Page 111 of Princess of Bael

I knew his power had grown, including his ability to hear thoughts.

“Which is how you know it’s not me,” he said casually, referring to my confirmation about how all the details pointed to him as a probable culprit. Or maybe he meant it in response to his mind-reading ability as well. With Ashmedai, it was hard to say.

Still, I responded with a “Yes” because he was right. I knew he wasn’t the one behind all this. “You would never be that obvious.”

“I would never be that obvious,” he echoed. “But someone clearly thought of every angle, which is what I’m doing now. Because whoever we are up against possesses a similar penchant for strategy.”

“War strategy,” Trudy echoed.

“Precisely.” He reached out to tug on a piece of her hair. “Lucky for us, Trudy shares that gift.”

“Still not convinced,” she told him.

“You will be soon.” He flashed her an indulgent smile before arching a brow at me. “Now, would you like me to review what we know?”

“That is why we’re here,” Kayla drawled, joining us and stepping up beside me. My wing wrapped around her in response, something she either didn’t notice or didn’t mind because she kept her focus on Ashmedai. “Please detail the expected events on the map.”

The Archdemon smiled. “Well, since you asked so nicely, I believe I will do just that.”

Kay

Ashmedai had spentmost of the afternoon and evening walking us through the basic scenarios on his map.

After a late-night dinner, he’d continued into one of the more elaborate strategies that involved taking out key power players in Hell. But then he’d countered that by saying it wouldn’t work because of the moves Bael and Alastor had made in taking pieces of the Divinity to help balance themselves.

Ezra had grunted at that but had waved for Ashmedai to continue.

Which had taken us into a conversation about the removal of certain Archangels.

“None of that is plausible,” Ezra had finally said. “Heaven is impenetrable.”

“So was your home between the realms,” Ashmedai had reminded him.

And that had spiraled into a discussion on the portals and their creations.

By dawn, I could barely keep my eyes open. Despite the riveting conversation, I was still feeling a bit under the weather from the last few days and Ezra’s near death.

I leaned against Ezra, wondering if he felt the same level of exhaustion that I did.

Heat radiated from him, as did a certain level of energy that kept me buoyed at his side, almost as though his essence served as a lifeline.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, his wings having disappeared into his back hours ago when we’d taken over this couch. Ashmedai and Trudy sat across from us in a similar leather loveseat, while Zebulon, Zane, Gleason, and Gwen took up residence on a third couch. And Yaz relaxed in a chair beside where I sat with Ezra.

I’d asked if he needed to return to my father for a report. He’d flashed some high-tech device at me and said, “Already done.”

Which I supposed meant he was staying here to protect me.

Not exactly a surprise, considering his comment about needing to increase my security as a result of healing Ezra. He’d been severely displeased by the development. I couldn’t really blame him because it meant more work on his part.

I would argue that I could protect myself, but I’d never win the debate. Yaz’s whole purpose in life centered around guarding royals. To tell him to do otherwise equated to a direct insult to his very existence.

So I kept my mouth shut and allowed him to remain.

We weren’t exactly close, but I did consider him a friend. I trusted him. And I rather liked him, too. In a purely platonic way.

Ezra’s thumb stroked a circle against my shoulder, his strength seeming to swathe my being. But it wasn’t enough to chase away the exhaustion mounting inside me.

I tried and failed to fight a yawn, drawing his attention away from Ashmedai and to me.