Page 34 of Guarded (Hopeless Blessed #3)

Jeremiah

I t was funny—I used to believe time was a concept meant mainly for humans. It was difficult to worry about the passage of it when you were immortal and spent all your days doing the same thing.

Now though, I felt every minute I spent away from Noah. Every second.

The distance between us felt amplified with each day of silence that passed. It grew until the bond turned from ache to agony. What was worse was the knowledge that Noah was hiding something from me. Something that was causing him stress. From what Nox had implied, it wasn’t anything good either.

Whatever it was, I wanted to hear it from Noah. He’d shown me the respect of hearing me out before, and I was going to do the same for him. The most important thing was that he was safe.

Physically, at least.

Nerves plagued me as I laid out the final touches for our picnic. Darius had taken me to this fancy shop called John Lewis yesterday to pick out a blanket and a hamper. I might not have been topside for long, but I’d been here long enough to know how fucking overpriced everything in there was.

But Darius had insisted it would impress Noah.

Knowing he’d been through a rough couple of weeks, I wanted to do that now more than ever.

I wanted him to see the hamper and know I’d packed it carefully with him in mind.

To spot the bottle of red wine Nox had told me was his favourite.

For him to smile at the cheesy rose petals I’d scattered over the blanket, maybe even roll his eyes at the chocolate covered strawberries Darius had warned me might be too much.

They wouldn’t be. Noah and I loved a bit of cheese in our…well, whatever this was.

I didn’t trust either of our libidos not to distract us now we’d been apart—especially after our last date—and there was too much we needed to talk about before we were intimate again. I wanted to know what had been bothering Noah. Why he was so stressed about seeing his old unit.

Why he’d parted ways with them in the first place.

Being outside and in public meant we’d behave ourselves. In theory. So long as we didn’t think too much about how convenient compulsion nets were in places like this.

Richmond Park had been quiet when I’d arrived an hour ago.

Now though, the paths were thronged with humans.

Dog walkers, bike riders, parents chasing toddlers—they created a cacophony of noise so loud it was almost like being downstairs.

Not quite, though. There were shouts instead of screams. Joy instead of pain.

Sunshine instead of flames. A gentle breeze instead of millennia-old stale air.

The thing the two places had in common though, aside from the noise, was the sin. It wasn’t as potent as in Hell, but it was there all the same. My powers were humming in delight, recharged with every sinful thought filling the air.

None of it was enough to distract me. Especially as the time for our meeting drew near.

Then passed completely.

I waited an hour.

Two.

By hour three, the sun was high in the sky. I glanced at my phone for the millionth time. At the messages I’d sent Noah.

At the lack of replies.

I’ve been stood up.

Bitterness warred with fear as I hastily packed away the supplies.

There was none of the care I’d shown when setting it up.

The wine was shoved into the hamper, undoubtedly squashing the baguettes I’d prepared.

I tossed the blanket in the air, not bothering to watch as the rose petals were caught by the breeze.

Screwing it up, I shoved it under my arm and lifted the hamper. Part of me was tempted to just leave it there, but I was trying to be better.

Ironically, for Noah.

The angel who’d left me waiting. Who’d broken his promise to me.

Maybe he has a good reason.

The fear overtook the bitterness. Noah had either stood me up because something was wrong, or because he didn’t want this.

The selfish part of me should’ve been more scared of the second option, but I wasn’t. More than anything, I needed Noah to be safe and happy. Honestly? I didn’t give a shit where it left me so long as he was okay.

But what if he wasn’t ?

Nox would’ve called you.

My gut was telling me Noah wasn’t in danger. That whatever was keeping him from me wasn’t life threatening. Which was something.

Still, I wouldn’t rest until I found out what was going on. I wasn’t going to stand for this miscommunication bullshit a second longer. It was messing with my head in a way I thought I’d left behind me. Well, no more.

If Noah wouldn’t come to me, I’d go to him.

G ravel flew in every direction as I slammed onto the driveway outside the Seraphim compound. I hadn’t bothered with the car, stopping only to stow the picnic.

Flying was faster, and fast was what I needed right now.

Every beat of my wings had been accompanied by another fear about what was keeping Noah from our date. My instincts suggested he wasn’t in danger, but the bond kept tugging at me, urging me to go to him with more zeal than usual.

Which, given how insistent it was normally, was truly saying something.

All I could tell from the bond was that he was somewhere to the southeast. It was too little to go on if I wanted to find him quickly. Unfortunately, tracking wasn’t something I was skilled at.

Getting answers though? That was right at the fucking top of my skill set.

I took several deep breaths as I stalked up to the front door and pressed the bell. Noah is probably fine. The Seraphim probably got held up at the conference and he wasn’t able to text. Don’t overreact.

The door swung open and all thoughts that I was reacting irrationally disappeared. Micah winced briefly before smoothing it away. “Jeremiah. Were we expecting you?”

Was it just me, or did Micah look guilty?

“Noah was expecting me,” I said gruffly. My demon was too close to the surface for me to manage my tone. But Micah was mated to Nox; he had to be used to grumpy demonic behaviour. “Or rather, I was expecting him to meet me over at Richmond Park. Three hours ago.”

Another wince. “I see.”

“I thought maybe you’d all been held up at the conference.” I folded my arms over my chest and glared at the angel. “But given you’re here, I’m guessing that’s not the case.”

“Jeremiah?” Nox’s voice floated down the hallway before he appeared beside his mate. “Are you looking for Noah?”

I nodded sharply. “I am. Do you know where he is?”

Nox and Micah had a silent conversation before the latter stepped back with a sigh. “You’d better come in.”

Foreboding itched at my skin. It grew stronger with each member of the Seraphim we passed. Not a single one met my eyes.

Whatever was going on, they all knew. Seemed I was the only one in the dark.

Fuck, how I hated that. Why could Noah be open with his unit but not me? Even if I weren’t his fated mate, I thought we were friends. Friends who were dating. Sleeping together. Exchanging cute messages and late-night phone calls.

Had I been wrong this entire time?

Micah didn’t lead me into the conference room this time, instead choosing a comfortable sitting room. It was a bit posh for my tastes, but given I was used to Hell, most places were.

Micah sat down in a high-backed armchair. Nox perched on the arm, leaning against Micah’s body. The two of them had been parted for the last couple of weeks as well. Had it been as hard for them as it had for us?

I didn’t want to sit—I was too restless. Too desperate to track Noah down and figure out what the hell was going on. But from the pointed look Nox gave me, I knew there was little point fighting it.

I dropped heavily into the chair, scowling at the angel opposite.

“Have you tried calling him?” Micah asked. “I looked after his phone up until last night, but he has it back now.”

Was that why Noah hadn’t responded to me until then? “I tried, but he didn’t answer. Why did he need you to look after his phone?”

Micah shrugged. “He didn’t say. Just said it was important and to not let anyone else near it. So that’s what I did.”

“Where is he?”

Micah cleared his throat. “He’s still at the Juniper compound.”

“Is the conference over?”

“Yes.”

Another look passed between the mated pair. It was pissing me off.

“Can we cut the bullshit?” I said. “Why isn’t Noah back and what the fuck aren’t you telling me? ”

Micah ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “We’re not intentionally hiding things from you, Jeremiah. It’s not our place to speak of it. I’m just trying to respect Noah’s privacy here without being a dick to you.”

“Tell me what you can, then.”

“He’s stayed behind to help his old unit.

” Micah braced his arms on his thighs, a shadow passing over his face.

“Their leader, Lyle, lost control of his powers the day he tried to apprehend myself and Nox. It appears to have affected his cognition and reasoning, along with his reactions and spatial awareness.”

Lyle. The name slipped through my mind like poison. Without even hearing anything else, I was willing to bet he was the reason Noah had walked away from his unit. The reason he’d been so anxious about his return.

Nox blinked at Micah. “You didn’t tell me this.”

Micah gave him a wry look. “When would I have had a moment? We’ve been… occupied since I got back.”

Nox’s tongue flicked out over his lower lip and I decided that the carpet was suddenly very interesting. “Well, you were away for far too long.”

The room was warmer than it had been a few moments ago. Desperate to bring this back on track before the two of them were distracted by their libidos, I cleared my throat. “Um, can you focus? You guys aren’t the only ones who’ve been apart, and I’m hoping for a reunion of my own.”

Micah flushed, but Nox just smirked and flicked his middle finger at me. Charming, as always.

I ignored him, too riled up about Noah to engage. “I didn’t realise archs could lose control of their power…or that it would have such an effect on them.”