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.”Malphas clenched his fingers into fists.The light snapped off.He lifted a feathery eyebrow and planted both legs squarely, his hands on his hips.She jabbed a finger at him.“Beliel and I have an agreement.He said he’d give me forty-eight hours.I don’t like to be forced.You tell him if he wants an honest decision, he’ll wait.“Otherwise, I’ll side with—,” she jerked her thumb at Mikos, “—the angel’s team.” She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes, meeting the demon’s bright sun-washed gaze.Malphas held her gaze.His eyes glazed, and he stared into the distance.Suddenly, his expression cleared, and he nodded.“Very well.Beliel accepts your terms.He will return for your answer in twenty-two hours.” His turn to lean forward and narrow his eyes.“He tells me to warn you there is only one response he will accept.”After a brief nod for Mikos, Malphas disappeared as fast as he’d appeared.A hint of sulfur filled the air.Lexi sneezed, the noise reverberating throughout her apartment like buckshot.She even startled herself.“Christ’s wounds, Lexi.”The sharp, cutting edge in the tone pulled her from Malphas departure to face Mikos.“You insist on honoring your deal with Beliel?” he continued.A thin chill hung on the fringe of his words.“Why?”“News flash, I don’t have to explain myself to you.”“While you are under my guidance, you do.You will refrain from entering into any deals—”“Is that how you think this will go?” Lexi interrupted.“You get to tell me what to do, and I’ll just roll over and do what you demand?”Yeah, right.Angel or not, she did not respond to force.Or control.Both of which Mikos appeared to possess in abundance at this moment.When he opened his mouth to respond, she held up her hand and shot him a glare.“Let me clear something up for you.Regardless of the end result of this whole defender-of-the-universe gig, I will never let anyone tell me what I can do and not do.”Mikos closed in until he was about a foot from her face.Silver glowed, filling his eyes until an aura of white light emanated from within.Lexi met him glare for glare, her chin thrust upward, hands on her hips.She would not back down from this uber-alpha male angel.“You will listen to me.It is for your own good.”She snorted.“You know, whenever someone says that, it usually means the opposite.” She jerked a thumb to her chest.“I decide, no one else, what’s good for me.”His glance darted to her thumb, still pressed on her chest.Something zinged through the space between them.Lexi shuddered and drew in a sharp breath.Lust flared, turning her insides into oatmeal.Mikos’s nostrils flared.Her body answered with a rapid thud of her pulse.Oh shit, here we go again.She didn’t want this.No, really, she didn’t.Really.Did.Not.Want.This.So why was her body leaning toward him, her feet intending to follow? At the same time, the distant part of her, the one terrified at the thought of being with a man, any man, quivered.A car backfired outside.Lexi jumped then skittered backward.A small triumph when Mikos did the same.His face flushed, and he averted his eyes.But not before she saw the silver rapidly begin to fade.His fingers flexed then clenched into fists.He backed away a few steps, and then turned and strode over to the large window.Everything about his posture, from the rigid lines to the white knuckles, seemed to radiate frustration and annoyance and no little amount of guilt.Or she hoped he felt guilt.Not that it mattered.She didn’t freaking care how much guilt he might feel.Scowling at his stiff back, she ground out, “Tell me you didn’t do your thing again?” He didn’t reply, and his posture remained rigid.Lexi threw up her hands.“I don’t believe this.You said you’d never use that woo-woo crap on me again.And you did.”She snatched her bag from the floor where she’d dropped in when the demon showed.“Nothing to say? Fine.I’m out of here.”Before Mikos could stop her, she was out the door and thudding down the stairs.When Lexi darted for the door, Mikos whipped around to block her exit.He was not sure it would work, but he had to stop her from leaving.Out the door before he could react, he started after her.“Phoenix, leave her be.” Michael’s tone stopped Mikos in his tracks.He rolled his eyes.This he did not need.Turning his head, he looked into the serene gaze of the Archangel.“It is not safe for her to be out there.Alone.”“She will be fine.You’ve made her angry.And confused her.She needs some time.”Mikos growled.“There is no more time.You said so yourself.If she doesn’t find the Key before Beliel, if he gets to it and releases the spirits, the human race will fall.”He lowered his head and turned back to the window and watched Lexi get into a taxi.The vehicle spun tires as it took off.“You should not have pushed her.”Mikos’s mind floundered, at a loss for words.What could he say? The Archangel was right.He had pushed Lexi even knowing how she’d react
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