Page 124 of Princess of Bael

A cuff.

Her fingers ran over it, and she disappeared into thin air.

The others all followed suit just as we reached them, their wrists decorated in similar items, all of them engaging the ability to portal at will.

Just like Kayla could with her own cuff.

I landed on the ground they’d just occupied, that hint of power gone. Vanished. Nowhere to be found.

And the darkening sensation of imbalance fled with it.

Kayla’s legs released me as she took an unsteady step backward, her eyes wild with a mixture of furious confusion. “What the fuck?”

Yeah. My thoughts exactly.

Kay

I could feelthe residual energy all around us, that familiar sensation of a portal jump touching my senses. But it was more than that.

It was the way they’d left.

Not through a portal, but via a rune.

A rune that I knewverywell. One they shouldn’t be able to access.

“Tell me about your cuff,” Ezra demanded as though reading my mind. “Where’s it from? What exactly does it do?”

I glanced down at the shimmering metal against my wrist, then turned to meet his glittering gaze. The black embers of his irises were burning hotter than the gold.

I swallowed. “I… It grants me additional abilities like portaling.” But the magic required to create it was supposed to be rare and difficult to cultivate.

So how did those four Nephilim—or whatever they are—use a similar ability? Was it a cuff? Or was it them? And if it was a cuff, does that make it less rare than I thought?

“The primary purpose is to throttle my power,” I added, still frowning at my cuff. “It’s useful when around humans because it hides my demonic traits.” I’d been rather mortified when my horns had sprouted into existence for the first time. My father didn’t have horns, and my human mother sure as hell didn’t.

I would much rather have wings.

Alas, that was a conversation for another day.

“It also lets me harness my gifts and provides me with the ability to hone my skills as needed. And it disguises what I am, but doesn’t exactly mask my aura either.” Maybe those beings were using a similar item to hide their energy signatures as well. Was that why I couldn’t sense their supernatural type or origin?

“Is it throttling your power right now?” he asked.

My frown deepened as I studied my hand. “No, I disengaged it.” Yet my fingertips were still normal.

I touched my head.

My horns are missing, too.

Maybe I hadn’t fully released my powers? Everything had happened so quickly with Ezra grabbing me and whisking us here. I’d drawn my usual symbol over my wrist on instinct, then called forth my hellfire.

My brow furrowed as I recalled how weak I’d felt.

Ezra’s blood had given me the strength I’d needed to fight that incoming inferno over our heads.

But I’d felt more drained than I should have.

Because he’s been using me to heal?