Page 133 of Princess of Bael

Given the destruction to the city, it was likely because she’d left to heal someone.

I took to the sky again and flew a few streets over to Mietek’s estate. It was larger than Raphaela’s, his home reminding me more of Zebulon’s mansion.

Most Archangels maintained similar estates to demonstrate their power. Mine just happened to reside between the realms.

Well, it used to, anyway.

Kayla and I would rebuild it together. Assuming she agreed to reside with me rather than return to Hell.

It was a conversation we would be having soon. Because I intended to follow her wherever she chose to go.

For better or for worse.

You’re mine, little heiress.

I landed near the patio entry to Mietek’s office. He wasn’t inside, but a soft hum of fluttering feathers above told me where to go.

A boost of my wings took me to the third-floor balcony and to the library full of angels.

Raziel.

Azrael.

Raphaela.

Fate.

And Mietek.

“Looks like I’m late for a meeting,” I said, entering the room. It was similar to the group that had arrived after Kristina’s death, only Raphaela and Fate had replaced Scion and Dariel.

Well, that and Zerak was missing.

However, he only attended when he had something wise to say. Considering he’d just given me the latest countdown report, he likely didn’t have any pertinent information to share with the group.

But I figured I’d start there.

“Zerak says we have just over a human year.” Which meant we were down to one Heaven day. As such, we couldn’t afford to waste seconds with formalities or reviewing obvious facts. So I held up the cuff instead. “Who took this off of Kayla?”

Everyone glanced at each other in confusion.

“It fell off of her upon arrival,” Raphaela said, her golden hair shining like a halo as she stood next to Mietek. He was seated in a chair, his expression more exhausted than I’d ever seen it. And from the way her palm rested on his shoulder, I suspected she was healing him.

Given the wariness in her gray eyes, it likely wasn’t helping much. Not even Azrael’s presence appeared to be bolstering her now.

“Who exactly touched the cuff?” I asked, studying them all intently.

But no one exuded signs of guilt. If anything, they all appeared confused by my questions.

“Only me.” Mietek’s gruff tone only added to the exhaustion emanating from his midnight gaze. “I folded all your clothing as Rafa handed them to me. Then I set the cuff on top. Why?”

“It’s been tampered with and impacted my mate’s powers when we faced the beings possessing Kristina’s energy.” I spun the cuff around my finger, causing the magic embedded in it to glow via the silver runes. “Kayla uses this to siphon her strengths. Instead, it throttled her abilities and absorbed her essence when she tried to release her gifts.”

I’d been able to feel that impact when she’d handed me the cuff in the human realm.

The moment my fingertips had touched the metal, it was as though a bolt of electricity had pierced my soul.

“Someone with knowledge of the cuff tampered with it. And the only time she took it off was when we were here.” In other words, someone in Heaven had fucked with my mate.