Page 117 of Princess of Bael

“I haven’t had any requests for passage in my realm,” Zebulon replied.

“I’ve not received any requests either,” Ashmedai confirmed, his brow furrowing. “You say this started last night?”

Gleason nodded as he ran his fingers through his auburn hair. The unruly strands fell to his ears in a display that suggested he needed a haircut. His thickening beard suggested he needed a good shave, too.

We all did.

Except for Ashmedai and his perpetually clean jaw.

Even Zebulon had a dusting of dark hairs. However, his head remained smooth, so perhaps he’d focused on that instead of his chin.

Not that any of it mattered.

“London, Paris, New York City, Tokyo…” Gleason continued listing cities as though he were being quizzed. “Over half of the Dark Provenance has been deployed in response.”

“Something’s coming,” Ashmedai translated.

“Something’s coming,” Gleason echoed.

“Why would Scion deploy so many Nephilim under his command?” I interjected. “I understand the need to respond and to ensure mortals don’t discover any demons, but he knows as much as all of you. He has to see that this is a setup.” Scion was the fucking Archangel of War. He was a master strategist. “What’s his play?”

“A great question indeed,” Ashmedai murmured, his expression holding a touch of darkness unlike any I’d ever seen from him before.

I frowned. “What is it?”

He merely shook his head. “I’m trying to see the potential impacts from all angles.”

“And?” I prompted.

“I’m still reviewing.” He turned away from us to face the giant map of realms.

Trudy stepped up to his side, causing his wing to automatically wrap around her, much like mine did when Kayla stood next to me.

But from what I’d observed of Ashmedai and Trudy, they weren’t intimate. Yet he clearly felt the need to protect her.

How does she fit into all this?I wondered for the thousandth time this week. Ashmedai wouldn’t have taken her unless she meant something. Her penchant for strategy was evident in the way she bantered back and forth with him as he puzzled out potential scenarios. But it had to go deeper than that.

“Are you ready to give me what I want?” he asked her now.

“No.”

He sighed. “I didn’t think so.” He faced the rest of us. “We need to alert Bael and Alastor. We should also get word up to Azrael.” His gaze went to Gleason. “I assume he’s not yet returned?”

“Scion is still in charge.”

Ashmedai nodded. “I thought that might be the case.”

My frown deepened.What is it you suspect about Scion?I nearly asked, my gaze going to Trudy and back to Ashmedai.

I surmised that she was Scion’s daughter because of how the Archangel had reacted to Ashmedai having her in his custody. So was Scion part of this game? A chess piece for Ashmedai to move around the board?

Or were they engaged in a different kind of battle?

Power struggles were common among Archangels and Archdemons. We had a basic understanding of how to tolerate each other—with the Divinity being the heart of that understanding—but that didn’t mean we always played by the rules.

I palmed the back of my neck, my gaze lifting to the ceiling.I’m overthinking all of this. I’d spent the last week with Kayla trying to regain my own inner balance, working to heal our bond through touch and worshipping kisses. It’d helped to an extent, but I still felt off-kilter, like I was missing something.

We’d tried several times to locate Kristina’s power again, even using some of my locator spells. But without my supplies, I couldn’t do much other than rely on my abilities to search for imbalances throughout the realms.