at the desk beside mine, didn't bother to look up. He rarely did, preferring to leave others to interact on his behalf.

It had only been during the last century that Benji had discovered why his brain operated differently from the rest of us. With medicine not really being a thing with angels, it wasn't until humans began discussing neurodivergent conditions, specifically autism, that we'd realised it applied to Benji.

Well, I say ‘we,' it'd actually been Benji himself. He'd researched it half to death and met with several professionals in the field. It hadn't changed anything about his behaviour or how we acted around him, but he'd told me once that it gave him comfort to understand. There wasn't anything wrong with him at all, his brain just worked differently from other people's.

It made sense, really. Humans were made in our image, so there had to be neurodivergent angels too.

Benji's fingers continued tapping at his keyboard. He was the only one who volunteered to help with the admin side of the unit. Sure, any of the others would jump in if I asked, but their assistance would come with a side of bitching and whining.

Benji however, seemed to enjoy it. He said there was something about the methodical, repetitive nature of the tasks that calmed him.

"Come in," I called.

Ez's red mane appeared poking around the door frame, his face grim and a tablet in his hands. As always at times like this, I did a double take at seeing him instead of Dimitri, which was stupid really. Even before he'd mated with Dagon, Dimitri hadn't felt like a true part of the unit for over a century. It was hard to do that when you were disappearing for days or weeks at a time to sit on the banks of Hell, pining for your beloved. "Boss, you're going to want to see this."

I groaned internally before summoning a smile for my second. "I assume it's our usual suspect?"

"Looks like it." Ez handed me the tablet, his lips in a thin line. "A riot's happening three streets away. There was a sale at a clothing store that somehow descended into chaos."

I scrolled through the breaking news article quickly, cursing in my head. Smashed windows, looting, even a small fire had broken out. By some miracle, no one had been hurt.

Yet.

I clicked into the CCTV feeds. Thanks to Nate's technological skills, we had access to every camera across London.

It didn't take longer than a minute for me to find him. Leaning against a building across from the clothing store was the demon who seemed hell-bent on making my life a misery.

"This is the third time this week," Ez said. "First he was getting humans to graffiti police cars, then to rob a bank, and now they're literally rioting. He's escalating, Micah. We need to do something. We can't keep ignoring it."

"We haven't been ignoring it. I go in afterwards and clean up the mess." All the cars had been scrubbed clean by me. The stolen money had turned up on the bank's doorstep the next morning, while all footage of the perpetrators had been erased, along with the memories of everyone involved.

It wasn't their fault they'd robbed the bank, after all.

No, the blame lay with another fucker who was haunting me in ways I seemed unable to escape.

"This is ridiculous," Ez huffed, his infamous temper rearing its head. "He's just a demon. You haven't even reported him to upstairs yet. What's all that about?"

I cleared my throat, gesturing to the pile of paperwork. "It's been a busy week. Benji and I are behind."

Benji side-eyed me then, but thankfully didn't say anything. We weren't behind. Not even close. Even if we had been, reporting demonic activity took priority over everything else.

"Then let's just execute him," Ez said impatiently. "I don't know why we've let it go on this long. "

I rolled my eyes. "It's minor activity, Ezekiel. It hardly warrants stripping him of his immortality. No one's been hurt as a result of his actions."

"Yet. And those humans he compelled would've been hurt if they'd been sentenced for a crime they didn't mean to commit."

I met his furious gaze levelly. "Yes, but that didn't happen."

"Because you cleaned up after him," Ezekiel exploded. "How long are we going to keep letting him run circles around us?"

My brows shot up. "You want to take your tone down several notches, Ez?"

Next to me, Benji had pushed back from the desk, his hands tense on the wood. He watched Ezekiel closely, waiting to see if he'd be required. We all knew how spectacular Ez's temper was when he lost it.

Fortunately, he'd never crossed the final line, the one angels struggled to come back from. Every arch had a breaking point, and if pushed past it, they could lose control of their powers. Whenever it had happened, it'd had catastrophic consequences for everyone in the vicinity.

As annoyed as Ez got, he'd never yet reached that point. Still, I was relieved when he exhaled a noisy breath and sheepishly carded his hand through his hair. "Sorry. I don't mean to be a dick."

"It's fine," I said mildly as Benji returned to his laptop as though nothing had happened. "Save your ire for our enemies, Ez. It'll serve you better there."

"Sorry," he repeated. He paused before gesturing at the tablet again. "Let me go deal with him. I'll come back in a much better mood."

I glanced at the monitor, where Nox was nonchalantly leaning against the building. Like he could sense me watching him, he looked into the camera and blew a kiss.

Fucker.

"No," I said, getting to my feet and clicking off the feed. "I'm going to deal with him myself."