Eternal Sin (Primal Sin #2) - Ariana Nash Page 0,66

probably fine, and this unsettled itch beneath his skin was nothing more than demon instincts playing tricks on him. But just in case it wasn’t, he had to find Mikhail. Now.

Chapter 28

Mikhail

“You’re capable of eradicating these emotions?” Mikhail asked the guardian Tien. She was seated across the table from him, straight-backed and professional.

“Indeed,” she replied. She tapped a fingernail on an electronic information pad, a similar pad to the one used to consume all Severn’s and Mikhail’s details on arrival. Human technology. It unsettled him to see it so comfortably in the hands of a guardian. Haven appeared to have much of the same technology strewn about. The presence of it grated on his pride. Tien’s presence grated, too, but he couldn’t fathom why exactly. Silver hair framed a pleasant, aged face. She radiated power, the kind of ancient power Mikhail had always strived to evolve into.

Gold glittered in Tien’s irises, making them entrancing. He’d not heard of a guardian with her name, but when he’d asked to be brought to an official, he’d found himself escorted inside one of the administration buildings, to her.

“But first, we must ascertain exactly the emotions we’re dealing with.” She leaned forward and rested both forearms on the tabletop, clasping her hands together pensively.

“Anger,” he replied.

“Yes, we’ve heard about your outbursts. Go on.”

He pulled away from her intense gaze. This was harder than he’d expected. He’d only spoken of his feelings to Saphia, and only then because he’d had no choice. Admitting his failures to another guardian brought with it its own landslide of emotion. Guilt, shame, and of course, more anger, because part of him believed he shouldn’t feel shame or guilt for loving Severn. That love, for all its faults, was the only true thing in his world right now. Everything else was a disaster. But last night, being with Severn—even knowing what he truly was—that had felt so right.

“Love?” Tien softly prompted after he’d been silent for too long.

“How do I know what is love and what is infatuation or obsession or something else?” he asked, hearing the hardness in his tone and not knowing how to soften it.

“You tell me, Mikhail. How do you know?”

The last few days with Severn, walking across fields, being in the moment without the war, without angels and demons, they might have been the most peaceful few days of his life. He could not deny how Severn made his heart and soul swell. He could not deny he felt strongly for the angel-demon, but that was why he’d agreed to come here. To finally have himself corrected.

“Love?” He tested the weight of the word on his tongue. “Love was watching him die on the battlefield,” he said, “and not accepting that as his end. Love was sacrificing anything to bring him back, including part of my myself.” Yes, he loved Severn, even with the ugly truths between them. Love had crept up on him long ago. He’d loved him from afar for years, not understanding why he was so afraid that Severn may one day not return from battle. Or mistaking the skitter of breathlessness in his chest for a sickness whenever Severn used to carelessly throw a smile his way.

“The allyanse.” Tien’s irises shrank behind expanding pupils, and Mikhail had the distinct impression he was being studied. “Tell me about that.”

“I’m sure you know how it works.”

“I do, but of course, I’ve never experienced it, nor have I heard of a guardian experiencing it. I’d like to hear it in your words.”

“When he died…” Mikhail’s voice cracked. He coughed lightly to clear it. “It was as though all of the light in the world had been extinguished.” That terrible moment still woke him at night, clutching for Severn as though he could physically snatch him from the hands of death. “I’ve devoted my life to Aerie and my angels, but when Severn fell, I would have sacrificed it all to save him.” Haven, it was the truth. And it was terrifying. “I took his broken body into my arms.” The slippery blood, he remembered the metallic smell of it. “I pulled him close. And I told him he could not die, that I would not permit it, and that I… I loved him. I told him then, and whatever power is bestowed upon us as guardians, I gave it to him. More than I should have, perhaps.”

“In hindsight,” Tien agreed.

“Yes.”

Tien looked away as though disgusted by his behavior, and the wild sense of anger